Don't Freeze Your Ass Off or Starve.

No matter where you live, when the Z.A. hits, you'll need to know how to build a fire. We're going to explore several ways to build a fire, but all have the same beginning. We'll cover this first, then move on to methods to get your fire going.

Materials -

Your fire is only as good as the materials you are burning. We all know wood burns, but if you just start throwing big ass logs on a tiny spark, you're screwed. You might get lucky if you have something combustible soaking the wood, but who is going to carry a ton of gasoline, kerosene, or alcohol on them? (Hint- those that do are going to be really slow and top of the zombie buffet)

You're going to need something small and light to get your tiny fire going, these are called Starters. A lot of people advocate dryer lint, but that all depends on the lint composition. Man made materials in clothing are often fire retardant. Your infant fire isn't going to get very far if your lint is collected from your typical household. Even regular cotton clothing often has fire retardant chemicals these days. Starters should be made from soft, light material that catches fire easily. Test your preferred started before ever depending on it in a survival situation. Here are a few ideas:

• Cotton balls soaked with petroleum jelly
• Old newspaper. Fold into tiny squares. Shred before putting under wood
• Wood shavings. Not sawdust.
  

What ever you use, place it under thin branches, then place thicker wood on top. A loose stack works best to allow air to feed your fire. All wood should be dry - use dead wood that has fallen from trees. Green wood will burn, but slow and with a lot of smoke. That can come in handy for keeping insects away, but can draw unwanted attention.

Building the Fire:

Place your starter on a bed of tiny branches that have been placed in a criss-cross fashion. It will look somewhat like a tic-tac-toe board. Make the branches have 3 to 4 layers if possible. On top of the starter, put a small pyramid or 'tee-pee' shape of more tiny branches. Leave an opening to reach the starter, about 4 inches wide (enough for your hand to fit in). Arrange another short 'tee-pee' shape around the first with thicker branches.

Light the starter with your lighter, match, firesteel, or focus your magnifying lens on the starter until it catches. If you need to feed small branches to the fire, go ahead, but use care. Don't bury your infant fire and smother it! Once the fires catches well, you can start putting larger branches on.

To douse the fire, use dirt. Don't pour water on the fire because the water can evaporate fast, leaving you with a face full of scalding steam and a fire that jumps back to life (sort of like a zombie fire. Arrrrrgh.)

Skills For Surviving the Z.A.

If you have read anything on survival, you have more than likely read lists of things you will need after the Z.A. begins. Flashlights, matches, this, that, and the other. But what most survival blogs or articles forget to tell you is just how you'll use the things in your survival kits. While it is great to have a lot of survival kits on hand, you're still fucked if you don't know how to use what you've put in them.

Of course there are those that say, "Well, if they don't know how to build a fire by spitting in the wind, fuck'em." -- That's moronic. The more people surviving may mean more mouths to feed, but it also means more people to help you fight the hordes. HORDES, people. Not one horde. Not a city full of zombies, but an entire fucking WORLD of zombies that are ready to rip the throats out of anything with a heartbeat.

(Honestly, if I came back from the dead all hungry and shit, I'd head for a nice all you can eat buffet with steak and taters. Not sure that I'd like raw human butt. To each their own.)

Without going into bug out bags or kits, do you have the following basic skills? If zombies starting banging on your walls tomorrow, could you do any of these? 

SKILLS:

Fire building- with lighter, matches, magnifying lens, firesteel, or more primitive ways.

Camp Cooking- With or without a mess kit.

Foraging - Identifying and gathering wild food.

Hunting - Actively tracking prey or passive snare/trap hunting.

Fishing - When all else fails, fish are nutritious and easier for survival novices.

Gardening - You can plant vegetables almost anywhere.

Sewing - We're not after fashion, we will need function.

Defense - Guns run out of ammo. Arrows break. Can you defend yourself in melee (close combat) ?

Repair - Learning basic repair isn't hard. This is where creativity counts.

Soapmaking - While not essential, making basic soap can help keep you, your clothes, and your utensils clean.

Candle making - It isn't rocket science.

These are skills that anyone can learn. They are not listed in order of importance and I'm sure that seasoned survivalists can come up with others.

What skills do YOU have? What do you want to learn?

They're Everywhere

Zombies are everywhere. Movies, television (The Walking Dead on AMC? Fabulous.), and novels. There's even a zombie erotic anthology. Hey, say what you will - fear ramps up the libido. Stress will be high and so will the horniness factor.

While I'm not 100% sure that the dead will walk the earth - I do believe that thanks to genetic manipulation and virus mutations, we will see something similar to the 28 Days/Weeks Later movies. The brain is a delicate machine. If something invades the brain we can see behavioral changes very quickly. The only thing that keeps many non-infected humans from attacking others for their belongings is the fact that there are laws in place to prevent it.

What if there were no punishment for those sort of crimes? What if crime as we know it became a by-gone word with no meaning? What if there were an infection much like the one in 28 Days Later that left humans little more than an angry animal out to kill anything in its path?

And on an alternate path - what if in the government laboratories around the world...what if just one had a virus that would restart a dead brain? Even if a shambling corpse walked until it rotted too far to move, what kind of damage would come before the thing fell apart?

In any of those scenarios, we're all fucked. Yes, there will be survivors. At the end of it all, who do you think would win? Will the survivors be able to fight millions of walking corpses without eventually breaking down? What about infected humans that may still have intelligence, but no morals or empathy?

You can increase your chances of survival. You can build a food stockpile, grow a garden, bug out to some country fortress, or build a bunker. There are thousands of things you can do to survive.

There are also thousands of things you can do to die.

What will you do?

Blurb It, Baby

My publisher contacted me with a request for some info that is pertinent to book publishing. Since my book is tentatively scheduled for release at the end of next month, it's time to start putting the finishing touches on. She needed info for the back of the book, some quotes from me, and my bio.

I hate writing about myself. I never know what to say. Pretty sure people that hate me have a ton they could contribute, maybe I should ask. You know, any press is good press. On the other hand, my husband would be really annoyed if I let my ex contribute anything.

Bios are damned hard to write. Unless it is your job to write them for other people. If that's you then get down with your bad self. Me? Trying to think what to say that doesn't sound stiff and stupid is almost impossible.

Uh, I like Reeses.

See?

I did come up with something that my friends loved. Or so they claim. Knowing some of them I would bet they're snickering behind their hands going, "Watch this. She's going to fall for it." Ah, what's done is done. You can see for yourself next month.

I'm  also harassing a few writers of zombie lit about doing blurbs. Well, not a few - one offered a while back. She's pretty awesome and has some popular zombie novels out right now. Who is it? I'm not telling until next month. NEENER.

What are blurbs, you might wonder. They're a few sentences from a writer you admire that is placed on your book cover, inside the book, or in the press release. Not every book has them and if you're lucky enough to have an author or two (or three) say they'll blurb you, then you are doing pretty good. One author I enjoy said no, but offered to help promote. It wasn't because they didn't like BloodBurn, they just didn't have time to read it.

When an author responds yes, no, or that they wish they could, but can't - thank them. Thank them profusely. That they took the time to reply in any way means a lot. Many authors have day jobs and even if they do not, writing and promoting their own work IS a full time job.

Alright, I'm off to do stuff. Take care and remember to thank your blurbers!

(Don't forget to check out my publisher tab at the top for new releases and books you might enjoy)

BloodBurn's Music

I was going to post my playlist. After realizing my taste in music might get people making fun of me, I'm going to share the good ones. You shall not know the Nickleback song...fuck. Busted.

Alright - 

Black Veil Brides - Wretched and Divine. Buy this album if you ever enjoyed ballads from hair metal of the 90s. It's a freaking novel in itself. A story in a CD? THANK YOU.

Hollywood Undead - All of their albums. You can get a taste of it where Layne gets bitchy and turns her 'give a fuck' switch to the off position.

Black Stone Cherry - Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. My favorite song is White Trash Millionaire. Because, TRAILER PARK.

Then we have a hodge-podge of stuff. AC/DC. Ozzy. Lita Ford. Eminem. Allen Toussaint. Type O Negative. HIM. Saliva. Bloodhound Gang. 3 Doors Down. Metallica. Lynrd Skynrd. Avenged Sevenfold.

I musn't forget- random music my old man was playing while popping players in the dome on CoD Black Ops 2. Gangster rap to old school Pantera.

My playlist for ShadowBurn will be full of mean, dark music. This is where shit gets real, so to say. The new albums from Avenged Sevenfold, Five Finger Death Punch, and Black Sabbath will be on that list.

So, what do you listen to? Suggestions for me?

*I have no idea why this entry has white background around the text. Can't get rid of it. Stupid Blogger.