Jennifer Brown

It's time to lunch with another main character, as part of my "Lunching with Leads" blog series, featuring main characters of debut YA authors. Today I'll be eating with Megan Berry, the main character in Stacey Jay's novel, YOU ARE SO UNDEAD TO ME.

About the Book:

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.

Wow! Zombies, homecoming, and black magic... this is going to be a great lunch!

Where are we eating?

Someplace meaty, but not too fancy. Probably a gourmet cheeseburger joint. (Mom's a vegetarian so there's none of the good red stuff at home.)

Not fancy, that's right up my alley! I could get into a good burger.

What's on the menu?

Cheeseburgers galore! All different kinds, with choice of yummy toppings. (Megan's going for avocado and a garlic aioli mayonnaise with some fried onions.)

Mmm... that sounds delicious. And it sounds like Megan's got some pretty sophisticated tastes, too. Clearly, this is no ordinary 15-year old I'm lunching with. Wonder what we should chat about?

Unicorns. Opposite of zombies. Nice, safe topic.

Unicorns. Check. What's the one subject I should stay away from?

Zombies. Bad for the digestion.

This is fun, but could be even more fun with more friends! Let's invite another guest to join us. Who would Megan most like to invite?

Ethan, of course, the object of her undying crushitude. (Though now she'll be asking for a hold on those onions and garlic aioli...or maybe just planning to get some sort of onion-breath-killing dessert.)

Yeah, we definitely want to remain breath-friendly with Ethan hanging around! So what I most want to know is how is Megan taking all this attention she's getting for being the main character in such a great book?

Scared to death. No one is supposed to know that she Settles the dead. If they find out...well...let's just say we get a taste of the unholy hell that would cause in book two.

Gosh, lunch hour's over already and I feel like we just got started. Only one thing left: dessert, and I've brought the candy! How does Megan eat a Reeses?

Nibbles all the edges off while sipping a coffee (another thing forbidden at her house) then noms the entire center in one big, final, fabulous bite.

Wow, it was lots of fun, gnoshing with a real-life Zombie Settler. Good luck to Megan and her author, Stacey Jay! I don't know about you, but I can't wait to see what surprises homecoming has in store!

About the Author:

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.

Visit Stacey Jay's website at: http://staceyjay.com

To buy a copy of YOU ARE SO UNDEAD TO ME, click here.

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Be sure to check back on March 10th, when I'll be lunching with the main character of Heather Duffy-Stone's novel, THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO TELL YOU.