Sunday, June 28, 2015

#SummerofZombie - Last 3 Days

 It's the last few days of Summer of Zombie!

Don't forget to check out some new or new-to-you authors and enter any contests while you can!

** All posts are at the Dying Days Zombie blog.




Sunday June 28


He clung to the spire of the Chrysler building. He was wretchedly thin, his ribs jutting out of his shriveled chest.  They were coming.  He could hear them scratching and screaming and moaning.    They were almost through.  The barricades worked too well.  It was easier just to go through the walls.
    He looked down.  For miles and miles, dead bodies packed so tightly they could barely lift their arms.  From this height their moans almost sounded like the babbling of some peaceful creek.
   He was the last man in New York.  The rest had given up days ago.  There had been nothing to eat except one another for weeks, nothing to drink but piss and rainwater.  And one look at the mass below was enough to know, without a sliver of doubt, that they were really and truly doomed. Read the rest…



Plants Vs. Zombies - PLANTS VS ZOMBIES - GAME OF THE YEAR ED
  
Plants-v-Zombies


Jay Wilburn Guest Post

** Check out the five song CD or MP3, Songs from the Dead Song Legend Book 1: January

Dead Song Book 1 final cover

Zombie Religion
Probably better as a story title than a post title. Polite people are supposed to avoid discussion of religion and politics. Or at the very least just rant about them on Facebook. As a teacher, I had a strict rule about giving no parenting advice. In horror, anything goes. Well, except all the things the publisher lists off that they don’t want to see. In self published horror, anything goes. In the story, these topics are not just to be discussed, but to be deeply explored.

   The innate topic of resurrection kind of lends itself to discussions of religion among the characters in a zombie story. Questions about an afterlife become more front and center when dead are walking the earth trying to eat the living. The body and blood of communion become darkly symbolic too. Blood symbolism in religion has long been fertile fodder for horror stories of all types. These religious symbols and motifs can be uncomfortable to broach in the context of a zombie story, but it would make sense that the characters would bring up questions of faith. These questions would naturally produce conflict between the characters and possibly within the reader, if written well. Read the rest…

Monday June 29

Luke Ahearn Guest Post
On to the unsavory parts... oh you mean zombies weren't enough? 

transformation-coverFRONT

Diarrhea... 
Imagine you are on the road during the apocalypse. You are just trying to survive while keeping a look out for zombie hordes, avoiding humans, finding shelter, and gathering food. Then you start cramping. You feel bloated, nauseous, and feverish. You wonder what could be wrong with you, then it hits you, the intense desire to drop and squat. So that’s what you do and you are vulnerable, but it’s that or fill your pants as you run for a safer location.

   We all know what Diarrhea is; urgently and frequently running to the bathroom to pass loose, watery unformed stool. It usually passes within 48 hours. The most important thing you can do is to stay hydrated while the diarrhea runs its course. Drink lots of water because your body is dumping it as fast as you take it in. Try to get your hands on drinks with electrolytes in them and any untainted fluid that has some sustenance in it to feed your body. Read the rest (if you dare)…


John O’Brien Guest Post
A New World: Storm
Storm cover large5

Hello there. I’m John O’Brien and I write the series, A New World. My recent release was A New World: Storm.
    First off, I guess I should mention first off that the creatures in the series aren’t technically zombies.  When some mention my creatures being zombies, I just close my eyes and nod.
I began writing in this genre due to the fact that I am constantly envisioning survival-type scenarios.  I think of one and place myself in the situation, thinking of solutions and throwing wrenches into whatever plan I came up with.  I lose myself for hours pondering ideas, ways of doing things better, likely outcomes and what actions others might take.
    In my opinion, a post-apocalyptic world offers the ultimate survival situation.  It’s in this world that I spend most of my time daydreaming.  Going through various situations, things that would arise, items I would need, how to gather supplies, and set up for long-term survival.  In the midst of these wanderings, a story was born.   Read the rest...



Shawn Chesser - Saul Tanpepper Guest Post

IMG_3497  AvatarImage.427x640

Eavesdropping on Zombie Authors Shawn Chesser and Saul Tanpepper
Shawn and Saul shared a booth at the Long Beach Zombie Walk in 2013. Shawn is the author of the Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse (STZA) series - including Ghosts: Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse. Saul penned the GAMELAND series (GAMELAND Omnibus (Season One): Episodes 1-8 (S.W. Tanpepper's GAMELAND) and the newly launched Bunker 12/FLENSE twn-series (Contain: (BUNKER 12 Series Pilot)

 Here, they talk a bit about their books, their audiences, and the future of the genre.

SAUL: One thing that has always intrigued and impressed me with your STZA (Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse) series, Shawn, is the ease with which you write military. It seems to be a great approach, and one that’s obviously connected well with your readers. Where do you go for inspiration?
   SHAWN: I think I really got a lot of my factoids and some of the lingo down pat from reading the late Don Pendelton’s work.
   SAUL: Pendleton was a prolific military thriller writer.
   SHAWN: I started buying the Executioner series books from Armchair Family Bookstore here in Portland back in the early eighties. I was kind of a war buff, Vietnam especially, so I really started digging Mack Bolan. He was a vet with the obligatory special ‘set of skills’ who came back from the war to avenge the death of his family at the hands of . . . I believe the mafia.
   SAUL: That theme is just as relevant today as it was when it was written decades ago. Maybe even more so now. Read the rest…


Tuesday June 30


Shawn Chesser Guest Post
FRAYED - Coming in late July

frayed cover front

 Deep cleansing breaths. Cracking of knuckles. A fist pump or three. All actions taken by me the second I hit ENTER last Wednesday and my MS of ‘Frayed: Surviving the Zomdie Apocalypse’ was off to my editor. Now, five days into my self imposed two-week vacay from the ‘puter, I’d be a liar if I said that leaving the laptop closed and unplugged has been easy. Sure, the time that simple act has freed up has been pretty easy to fill, what with summer break and my kids’ swimming lessons and all of the new movies dropping,—I can’t wait to watch the Minions in their very own vehicle—it’s just that I feel so unproductive not physically clacking away on the next project. Moreover, I’ve been unable to turn my mind off and just relax. So much so that it’s gotten to the point where I can’t stop myself from picturing scenes from the next book in my head. (Read the rest…)
   
 * Read an excerpt from FRAYED (Coming late July):

    Cade worked the scenario through his head. Judging by the twenty or so Zs ground into the pavement underneath the van, the occupants had probably come upon the herd up the road and then, either acting out of fear or hubris, decided not to turn back toward Huntsville and instead took a chance at bulling their way through. And once the driver had committed and the low clearance minivan became inexorably stuck, he dismounted and shot a few and then tried rocking the vehicle off the writhing pile of death with the lady behind the wheel…


Mark Tufo Guest Post

So recently for some strange reason Armand Rosamilia invited me back for his latest Summer of Zombie Blog Tour, of course I was thrilled, then I had the question of what was I going to write about. I thought perhaps astrophysics or cell germination with regards to mutated fungus then I figured it would be best if I let my readers decide. :)
   Jaimie Nowell I’d like to read something about how you create your books. Outlines, creative boards, sitting down and banging it out without a plan? How do you do it?

    I would absolutely LOVE to tell you guys that I sit and storyboard my stories for a couple of months and then I plop down and follow my outlines to a tee. Unfortunately in my case nothing could be further from the truth. Sure I have a general idea of the direction I want my stories to go but very rarely do they adhere to my wishes. Read therest…


Dave Lund Guest Post

Best Vehicles for the Zombie Apocalypse…
There are a few criteria that we have to establish before we can delve into the list.  There are some assumptions, things that tend to transcend many zombie novels by many different authors:
  1. Electricity and other utilities eventually fail
  2. The dead leave vehicles, places, homes and buildings semi-intact for scavenging
  3. Industrial production ceases in all cases
  4. Nature reclaims development (except for the guy who is still apparently mowing the grass in that popular TV zombie apocalypse show)  Read the rest…



All good things must come to an end…
Another June and another #SummerofZombie in the books. I had fun and I hope you did, too…
   Every year my goal is to introduce more zombie readers to new authors, or maybe they’ll learn something new about the one’s they love. 
   I know, for me, it is a chance to learn about my fellow authors and forge a few new bonds for the future. There is nothing better than helping another author build their readership as well as have a good sales month because of my help. I truly believe in Karma, which is why this past month has been a blast and an amazing sales month for me. 
    I’ll definitely do this again next June, and for those of you who can’t wait…
#WinterofZombie will once again be here all of November 2015. 
   If you’re a zombie author who hasn’t been featured on these tours the last few years, don’t hit me up just yet… but follow this blog because around the beginning of September I will put the call out again. I always like to mix old and new authors into the tours, and November might just be the biggest yet. 

   I also want to thank everyone for making Darlene Bobich: Zombie Killer a top free zombie book, as well… I’ll be keeping it for free for the next few weeks, so grab a copy now if you haven’t already. It is available on most platforms so there’s no excuse. Read the rest…




SummerZombie2015

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