To get to know more about what inspires her and and her characters, I asked what her main character’s theme song would be. Here’s what Stacey had to say:

Karen Vera’s theme song would probably be something like “Because I’m Awesome” by the Dollyrots. Karen has a very high opinion of her talents and abilities, but is also able to poke fun at herself, which I think makes her a character who’s fun to laugh “at” and “with”.

You can get My So-Called Death from Amazon, your local indie book store (Stacey recommends Lemuria Books in Jackson, Mississippi), or your library.

There are so many artists I admire, but one I’d love to bring attention to is April McGuire. She designed the t-shirt for “Undead Much?”, which you can see here.

She’s an amazing young artist and I love her work.

I found April on deviant art, which is one of my preferred places to browse when I’m procrastinating. As exciting as museums and society-approved art can be, it’s just as exciting to see what’s going on underground, what up-and-coming artists are up to.

Want more zombies? Go to Stacey’s website! You can even submit your own zombie art.

Pick up Undead Much online, at an independent bookstore (Stacey recommends Square Books Jr. in Oxford Mississippi), or at your local public library.

In Secrets of Truth & Beauty, Dara is a former child pageant star. So, in order to introduce you to the wonderful authors and characters of the 2009 Debutantes, I am hosting a Debs Pageant on my blog.

While I would like to bring these characters to life and have an actual pageant, broadcast on national television, and hosted by Mario Lopez. However, I have yet to perfect my Fictional Reality Maker Machine. So, instead I developed a short questionnaire that will replicate all the thrill and excitement of a real pageant.

Our first contestant is Megan Berry, heroine of Stacey Jay’s You Are So Undead to Me. First, a little background:

About You Are So Undead to Me
Megan Berry’s social life is so dead. Literally. Fifteen-year-old Megan Berry is a Zombie Settler by birth, which means she’s part-time shrink to a bunch of dead people. All Megan wants is to be normal–and go to homecoming. But someone in school is using black magic to turn average, angsty Undead into flesh-eating Zombies, and it’s looking like homecoming will turn out to be a very different kind of party–the bloody kind. You Are So Undead to Me was released on January 22nd, so you can buy it now at Amazon or your local bookstore.

About Stacey Jay
Stacey Jay is a workaholic with three pen names, four kids, and a decidedly macabre sense of humor. She loves zombies, creepies, crawlies, blood, guts, gore, and of course, romance. “You are So Undead to Me”, Stacey’s debut paranormal Young Adult Romance featuring Zombie Settler, Megan Berry will be a January 22nd 2009 release from Razorbill books. Find out more on her website.

Now the pageant!

Character name: Megan Berry
Age: 15
Biography: Megan enjoys hip hop dancing, hanging with her best friend Jess, and drooling over the hot Junior in her chem class…or at least she did until her powers for Settling the dead returned just before her sixteenth birthday. Now she spends her time talking Unsettled zombies back into their graves and fighting off black magically raised corpses with a hunger for human flesh.

What is your talent?
I’ve been dancing practically since I could walk, but I’m guessing zombie Settling would get me more points for originality. Unfortunately, that’s supposed to be kept top secret from the human world. (This is a human pageant right?)

Who is your escort?
Um…who all is going to read this? I don’t want to just say someone’s name and assume he’s going to agree and then have him say no after the entire world has read this and seen me make a complete fool out of myself. So…yeah…can I just say TBA on that?

And now the interview portion . . .What color best represents you and why?
If I were a color, I would be the many varied hues of a bruise. Purple in the center, black near the edges, with a sickly yellow surrounding, all showcased against corpse white flesh because…um…I don’t know why. That answer just sounded better in my head than “red because it rocks”.

Gah! I’m not very good at this pageant stuff, am I? I should probably take rain check on the whole thing. I’m still stressed out about the escort question and I don’t have the chest to hold up the strapless dress and I look like an abused raccoon when I try to put on eyeliner and this seems like the kind of thing that requires eyeliner so…yeah…thanks but…um…yeah…

Thank you Megan and Stacey!