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
Jay Wilburn Guest Post
** Check out the five song CD or MP3, Songs from the Dead Song Legend Book 1: January
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
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
A New World: Storm
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
Eavesdropping on Zombie Authors Shawn Chesser and Saul Tanpepper
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 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
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…
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:
- Electricity and other utilities eventually fail
- The dead leave vehicles, places, homes and buildings semi-intact for scavenging
- Industrial production ceases in all cases
- 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…
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comment Here Unless You're a Spammer