Matt Forbeck is a jack of all trades when it comes to the world of genre fiction and gaming. In fact, he’s been at it in some form or another since the late ’80s. Because of that experience, I’m guessing you’ve run into something he’s worked on in some form or another (even if you might not know it). What I like the most about Matt though is how supportive he is of everyone else in the genre and to folks trying to get something funded from Kickstarter. It’s a great quality to have and that’s one of the reasons I asked him to participate in this week’s Friday Five. Make sure you seek out Matt’s work. He’s a class act and a talent.
Matt Forbeck
1) I got my first real exposure to you through you from Kickstarter and your 12 for ’12 project. Aside from reaching out for funding, you’re also an active backer. Is crowdfunding a game changer and do you have any tips for folks looking to start a campaign?
Do your research. The campaigns that succeed are the ones that are well planned. You need to know all about your costs of production, just like you would if you were starting the business with traditional funding. You need to know how what kind of a goal you can expect to reach. And then you need to make sure those two numbers overlap in a comfortable way.
2) When it comes to games, novels, video games, collectibles, etc – you’ve really kind of done it all. Is it hard to stay focused when you have so many pokers in the fire?
That doesn’t really bother me. It’s juggling that and having five kids at home that keeps me on my toes. I like to have lots of irons in lots of different fires. It keeps me from worrying what’s going to happen if one of the fires goes out.
3) What’s your proudest professional accomplishment?
I don’t know if I could pick out a single thing. Perhaps it’s the fact that I’ve been able to make a living at writing and game design for two decades without having to go back to driving pizza like I did in college. The longer I can keep that up, the happier I’ll be.
4) Since you’re a Michigan grad, I have to ask you a townie question. What are your thoughts on the University buying out the building Blimpy Burger is in and demolishing it for a dorm?
What? I’m appalled! I love Blimpy Burger. One of my college roommates, Bryan Winter, had set the record for eating the burger with the largest number of patties there, back in the late ’80s. I just hope they save the grill. That thing’s a historical landmark.
End Times in Dragon City
5) What’s next for you?
At the moment, more novels. I just sold a book to Tor, and I have to finish up a few of the 12 for ’12 novels and get those out the door. I’m also working on a new iOS game with Ubisoft, which brought me over to Shanghai for a couple weeks back in March, and there’s a bit more to do there yet.
For readers, I just finished up the Shotguns & Sorcery trilogy with End Times in Dragon City, and I’m about to release How to Play, the first book in my Dangerous Games trilogy of thrillers set at Gen Con.
Admittedly, I phoned it in for last week’s Friday Five. Granted, I had a dog just getting out of surgery, but that’s no excuse. That’s why I’m coming back with a vengeance this week with YA author Devan Sagliani! He’s an author from one of my favorite book imprints, Permuted Press, and when it comes to writing zombie fiction, Devan is a jack of all trades – successfully writing YA fiction and adult fiction. Devan has some great stuff ahead for you, so I’m going to step aside and welcome him to the blog!
Devan Sagliani
Zombie Attack!is touted as a Young Adult series. Was it hard to tone down your zombie novel for younger audiences?
I’ve been a fan of YA fiction for a long time now, and not just JK Rowling, although I love the Harry Potter series. It was what got me into YA in the first place. I was obsessed with Eoin Colfer for a while too and his Artemis Fowl series. It’s wonderful to be able to escape into the mysteries of adolescence again and leave the problems of being an adult behind for a while. A lot of great writers are now falling in love with YA, and not just because of the Hunger Games. Salman Rushdie is one of my favorite writers of all time. He’s got two YA books available now. James Patterson one of the most gifted and prolific writers of all time is working a lot in YA these days too, with great success. His Witch and Wizard series is doing amazing.
It’s a totally different mind set for sure. Everyone now and then I’ll catch myself wanting to add material that might be too adult for kids and then pulling myself back again. It can be frustrating but in the end it makes sense. Kids can handle a lot but these days but they are still kids. No matter how sophisticated we think they are because they watch graphic cable television shows and movies they are still developing. Many of them have no frame of reference to what they are encountering and that leads to inappropriate responses to the material. They haven’t developed the kind of empathy and compassion necessary to understand the mature context of some of these situations, even if they get the gist of what’s happening. There is simply no substitute for the kinds of real life experiences that will shape and mold them into the adults they will one day be, particularly in the proper context.
In the end though I think it’s all about storytelling. You don’t need explicit language and adult themes to tell a great story. You just need lots of imagination and the drive to capture it all. I’ve had more than one parent contact me and thank me for keeping Zombie Attack clean enough for their zombie obsessed teen to read. That’s a cool feeling.
What a great cover!
How do you approach switching gears to writing for a younger audience to more of an adult audience with your books?
I like to put myself into a mindset of a teenager when I write YA fiction. I think about what I loved when I was that age and what I was into and I write from that perspective first and foremost. It’s a fun challenge to recall some of the growing pains I went through as a kid and then work to incorporate them into my characters lives. Teens lives are all about uncovering the mystery of what it means to be an adult. You get to discover the world anew during that period of your life. It’s frustrating on one hand because you always want to grow up fast when you’re a kid. But it’s also exciting because everything is new and amazing and special still. Sometimes we lose touch with that as we get older so writing YA is a great way to remind myself of how surprising and wonderful life can be. It’s also a way to give that voice inside of me new breath to scream down all the hypocrisy in the world. We lose touch with that too as we get older.
And if I feel I need to express something more sophisticated I know I can always save that for my next novel that isn’t for teens and up. Scenes and ideas that get cut from YA that I write always find their way into other places.
What is it about the zombie genre that interests you the most?
I’ve been drawn to the idea of apocalypse since I was young. There was always just something about seeing movies and reading books that focused on a dystopic future where the technology and science we worship so much has turned on us, bringing us back to some kind of original state. We take for granted that the things we enjoy in this life will always just be there, but the truth is everything is in a fragile balance. It can all be taken away in an instant. Just look at what Hurricane Katrina did to New Orleans or Superstorm Sandy to the East Coast or even the tornado in Joplin. And those were in the United States, where we have so much wealth and resources! Then look at Haiti after the last quake and imagine the whole world like that. It’s terrifying but it’s a real possibility it could happen.
Zombies speak to me for a number of reasons. I like the idea of a mindless killing machine that cannot be reasoned with as the antagonist. It’s truly terrifying to think that people you once knew and loved can turn into monsters that won’t hear your pleads as they come to kill you. I think in a lot of ways zombies also speak to our sense of mob mentality and our lust for violence as a culture. Whether we watch them tear apart another person or we imagine that we are putting them down for good, it’s still a form of release. In that sense it can be healthy. I think that is just part of the reason zombies are so popular right now.
Zombie fiction allows us to start over and re-imagine the world. It gives us the chance to be heroic and selfless, as well as the chance to quench our blood lust and anger at how unpredictable and unfair life can be. When we read zombie fiction we can be equally good and bad. We can explore the darkest recesses of our soul without being judged. That’s what I love about it.
Do you have any zombie apocalypse survival tips?
The first thing that comes to mind is that scene in ZOMBIELAND ? Cardio, cardio, and more cardio. You definitely want to be in good shape when the apocalypse hits. And having a supply of fresh water is going to be a big advantage. You can survive nearly two weeks with no food but no one survives more than a few days without water.
Beyond the basics I’d say it’s all going to boil down to your ability to interact with others. No one gets by alone in this world. As human beings we tend to view ourselves as our own little island but the truth is we are much more interconnected than we even realize. We truly do rise and fall together. These bonds will be even more important in the event of a crisis of any kind, much less a planet wide epidemic that demolishes rule of law and society as we know it.
The Rising Dead
What’s next for you?
I am currently working on the sequels to Zombie Attack and The Rising Dead for my publisher Permuted Press. I have the plot all written out for Zombie Attack part 2 and it is going to blow readers away. I’m about a third of the way through the first draft. There are some big surprises in store for sure. In addition to bikers and cannibals there are also snake handlers, a zombie circus, a ghost town, tree people, and so much more. We also get to see some of the best and worst characters from the original story come back. It’s going to keep readers on the edge of their seat from the first page to the very last. I can promise that. Plus it’s looking like it’s going to be longer too.
I’ve also just released a collection of transgressive short stories called A THIRST FOR FIRE on Kindle. All but one of these stories were published in the last ten years and several were nominated for awards. I started out writing in a more literary style which quickly devolved as I got into more taboo subjects like sex and drug abuse. Really they’re an exploration of identity and freedom when you get past some of the anti-social, erotic elements. They were my first steps towards developing my voice as a writer, when I was still learning the disciplines of my craft, and I am proud of them. I’m hoping some of my zombie fans will be interested in reading about monkeywrenching suicide punks and meth addicts and sadists and drug dealers and pimps and killers. The collection also contains a story called Depth Charge which was my first apocalypse story and is definitely the precursor to my love affair with zombie fiction.
I’m back with my answers. As has become custom on the days where I’m providing the Friday 5, I took my questions directly from Friday 5. So, better late than never…here are my answers.
What’s the longest line you’ve ever stood in? On average, I think the longest lines I’ve ever stood in have to be for various rides for Cedar Point. As I get older, I question waiting in a two hour ride for 90 seconds of fun, but no matter what, I think I’ll always be willing to get in line.
When did you have the most fun waiting in line? Again, probably at Cedar Point. Waiting in long lines with groups of friends is bound to get your creative juices stirring. I remember plenty of fun times in those lines. Unfortunately, I also remember plenty of boring and tedious times. It’s all about who you’re in line with.
What line, no matter how long or short it is, always drives you crazy? Waiting at a red light. No matter what, I just hate waiting in line at a traffic light.
When did you last behave in a manner that was over the line? I guess “over the line” is relative and I think I’m a pretty low key dude. I can’t think of an honest answer for this one.
What are some lines of poetry you can recite from memory? There once was a man from Nantucket…
Sorry about this. My dog had surgery this week and I just haven’t had time to focus on Friday 5. I’ll post something later tonight that I filled out, but unfortunately you’re stuck with me instead of a super cool author or media type. Happy Friday!
This week, I’m stepping away from the typical author, musician, film director cadence I’ve been on recently, and featuring a fellow blogger. For today’s Friday 5, I welcome Mike Tyrkus of CinemaNerdz!
I’ve known Mike from my days of writing freelance for the VideoHound’s Movie Retriever. By the time that blog ended, I had written several reviews, feature stories, and participated in a 24 Hour Movie Marathon with Mike. My wife and I joined Team Movie Retriever to watch movies to benefit the Michigan Children’s Leukemia Foundation. So, when Mike let me know about the start of CinemaNerdz, I was on-board 100%. In fact, if you want to see my recent features and reviews, check out my archive HERE. Enough about me though, it’s Mike’s time to shine.
1) What is it about movies that made you want to be a film critic, and as an extension, start CinemaNerdz.com?
The first film review I ever wrote was for my college paper, it was on The Silence of the Lambs. At that point I remember thinking that if you could somehow convince someone to pay you to watch movies and talk or write about them, you would have really achieved something. Well, I’m still waiting for someone to start paying me but the job has had its benefits nevertheless. I’ve always looked at the art of the cinema as sort of the coming together of most art disciplines. That point of view is what I think keeps me interested after all this time. There’s always something new to discover in film (even in a film you’ve seen dozens of times). Coming from a film criticism and academic background, I strive to keep my verbosity at bay (though some may say I fail miserably sometimes) and try to let people know simply whether they should spend their hard-earned money at the movies. That was kind of the impetus behind CinemaNerdz. Too often, criticism can become enamored with its own self-importance. Don’t get me wrong, that’s fine in the right context, but sometimes a reader just wants to know what will keep them entertained for 90 minutes.
I love CinemaNerdz!
2) Aside from the reviews, what is one thing you consider a key differentiator for CinemaNerdz that folks couldn’t find anywhere else?
That’s easy, the writers. Without their voice, CinemaNerdz would be just another movie web site regurgitating the news of the day. The variety of styles that all of the very talented writers that the site employs are what singles us out. We’ve got your typical film geeks, film scholars, housewives, a few everyman critics that just tell you whether you’ll enjoy the film or not, and we’ve even got our own resident child critic to give us the age-specific perspective on films that most critics would dismiss as garbage. In essence, it takes a lot of different Nerdz to make up CinemaNerdz.
3) What’s the most exciting thing that you’ve been exposed to as a result of movie reviews?
That’s a little harder to answer. There have been a lot of great experiences that have come my way because of this, as well as all of the great people I’ve had the opportunity to meet over the years. But, I’d have to say the most exciting thing has been being invited to join the Detroit Film Critics Society back in 2011. Being a member of that group as well as serving on the Leadership Committee has been a tremendous experience.
4) Since I’m all about dirt, what’s the worst movie you’ve ever reviewed?
Without a doubt, it would have to be The Happening. Watching it, I constantly felt as though I was watching something that the director really didn’t care if I was in on or not. M. Night Shyamalan has proven himself a gifted filmmaker with films like The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, but a couple missteps over the past few years (The Village, The Last Airbender, and The Lady in the Water) have caused my belief in him to waiver. The Happening did nothing to change that opinion. In fact, it makes me question whether the only thing that Shyamalan has had going for him was the so-called “trick ending” and that once that was taken away he may be just another average filmmaker producing tired, formulaic, and often boring movies. I can usually find something positive to say about most movies, but not The Happening.
Why was I in this movie?
5) What movie are you anticipating the most in 2013?
The film that immediately comes to mind is Star Trek: Into Darkness. I’m sure that at the end of the year there will have a few other movies I’ve seen that are more worthy of year-end praise, but the Star Trek fan in me is simply too excited to be silent.
When I worked for Borders, Permuted Press had a co-distribution deal with Simon & Schuster where some of their more popular series also got published by Simon to give them a wider audience, better distribution, and a chance at more marketing and publicity. After reading Ex-Heroes, I immediately called up my Simon rep and told them they needed to seriously consider Peter Clines and his Ex series for their next round of Permuted Press acquisitions. Nothing came of it and Permuted went on to publish the second book in the series, Ex-Patriots. The final book in the trilogy ended up getting delayed, and as it turned out, that was because Peter was working a deal with Crown Publishing (and specifically their Broadway Books imprint) to bring the series to the masses. I applaud Permuted Press for all the support they offered Peter Clines. Without them, who knows where this series would be today.
And where it is today, is being released by Random House. Because I’m such an advocate for Peter Clines, I’m going to write a 3-part blog celebrating his zombie/superhero mash-up. First up, my review of Ex-Heroes. Before we get started though, here’s an excerpt, so you can know what to expect. Click HERE for the excerpt.
Ex-Heroes
OK, on with the book. With Ex-Heroes, Clines blends elements from the superhero and zombie genres, which just so happens to be two of my favorite genres. While being set in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, Ex-Heroes rotates between the past and present to give readers a glimpse at each of the heroes showcased in the book. After the apocalypse begins, the heroes band together to save over 4000 people at The Mount. Each hero has their own personification, but the story focuses mainly on St. George, Cerberus, and Gorgon. The only problem with having so many heroes featured (I only mentioned half of them) is that I wanted more. Clines could have easily added another 100 or so pages, but he keeps the pace brisk and the story flowing. This is due to his background in the film industry I’m sure. The good news about the fast pace of the novel is that it leaves the reader yearning for more.
Folks looking for a pure zombie novel may be a tad disappointed with Ex-Heroes because it doesn’t just stick with the regular tropes of the genre. Instead it asks the fundamental question about how the existence of superheroes would affect the zombie apocalypse. It’s not just the heroes that need to be focused on. While doing what they can to survive, the survivors on The Mount discover that there’s a rival group who might just be more dangerous than that actual zombies.
I’m extremely happy that Ex-Heroes is on the verge of breaking out even further. To put it bluntly, it’s a fun read…especially the running contest everyone has on who can kill the biggest celebrity zombie (they are in LA afterall). Think of Ex-Heroes as the book equivalent of a summer movie blockbuster. Who knows, maybe one day, it’ll transition to the silver screen.
Before I get to the contest, I also wanted to turn your attention on an interview Peter did with me for my Friday 5 series. Please take a look. It’s a great read. You can find the linkHERE!
As a former Borders employee for eight years, I have very strong opinions about bookstores and their place in today’s world. So much so, that I even blogged about the Borders liquidation process here andhere. My love for books and the sense of loss I felt when Borders went under are two reasons why I became so excited when I found out about the new bookstore, Literati, opening in downtown Ann Arbor this year. In case you haven’t walked by the new location, it’s opening in the former Rick Snyder campaign office on Washington.
Until last week, I’ve been taking a more passive, and silent, approach to following what they were up to as they prepared to open their doors to the public, but after this article on Concentrate Media was posted, I knew it was time to be passive no longer. Since I can’t support Literati in the form of buying books in their store right now, including them in my Friday Five series seemed to be the next best thing.
Literati co-owners Hilary Lowe and Mike Gustafson
Thankfully, Literati Bookstore co-owner Mike Gustafson had a bit of time to step away from it all and sit down to participate in this week’s Friday Five. After reading my little mini interview, make sure that you follow the further adventures of the Literati Bookstore by reading their blog, liking them on Facebook, and interacting with them directly on twitter.
Welcome to the neighborhood Mike and Literati! Also, thanks for already providing lots of great book recommendations to us!
1) Taking a cue from Bill Gilmore of Dawn Treader, are you doomed?
We are doomed. There’s no way around it. The minute we open our doors, fire and brimstone will hail down from the heavens onto anyone who dares enter our store and buys a book. RIP Literati, 2013-2013.
We understand the financial risks involved with opening a bookstore. We’re still going for it. We believe in our business plan, and we believe in the book culture that exists here in Ann Arbor, and we believe we know how to market ourselves in the digital age. Are we going to make millions of dollars and swim in piles of gold like Scrooge McDuck? No. Are we going to find our niche in the downtown area? We believe we will. The market is changing, but there are many, many people who absolutely demand to read real books – ourselves included.
And these physical book readers aren’t Luddites terrified of technology. They make active choices to buy real books from real bookstores. So many people of different ages and backgrounds have approached us and said, “I love to read physical books. Thank you for opening a bookstore downtown.” Their reasons to prefer real books are vast and different, ranging from the way books feel to how they can search for new books in bookstores the way you can’t with Amazon to how it allows escape from the screens and emails and bells and whistles of tablet devices. We believe downtown Ann Arborites want a place to peruse books, ideas, biographies, memoirs, literary fiction, journals, magazines, children’s books, etc, etc. We believe people downtown will visit our store, and we believe we add just one more aspect to what is the best downtown district in the Midwest.
But it’s funny. After we read that doom quote, we said to ourselves, “Shoot, we should have named the store ‘Doomsday Books’ or ‘R.I.P. Books.’” We still like Literati, though.
2) In all seriousness though, you’re moving into a city that is still mourning the loss of Borders. What kind of support have you seen from the community?
The community support has been overwhelming. When we uploaded a blog post stating that we (finally) signed the lease, that post alone had a few thousand Facebook shares. It went locally viral. Then we told people about how we repurposed the Borders bookshelves the day before the Liberty store went into demolition, and many Borders lovers and workers reached out to us with positive messages. We were quickly overwhelmed in a very good way. So many times throughout this opening process we’ve have mental anxiety attacks like, “Are we really doing this? Are we really opening a bookstore?” We’ve been boosted by all the Facebook, Twitter, blog, and email messages of encouragement we’ve received from the Ann Arbor community. We’re excited to open our doors so we can meet these digital supporters face-to-face and smile-to-smile. The support from the community has been just wonderful, and we haven’t even opened our doors yet. We just ask the community to be patient and not to compare us to other wonderful institutions like Borders or Shaman Drum because we could never fill those very large shoes. Please be patient if we have some unsmoothed ruffles when we first open. We can never replace Borders or Shaman Drum. We are just trying to be Literati, and I think we’ll have our own unique and cozy store to offer to the community.
3) I’ve always found that every book lover has that one book or one experience that starts them off on a path to being passionate about reading. What’s yours?
Let The Great World Spin was the kind of book you finish and set down, and stare at the ceiling or wall for hours in deep meditation and contemplation. It was so powerful and so moving, it still sticks with me today. Ultimately I love books that are metaphorically sticky — those books you just can’t get that particular protagonist out of your head. But that was more recent. Probably the first book that set me down the path of passionate reading was Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle. In college, I wasn’t a passionate reader. Reading seemed like a chore and a bore. Then someone gave me this book and said, “Read this.” It opened my eyes to what reading enjoyable fiction can be. Not all “meaningful” fiction has to be James Joyce or Faulkner. Cat’s Cradle is so accessible, but simultaneously so powerfully moving, I think I read it at the perfect point of my life, and I’ve been hooked on reading ever since.
For Hilary, her book was, Too Loud A Solitude. It’s a wonderful little book about a man and his obsessive, beautiful love for books. Every sentence is a beautifully constructed string of words in that book. Every book lover should read this book.
4) What book are you looking forward to selling the most?
Every reader is different, so every book recommendation is different. We can’t recommend the exact same book to everyone. So here are a few: For nature lovers, I can’t wait to recommend, A Sand County Almanac. This book changed how I see my Midwestern backyard. For sports lovers, The Art of Fielding or Zen in the Martial Arts are both equally great, for different reasons. For people who want to learn a new activity, it’s Drawing from the Right Side of your Brain. (I was a horrible drawer. Then I read this book, and now I’m only just a very bad drawer.) For kids, it’s Marcel the Shell (with a strong message for them to YouTube the wonderful animated videos) and A Sick Day For Amos McGee. And my all-time favorite book to recommend is probably The Polar Express. Everyone over the age of 10 has already read that book, but when new parents come to our store and buy it for their newborns, I don’t know. The first time a new parent walks into our store and purchases The Polar Express, I might get misty eyed.
5) Do you have any special grand opening festivities planned?
We want to have a very soft opening, and then a more announced opening a few weeks later. Probably a big party. We will make more announcements in the coming weeks. If anyone reading this wants to support us further, please go to and support our Facebook and Twitter pages. We’ll continue to make announcements there as we solidify details. All I know is that when we open, when it actually happens, after all these months of 3am work-nights and complications and anxiety attacks and waves of euphoric enthusiasm, that in itself, for us, will be a huge accomplishment. This isn’t just a bookstore for us. Like any small business owner, this is now our livelihood and lifestyle. We’re getting married in June. 2013 is a great big year of scary and exciting and wonderful new things for us, and we’re so fortunate to do it in this supportive community and this great state we both grew up in.
Bookshelves are going in – Fans of Borders Store 01 on Liberty may recognize them (copyright – Gustafson)
While you may see this as a thinly disguised attempt at covering for the fact that I don’t have an official Friday 5 lined up for today, the truth is it’s been a while since I’ve interjected my own voice on the blog. So, without further delay, here’s my Friday 5.
…awesome, I think they bought it…
Instead of asking myself questions about writing and the like, I’m going to rely on this week’s questions from this website. Before I got the idea to use Friday 5 to interview authors, musicians, artists and the like, I was originally going to answer weekly Friday 5 Questions. If you like that route after reading my answers, let me know in the comments below. If I get enough traction, I may rotate each week.
I’ve delayed this blog long enough, so here goes nothing.
1) What’s the oddest thing you’ve ever witnessed in a public restroom?
As a teenager, I used to go to a concert venue in Pontiac, MI called Clutch Cargo’s. When my wife and I went there for bigger concerts, there was always a guy in the restroom selling cigars, chocolates, potato chips, and other snacks. I can understand having a bathroom attendant who gets you soap and all (but not at Clutch Cargo’s), but I never understood why we would sell this kind of stuff in the bathroom…or why Clutch Cargo’s let him do it.
2) What’s the single most beautiful sight you’ve ever seen?
Well, aside from my wife of course, I would have to say the birth of my daughter. In fact, we’re a couple days away from her third birthday and my wife and I have been doing a lot of reminiscing about that day lately. Aside from her birth being the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, it was also my proudest moment as a human being. It’s amazing how much she’s changed in three years.
3) What random act of kindness (not perpetrated by you) have you recently witnessed?
This actually happened on Wednesday. My wife and I were kid-less for the evening, so we went out to dinner and came home for a bit of a Breaking Bad marathon. We pass my wife’s work on the way home. When we did, she noticed that one of her co-workers was still at work. It was pushing 9:00 and she decided to head in and check on him to see if he needed anything.
4) What are the best and worst tattoos you’ve ever seen in person?
With the amount of outdoor concerts and festivals I’ve been to over the years, I’ve seen my fill. Sadly, none that are really cool (or horrible) enough to remember.
5) What’s the coolest act of daring you’ve ever seen in person?
Probably a Cirque du Soleil performance. Those performers are absolutely amazing and always find a way to make me feel like a kid again. Absolutely awe-inspiring.
Because Permuted Press is the home to so many great authors in the horror and apocalyptic fiction genres, with this week’s blog I decided to keep the theme going and interview another Permuted Press author. This week, I’m welcoming Craig DiLouie, a Canadian author who is right on the cusp of becoming a household name in the horror genre. He’s definitely not a one trick pony though. Aside from his work in the zombie genre with Tooth and Nail, Infected, and The Killing Floor, DiLouie has also written sci-fi/fantasy, thrillers, and non-fiction. If you’re looking for a great zombie novel that doesn’t fall into the same tropes and pitfalls of the genre, then look no further.
Author Craig DiLouie
1) It must be hard to do something original these days in the apocalyptic zombie genre. How were you able to keep things fresh for Infection and Killing Floor?
Thanks for having me! You ask a very interesting question. First, let me say I do not mind familiar tropes in zombie literature. When people open a zombie novel, they have certain expectations they will want to see satisfied. What makes the story good or not depends on how well it’s told. Look at The Walking Dead on AMC. There’s nothing I can recall about the zombies in that show that’s original over what Romero did many years before, but it works because the story presents people we care about realistically struggling to survive. And for the most part it respects our willing suspension of disbelief. Most of the story has flowed naturally, without appearing contrived.
That being said, I do believe it’s important to innovate to keep the genre fresh and to distinguish yourself as a writer in the genre. I also think a good zombie story needs a threat vector apart from the zombies. In a typical zombie story, once we know the rules for how the zombies behave–fast or slow, cannibal or not, crazy alive or living dead–they quickly start to become predictable. Some other threat is needed, one that is unpredictable, to keep the story exciting.
Nothing is more unpredictable than other humans. The conflict could be internal or external. In AMC’s The Walking Dead, in the first season the conflict was against the zombies. In the second, it was primarily internal–between Rick and Shane (and it was done naturally). In the third, it’s external–Rick’s group is fighting another group.
For my novels The Infection and The Killing Floor, I wanted the threat to remain focused on the creature element. At all times, I wanted the survivors to be terrified for their lives they would be slaughtered or infected by unpredictable monsters. So I incorporated an element in the story in which most of the Infected are people compelled by an organism to violently spread the organism, but some continue to mutate into monsters. These monsters add a Lovecraftian element to the story, and because they’re pretty horrifying and unpredictable, it makes the story more compelling and frightening. Many people have enjoyed this innovation, the purists not so much, which is fine with me–there’s something for everybody in the genre.
The Infection
The Killing Floor
2) Aside from what’s inside the book, your series has some of the best covers I’ve seen from Permuted Press. Who’s responsible for those masterpieces and what type of input do you have as an author during the creative process?
One of the great things about working with small presses is that while they have fewer resources than big publishers, they give authors more input on things like cover design. For THE INFECTION, I had an idea for a very artsy cover, as I wanted to convey the image this wasn’t your standard zombie pulp but aspired to something higher. Permuted said that’s fine, but we want to sell books, and you need something that hits the buyer in the gut. So the publisher sent me an image of a man going berserk–a victim of Infection who a short while ago could have been your boyfriend, waiter, dentist, son. I said that’s great, but let’s do it as a very dramatic closeup so the threat feels even more imminent–when you pick up the book, his face is right in yours, so to speak.
And a cover was born. It was a great collaboration.
For the second cover, Permuted found a terrific cover image in a painting produced by Andree Wallin. In my view, it’s the perfect image of the apocalypse: A soldier in a gas mask, dehumanized by his cold, robotic appearance and horrific actions. Fighting to survive and just maybe save the world to ensure this is not really the end, but a new beginning–the start of a world where others will not have to experience what he has. This is what the people in THE KILLING FLOOR face-–a choice to save themselves, or give everything they have, even their lives, so that humanity itself has the best chance to survive.
The painting that inspired The Killing Floor
For that cover, there was no discussion. I loved it. We were lucky to get it.
3) When you see people like David Wong and Pete Clines making the jump from Permuted to one of the big houses, have you set that as an ultimate goal for yourself?
I don’t know David Wong, but I do know Peter Clines, and I’m very happy for his success as he’s not only a talented writer but one of the most genuine, friendly, interesting and humble people I’ve ever met. I’m not kidding when I say the sky’s the limit for this guy.
As for myself, I’m currently working on closing a deal for a new horror novel with a major publisher. It’s not zombies, but it’s apocalyptic. It’s honestly the most creepy thing I’ve ever written (or read), and I hope people enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. If the sale with this publisher doesn’t work out, however, I’d be happy to stay with small press or even take a stab at self publishing. I’ve been humbled, amazed and grateful at the reception my novels have received, and I already honestly feel like I’m living the dream.
4) In terms of zombies, what’s one cliche about them that you wish would just go away and be stricken from the canon?
Nothing is off limits to me as a reader as long as the writer tells me an interesting story involving people I care about facing monsters that scare me in a world that is realistic enough for me to believe in.
As a writer, however, there are several tropes I typically avoid, such as people tripping and dropping their gun when the slow zombie shows up, or contrived conflict between the good leader and the guy in the group who’s a jerk seemingly for the sake of it, and so on–this kind of thing in my opinion is just lazy writing. I also tell my stories on their own terms, without injecting personal wish fulfillment and subsequently jeopardizing the realism and willing suspension of disbelief. In my stories, people react like real people to what’s happening to them, actions have consequences, the setting is messy and toxic, and so on.
5) What’s next for you?
While I’m working with an agent and publisher to close this deal for my new horror novel, I’m working toward completing two other novels in 2013. The first is another horror novel, a seriously disturbing work with the theme of body horror. The second is an historical fantasy novel. In my ideal world, I would write and publish two novels per year in two markets; we’ll see how that works out. Meanwhile, I’m also hoping to produce a small self-published project this year.
I don’t know where my writing career is going to take me in the future, but as I said earlier, I already feel like I’m living the dream. It’s been a lot of fun, and again I’m honored and grateful so many people enjoy my fiction.
Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines was the first book I ever read from Permuted Press. I’m not sure why it took me so long to start reading books from Permuted. They specialize in zombie and apocalyptic fiction (two of my favorite genres), but there was some unexplainable force causing me to resist for some reason. The barrier was broken when Ex-Heroes entered my life. A few of my friends recommended it, so I put it on my “I’ll read it one of these days” lists. It features superheroes and a zombie apocalypse. How could you go wrong? Some time went by and it slipped my mind until I was browsing the shelves of a bookstore. There it was. I had some extra cash in my wallet, so I decided to give it a chance. After I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down. Ex-Heroes was pure escapist fun. I became a cheerleader for the book and even started following Peter on Facebook. One thing led to another and I’m proud to host Peter for today’s Friday Five. The stars seem to be in alignment for Peter these days. Broadway Books has recently picked up the Ex series (Ex-Heroes,Ex-Patriots, and Ex-Communication) and are about to re-release the first in the series next month. Hopefully, this will help Peter gain a much larger audience. He deserves it. Coincidentally, Broadway released the new cover for Ex-Heroes this week, so I linked it below. It has an almost pulp fiction comic/manga cover type feel to it. Works for me!
If you’re not familiar with Peter Clines, then now’s your chance before his popularity grows even more. Read his answers below so you can say you knew him when.
If I haven’t done enough to intrigue you just yet, maybe Nathan Fillion can be of assistance. He said the following about Ex-Heroes: “My two favorite things, zombies and superheroes. Hurry with the sequel to EX-HEROES!”
Horror Author Peter Clines
1) You got your start in the world of cinema. How did your experience as a screenwriter help you as a novelist?
I think I lucked out because I was working on film crews as a prop master while I was trying to get a screenwriting career going. It meant I got exposed to hundreds of screenplays with the added bonus of actually seeing how they were interpreted on set. I think a lot of would-be screenwriters don’t consider that there are a hundred other people the story’s going to be filtered through before it’s actually seen, and it was clear really quick what made for a good script and a bad one. I worked on a few shows where I can remember everyone in the office groaning when a new episode would show up and we’d see writer X’s name on the cover. So it made me very aware that a writer—any writer—needs to be aware of who their audience is and how they’re going to interpret things.
Screenwriting is also very concise, so it taught me to try for maximum impact with minimum words. I may write a loose first draft but I cut the hell out of it in later drafts. Especially with action. I’m a big fan of tight, fast action.
Cover for the Broadway Books reissue of Ex-Heroes
2) When I heard about Ex-Heroes, the first thing that came to mind was “what a great idea,” quickly followed by “why didn’t I think of that?” How did you get the idea to put superheroes in your zombie novels?
Well, to be fair, it’s not a terribly new idea. Zombies have been showing up in mainstream comics for years. Heck, if memory serves, when John Byrne took over the Superman titles in the mid-eighties he had Superman fight them in Action Comics. I think it was a Phantom Stranger team-up.
I think what’s new about it is that it’s superheroes actually fighting a full-scale zombie apocalypse. One of the Big Two comic companies announced years ago that they were going to do a Romero-style zombie invasion in their universe and I got so excited. An honest crisis like that is where you get to see heroes at their best and their worst. It’s such a great setting for serious action and drama, but also great heroic moments.
The book they did, though, was… well, I understand a lot of people liked it, but I just thought it was such a wasted opportunity. In my eyes—as a horror fan and a long-time comic fan—it just did everything wrong. Thinking about “how I would’ve done it” was one of the sparks that started Ex-Heroes.
3) With Ex-Heroes heading over to Crown / Broadway, what are your future plans with both Permuted Press (and Random House for that matter)?
To be honest, I’m not sure. I don’t mean that in some scheming way, just in an honest “we’ll have to see” way. I’ve got crazy hopes and things I’d like to happen, yeah, but I’m also a realist. If they’ll have me, I’d love to keep working with Crown and doing stuff with their Broadway imprint, but I’m sure it all depends on how the Ex-Heroes series sells. This is a business after all, and they’ve put a ton of work into re-launching the series.
And I’m still going to be working with Permuted—they’ve got 14, my Robinson Crusoe horror mashup, The Junkie Quatrain, and a bunch of anthologies I’m in (including a new one called Times of Trouble, about time travel gone horribly wrong). If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be where I am now.
14 by Peter Clines
4) While I first discovered you because of your zombie superhero novels, you also had a great year with 14. What’s your elevator speech on that novel?
14 is a book I wanted to write for about a year and a half but things kept getting in the way. I kind of lucked out that I had another project lined up and when the time came to start it Jacob Kier at Permuted told me to hold off. He’d just bought a book from another author—Bryan Hall—that had a couple similar themes and ideas, and he didn’t want two books competing against each other. As it happened, Permuted had just broadened their scope a bit, so to speak, as to what they were accepting, so I pitched Jacob the idea for 14 (which was called The Apartment at the time) and he loved it.
At its heart, 14 is sort of a horror-mystery-adventure story. It’s about a very regular guy named Nate who moves into an old apartment building in Los Angeles and starts to notice unusual things about it. Individually each little them is just kind of odd, but as they start adding up there’s a whole greater pattern of weirdness. And it’s also about forming a community and how people become friends. It’s tough to say much about it because it’s a slow-burn mystery that keeps building through the book, and I’m very anti-spoiler. Nothing sucks more that getting something out of context and having all the strength and fun sucked out of a twist or reveal. My original one line pitch to Permuted was “LOST set in an apartment building,” and I’ve been very flattered to see a lot of other people making the same comparison.
5) What’s on deck for you next?
Well, right now I’m trying to juggle work for the re-release of Ex-Heroes and Ex-Patriots, plus edits on Ex-Communication and trying to finish a fourth Ex-book in time for an October release. Then I’ve got a couple of conventions. And then I might sleep for a week or two.
After that… I’ve got an idea for a new series. Something a bit more real-world grounded. Well, as real-world grounded as I can get, anyway. And then, if people want it, maybe another Ex-book. Or two. It’s more important to me to have a good, entertaining story to tell than to crank out another book just to keep the series going.
Dane Jackson - Musings of a Curious Mind 