Stacey Jay visited a few weeks ago. She kicked off the series on how weather affects author's writing. She's back today for a quick interview about her book that came out in January: Undead Much?

Megan Berry--Zombie Settler extraordinaire--just wants Pom Squad to trounce Cheer Team in this freakishly funny follow-up to You Are So Undead to Me. But someone's turning coma victims into settler-resistant Uber-zombies--and everyone thinks it's Megan's fault! Well, except for super-creepy male cheerleader Aaron. (Ew!)

Meg's also being stalked by a hot--albeit undead-- seer named Cliff. Can Cliff's premonitions help Megan stop a zombies-on-ice deathscapade and discover who's really behind the coma-killer crusade before an entire army of undead rise up? And when Megan's boyfriend Ethan grows jealous of Cliff, will it end their intra-settler romance?

Here's what it's about:

Hamlet Kennedy just wants to be your average, happy, vanilla eighth grader. But with Shakespearean scholar parents who dress in Elizabethan regalia and generally go about in public as if it were the sixteenth century, that's not terribly easy. It gets worse when they decide that Hamlet's genius sevenyear- old sister will attend middle school with her-- and even worse when the Shakespeare project is announced and her sister is named the new math tutor. By the time an in-class recitation reveals that our heroine is an extraordinary Shakespearean actress, Hamlet can no longer hide from the fact that she--like her family--is anything but average.

It's really funny, especially her crazy parents. So, Erin was kind enough to stop by to answer my Debs Do It Again questions. Here we go:

Erin, what do you love most about your main character?

I love that Hamlet deals with her family the best way she can, using her sense of humor.

If you were spending the day with him/her what would you do together?

We'd definitely go get ice cream (yum!), then maybe hit a movie or an amusement park. Her parents don't go for such "contemporary treats" that often.

What advice do you have to offer about making your dreams come true?

If you want to make your dreams come true, you have to work toward them and never give up on them. EVER. EVER.

I wholeheartedly agree! Thanks for stopping by.

To learn more about Erin, check out her website

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. March is almost here, which means it's almost spring!

The Creation of Precipitation?

Submitted for your approval:

Oregon rain – aka liquid sunshine – imparts an extra sprinkling of literary sparkle to its damp denizens.

How else to explain the flourishing authorial scene?

Offered in evidence:

Laini Taylor’s LIPS TOUCH: THREE TIMES (illustrated by her super-talented husband Jim Di Bartolo) was chosen as a Top Ten pick for the2010 Best Books for Young Adults! And by the way … it was a finalist for the National Book Award. Oh, and did I mention she had two books released last year? In addition to LIPS TOUCH, her middle grade faery sequel – SILKSINGER – was released.

Christine Fletcher is the author of two YA novels, one of which (TEN CENTS A DANCE) was chosen as a Top Ten pick of the ALA’s 2009Best Books for Young Adults.

Could it be that we Oregonians benefit from dazzling drizzle?

New York Times-bestselling author April Henry writes for teens and adults; she is the author of something like 432 books. Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration, but she is stunningly prolific. Her first novel was published in 1999; since then she has published seven more, with an additional eight on the way!

In the past two years, Lisa Schroeder has published three YA novels in verse. Her middle grade novel IT’S RAINING CUPCAKES comes out next month, and she has a picture book scheduled for release in the fall. Yes … that’s three books in one year. She’s also the author of the much-loved picture book BABY CAN’T SLEEP.

Or perhaps we enjoy magical mizzle.

Emily Whitman’s YA novel RADIANT DARKNESS and Rosanne Parry’s middle grade novel HEART OF A SHEPHERD debuted in 2009 to great critical acclaim. Both authors are deep in the midst of second-book revisions right now!

Carmen Bernier-Grand’s DIEGO: BIGGER THAN LIFE and Virginia Euwer Wolff’s THIS FULL HOUSE were both finalists for the 2009 Oregon Book Award (Young Adult Literature). Carmen’s book also won a 2010 Pura Belpre Honor. She is the author of many other children’s books.

Do we revel in visionary showers?

YA author Suzanne Young’s first novel – THE NAUGHTY LIST – came out this month; it’s the first in a series of four books. Plus she just announced another two-book deal!

Middle grade author Heather Vogel Frederick is the author of eight hugely popular books.

Illustrator Matt Holm works with his award-winning author sister Jennifer Holm on the bestselling BABYMOUSE series - twelve books published with more on the way!

We scribble prolifically in the mist.

Librarian Sara Ryan writes novels and graphic novels for teens. Not only did her first YA novel, EMPRESS OF THE WORLD, debut to universal praise and accolades, it won the 2002 Oregon Book Award. Her second novel, THE RULES FOR HEARTS, won the 2008 Oregon Book Award! Authors who are also librarians are like bookish superheroes, aren’t they?

Perhaps the Reigning (get it? … reigning? … raining?) Oregon Queen of children’s literature is Cynthia Rylant, the award-winning author of more than one hundred much-loved books!

I could go on – after all, I’ve only mentioned children’s books authors – but this list should give you an idea of our fertile creative environment.

Fellow wet writers? Whose turn is it to do the Rain Dance this month?

L.K. Madigan is the author of FLASH BURNOUT, winner of the 2010 William C. Morris YA Debut Award, which honors a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens.  Her second novel, THE MERMAID’S MIRROR, comes out this fall. She does realize that plenty of other regions are home to vibrant literary communities … but she needed to say something interesting about weather, since her factual answer would have been: “I write mostly in the dark, before the sun comes up, so the weather doesn’t really affect me. The End.”

Lisa's award-winning novel is an excellent read. As for her rain theory...

 Hmmm, interesting ideas, Lisa, but while the "liquid sunshine" spills outside my window, I'm going to cuddle up with a blanket under my artificial sunlamp and hope the light brings inspiration

I first met Kristin Walker at a writers' conference when we were both unpublished. Then we ended up being 2009 Debs together! Her book got moved to 2010, but she'll still always be a Deb So I dug around and pulled out my 2009 Deb interview questions because Kristin's book is now out in the world! Welcome A Match Made In High School!

When a mandatory marriage education course forces Fiona to “try the knot” with super-jock Todd Harding, she’s convinced life could not possibly get any worse.  Until moments later, when her long-time crush is paired with her arch-enemy (otherwise known as Todd’s obscenely hot, slightly sadistic girlfriend).  But that’s nothing compared to her best friend’s fate – a year with the very shy, very goofy, very big Johnny Mercer.

A series of hilarious pranks and misunderstandings leave Fiona wondering: is there something her supposed “best friend” hasn’t told her? Could there be more to Johnny Mercer than a deep voice and an awesome music collection? And perhaps most intriguing of all, is it possible that Todd Harding could actually have a heart – and a brain – beneath his pretty-boy exterior?

Kristin's writing is so funny!

Thanks for stopping by, Kristin.On to the questions!

  Please tell us one thing you love about your book’s story or your characters.

  I love my main character, Fiona. I wish I'd been as smart-mouthed, uninhibited, and clever as she, when I was in high school. I definitely was as geeky and flawed.

  Where is your favorite place to write? What is your writing process like?

  I like to write on my laptop in bed. My writing process varies, but on the whole it's the dump-and-dissect method. I dump out the whole manuscript in the first draft, then go back to slash and burn through revisions. Many times.

       Tell us about one dream you’ve chased in your life (other than getting a novel published) and how it turned out.

  Growing up, all I ever wanted to be was an actor. I have a BA in theatre arts from Penn State and I worked at a resident theatre company after I graduated. But I gave it up when my husband and I had our first child. It was an insanely good trade. I'm very lucky.

That does sound like a worthy trade To find out more about Kristin, check out her website