I mentioned zombies being the spook du jour when I posted my werewolf mixtape, vaguely implying that I wasn’t going to make a mixtape of zombie songs during my 31 Day Challenge. I had every intention of keeping that internal promise until I realized it was probably the only chance I had to legitimately include a GWAR song on one of my mixes (don’t worry, it’s first on the list, so you can listen to it and get it over or skip). Zombies may be cliche these days, but they’re still pretty fun in their own played out way. I tried to stay away from songs like “Thriller” and “The Gonk” on this mix and stick with songs about zombies (although I take liberties on two occasions because I like the songs so much). Take a listen to my favorite zombie songs and let me know what I missed!
If you visited the blog yesterday, you would have seen my glowing review for the new zombie/addiction novel, Fiend by Peter Stenson. I’m so in love this this book that I want to help promote it anyway possible. I recently interviewed Peter where we talked zombies, drug addiction, writing, and horror. Check out our interview below (and when you’re done, don’t forget to pick up a copy of Fiend).
Fiend by Peter Stenson
While some may say the zombie genre is getting a bit tired, you found a way to write a unique narrative – the notion that meth addicts are the only survivors. What steered you in that direction?
I believe the parallels between a severely addicted meth addict and a zombie are fairly obvious—sores, stumbling, somewhat incoherent speech, violence, an insatiable need for more—so combining the two was natural. I thought it would be interesting to see how the two groups played off one another. Of course any horror novel is really “about” something other than the monster/zombie/creature, and having personally experienced drug addiction in the past, I knew I could use the physical manifestation of zombies to illustrate the horrors of addiction.
As someone who has a past with drug addiction, was Fiend tough to write, or did you find it more cathartic?
I actually found it pretty darn cathartic to write. For the most part, Fiend is an examination of how miserable addiction is. I wrote about the losses and the loneliness and guilt and remorse and the deterioration of one’s moral compass as the disease progresses. For me, it’s good to remember those moments when all you want to do is hit restart. To undo every choice you’ve made. To be the person you know you’re capable of being. Remembering these moments is humbling, in a good way. However, I will say it was a little difficult to write the scenes where my POV character was experiencing the pleasurable side of ingesting a drug. Those memories are a little dangerous to linger over for too long.
Peter Stenson, author of Fiend (picture from forcesofgeek.com)
I loved the book, and one thing that really stood out to me was your characterizations of the major players. What character was your favorite to write?
The Albino was definitely the most fun to write. He was vile and disgusting and paranoid, yet he turned out to be the only one who was actually prepared for an apocalypse of this sort. Initially, I intended for him to be a little creepier than he was, but everything he did made me laugh, so I rolled with it. He was a happy surprise in the first draft.
What prompted you to give your zombies the chuckling trait?
I don’t think anything is scarier than a person who takes pleasure in violence. Nothing. When writing Fiend, I wondered how to add real menace to my zombies, and laughter seemed like a good choice. I’m not insinuating my zombies are conscious enough to take pleasure in killing, but the laughter suggests a maniacal mindset, one that would find some perverse enjoyment in terrorizing others.
One thing that got to me on more than one occasion is the horror of drug addiction vs. the horror of a zombie apocalypse. At one point, I had a hard time determining which would be more horrifying. Because of this, Fiend worked on so many levels and left me with such a feeling of dread throughout. It’s been over a week since I read the book, and I still think about it daily. I’m curious if my reaction to the book is similar to what you’ve been told?
I’m glad you had that reaction (although I’m sorry for the continued feelings of dread). I would have to say that yes, there are a lot of people who’ve commented on that dual threat in the book and how well these threats played off one another, which prompted a questioning as to which horror was actually worse. I’ve heard a lot of feedback about people reading the novel in a single day, but being hung up on it ever since. This makes me happy. But there are also some people out there who hated the book. Maybe that’s because it’s dirty, violent, and explicit—or maybe it’s just not the straightforward zombie action story many genre readers expect. It’s definitely not a book for everybody, but I think that’s ultimately a good thing.
As someone with an MFA, I’m curious what advice or lesson you learned while working towards your degree that stuck with you and made you a better writer?
My advisor and mentor at Colorado State University, Steven Schwartz, told me it was okay to write about my obsessions. When he told me that, it was like he was granting me permission to infuse my stories with addiction and heartbreak and sexuality and broken people struggling to trudge on. For whatever reason, these are things I’m interested in. That single piece of advice was invaluable—it suddenly made me feel liberated from trying to conform to much of the contemporary fiction out there.
Do you plan on staying in the horror genre with your writing, or will you be branching out?
I’ll be branching out. I’ve recently finished up two novels. One’s on the literary side of the spectrum, kind of a five-person narrative about infidelity and art and sexuality and raising children. The other novel is my take on the superhero genre—part satire about the rising Right, part hero narrative—which was beyond fun to write.
Peter Stenson‘s Fiend may just be the best book you read this year. On the surface, it’s a zombie genre novel, but as the story develops and progresses, it’s more an indictment on the horrors of drug addiction. As I read it, flashes of Trainspotting and Don Winslow’s Savages shone through. Ultimately, Fiend travels along at a frenetic pace and will stick with you for days. It’s been about a month since I read it, and I still think about some of the issues it brought up.
Fiend follows junkie Chase Daniels through the zombie apocalypse. What he originally thought was an after effect of his drug use ends up being a legitimate zombie threat. The zombies in Fiend are absolutely terrifying. Instead of the Romero Living Dead or the Walkers we’ve become accustomed to from The Walking Dead, Fiend‘s zombies are maniacal and chilling. Instead of moaning and groaning, Stenson’s zombie chuckle uncontrollably – almost like Heath Ledger’s portrayal of The Joker in Dark Knight.
During this zombie apocalypse, it’s revealed that the only human survivors were junkies. Chase, and his junkie compatriot Typewriter find themselves trying to survive the zombie-laden environment while also trying to score their next hit. This puts the two in a variety of predicaments that range from comical to absolutely devastating.
Characterization is also a key component to Fiend. As a former junkie, author Peter Stenson paints a picture that is chilling and ultimately hopeless. While the store focuses on Chase and Typewriter, a potbelly drug dealer named The Albino and Chase’s girlfriend KK, also play key roles. He doesn’t pull any punches and doesn’t care how uncomfortable the situations and the novel’s pacing makes the reader.
Fiend is brutal, vulgar, sexual, and pulls absolutely no punches. You will feel sick to your stomach after some of the decisions the main players make. You’ll be frightened by the zombies. You’ll want to help Chase begin to make better decisions. You’ll realize that no matter how much you want to help, it won’t matter. This is a novel about the horrors of addiction masquerading as a zombie novel. With Stenson’s pacing, reading Fiend may feel like a sprint, but the emotional aftermath is definitely a marathon.
Want more Fiend? Click HERE to read my interview with author Peter Stenson.
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.
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!
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.
It’s a real treat to welcome today’s author to my weekly “Friday 5 Questions With” blog. Joe McKinney is most well-known for his amazing horror novels, but he’s a Renaissance Man of sorts when it comes to writing. He can do it all, and as his Stoker Award for Flesh Eaters can attest, he can do it very well. If you’re a fan of horror fiction, but aren’t familiar with Joe McKinney, it’s time for your introduction because he’s one of the best writers in the genre right now. Also, as an added bonus, Joe has agreed to sponsor a book giveaway today. More details about that appear after the interview. With that, here’s Joe!
Joe McKinney
First things first, the final book in the Dead World series came out this year. What’s it called and what should fans expect from it?
That’s right. It’s called Mutated, and it came out in September. The first three books in the Dead World series all took place right around the beginning of the outbreak. Dead City and Flesh Eaters describe how the outbreak started, and Apocalypse of the Dead, which takes place about two years later, shows how the outbreak goes global. Mutated takes place about eight years after Apocalypse of the Dead, and picks up on a lot of the themes and plot lines left off at the ends of the previous books. For example, in Apocalypse of the Dead we learned that the military found a cure to the zombie virus, but the hospital working on that cure was overrun before they could make use of it. The only person to escape was a simpleton named Nate Royal, who is immune to the virus and who wears a flash drive containing the cure around his neck. By the time Mutated starts, Nate has been wandering the ruins of America for eight years. He’s not doing well. In fact, he’s nearly dead from exposure and malnutrition. It’s then that he meets up with Ben Richardson and a handful of survivors who are caught in a war with the leader of a zombie army known simply as the Red Man. In my books the victims of the zombie virus are living people who have been zombiefied by disease, and that disease goes through several stages. Most zombies die off in the first stage, though a few become second and third stage zombies, progressively capable of more and more sophisticated cognitive acts, such as setting traps, deception and using other zombies the way fox hunters use dogs. The Red Man though is the first ever Stage 4 zombie, and he is a force none of the survivors could have imagined.
Mutated, the last book in the Dead World series.
Aside from being an author, you also have extensive law enforcement experience. How does that play into your written work?
That’s right, I’m still an active duty police officer with the San Antonio Police Department, where I’ve gotten to do a little bit of everything. I’ve been a regular patrol officer, a disaster mitigation expert, a homicide detective, I ran the city’s 911 Center for a while, and I’m currently a patrol supervisor. It’s the greatest job in the world, and policing does figure prominently in my books. A great many of my characters are cops, and so I guess that’s the obvious way my police career works into my writing, but it goes beyond that too. Policing taught me an awful lot about human nature, its highs and lows, and when I write, I pull from that knowledge and experience.
I know you mostly as a horror author, but you also write other genres. What’s your favorite genre to write in…or are you more inspired by story versus genre?
Excellent question! Yes, it’s story for me. I’ve written horror, science fiction, non-fiction, crime, even some contemporary non-genre stuff. I tend to work with genre stuff most of the time though because that’s what I enjoy reading. That’s fun for me. But really, the story is king. The story will suggest what genre it needs to be.
To date, what’s your single proudest moment as an author?
I’ve hit a lot of milestones in my career. I remember with great affection my first professional story sale; my first book contract with a major New York publisher; my first multi-book deal; winning a Bram Stoker Award and getting handed the award by two of my literary heroes, Joe R. Lansdale and Robert McCammon; the first time Hollywood came knocking; and watching my Dad’s eyes bulge out of his head when he saw the check for one of my advances. But without a doubt my proudest moment came just this year, when I was taking my daughters to school. I was talking with one of the other parents, not really paying attention to what my youngest daughter was doing, when I heard her tell a group of her little friends, “Oh yeah, well my Daddy’s a horror writer.” Then she turned and smiled at me, and I felt like I was king of the world.
What’s next for you?
More writing! I have a haunted house novel called CROOKED HOUSE coming out any day now from Dark Regions Press; my collected zombie short stories in a volume called DATING IN DEAD WORLD from Creeping Hemlock Press; a sequel to DEAD CITY as part of the JournalStone Publishing Double Down series; a shared world novella for JournalStone in their Limbus II anthology; a full length novel called St Rage for Journalstone; a standalone zombie novel with Kensington, due out in September, 2013; and a new zombie series starting in 2014 called The Dead Lands for Kensington. In between I’ll be doing short stories and articles, and possibly publishing another collection of my non-zombie short stories. There’s a lot to do, for sure! Anybody looking for more information can check out my website, http://joemckinney.wordpress.com, for all the details.
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Now…let’s talk about the book giveaway! Joe has graciously offered to give away THREE copies of his new novel, Inheritance, to three lucky readers of this blog. He’ll also sign them before mailing them out! So, here’s the deal. First off, this giveaway is open to US RESIDENTS ONLY. To be eligible for the giveaway, you need to comment on this blog with an answer to the following question: Do you believe in ghosts?
We will then choose three winners at random from all eligible entries. You have until Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013 at 12:00 pm EST to comment on the blog to be eligible. Good luck and happy haunting!
I’ve done several “5 Questions With…” features on my blog since its inception, but I’m hoping to make it a more regular occurrence. Since Friday is also known for Friday Five, it just makes sense to move this feature to Friday as well, don’t you think?
I’m starting things off with a bang – with the New York Times bestseller and co-writer of The Walking Dead novels, Jay Bonansinga! Before he teamed up with Robert Kirkman for this project, Jay was responsible for 16 other novels including the Stoker-nominated The Black Mariah.
I got my first taste of The Walking Dead book universe with the first in the series – Rise of the Governor. This book already had a few things going for it: it was part of TWD’s universe, it focused on The Governor, and it was well-written. I had big plans for the book in terms of promotion at Borders. I was presented it right before Borders went belly up, and I was immediately ready to make it the focus of my October 2011 promotional efforts. Those plans never came to fruition unfortunately, so it’s especially cool that I was contacted about helping promote the second book in the series. I jumped at the opportunity!
So, without further ado, here are my Five Questions with Jay Bonansinga.
What’s it like to be part of the Walking Dead universe and to be able to work with Robert Kirkman?
Best job of my career… really. Twenty-five years in the horror field, sixteen books, 60 short stories, a gig with George Romero, and an absolute LOVE of zombies, and I feel like I have been in training for this work my whole career. Love it, love it, LOVE IT!!
Now that the comic has transcended to just about every form of medium, do you find it challenging to make sure the novels stand out in the crowd?
Yeah, absolutely, it’s really scary and fascinating to see the novel form pitted against these sexier mediums… but that is what’s SO interesting about this whole experience, the books are self contained and yet perfectly conformed, like genetically modified organisms, to the comic and TV series.
The first novel focused on the origins of the Governor and the latest novel mainly focuses on Lilly. Do you anticipate branching out into different parts of the world in future work, or are you going to stay close to Woodbury?
I want to do this until I die… so, yeah, I see it branching out… in fact, I want to do it beyond the point that I die, especially if I turn and come back as a zombie, in which case I will continue to write, although my penmanship will suffer.
What would you say to fans of the comic or fans of the show who haven’t given the novels a chance to entice them into checking them out?
I would say that the novels are like having sex with a lot more foreplay, and it’s really excellent foreplay, so come on… if you want to just get your rocks off, fine, but don’t you want more foreplay? (Is this a family publication?) Editor’s Note: We’ll let it slide
Who’s more fanatic: Trekkies, Star Wars fans, or Walking Dead fans?
I would say either Trekkies or Star Wars fans are more fanatic… Walking Dead fans are more like GRATEFUL Dead fans… and we all know Dead Heads are too stoned to be fanatic.
Also, if you want to give it a shot, Paste Magazine posted the first three chapters of The Walking Dead: Road to Woodbury HERE!
Well, we’re a bit past the halfway point of my 31 Day blog challenge. I’ve had a lot of fun so far and I still have lots I want to talk about, but I’m not sure if I’ll have time to do it all. That’s where you come in!
Below, I’m going to list some of my topic categories. Whatever gets the most votes, gets the most attention. No votes? Well, then I’m going to do what I want!
Category One: Monsters: Blogs about Freddy Krueger, zombies, and other scary creatures
Category Two: DIY Halloween: Blogs about costumes, treats, decorations and the like
Category Three: Movies, Books, and more: Blogs about what to watch, read, and enjoy to make this a creepy Halloween season
Category Four: Halloween Lore: Blogs about the history of Halloween and the like.
Category Five: Misc: Blogs with topics that don’t really fit the molds of the other four categories
Voting will be open until the end of the weekend (Sunday 11:59 pm EST). I’ll use your responses to shape the rest of this challenge.