Tofu Vegan Zombies--(What makes your story different from all the others in your genre?)

( Don't miss the YouTube Video at the bottom. It's Awesome)

Okay, so most of you know that I'm writing a western romance with some zombie flare. Because of the zombie aspect, I tend to be directed to various zombie links by zombie enthusiasts or people will tell me their favorite zombie movies (Zombieland and Fido rank the highest). I've played zombie board games and I even own a copy of "The Zombie Night Before Christmas" (not for kids by the way). So it's safe to say I dig zombie weirdness.

What most of you don't know is that I have a vegan husband (vegan weirdness?). The difference between a vegan and a vegetarian, in case you are unsure, is that vegans eat NO animal products of any kind, including milk, dairy, whey, lard, gelatin, etc... If an animal produced it or it's produced from an animal, vegans won't eat it. Or such is the case with my husband. He's pretty staunch in his belief and has been a vegan for 18 years now (way to go, babe).

Am I vegan, you may be wondering? Ha,ha,ha. No. It's too tough a lifestyle for me. The way I look at it, man/woman didn't climb to the top of the food chain to eat mushed up soybeans and broccoli.

Oh, when we were first married I tried drinking Soymilk and giving up eating meat. It only lasted about a week. I come from a meat and potatoes kind of family and as I figure it, if we weren't supposed to eat the cows, then they needed to stop tasting so dang delicious. Vegetables and salads needed to step up to the plate and deliver a palatable goodness for which they lack. Hmmm...what do I want to eat today, let's see...grass sprouts with a lovely vinaigrette or a nice char broiled piece of steak?  Sorry. Steak every time. Vegetables are at a disadvantage. I feel bad for them.

In my home, there is one vegan (husband), one vegetarian (my daughter), two carnivores (my sons), and one very frustrated mother (yep, me). But somehow, I tend to manage it. I just know not to allow veggies to touch my sons' steak or to allow meat, in any form, to come near my husband's or daughter's food. It's a tricky balance. As for me, cover my veggies in steak sauce and we're good to go--see, I'm easy.

Anyway, on to the zombies. My husband came across this animation/cartoon that included a tofu vegan zombie. So of course, I have to share this with you all. I mean, how could I not? Also, there are missionaries in this cartoon. Mormon missionaries? Not sure. They do wear tags and are knocking on doors in the necessary set of two, but the pamphlet in their hands throws me off. Either way, it has all the elements for a great story line--tofu, zombies, missionaries, creepy daughter, mad scientist, monkey, and even a big wheel bike. Jeez, I wish I would have come up with this idea. Okay, maybe it's not the greatest idea, but going out on a limb and presenting something off the wall different--that's okay by me.

Different can be good, if done well. So, to provide some cohesiveness to this blog and to relate it to writing in some way, I want to ask, what makes you're story different from the others in your genre? Look at this zombie, for instance--he has tofu for a brain. That's different. Never heard of it. We have genres and sub-genres for a reason--people like a certain type of writing and expect certain things to happen. But what makes yours special? Every book has to have it's stand out quality to elevate it above the rest. Does your novel offer something different than the others you're competing against? Fingers crossed, let's hope so. We all want our books to stand out . . . in the good kinda way.

Oh, and if you haven't had a chance to check out the group blog I'm a part of called Ready, Aim. Hook Me, please do. We're looking for submissions to review and would love to have some different genres to read--we've received quite a bit of YA fantasy. A good mystery, horror, romance, or suspense would be a nice change. I also posted over there today about how important the first line in your novel is to hook 2 out of 3 Hook'ers. Please check it out. 

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