Crossroads Blog Tour: Ty Drago & Carrie Harris

Meet us at the CROSSROADS...

From small to big-gun presses, debut novels to bestsellers, we’re offering unprecedented (and free!) access to amazing YA authors. This October, thirteen paranormal writers will embark on an exciting blog tour that will hook readers up with great reads and cool SWAG. Today we're featuring Ty Drago and Carrie Harris.


TY DRAGO is a published novelist who makes his home in New Jersey. His latest novel, THE UNDERTAKERS: RISE OF THE CORPSES was released by Jabberwocky, Spring 2011.

Undertakers - what a great concept! Why are yours so special?

That’s a hard question to answer.  Maybe it’s because I didn’t sit down intending to write a “zombie” novel.  I started with the kids.

I’ve always loved the idea of a child army, fighting a war that the adult world doesn’t know about.  The Undertakers actually grew out of a series of poorly drawn comic books I did as a kid about a group of child superheroes called “The Kid Kidets”. Yes, I spelled “cadets” wrong; I was ten.  They all had superpowers and lived in a secret base deep in the Antarctic.  And their leaders were a brother and sister team named Tom and Sharon Jefferson (I changed the spelling to “Sharyn” for the Undertakers).

Much later, when I decided to write a middle grade series, I remembered the Kid Kidets.  The Undertakers, of course, have no superpowers – and the villains they face are much nastier than anything their predecessors had to deal with.  But the concept is the same.

The point is, I started with Will, Helene, Tom, Sharyn and the rest and then I gave them the Corpses to fight.  I think that’s what makes the story work as well as it does.

You suddenly can no longer write...now what?

Writing is breathing.  Honestly, I don’t know how I’d survive if I had to give it up.  Maybe I’d become some other sort of storyteller, though I have no idea what that might look like.

Next question!  This one’s giving me the heebie-jeebies!!!

Does your day job as a business analyst provide any fodder for your fiction?

I sometimes take the names of coworkers and kill them off in my books!  For the record, I always tell them ahead of time and we all have a lot of fun with it.  James Dye is a project manager I’ve known for years – a truly great guy.  For fun, I bump him off in the first chapter of Queen of the Dead.  He gets his head ripped off by the title character!

Aside from that, I tend to keep both jobs pretty separate in my head.  Very different skillsets!

What are you working on now?

I’m about halfway through the second draft of the third Undertakers book.  The working title is “Capitol Corpses”, though I’m not in love with it. I’m kind of leaning more toward “The Corpse Eater”.  There’s a monster in it with a taste for Corpse flesh!  But that’s enough spoilers! : )

For more about Ty and The Undertakers, check out his website and follow him on Twitter.

CARRIE HARRIS is a YA author, mad scientist and monster prom chaperone. Or, as her short sweet bio suggests, she is a whack-a-ding-hoy and she writes books that are also whack-a-ding-hoy. Her newest books, BAD HAIR DAY and BAD YETI are slated for release November, 2013.

You list cooking as one of your favourite hobbies - along with fighting evil - what's your most famous family dish?

I’m less famous for one dish than I am for a series of dishes. We throw bacon parties at the Harris household, usually in conjunction with one of the Comedy Central celebrity roasts. There’s nothing like sitting down to a meal of bacon dip, bacon wrapped water chestnuts, bacon casserole, chocolate covered bacon, and bacon maple cupcakes and watching a bunch of comedians insult David Hasselhoff. And no, I’m not making any of this up. And yes, I’m hungry for bacon now.

It's Halloween - costume or no costume? And what's your best ever disguise?

Absolutely a costume! I always dress up. One year, I was driving to a Halloween party in my slasher film cheerleader costume, complete with slit throat and all kinds of gory yuck all over me, and I passed an elderly couple on the highway, and they took one look at me and actually drove off the road! This story is only funny because no one got hurt. Once I found out about that, I was pretty proud!

Great website! How important are websites today for authors?

I’m so glad you like it; my web designer is a psychic and pulled those pictures straight from my head. I won’t ever play poker with him, because he’ll WIN.

I think websites are really important because people have so many choices of what to read and watch and listen to, and a good website gives you an instant feel for what to expect from an author. The minute you go to my site, you know to expect monsters and NOT to expect seriousness. And that’s really a reflection of what my books are like. I think it’s a terrific tool, not just for me to market myself to readers, but also for me AS a reader to find awesome books and then apologize to my husband for buying them.

Please define a whack-a-ding-hoy.

Whack-a-ding-hoy means crazy. But not just plain old garden-variety crazy, more like the kind of nutballs that either gets you committed or gets you a show on Comedy Central. I’m hoping not to be committed. And I don’t think I’d like to be on TV, but if they need someone to write a sitcom about monsters, I AM SO THERE. And I’m rambling. Why am I rambling? I like popcorn. And bacon.

And that is an example of whack-a-ding-hoy in action. Sometimes it’s easier to understand these things when you see them yourself. I AM SO HELPFUL, AREN’T I?!?

Er…yeah. Thanks for having me and for not calling the men in white coats. I really appreciate that.

For more from this very talented whack-a-ding-hoy, check out her awesome website and definitely follow her rambles on Twitter.

Honing YOUR killer's instinct

For the four young monster hunters in Killer's Instinct, knowledge is power.

Whether it's learning how to execute a perfect roundhouse kick while wielding an athame, discovering the differences in protection powers between salt and holy water, or memorizing the vital stats on every Tom, Dick and Frank..enstein, the crew lean on an ancient survival guide hidden within the guarded walls of La Manoir, an elite training facility for emerging monster hunters.

The full guide is top secret - but snippets of information are contained within this blog's archives. From cryptids to the classics, we've profiled the creatures that keep you up all night, the beasties that terrorize your nightmares.

But most importantly, we've provided tips on how to survive them.

Go on, take a look. Know them before they get YOU.

For more on Killer's Instinct and the four young hunters charged with taking out the world's most-wanted monsters, visit this blog.

Back to Ghoul: Tools of the Monster Trade - Minions

Students aren’t the only ones heading back to the classrooms this month – it’s back to business for monster hunters, as well, especially with Halloween only a few weeks away.

Which is why we’ve dubbed September “Back to Ghoul”, featuring profiles on infamous tools of the trade, whether you’re a beastie or a monster slayer.

This week’s item is on every Evil Overlord’s wishlist: MINIONS – because we all know, bad help is hard to find.

A minion’s loyalty to his / her master is absolute, their willingness to sacrifice themselves – a given. They are considered the red-shirt army of evil doers. However, a minion is most valued for the unerring ability to confuse, infiltrate, false inform, seduce, induce sympathy from, or just plain annoy the “good guys” while the Evil Overlord makes a quick getaway.

As a diversionary tactic – there’s no thing better. Where would Doctor Frankenstein be without Igor? Dracula without the spider-eating Renfield? Saruman without his orcs? Lord Voldemort sans Death Eaters? The Emperor without Darth Vader?

And we leave you with this prime example: Scrappy Doo. 

Back to Ghoul: Tools of the Monster Trade - Salt

Sure, most monsters are pretty good at wielding their beastly tools of the trade, but even hunters in training are likely to have a few tricks up their sleeves – starting with one of the most common household items: Salt.

Yep, that white stuff isn’t just great for seasoning or preservation – it’s also a spiritual tool, working hard against impure and unclean spirits.

If you’re into paranormal movies and TV shows like Supernatural – and really, you should be – you may have noticed the Winchester boys (or pretty much all slayers)  pouring a line of salt across the path of a windowsill or doorway. That’s because salt bars entry for unwanted spirits.

You can also draw a salt circle for protection – but be careful. What Hollywood sometimes forgets to tell you is that salt lines are only effective in a “clean” house, and we’re not talking an impressive once over from MaidPro.

Your house must be physically AND spiritually clean for salt barriers to work. If you lay one without knowing what spirits have already entered, or you’ve forgotten to sweep up those spiritual dust bunnies, you could trap the entity IN your house. Probably not quite the effect you’re looking for.

Back to Ghoul: Tools of the Monster Trade - Athame

Students aren’t the only ones heading back to the classrooms – it’s back to business for monster hunters, as well, especially with Halloween only a couple of months away.

Which is why we’ve dubbed September “Back to Ghoul” – a month of profiles on infamous tools of the trade, whether you’re a beastie or a monster slayer.

This week’s item, the Athame, is to witches what a pencil is to any student – an elementary, essential tool. Athames and their uses are documented in the famous Grimoire, the Key of Solomon. A ritual dagger, or knife, with a double-edge blade, and often sporting a black or wooden handle – an athame is not intended to draw blood. Instead, this tool is used to direct energy, to invoke or banish, as well as to cast magic circles.

Runes or magical symbols may be engraved on the handle, or hilt, and the blade itself may be anointed with herb infused oils to enhance its strength.

Remember, a newly acquired athame, given or purchased, must be purified via a specific ritual in order before use to avoid lingering influences – as the dagger is a reflection of the one who wields it.