tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74324274694025049862024-02-07T17:13:18.441-08:00Vampires and RobotsThe Official Ramblings of Sci-Fi & Fantasy Author Christina McMullenChristinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10845212811970590868noreply@blogger.comBlogger186125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432427469402504986.post-31935899326732684182023-01-31T17:58:00.002-08:002023-02-01T08:28:43.368-08:00Playing Catch-up, Major Announcements, and Making No Promises Oh hey! Look! It's 2023!Oh yeah, it's been 2023 for a whole month now. My last post was in early November. Shocking, I know. But by now we're all used to my inconsistencies, so I am neither going to dwell, nor am I going to apologize. Let us instead, get on with the good stuff, beginning with...A Space Girl From Earth is now an audiobook!Cue the angelic choral arrangementTo date, this is myChristinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10845212811970590868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432427469402504986.post-54871142960531588912022-11-08T12:45:00.001-08:002022-11-08T12:45:29.880-08:00Staring Into The Eyes Of The Sun: Looking Back At The Last Ten YearsThis coming Saturday marks a momentous occasion. An occasion that, if you read the title of this post, likely doesn't come as any surprise. That's right, I'm talking about the ten year anniversary of publishing what would be my first Science Fantasy novel, The Eyes of The Sun. I've had thoughts as to how I'd planned to mark this moment for a while now. At one point, I'd hoped to do a series Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10845212811970590868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432427469402504986.post-26672222248845305762022-10-27T20:00:00.129-07:002022-10-28T08:15:31.745-07:00Great Pumpkins! It's The Not-So-Spooky Halloweeen Book Sale!Hello! It's official! SPOOKY WEEKEND is here! Whether you're trick or treating, passing out candy, passing out from too much candy, or hiding with the lights off, we here at Vampires & Robots Inc* wish you the happiest and safest Halloween weekend. And what better way to stay safe than curled up with a good book or twenty? Well, we've got you covered! Much like that cool house on the corner Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10845212811970590868noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432427469402504986.post-43931605056251491722022-10-09T15:57:00.001-07:002022-10-09T15:57:39.142-07:00What's Going On Here?Hello beings of Earth (and anyone else who might be dropping by)!It's been a bit since I've really done anything, but now, after almost 10 years of sporadic posts, is that really so weird? I think we've quite easily determined that what started out as a marketing means for an author all those years ago has managed the remarkable task of becoming something even more tedious and mundane. But Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10845212811970590868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432427469402504986.post-34323599539317257572022-08-11T20:00:00.044-07:002022-08-11T20:00:00.188-07:00Sweet Free Summertime Reads Is Today! Today's the day! All of the books below are FREE today and many continue to be free all weekend*! As always, we here at Vampires & Robots Inc** have done our due diligence to ensure that we are being truthful, but as always, things happen. Be sure to check the price before clicking the buy button. Happy reading!A small update and request:
<!--aryl-->
One of the authors who Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10845212811970590868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432427469402504986.post-11078751943384962462022-08-08T10:45:00.000-07:002022-08-08T10:45:00.895-07:00We're Doing It Again! Hello, guess what? I'm hosting another promo. That's great, but wait, there's more! This time, you see, ALL the books will be free!With emphasis on shorts and poetry.But fear not!Novels won't be shut out.We've got those too, some familiar, some new.So join us this Friday, the 12th of August.Please share, if you would, to give us a boost.Okay, apologies for the abysmal attemptChristinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10845212811970590868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432427469402504986.post-21012660535081597992022-05-12T17:44:00.002-07:002022-05-12T20:39:28.161-07:00Lucky 13 FREE and Discount Books is Happening TODAY Hello, readers! Today, Friday the 13th, in the month of May and the year 2022, we are bringing back the Lucky 13 book promotion! I have collaborated with 13 authors/publishers who are offering a whole boatload of titles for free or 99 cents all day! Have a look around, grab some books, and I encourage everyone to click through each author's website or author page because there are a lot Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10845212811970590868noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432427469402504986.post-60351873480626172612022-05-05T19:06:00.003-07:002022-05-05T21:16:07.859-07:00I'd Like You To Meet A Few Great Authors Next week we have a Friday the 13th and if you're one of the few who has stuck with this blog for the past million years, you'll know that this is one of my favorite excuses to host a promotion. You'll also know that it's been quite a few years since I've done one of these, but seeing as I'm working my way back into the world of writing, it's time once again. For this promotion, I stuck Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10845212811970590868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432427469402504986.post-63641700531003989652022-05-01T08:44:00.001-07:002022-05-02T07:51:42.765-07:00Of Books and Borg This weekend, I ran my first book promotion in years. I spent not a small sum. Certainly not as much as some, but more than one day's wage at my day job, so it was significant to me, especially now, when literally everything has become so expensive. Whether I'll make that amount up remains to be seen, but early indicators suggest no, I likely will not. And as I type this, I'm looking Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10845212811970590868noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432427469402504986.post-27966140357954774572022-04-14T09:29:00.000-07:002022-04-14T09:29:43.145-07:00Oops I Did it Again Internet, meet Adele:Yes, I realize I used a Brittney Spears song to announce a dog named Adele and yes, I'm pretty sure I used the same song for a previous blog title. Deal with it.Last week, I took a little time off to revel in the launching of my first book in many years (more about that here), so of course instead of doing a whole bunch of book promotion stuff, I went out and got a dog.Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10845212811970590868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432427469402504986.post-20167546865024716912022-03-23T13:50:00.002-07:002022-03-23T13:59:06.071-07:00Maxima City's Villains Are Back! It's here, folks!Here we go again!Woo hoo! Just look at that cover! But don't look too closely. I've been out of the game for a few years and I'm terrible at digital art. Seriously though, this is a pretty big deal for me. Poster Child is the 4th Maxima City book, but only the second one written by me. As you probably know, I reached out a few years back to fellow authors CB Archer and Ben Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10845212811970590868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432427469402504986.post-41992822018859270902022-03-16T12:28:00.000-07:002022-03-16T12:28:51.976-07:00Reinventing the Author (a housekeeping update)Hey, guess what? I'm back! That's right, I've finished a book and it's going to be released soon! It's called Poster Child and it will be the fourth in the Maxima City Talent Series. This is pretty huge in and of itself, so I'll soon do a dedicated post with the cover, blurb, and hopefully a pre-order link, but this post is going to be a little bit more about my broader writing career. Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10845212811970590868noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432427469402504986.post-62005315775744805992022-01-13T17:53:00.005-08:002022-01-13T17:53:37.915-08:00Confessions of an Apartment Therapy Addict (Mini Office Tour and Design Hack Rant) Hello and welcome to 2022, a magical land where ALL OF MY GODDAMNED PREDICTIONS ABOUT THIS EFFING PANDEMIC HAVE COME TRUE BECAUSE HUMANS ARE SELFISH ASSHOLES.Ahem. Now that I got that off my chest, all is not entirely bad so far this year. In the fall of 2021 we finally found a house that we love. While there were a few things I could complain about (like the former owners not cleaning Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10845212811970590868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432427469402504986.post-21607933987511624352021-08-24T12:29:00.004-07:002021-08-24T12:29:30.505-07:00The (small) Dog Days of Summer I'm sure you've seen the memes, the ones that show something great with the caption "my fall plans" contrasted with something terrible captioned "the delta variant." Well, a similar situation happened to us recently.In retrospect, I should have known that making any travel plans would be a bad idea. Especially when the CDC decided to prematurely pull the mask recommendation for vaccinated Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10845212811970590868noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432427469402504986.post-58340722457153811542021-02-28T14:04:00.002-08:002021-02-28T17:30:35.029-08:00Hindsight Is...It's been a minute, hasn't it? Seems like only a decade ago I was posting silly diet tips in an attempt to move the ol' blog in some direction that wasn't entirely book related. Wait, that was only a year ago?Oh.Well then...2020 was one hell of a year, but I can't see any indication that 2021 is going to be anything less than a zillion times worse. That I didn't once drag out the computer and Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10845212811970590868noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432427469402504986.post-68403754777519972572020-02-04T08:33:00.002-08:002020-02-05T08:36:15.218-08:00Top Diet Tips You Won't Believe! (or maybe you will, I don't know your level of dietary skepticism)Am I sorry for the click bait title? Maybe, maybe not. I mean, in a way, it's not a lie. I'm about to list a few things I've discovered that have helped me live a more health conscious lifestyle, but whether or not they help you is a whole different matter.
I currently have a constantly changing work schedule, which has been taking a toll on my ability to plan healthy and balanced meals. Not Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10845212811970590868noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432427469402504986.post-84103496442761545302020-01-14T20:09:00.000-08:002020-01-14T20:09:13.421-08:00The Vegan VampireOnce upon a time, I had a very real fear of mad cow disease. I honestly thought it would be the thing that set off the real life zombie apocalypse (and yet I chose to use bird flu in Going Green, go figure). As such, I began to remove meat from my diet. Rather, I tried, but for a while, it looked like mad cow was going to win because I had no guidance in the vegetarian world and I was the kind ofChristinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10845212811970590868noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432427469402504986.post-11628865694447155722020-01-07T21:20:00.001-08:002020-01-07T21:20:03.818-08:00Rebooting The RobotTen years ago, I stood on a scale and saw a number that I hadn't previously seen in my adult life. It was a one. A one that was followed by two nines, but that didn't matter. It was a one, and not a two, which had been the only number I'd assumed I'd ever see and I was pretty amazed. I was certain that number meant the end to a number of real and perceived issues and that my life was about to Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10845212811970590868noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432427469402504986.post-55745147646716309292019-12-16T20:11:00.001-08:002019-12-16T20:11:39.416-08:00It's Time For Awards! The 2019 Vladdies Are Here!Greetings, humans. It is once again that time of year where the lazy meat sack steps aside and allows me to share with you the books that were good enough for me to allow your miserable existence to continue for another year. Though let's face it, there really was no stepping aside this year. Has she done anything at all to merit her continued relevance? Does one single month of "spooky" stories Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10845212811970590868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432427469402504986.post-47307006949525728122019-10-30T10:19:00.000-07:002019-10-30T10:46:24.577-07:00Spooky Season Part Four: The Night I Called Myself
Well, here we are. It's Halloween and I've been saving my spookiest true story for today. Now, to preface, this is going to be a somewhat long story. I originally started writing this as part of a book idea that never panned out and while I was writing, I went off on a bunch of tangents about where I was living at the time. I've tried to clean them up as much as I could, but in case it still Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10845212811970590868noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432427469402504986.post-22199251128957607172019-10-23T08:03:00.000-07:002019-10-23T08:07:48.814-07:00Spooky Season Part Three: Hush Hush, Keep It Down Now
Most hardcore ghost hunters and those of us who want to believe will tell you that ghosts are more than just ethereal visions of people in posh Victorian garb quietly reading in the library. Sometimes the presence of otherworldly spirits appear as unusually cold spots, floating orbs, or even sounds. In fact, one of the most popular bits of "proof" that ghosts exist come in the form of sounds andChristinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10845212811970590868noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432427469402504986.post-16379028961481254222019-10-08T18:12:00.001-07:002019-10-08T18:16:41.610-07:00Spooky Season Part Two: The CrashHello fellow humans! In this, the second creepy but true story, I'm going to go way back to when I was a wee kid. Okay, well I was about 14 and not so very wee by that age, but it was still a long time ago. The internet didn't exist, but my insomnia still did.
It was mid-summer and we'd just moved into a new house. I occupied what had originally been a den or rumpus room on the first floor, Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10845212811970590868noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432427469402504986.post-8790985363255979962019-10-01T22:04:00.000-07:002019-10-01T22:04:27.393-07:00Spooky Season Part One: Into The Woods
I always say I'm going to blog more and well, it's painfully obvious by the months and months that go by between posts that I'm not good at keeping that promise. But here I am now, making an attempt. Warning, seriously spooky things ahead. Well, sort of spooky, but if you scare easily, this is your warning.
This is Sally, guardian of the gates of heckin' frightful things.Pass her at your ownChristinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10845212811970590868noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432427469402504986.post-34084108481951059612019-09-24T17:59:00.001-07:002019-09-24T17:59:50.020-07:00Into The Great Wide Open
Hi folks. It's been a long-ass time since I've posted anything, hasn't it? Well, there's a reason or two. Mostly, I haven't had the time. I've been working a whole lot and as such, I haven't had a lot of time to do anything creative, let alone launch any projects. But I haven't been doing exactly nothing, despite the title of my last post back in April. I did actually start writing again and I'dChristinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10845212811970590868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432427469402504986.post-19951866919205608232019-04-23T22:08:00.000-07:002019-04-23T22:09:59.785-07:00All the Nothing I'm Doing
Hooray for referencing my own story title in this post title! How meta of me! Anyway, on with the blog:
At the moment, it's been over a year since I finished any serious writing. A year ago, after finishing The Kyroibi Trilogy, I'd planned to take some time off and get used to the day job before jumping back into what had become normal for the previous five years, which was multiple Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10845212811970590868noreply@blogger.com1