And we're back with more sensationally silly discussion with John Migliore to chat about all his wild and wacky projects over the years...

Time to add some humour to the horror today, with my guest John Migliore, B-movie filmmaker and actor from Hamilton, Ontario.

This gentleman is an absolute hoot to chat with, so our interview went long. Today we have Part 1 of our discussion of John's films and many various zombie roles -- Part 2 is tomorrow!

Mwa ha ha ha...it's Day 2 and my guest is the horrorifically talented actress Inna Korobkina!

You may remember her as the pregnant zombie from Dawn of the Dead (2004), directed by Zack Snyder.

Inna Korobkina is a Russian/Canadian film and television actor whose work includes Dawn of The Dead, Transformers, Ruslan, popular Canadian television series The Border and Cra$h and Burn.

She is a mom of two kids and the founder of FlashAnista, an education platform that teaches kids and their families “fashion in a flash”.

Let's dive right into the gore, shall we?

What I’d most like to talk to you about is your role in and thoughts on the Dawn of the Dead remake by Zach Snyder in 2004…
 
What was it like to work on that set, with that cast and crew and specifically Zach Snyder? Any memories or stories you’d like to share would be great to hear!

It was my first big feature film and at the time I really didn’t have much to compare the experience to, but looking back it was such a wild, beautiful situation. This amazing ensemble of actors all sorts of ages, experiences and backgrounds filming in an abandoned mall.
 
It really was a very special a group and a very special circumstance. Filming later projects I came to realize acting can sometimes be lonely. There is you and the other actor or two in the scene, maybe extras and between takes you go to your trailer, but not with Dawn of the Dead. With the movie having such a large ensemble cast between takes always felt like we were around a campfire sharing stories.
 
We were filming in an abandoned mall, which was later torn down and replaced with condominiums. At lunchtime some crew members took to biking through hallways and Sarah (Polley) brought in a pilates instructor to keep us fit. The classes would take place in one of the empty storefronts. Sarah Polley really held her own in a group, she was like mother hen always making sure everything was fair and everyone was happy.
 
The entire cast would sit around in a group discussing various topics and life in general. Ty Burrell was a wonderful conversationalist with an eternal mischief in this eyes, as was Ving Rhames. Everyone had their unique personality that fit in very well into the group dynamic.

Okay, and how about delivering a zombie baby as you yourself were a (very vicious) zombie? That was pretty cool for horror fans to watch…how was it to execute (so to speak)?
 
It was all already in the writing and the Zack Snyder had a crystal clear vision of how an updated version of a zombie genre should look. First, James Gunn created this beautiful set up, a super pregnant, scared woman who has difficulty expressing herself as English is not her first language. Swinging in the complete opposite direction with the character seemed like an interesting thing to do. To go from scared and lost to vicious and hungry was exciting. You don’t see it coming, especially because, to me the original Dawn of the Dead was not meant to be scary, but to dig at how our society mindlessly consumes material things.

With the birth scene the room was small and dark so the only camera we could film on was a steady cam. Zack took over operating the camera and it was just the three of us; Zack, Mekhi Phifer and me in the room acting, directing and filming. It was spontaneous art and the energy in the room was electric.
 
When it came to playing Luda the biggest choice I had to make as an actress was how do I play the transition between being alive to dying and then becoming a vicious zombie? How vicious do you go? How does a zombie die? How does a zombie come “to life”? I was the first of the group of survivors to die in the movie. The biggest acting lesson I learned on that set was to trust that inspiration will come and to be open to it.  I was watching Zack direct a group of zombie extras one day and there was this one tall, thin man, the makeup on him was unreal, it was so well done. Zack put him at the very front of the shot and told him and the rest of the extras to really go for it, to hit the doors with all their might. Five takes later I see Zack getting frustrated. In their minds the extras had an “idea” of what zombies “should” act and Zack had this new and exciting vision. It wasn’t computing for them. Fast, vicious zombies? The original Dawn of the Dead was such a legend even the extras couldn’t drop the old idea of how a zombie “should act”. So that’s really how I ended up playing a super vicious zombie. There was no other option. You either stay in the past or you move forward and innovate.
 
You mentioned to me and in one of the Dawn of the Dead special features that you loved watching horror movies growing up—could you expand on this for me? Especially since you grew up in Russia and getting access to American movies wasn’t always a simple thing, right?
 
I left Russia with my family in 1991, when I was ten years old. My parents got an opportunity to travel to Canada in 1989 and they brought back with them two VCR’s. At the time the Russian ruble was almost twice the value of the American dollar so their money went far on that trip. One of the VCR’s they sold and used the money to purchase a car. You can imagine how prized entertainment was back in Communist Russian when a VCR is worth the same as a car.
 
The other allowed us to watch American and foreign films we rented from a black market video store. I remember descending these steps into a hidden basement video rental shop with my dad back in Magadan to rent movies.
 
American cartoons really brightened my childhood. They were the funnies thing I had ever seen. I have fond memories of watching Tom & Jerry and Looney Toons with my friends and us rolling over on the floor laughing hysterically because the cartoon was a type of humor we have never experience before and it short circuited our little brains.
 
I honestly by chance watched a small part of one American horror film Predator, 1987 directed by John McTiernan. My grandmother was babysitting us one day and I don’t think she had any idea what it was about when she put it on for us. It scared me for life. That’s the movie I was referring to in the interview. I didn’t get chance to finish watching it. Once my grandma realized this movie was not for children she turned it off, but it still made a huge impact on me at 9 years old and solidified an image for me of what a truly scary American film was. The other two “horror” movies from childhood that come to mind, which will probably make you laugh, were Labyrinth with David Bowie and The NeverEnding Story. They spooked me as a kid, but are not considered horror by any means. The story telling and special effects were nothing like I had ever seen before and they really had an impact on me.
 
When we moved to Canada and I lived in Calgary, Alberta, my friends and I would go to the movies religiously. Every Tuesday movies would cost $2 at our local movie theatre and it was the highlight of our week. We watched everything that would come out and was rated for our young eyes. I grew up in the 90’s on fun horror films like my My Boyfriend is Back, sci-fi horror Event Horizon and vampire horror Interview with the Vampire and of course, I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Hallo all and welcome back to the Halloween season! This is year 2 of my now ANNUAL 13 Horrifically Silly Days of Halloween series...and we begin with a theme so truly horrific, you also have to laugh -- 2020!

Or more specifically, 2020's Virtual version of the Monster Dash (one in a long line of virtual events in 2020).

I wanted to interview Peter Donato early on, so you can have all the details well ahead of time so you, too can participate in this fabulous costumed race within the safety of your own bubble...

Welcome back, Peter!

The Monster Dash this year is Virtual due to COVID-19. Tell me, how do people participate this year?

People register as always online and then pick their poison (race distance) and choice of swag / finisher medals which is new this year, or a lucky coin is included in the registration along with the buff (headband).   

You have more options this time around — would you describe each race option?

We added the half and full marathon to the existing spooky mile, 5k and 10k.

What date and where do people do their run? How is it monitored?

People can do their race anytime from Oct 15 onwards and we'll let those who might be injured or full of candy to run their races until late November - we expect most people will run their distance Oct 31st or Nov 1st (Saturday and Sunday).

How does the costume competition work? And what are the prizes?

People can still dress up and showcase their costumes in pictures or videos and our contest judges will select the best ones on Monday, November 2nd.  Prizes to be announced soon!  (The contest will be in a public gallery type format, probably through one ore more of the Facebook groups here for people to post their costumes:)
https://www.facebook.com/events/2567233460204684
https://www.facebook.com/MonsterDashToronto

Welcome to my final chat with all sorts of different guests who have read and love "Libby the Lobivia Jajoiana"!  Today, I chat with Confidence Coach Rachel Smets...

Check out the full interview below:

From Rachel's website: 

As a Clarity coach, TEDx speaker, and author, I'm dedicated to help ambitious professionals who desire more out of live. I help you to gain clarity, define your exact next steps, so that you feel confident in your journey to enjoy the freedom and life you love!  

Today, I’m living the freedom lifestyle I created for myself. I said NO to the stressful 9-5 corporate job, and said YES to a life of traveling the world and doing what I love most: inspire and support people from feeling STUCK to clarity, confidence and creating next steps to the FREEDOM they deserve.
Striving, sure, social and sportive, I keep my mind & body in balance by exercising daily, either running outside or lifting weights at the gym.
My happiness and joy comes from motivating and inspiring people to become the person they want to be.
"Life is an adventure and I’m happy to have created this journey for myself. It’s not always easy, but I know I can now grow old with no regrets and no missed dreams, because I’ve done it."

https://www.rachelsmets.com/

https://www.rachelsmets.com/books-and-courses/

https://www.rachelsmets.com/free-resources/

My guest for today, Tena Van Andel (Toronto Master Gardeners) was also with us at the Zoom launch party for Libby! Today, we chatted again LIVE on Facebook to delve deeper into the secret (or not so secret) lives of Lobivia Jajoiana cacti and African Violets!

Click below to watch our full interview:

From the Toronto Master Gardeners website:
Part of an international non-profit community service network, Toronto Master Gardeners are a group of more than 130 trained horticulturists who volunteer their time to provide advice to home gardeners in the Toronto area.
All Master Gardeners have successfully completed university horticultural studies and must meet ongoing continuing education requirements to make sure that our advice to gardeners is based on current horticultural knowledge.

History and Organization
The volunteer Toronto Master Gardeners have been advising and helping solve problems for Toronto gardeners since January 1988.
The Toronto Master Gardeners are part of the province-wide Master Gardeners of Ontario Inc. (MGOI). There are 38 local Master Gardener groups in Ontario, focusing on sustainable gardening information for the public. There are also Master Gardener groups in many provinces, most states, and in some international locations. More information may be found on the MGOI website.
For answers to horticultural questions, post your question on the 'Ask a Master Gardener' page on this site. Or, you may leave a detailed message on (416) 397-1345 and a volunteer will call you back.

https://www.torontomastergardeners.ca

Not only is Kelsey Matheson a fabulous NYC-based international business coach for women, she's a mom, and a perfect candidate to chat with me about my latest picture book, Libby the Lobivia Jajoiana during the week of the book's release.

Check out our Live Facebook chat here:

From Kelsey's website:

I specialize in helping passionate female entrepreneurs and thought leaders grow thriving businesses and uncover their blocks, without getting tripped up by the culture of busy-ness.
Not an entrepreneur? I also work with women who are ready to transform their lives, find true success in their careers, and take control of their health.
I understand that, as women, our focus is divided among a multitude of responsibilities. I know we have limited time to focus on our own goals, and that many of us are dealing with financial pressure.
I work with my clients to unleash their potential and start living a life they absolutely LOVE.

www.kelseymatheson.com/

It's been three days now since Libby's release, and today I chatted on Facebook LIVE with Justine Alley Dowsett of Mirror World Publishing, our publisher!

Check out our LIVE Facebook chat:

Mirror World Publishing is a small, independent, traditional-style publishing house based in Windsor, Ontario. We publish quality paperbacks and ebooks that feature other worlds, times and versions of reality. Our novels are for all ages and are creative, unique, imaginative and engaging.

We pride ourselves on our originality and 'outside the box' thinking, while taking a good look at the question, 'what if?' Our stories are never ordinary, the dialogue and action engaging, the characters believable, and there will always be some element of romance, adventure, science or magic. We are dedicated to bring our readers novels that will not only entertain them, but also teach them something about the world they live in by showing them one that mirrors it. We hope you’ll consider picking up a novel from our collection today so you can see for yourself what we’re all about.  

You'll find a wide variety of our wonderful titles in our bookstore and you can also purchase or review them through most major retailers worldwide. If you want to know more about us, feel free to contact us or simply take a look around. We are very active on Facebook and our blog as well.  

Justine Alley Dowsett, Publisher

Justine is an author herself and has worked in a multitude of industries, including publishing. She decided to open Mirror World Publishing after honing her skills through self-publishing and as Producer and Business and Marketing Director for First Age Studios; a video game design company.