Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Follow Fest - 2014!

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This is my first time participating in Melissa Maygrove's Follow Fest Blog Hop, and all of us here at The Shellshank Redemption are excited about having folks visit us. (The tortoises are even happier to let me go out and do all the blog hopping - even though they have four legs, they're pretty short ones.)

Looking forward to meeting everyone!

***** 

Name: Madeline Mora-Summonte

Fiction or Nonfiction: Fiction

What genres do you write? Contemporary, dark contemporary, horror

Are you published? Yes. My most recently published stories are listed on my blog's sidebar, and my flash fiction collection, The People We Used to Be, is available as an ebook on Amazon. 

Tell us a little about yourself: I am a writer, a reader, a beach-comber and a tortoise-owner. And as big a fan as I am of AMC's The Walking Dead, I still have zero chance of surviving the zombie apocalypse. I'm so slow the tortoises can - and will - outrun me. 

What are you reading right now? An ARC of Christopher Scotton's The Secret Wisdom of the Earth. And I just finished the fantastic young adult novel, Girls Like Us, by Gail Giles. 

Which authors influenced you the most? Stephen King  

Where can people connect with you?

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66 comments:

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    1. I don't know...Larry, in particular, is pretty fast.... :)

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  2. I love that you own tortoises! Tweeted!
    Thanks for taking part in Follow Fest. :)

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    1. I think it's more that THEY own US.... :)

      Thanks for hosting this blog fest!

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  3. LOL, I'm sure when a horde of zombies are chasing you, you will get it into high gear! I like TWD too. I like anything zombie really. I'm a big fan of your genre!

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    1. I always consider - for about half a minute - doing one of those zombie 5k run things, just to see if I could get away.... :)

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  4. Remember you only have to be faster than one other person when the zombies start chasing you. You can probably outsmart the walking dead any way.

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    1. That's true re outrunning one other person, but I'm a little afraid that I'D be that one other person for everyone else.... :)

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  5. tortoises are awesome...my dad use to have one. I use to let it run around the house.

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  6. I've been meaning to start watching The Walking Dead (somehow, I ended up watching True Blood instead). And I'm with everyone else: I'm sure if the zombie apocalypse comes you'll find somebody to outrun!

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    1. I never watched True Blood but I heard good things about it. Definitely check out TWD!

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  7. Just started season 1 of Walking Dead. How could they have killed the blonde sister (forgot her name) argh! Hate when that happens to a main character!

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    1. Oh, Peggy Ann! Wait, just...wait. That's all I'm going to say....

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  8. I don't have much a chance during a zombie apocalypse either if you by stats. But I plan to go down fighting. And my slow butt will kick that tortoise ass, don't sell yourself short Madeline. Joined your blog and welcome to the follow fest. This is my second year.

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    1. Ha! :)

      Thanks! I'm having a great time getting to know so many wonderful bloggers.

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  9. You just have to tell the tortoises that zombies taste like basil and you'll be all set!

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    1. Oh no! That's both funny and mean. :) I could never do that to the tortoises. Besides, I don't think they'd have to run. They'd just tuck themselves inside their shells and stay safe that way.

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  10. It's nice to get to know you better. I already know you are an amazing flash fiction writer!

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    1. Aw, thanks! :)

      There's still a few days left to the Follow Fest if you want to sign up....

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  11. So, maybe the zombie apocalypse comes, you and I should hole up with a pile of scary books until they find us. I can't outrun a tortoise either.

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    1. Maybe we should use some of those books to build a fort to hide behind.... :)

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  12. One of the first short stories I sold was a horror story. Nice to meet you. Enjoy the Follow Fest!

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    1. It's funny how much I enjoy reading/writing/watching horror because I really am a big chicken.

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  13. Wait--I am picturing humongous tortoises. How can you get your arms around him/her to give it a hug? Love your wit and style. Glad to meet you!

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  14. Oops..just spotted your photos of Larry and the Mrs. and they are smaller than I pictured. So don't squeeze them too tightly when hugging!

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  15. Tortoises - awesome! Nice to meet you! (and love your blog title!) :)

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  16. Tortoises? How cool is that? I use to have a few of them growing up. Fascinating! I visited your site yesterday, I think through a different hop. Glad to have come back and read your Follow Fest interview. Have now joined Shellshank Redemption (what a great name for your blog) and linked to you through some of the other social media platforms you shared. Besides this hop, we share Insecure Writer's Support Group and Stephen King, which are both pretty awesome! Good luck with all that you're doing.

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    1. Thanks so much, Stephanie! And welcome!

      As a fellow SK fan, you might want to check out the two posts I wrote about when I met him. They're over on the sidebar, called The "King" of All Days, Parts I and II. :)

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  17. I'm with you in not being able to outrun a zombie hoard. I guess I'd better work in weapon skills, eh? Nice to meet you!

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  18. Aww! I love the pics of your tortoises in the sidebar. So cute!
    The Walking Dead is one of my fave shows, too. :D

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    1. I'll let them know you said so - the tortoises, not the zombies. :)

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  20. So nice to meet you, Madeline. How cool is it you have a tortoise. I think you've just built a new fan base here on your blog for your tortoise. Looks like a lot of comments are geared towards him/her. I wish you much success in your writing endeavors.

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    1. Everyone around here knows the tortoises are the ones who are really running things.... :)

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  21. Cute tortoises! Love turtles!! You would totally be able to outrun zombies... especially if they are the walking kind (i.e. Walking Dead) and not the running ones (i.e. 28 days/weeks later).

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    1. Good point re the different zombies. I would have zero chance with the ones from 28 Days Later. That movie always terrifies me, no matter how many times I watch it. Shudder.

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  22. Nice to learn more about you, Madeline! Love your book! (I hope you knew that already)

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    1. I did know that - you are a wonderful supporter of my work! :)

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  23. I just read your ring story over on Mash - loved it! For some reason Disqus always gives me fits when I try to comment so I wanted to be sure and give you a round of applause here. Another fantastic dark tale. You are so talented!

    And I wouldn't survive the zombies either, unless I got lucky and found myself a Daryl to hide behind. ;)

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    1. Thank you so much, Julie! I really appreciate that. (And I have the same trouble with Disqus.)

      I'll have to try to remember to send you the video spoof of Daryl/Norman Reedus using the crossbow. It might change your mind about where to hide.... :)

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  24. Those tortoises are beauties. I had one when I was a kid. He was always turning up in the oddest places. My bed for one.

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    1. I will let them know about the "beauties" part of your comment but not the ending up in the bed. I don't want to give them any ideas. :)

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  25. I'm already a follower, but it was great to learn more of the details!

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  26. Those would have to be some pretty spry tortoises to outrun a person! I think I'm a little frightened of them. Great to catch up with Follow Fest!

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    1. I don't think I'd go so far as to say "spry" but they can move when they want to, especially if basil or banana is involved. :)

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  27. Great feature! I think Stephen King influenced MANY of the writers of this generation. I wonder if he realizes what an impact he's made on fiction and that it will last long after he's gone.

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    1. I think he's one of those writers who will continue to have fans in each generation to come.

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  28. Nice learning a little more about you in the follow fest. Thanks for blitzing me yesterday. It made my day!

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  29. If they can outrun you, you just have to find your strengths and use them to slaughter zombies! You like the beach, so you'd be more used to walking in sand, right? Outrun them on the beach!

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    1. I'm used to walking in sand...but even that's not so pretty. Maybe I could stab those zombies with a pen or a really sharp pencil....

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  31. Hiya from one Walking Dead fan to another! Looking forward to getting to know you.

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  32. Mrs Larry is so cute in the flowers omg I am falling in love with some tortoises they're so sweet. Maybe your tortoises could distract the zombies into a cuteness overload to give you time to run away.

    <3

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    1. Hmm, that might work.... And then the tortoises could hide in their shells so the zombies wouldn't be able to get at them.... :)

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  33. Your tortoises are so cute! I love the genres you write too.

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