Fan Art, Fam Art, and how to win "Undead Much?"

Hey folks,

I'll start by saying that I think fan art is the coolest thing ever. When I see other authors showcasing drawings, paintings, or youtube trailers made by their readers, I get author envy BIG time. You may be saying, "But what about the glowing literary reviews? What about the huge movie deals? You don't have those, Stacey Jay. Don't all those things make you envious?"

Honestly...okay, sometimes. But not really that often. I figure I'm at my own place in my author journey and comparing myself to others is a waste of time. I get to write books for a living, who am I to complain, right?

But, fan art? Gouge my green, rotten little heart out with a spoon. It makes me zombie rabid with jealousy. Perhaps because I am a fan artist, myself:

Here's Hello Kitty if she were a zombie:



And here's Stewie from Family Guy if he were a zombie:



And here's Spongebob if he were a zombie and also colored by my five year old:



Okay, so my fan art is...not the best. But, trust me, my original stuff isn't much better.

Here's my baby if he were missing his legs and had weird elf ears:



And here's a vampire mermaid zombie being stalked by a little, purple fish:



Yeah. I know. Sigh. I want to be able to draw SO. BADLY. I've always coveted the ability, but alas, it was not to be. My skills are limited at best and suckity suck suck at worst.

And unfortunately, it looks like my son missed the able-to-paint-things-that-look-like-people gene from his bio dad. Here's the "pretty picture" five drew me this weekend. I think it might be square pigs.



My stepdaughters faired much better. Here's a really kick butt fairy the Princess drew:



And get a load of this tiger eye from 15. Obviously, she's been holding out on me and could have been my artist slave for years. Years! When I think of all the days of slav-i-tude I let slip through my fingers I want to weep.



But, alas, child labor is against the law and my stepdaughters have lives and stuff. So I can't make them sit around drawing pictures inspired by YOU ARE SO UNDEAD TO ME. But perhaps there is someone out there...someone with talent who feels moved to artistic expression by my book? If you were so moved, I would be so grateful. Heck, I would even send you an Advanced Reader Copy of "Undead Much?" to thank you for your time.

Okay, so you might be asking yourself, "Is this author really bribing people with an ARC to try to get them to draw fan art and send it to her?"

And the answer would be, um...yes. Yes I am. (I got a box of TEN extra ARCs from fabulous Editor Lexa last week and it just seems wrong to keep all of them for myself and the October contest. Wouldn't you agree?)

So send me something pretty (or zombie-ish), inspired by YOU ARE SO UNDEAD TO ME and you could win a book. Please NOTE: If you send me something, please write in your email that you have given me to permission to post the image on my blog/website and let me know what name you would like me to use to credit you with the artwork. (If you're underage, I will not use your entire name.) Um, assuming more than one person sends me a picture, I'll draw next week to see who the winner will be.

And if no one sends me a picture, I will cry. I may film it and post it on the blog for your amusement, as well. Because I live to amuse. Live for it, man.

Happy Monday,

Stacey Jay