Anyone? (30 page)

Even though she hides behind the black, she’s still
beautiful. Extremely so. I’m pretty jealous of her, too.

We used to be best friends, back before she changed and way
before my accident. But now, she won’t even look at me. I suppose that is my
fault. When she was fifteen and was bit and changed to a blood sucker, my
father did what parents who are afraid for their children tend to do: he
prohibited me from ever hanging around with her again. He didn’t even give me a
chance to explain my sudden disappearance from her life. I was just forced to
stop taking her calls.

Karma has a real funny way of making you pay for being
unkind. Look at me. I’m a zombie. The lowliest monster of them all. My own
friends—Becky, Amy, and Danielle—no longer have anything to do with me. Just
thinking of them turns my attention to the front of the bus. Becky is hanging
all over Tyler. He looks like he’s enjoying the attention and my own
non-beating heart breaks a little more. Rumor has it that my ex-best friend and
my ex-boyfriend are going steady. But as I watch them together, it looks as
though the rumors aren’t rumors at all.

I look back to Willow. No one teases her. She’s lucky that
way. I think a lot of it has to do with her striking beauty. Everyone can see
it despite her attempts to hide it under all that black.

She’s trying to hide her beauty; I’m trying to hide my ugly.

We have a lot in common. If only she’d acknowledge me, but
she never does. She walks to the back of the bus, not because she smells, which
she doesn’t, but because that’s where all the L.I.’s have to sit, and she
slides onto a bench opposite of mine. She doesn’t say anything, not to anybody,
and she pulls her dark hood up over her head and stares out the window.

Her bands are different from mine and Gunner’s. Her bands
are decorated with little crosses all the way around. I can see that her pale
wrists are red and raw because of them. They burn her skin, much how the silver
bands affect Gunner. Besides being a pain in the butt, mine only annoys me. But
then again, maybe mine does cause a similar reaction and I just can’t feel it.

I feel sorry for the both of them because I can’t imagine
wearing something that always hurts. But I’d rather wear a cuff that hurt me
than be me. That’s for sure.

I’d be a vampire or a werewolf over being a zombie any day.

I just wish someone had thought to ask me before dooming me
to this kind of existence.

DESERT RICE

This critically-acclaimed, award-winning
Contemporary/Upper YA novel is now available. For more information on this book,
please visit the
Evolved
Publishing
website.

~~~~~

Winner: League of Utah Writers 2013 – Gold Quill
Award

~~~~~

Winner: Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal 2013 – Young
Adult: Coming of Age

~~~~~

DESERT FLOWER

This much anticipated sequel to
Desert Rice
is now
available. For more information on this book, please visit the
Evolved
Publishing
website.

~~~~~

Description of
Desert Rice:

Samantha Jean Haggert is a beautiful twelve-year-old girl,
but no one knows it. All they see is an awkward boy in a baseball cap and baggy
pants. Sam’s not thrilled with the idea of hiding her identity, but it’s all
part of her brother’s plan to keep Sam safe from male attention and hidden from
the law. Fifteen-year-old Jacob will stop at nothing to protect his sister,
including concealing the death of the one person who should have protected them
in the first place--their mother.

Sam and Jacob try to outrun their past by stealing the
family car and traveling from West Virginia to Arizona, but the adult world
proves mighty difficult to navigate, especially for two kids on their own.
Trusting adults has never been an option; no adult has ever given them a good
reason. But when Sam meets “Jesus”--who smells an awful lot like a horse--in
the park, life takes a different turn. He saved her once, and may be willing to
save Sam and her brother again, if only they admit what took place that fateful
day in West Virginia. The problem? Sam doesn’t remember, and Jacob isn’t
talking.

~~~~~

Praise for
Desert Rice
:

“First, a disclosure: I was Angela’s literary agent back in
2010/2011 and I was in love with this book. I knew it would be an almost
impossible sell to publishers who were looking for the next big vampire or
zombie book (which, as it turns out, Angela appears to have followed this one
with). We got turned down for all the wrong reasons... and now, a smaller
publisher has picked it up for all the right ones: #1 of which is, it’s a
damned good book.” –
A.B.
at Amazon

“I’m a VERY difficult reader to please and this isn’t a book
I would typically read but I read it and boy was I blown away. This novel
captivated me, not from the first page but from the very first sentence, where
we are brought smack in the middle of the action. The voice of the innocent and
mostly naïve narrator, Samantha, is honest and real as she navigates through
two journeys; an inner journey of the issues surrounding becoming a teenager
(nicely addresses some tween topics), and a journey of dealing with the world
around her.” –
M. Charafeddine (Book Haven)

“There are books that are un-put-downable. I fall so deep
into these books it’s as if I am a living, breathing character involved in the
chaos, heartache and adventures played out before my eyes. Desert Rice was no
exception. The first page pulled me into a story full of heroism, plot
thickening, and cliff hanging moments. A book is many things to one person. And
to that one person, a book holds many chances for time travel, fast paced
adventure and a bond with people you love and will never meet. To me, this book
held a world I’d gladly ad to my shelf so I can visit often.” –
Nannette
Pitts

“I seriously still have chills on my arms!! Angela Scott has
some of the best first chapters and mid book twists that I have ever read.”
–Booklover
Blogger

THE ZOMBIE WEST SERIES

Book 1 –
Wanted: Dead or Undead

Book 2 –
Survivor Roundup

Book 3 –
Dead Plains

~~~~~

OR GET ALL 3 BOOKS IN 1, WITH

SPECIAL BONUS MATERIAL, IN:

The Zombie West Trilogy (Special Omnibus Edition)

~~~~~

This romantic zombie western series, perfect for readers
13 and older, is now available. For more information on these books, please
visit the
Evolved
Publishing
website
.

~~~~~

Wanted: Dead or Undead
has won multiple Awards,
including:

WINNER:
Kindle Book Review Best Indie Book of
2012 – Young Adult
WINNER:
League of Utah Writers Gold Quill Award 2012

FINALIST:
The 2012 USA Best Book Awards (USA Book
News) – Young Adult

2ND PLACE:
The 2012 Sharp Writ Book Awards –
Young Adult

~~~~~

WANTED: DEAD OR UNDEAD
:

Trace Monroe doesn’t believe in luck. He never has. But when
a fiery-headed cowgirl saunters through the saloon doors, wielding shotguns and
a know-how for killing the living dead, he believes he just may be the luckiest
man alive.

Trace wants to join Red’s posse, but she prefers to work
alone--less messy that way. In order to become her traveling companion, Trace
has to agree to her terms: no names, no questions, and if he gets bit, he can’t
beg for mercy when she severs his brain stem.

He agrees, knowing only that Red is the sharpest shooter he’s
ever encountered. The fact she’s stunning hasn’t escaped his attention either.

What he doesn’t know, is that Red has a very good reason to
be on top of her game. She not only has the answer for how they can all outlive
the plague taking over the wild, wild west, she IS the answer.

~~~~~

SURVIVOR ROUNDUP
:

Red always knew she would have to face the man who nearly
destroyed her. She just didn’t figure it would happen so soon....

With the plague sweeping across the nation, destroying many
and turning others into walking corpses, survivors head West in search of a
chosen land, a place designed to keep the infected out, while sealing survivors
inside. In theory, the idea seems the only way to keep humanity alive. In
practice, it doesn’t matter whether a person is on the inside or the out—there
is no humanity.

...And even though John Gatherum hunted her down and
instigated their reunion, Red’s no longer the passive girl he once manipulated.
This time, she has a hidden agenda of her own.

Kill him. Save her family. Save herself.

~~~~~

DEAD PLAINS
:

Sometimes, the ones you least suspect are the ones that
should worry you the most.

People aren’t always what they seem, as Red has experienced
all too well. Strangers are feared, towns are avoided, and everyone’s
intentions are scrutinized... even those closest to her. Her coveted ability has
been revealed to far too many people, and now that a tiny heartbeat thumps and
grows beneath her own, the risk has never been greater.

As the group of ten searches for a safe haven, a place to
finally call home, the sobering reality of it all finally settles over them:
nowhere is safe, nothing is permanent, and death is everywhere. One by one, Red’s
reluctant posse grows smaller, as death claims some, and circumstance claims
others.

It couldn’t be a worse time to bring a newborn into the
world... but the baby is coming.

~~~~~

Praise for
Wanted: Dead or Undead
:

“It was well written, well plotted and VERY entertaining
(even the lovey dovey aspects of it!) If you like a good shoot out, and zombies
trying to eat your brains for brunch, pick it up... you won’t be sorry.” -
KindleObsessed
Reviews

“I should probably preface this review by warning you that I
don’t care for Westerns, or Zombies. The fascinating thing about this, is that
Angela Scott has managed to combine them into a story that I absolutely LOVE! I
had so much fun reading this book, and somehow couldn’t wait to find out what
happens next while hating that each page was bringing me closer to the end of
it (is the sequel out yet? when can I read THAT?! Pant, Pant, Pant)” -
Rebecca
L. Fisk “BookWorm”

“If you enjoyed The Forest of Hands and Trees, then you’ll
enjoy this zombie novel set in the old west. Angela Scott does a tremendous job
of finding the perfect balance between the zombie part, the romance part, and
the emotional part. The writing was fantabulous and certain events totally
sucked me in
”
-
Laura Pauling

“Let me start by saying that this book is exactly what you’d
want. You look at the title and the concept, and you think, “Wow, that’s a cool
idea,” and you open the book and start reading, and it turns out that the book
and idea ARE cool. No disappointment here: this one’s a thrilling survival tale
set in an apocalyptic Old West, and it’s definitely worth the read.”
-
John
Anthony Allen