QSFer Nancy M. Griffis has a new queer sci fi book out: Fat Girl Finds Love at the End of the World.
As a makeup artist in Hollywood, Beth had seen a lot of weird things over the years, but actual zombies took the cake. With no help from the government, the fully-armed neighborhood steps up to keep the streets safe.
On a supply run, Beth ends up face-to-face with a shotgun held by the most gorgeous woman she’d ever seen and has to wonder… Why did it take a zombie apocalypse for her to find love?
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Giveaway
Nancy is giving away an eBook copy of Children of the Temple: Immortal Templar knight Laurent and his magic-wielding partner Damian take on a seemingly simple job to protect a young woman whose family is slaughtered by a powerful demon. This turns into a quest for all three to stop the demon from unleashing something ancient and evil that the earth hasn’t seen since long before the Old Testament… something that wants to unleash Hell on earth.
Excerpt
I never really have a problem finding dates. I’m a pretty fun, easy-going person if I say so myself, and women like that… to date. Apparently, settling down is a whole ’nother ballgame. Still, I was comfortable with myself and my lot in life, as the saying goes, so not finding True Love didn’t bother me all that much. I had my friends, the occasional girlfriend, a great job, and overnight “friends” pretty much whenever I wanted.
If something nagged at me somewhere deep inside, I generally ignored it and went out dancing, burying that sliver of loneliness under music and rhythm and the soft curves of near-strangers.
Hiking was just as much of a disaster as Beth knew it would be. She was sweaty and gross in about ten minutes flat. Her shorts were uncomfortable, her boots didn’t quite fit – blisters blossomed in twenty minutes flat – and her long, dark hair sucked in the sunlight to roast her brain because she had forgotten a hat. Braiding and pinning it up didn’t help, it just increased the intensity of the heat.
The only good thing that came of the morning was meeting Jenny Hu, a gorgeous Asian woman only about three inches taller than Beth. That was good. It meant she wouldn’t get a crick in the neck if they made it to the make-out stage.
They said goodbye to the various members of Dykes Who Hike around eleven and walked back to Tallie’s truck. Beth had just about enough energy to haul herself into the damn thing; it was lifted” an extra couple of feet with giant tires. Beth was mostly convinced her six-foot-three friend had done it just to silently laugh every time Beth got in the damn thing.
“Dibs on Jenny!” Tallie said as soon as they were both settled.
Beth scowled. “Really? What are we, twelve-year-old boys?”
Tallie grinned. “Sometimes, yeah.”
Beth rested her head back and said, “Fine, whatever. Just turn on the a/c.”
Tallie chuckled and turned on the engine before blasting the a/c.
Beth moaned in appreciation.
“You know, if you just exercised more…”
“Don’t even start.”
“But…”
Beth glared at her. “Seriously. Don’t. I’m not some Hollywood starlet, nor do I want to be, so just shut up about it.”
Tallie sighed, but dropped it.
It was really the only thing they ever fought about. Tallie was basically an Amazon who’d played sports her whole life and truly didn’t comprehend being fat. She thought it was a matter of willpower over genetics, but Beth hadn’t found a way to conquer genetics yet and she’d tried just about everything there was to do. She’d stopped dieting in her mid-twenties. And it wasn’t like she was unhealthy; her blood pressure, heart, cholesterol, sodium, every possible test she took came back perfectly fine. She wasn’t even diabetes material. So Beth had shrugged, given the middle finger to fate, and gotten on with her life.
They were quiet for a few minutes as Tallie pulled onto the freeway to get back to the city. Once they were in traffic, she said, “I just worry about you.”
“I know. But don’t. I’m healthy as a horse,” Beth replied. She changed the subject with, “Where do you want to grab lunch?”
Tallie shot her an incredulous look, eyebrows lifting almost to her hairline, and Beth thought, Okay, maybe lunch wasn’t the best subject change.
Defensive, Beth said, “What? You can’t tell me you didn’t work up an appetite!”
Tallie rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the traffic. It was surprisingly light for a Saturday, especially given that it was nearly lunch. They passed three different fender-benders, which would normally be the signal for traffic to stop, but thankfully it cooperated. Two of the three drivers argued and shoved each other back and forth by the crumpled cars. The third they passed by too quickly, but she really hoped she didn’t see a violent struggle going on behind the cars.
“Uh, Tallie?”
“Yeah?”
But Tallie wouldn’t have seen anything because she was driving and Beth could hardly demand she turn around for what might or might not be a problem. Uneasy, stomach tightening, Beth shook her head. “Never mind.”
They stopped at Beth’s favorite Thai place and brought the food back to her apartment.
“God, I want your roommate’s room,” Tallie complained as they set the food on the table. “Where is she now?”
Beth grinned. “Alaska, I think? And I offered it to you last time it came up.”
Tallie scowled and said, “Not my fault Lisa turned out to be a flake and left me after two months.”
“How many times do you have to be a lesbian stereotype before you realize that three dates does not actuallymake a U-Haul commitment?
“Fuck off. It was five dates and our leases coincided. It seemed like fate.”
Beth snickered and pulled down plates and glasses.
They settled comfortably on the overstuffed sofa and turned on the television, only to get the satellite company’s logo on every channel.
“Did you forget to pay the bill again?” Tallie asked around a mouthful of Pad Thai.
Beth shook her head, scowling and putting her plate on the coffee table. “No. And I never got a call back about last Wednesday, either. I’m calling them right now.”
She got a busy signal when she did, though, and scowled.
“I bet there’s an outage. Maybe a power line down.”
Beth shrugged at Tallie’s opinion and disconnected. She walked over to the window and peered out the blinds. Outside seemed abnormally quiet; being a fairly wide street, it was usually a pseudo-dragway on the weekends. “It just seems like there’s a lot of weird things happening these days.”
Tallie rolled her eyes. “This is LA. Weird things happen every day.”
It wasn’t like Beth could argue that.
Author Bio
Who am I? Writer. Boston Irish. Queer. Angeleno. Vegan. Tea aficionado. Whovian. Trekkie. TV/Movie addict. I’ve traveled a bit of the world and live vicariously through NASA. I love writing urban fantasy, scifi, mystery, and maybe a little romance here and there. Shakespeare is my writing hero. Pronouns: She/Her.
Twitter: nmgrif
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