Zombified Interview with Bonnie Dee

Bonnie Dee is the chilling chick behind the Zombie Apocalypse series. Her first zombie ode After the End was followed by Dead Country. Let's chew on her cranium...

Ang: When were you first bitten by the zombie affliction? Can you take us back to how the infection began? What’s the most difficult part about sharing this ghoulish love as an indie?

Bonnie: See answer to question nine. My first zombie movie was the original Night of the Living Dead but prior to seeing it, I remember looking at movie stills from the (already vintage) movie in a magazine at a friend’s house. There was something so awful yet almost artistic in those horrible black and white images of flesh-eating dead people. I was repelled and fascinated and couldn’t wait to see the movie. This was before even VHS so I had to wait for it to be on TV and then just hope that I could catch it.

Ang: If you had to dumb down the plot of your book so a zombie could understand, how would you explain it?

Bonnie: Undead eat. People run.

To flesh that out a little (irony intended) for the more cerebral, After the End is set in NYC where a small group of survivors, first thrown together on the subway, try to escape the island of Manhattan.

Ang: Describe the lucky survivors who engage with the festering horde of the dead.

Bonnie: The cast of After the End includes Ari, a guy in his early twenties, fresh out of boot camp, combat trained yet totally unprepared to face an army of the undead; Lila, a college student majoring in philosophy, who finds her anti-violence beliefs crumble fast when fighting for her life; Derrick & Ronnie, a brother and sister duo; cool and crisp old Mrs. Scheider; Dr. Joe, a dermatologist (super useful kind of doctor to have during a zombie apocalypse), high strung Ann, hard-ass Deb and her girlfriend Sondra, and several others.

Ang: What was the most important aspect when writing your non-zombie characters? Realism (losers, assholes, and cowards) or fantasy (Rambo or the guy/gal who has a Rambo hiding inside them)?

Bonnie: I’m far more interested in how the average Joe and Jill fare when thrown into a life or death situation. I’m not interested in watching super strong, perfect fighting machines, but in people who make do with whatever weapons are at hand and use their smarts to outwit, outplay, outlast.

Ang: Does your book begin just as the zombies start building their paradise or have zombies already gotten things rocking and rotting?

Bonnie: My first book, After the End, is set just as the undead hordes swell and take over. That’s usually the most exciting setting, I think, because the protagonists not only have to survive but must wrap their heads around the impossible fact of the dead returning to life to cannibalize their own kind.

For my second book, Dead Country, I chose to set it in the same apocalypse but farther along the timeline and with a completely different cast of characters. Order is slowly being restored in major urban areas but in an isolated Midwestern town, help is not going to be on its way in time to save anyone.

Ang: Zombies are people too. They come in all shapes, sizes, speeds, and smarts. What types of the walking dead inhabit your novel?

Bonnie: I went with the slow, shambling type, meat marionettes that move awkwardly but relentlessly. Why do zombies seem to have super strength and are able to bite through just about anything? I’ve never been able to figure that out, but I went with the classic type anyway.

Ang: Will your infection spread to more books and series? How many blood and guts offerings do you predict in your future? How soon can our zombie and human readers expect to see your next festering contribution?

Bonnie: I’ve been asked numerous times for a sequel to After the End as people wanted to know what the survivors did after escaping Manhattan, but when I finish a story, I’m pretty much over it. That’s why my sequel was set elsewhere and with all new characters. I have a half finished, unrelated zombie story called The Cure, which has been stalled for many months. I’ve never been so blocked but I hope to finish it some day. Maybe this summer.

Ang: What is your favorite way to kill a zombie? Shoot ‘em, hack ‘em, poke ‘em, burn ‘em, or something even more fiendish? ***Zombie readers please turn away to avoid having your putrefied feelings eviscerated.

Bonnie: In my zombie world the spinal cord must be severed to stop the creature so a beheading is best. But a unique method of dispatching was my main reason for setting Dead Country in farmlands. I grew up around corn and combines so I could envision a scene in which a corn harvester plowed through a zombie horde. Tres cool.

Ang: Do you have a favorite cinematic zombie? Example: My co-blogger Zombie Earl is quite fond of Zombie Roger from the original Dawn of the Dead.

Bonnie: Well, first times are always most memorable, so I’d have to say the undead man who attacks the girl in the cemetery in the original Night of the Living Dead. There’s something about black & white horror films that’s starker and scarier—especially when you’re a well protected Catholic girl seeing her first gory horror movie. I was babysitting and saw this on late night TV and was nearly traumatized.

Ang: Who is your favorite character from The Walking Dead (comics or TV show)?

Bonnie: Have to admit to still not having read the comics, just the show. In general I’ve liked Glenn all along, because he’s an all around nice guy who’s quite clever (not that the writers continue to play that cleverness up like they did in the first season).

A lot of my interest has shifted to Darryl, who is awesome with that crossbow and is just so emotionally damaged under his contained exterior—and that’s pre-zombie apocalypse.

Ang: Finally, how prepared are you for the zombie apocalypse that we all know is just around the corner?

Bonnie: Luckily our house has a circa 60s fallout shelter, well stocked by previous owners with delicious circa 60s canned goods.

No, I actually have a cyanide tablet I wear in a locket at all times so if the going gets tough, I can check out.

Seriously, I would definitely not be the sort to boldly, bravely lead the way in a zombie apocalypse. I’m more of a runner and hider and a “let someone else get et while I run away” type. Hey, at least I recognize my limitations as a human being.

Devour After the End and Dead Country today.

Book Profile: Saving Jebediah by Doug Ward

BITE INTO THIS FREE ZOMBIE TALE
Saving Jebediah; Another True Story from the Zombie Apocalypse by Doug Ward

 

Summary

Everything seems to go wrong when the zombies invade the small town of Sigel. Join Max Talbot as he goes on a breakneck paced journey to save his uncle Jebediah.

Note: This story was written as fan fiction and later posted on Mark Tufo's website. The zombies in this story are modeled after the ones from his stories. So keep in mind that you will be reading about speeders and the slower variety.

Zombified Interview with Doug Ward

Doug Ward is the grisly guy behind the Zombie Apocalypse series. Two books in the terrifying trilogy are already shuffling in public. Let's crack open that skull and dig around inside...

 

Ang: When were you first bitten by the zombie affliction? Can you take us back to how the infection began? What’s the most difficult part about sharing this ghoulish love as an indie?

Doug: My best friend sent me a copy of his favorite zombie novel for my birthday. At the time I was reading mostly science and historical books but he knew I always loved zombie films. I really wasn't interested in reading a book about zombies but persisted and immediately fell in love with the genre. I soon friended Mark Tufo on Facebook (he's a really great guy) and learned about a fan fiction contest he was running. 10,000 words didn't sound like too awful much so I bit the bullet and wrote, Saving Jebediah. Before his contest was over I was another 10,000 words into my first full-length novel, Parasite: The True Story of the Zombie Apocalypse.

I think the hardest part is getting your book noticed and read. There are so many good stories being written every day by Indie Authors. Sometimes I just want to scream read my book! Give it a try!

Ang: If you had to dumb down the plot of your book so a zombie could understand, how would you explain it?

Doug: The main character in my book is Dr. Henry Cooper. He's an Entomologist who barely notices the dead rising all about him. When he does catch on he tries to figure out how it is happening. But first he needs to save his wife, Melissa. With the help of his neighbor Dean and some super hero clad comic book fanboys, he's off to the rescue. Join them as they race across Northwestern Pennsylvania on a quest, which involves everything from undead to fire trucks. Along the way you will discover the hard science behind how the dead truly rose from the grave.

Ang: Describe the lucky survivors who engage with the festering horde of the dead.

Doug:

• Henry Cooper is the main guy. An Entomologist who is currently studying a parasite.
• Melissa Cooper is trapped at work but is very resourceful.
• Dean Walker is Hank's neighbor and a survival nut.
• Amber is the beautiful assistant trapped with Melissa and two others.
• There are the guys from the comic book shop, Drew, Frank, and Ben. They are holed up in the store wearing super hero outfits and eating snack foods.

Just a bunch of normal people. You know...

Ang: What was the most important aspect when writing your non-zombie characters? Realism (losers, assholes, and cowards) or fantasy (Rambo or the guy/gal who has a Rambo hiding inside them)?

Doug: Definitely realism. I like character development. I want them to be believable and do realistic things. Each character is odd in his or her unique way. They change as circumstances change. One of the themes I use in my books is that everyone can contribute. No one is useless. No one is stupid. Everyone has unique knowledge that is necessary to the survival of the group.

Ang: Does your series begin just as the zombies start building their paradise or have zombies already gotten things rocking and rotting?

Doug: The dead have just risen and the funny thing is that Henry is so self-absorbed that he doesn't notice. In a way, I guess, that is real world. We would explain it away. Make excuses for peoples actions. But what happens to the neighbor girl in my book... Sometimes technology is not your friend.

Ang: Zombies are people too. They come in all shapes, sizes, speeds, and smarts. What types of the walking dead inhabit your series?

Doug: All types. From big heavy guys to children. Kids are the scariest. Double tapping a little girl would have to be the hardest thing to do. Even if she's about to chew on your spleen.

Ang: Will your infection spread to more books and series? How many blood and guts offerings do you predict in your future? How soon can our zombie and human readers expect to see your next festering contribution?

Doug: I just released the sequel to Parasite. It's called, Symbiote: The True Story of the Zombie Apocalypse Part 2. It takes the story further along and my beta readers say it is even better than the first. I'm currently about 20,000 words into Part 3 and hoping for a Halloween release. I am imagining it as a four part series.

Ang: What is your favorite way to kill a zombie? Shoot ‘em, hack ‘em, poke ‘em, burn ‘em, or something even more fiendish? ***Zombie readers please turn away to avoid having your putrefied feelings eviscerated.

Doug: I love to kill undead in all sorts of ways. You know, get creative. I have a few that I've never read about before. I actually explain why the zombies die when they supper severe trauma to the head. Like I said. I love science so I sprinkle actual science throughout my novel. Kind of a Michael Crichton treatment.

Ang: Do you have a favorite cinematic zombie? Example: My co-blogger Zombie Earl is quite fond of Zombie Roger from the original Dawn of the Dead.

Doug: Zombie Roger was great! I would rather go with the gas station guy from, Land of the Dead. I liked how they were starting to remember the way things were. Ok, it was a bit hokey but somehow it worked for me.

Ang: Who is your favorite character from The Walking Dead (comics or TV show)?

Doug: I never read the comic book but the TV show's awesome. I was a Shane fan. I know, he was a jerk but he was also a survivor. He shot Otis in the knee because they were both going to die. He killed the zombies in the barn because they were a danger. He did what needed to be done. Remember folks, humanity is a killer in a world where the dead are animated and want to eat your face off.

I was also a T-Dog fan. I knew his time was limited but I think I was rooting for the underdog. I knew he was going to die when he started getting too many speaking parts. That's a death sentence to any second tier character in that show.

Ang: Finally, how prepared are you for the zombie apocalypse we all know is just around the corner?

Doug: BudK is my favorite catalog. Does that answer your question? Actually, writing about The zombie apocalypse has given me an edge. I had to figure out good places to hide and techniques to survive large groups of zombies. I would write a book but I already have.

Chew on Doug's books at Amazon. Chase down Doug at Goodreads.

Mace of the Apocalypse FREE at AmaZon

Mace of the Apocalypse is FREE at Amazon.

 
Summary

On a beautiful spring afternoon in San Francisco a deadly toxin is released. Within hours it spreads like wildfire, consuming the entire Bay Area. A small group of survivors, desperate to stay alive, must travel through a gauntlet of raging corpses, battling their inner demons and each other along the way.

Through a priest, they gain access to a partial antidote. Holing up in a hospital in an attempt to create a safe zone, everything they believe in will be questioned. The antidote, they soon discover, is almost as dangerous as the infection.

Things unravel within their walls as a teenage gang deliberately infects themselves after receiving the partial cure. They revel in the power it gives them. Believing in their invincibility, they declare war on all who get in their way.

Faith will be lost. Lives will be surrendered. Heroes will rise.

This is the first book of a series. The second book, "Value of Jade," was released on Sept. 20, 2012.

Zombified Interview with Scott M. Baker

Scott M. Baker is the diabolical dude behind the Rotter World trilogy. Let's chew a little on his gray matter...

Ang: When were you first bitten by the zombie affliction? Can you take us back to how the infection began? What’s the most difficult part about sharing this ghoulish love as an indie?

Scott: I was first infected when I was about twelve years old and Chiller Theatre showed a re-run of Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things. The movie is cheesy as hell. But two scenes in that movie struck a chord. The first is during the rising in the graveyard when a female zombie reaches her hand out of the ground, clasps the victim’s ankle, and slowly pulls herself out of the grave hand over hand onto the victim’s body. The second is during the siege of the cabin when two zombies drag a screaming Terry (Jane Daly) through the darkened kitchen and into the shadows of the woods where a certain fate awaits her. To this day, those are the only scenes from any horror movie that have ever creeped me out. That was when the infection first took hold.

As for the most difficult part of writing about zombies, I would say it’s maintaining originality. The last thing I want is to have someone read one of my zombie novels or short stories and think “so-and-so wrote the same thing a couple of years ago.” It’s why I always try to add a new twist to the genre, such as steampunk zombies (The Last Flight of the Bismarck in the Machina Mortis anthology) or an alcoholic mall Santa battling zombie reindeer Deck the Malls with Bowels of Holly. For my zombie trilogy Rotter World, I introduced the concept of a surviving band of vampires and humans working together to survive the zombie apocalypse and, over the course of three books, discovering that the greatest horrors do not come just from the living dead.

Ang: If you had to dumb down the plot of your series so a zombie could understand, how would you explain it?

Scott: Vampires create zombies to eat humans but get eaten themselves. Vampires join humans to fight zombies. Zombies get massacred by the hundreds for just being zombies. Zombies sad.

Ang: Describe the lucky survivors who engage with the festering horde of the dead.

Scott: Most of the survivors in my zombie novels/short stories are us. They have different degrees of intelligence, different prejudices, and different back stories. Some entered the outbreak as decent human beings, while others were pure assholes on the day the dead started to come back to life. Mixing all these various personalities into the plot allows me to explore how various characters will deal with the end of the world. In my Rotter World trilogy, I’m hoping most readers will see themselves in one or more of my characters.

Ang: What was the most important aspect when writing your non-zombie characters? Realism (losers, assholes, and cowards) or fantasy (Rambo or the guy/gal who has a Rambo hiding inside them)?

Scott: As noted above, I try to make most of the characters in my zombie novels/short stories as realistic as possible because I think it adds a personal dimension to the story that readers can relate to. But sometimes the plot just screams for characters that are larger than life. My two prime examples are Scarlet, the steampunk heroine from The Last Flight of the Bismarck and Jack, the alcoholic mall Santa who battles zombie reindeer in Deck the Malls with Bowels of Holly. I see Scarlet as that Victorian adventuress battling the living dead who brings a touch of erotic feminism to a zombie outbreak. As for Jack, all I can say is picture A Christmas Story meets Army of Darkness.

Ang: Does your series begin just as the zombies start building their paradise or have zombies already gotten things rocking and rotting?

Scott: The Rotter World trilogy begins eight months after the zombie outbreak has begun. By now, most of the world has settled into a state of normalcy, or at least what is considered normal in the New World Disorder. The books deal with how the various groups of survivors deal with or take advantage of the living dead apocalypse.

Ang: Zombies are people too. They come in all shapes, sizes, speeds, and smarts. What types of the walking dead inhabit your series?

Scott: The Rotter World trilogy includes three types of zombies. The typical, slow-moving, shambling zombie called rotters, which are the decaying remnants from the early days of the outbreak. Strong, vicious, fast-moving zombies called swarmers, which are the recently reanimated that still retain most of their strength. And my favorite, recently-reanimated zombie vampires (just picture the worst aspects of both monsters intensified).

Ang: Will your infection spread to more books and series? How many blood and guts offerings do you predict in your future? How soon can our zombie and human readers expect to see your next festering contribution?

Scott: So far I only have plans for three books in the Rotter World series: the current volume, that was published by Permuted Press in April 2012. In the second book, which I am currently working on, the survivors of the first book will split up to complete their assignment, and each group will encounter other enclaves. In the final book, which I am plotting out, there will be a definitive conclusion to the zombie apocalypse, though I have not yet determined whether the living or living dead emerge as the primary species.

Ang: What is your favorite way to kill a zombie? Shoot ‘em, hack ‘em, poke ‘em, burn ‘em, or something even more fiendish? ***Zombie readers please turn away to avoid having your rotten feelings torn apart.

Scott: I’m an epic type of guy, so I prefer massed firepower against a horde of the living dead. But I don’t want to be boring, so I’ve also dispatched the living dead with flames, propane, and metal candy canes.

Ang: Do you have a favorite cinematic zombie? Example: My co-blogger Zombie Earl is quite fond of Zombie Roger from the original Dawn of the Dead.

Scott: Tar Man from Return of the Living Dead. I have “Brains” as the message notification ringtone on my cellphone. You should see the looks I get from people when that goes off in public.

Ang: Who is your favorite character from The Walking Dead (comics or TV show)?

Scott: Maggie (Lauren Cohan) from the TV series. She’s strong, independent, fiercely loyal to Glenn, and yet still can be a woman despite the whole world going to Hell.

A close second is the Governor (David Morrissey). Morrissey has done a phenomenal job bringing so many nuances to the character that at moments in Season Three I’ve wondered if he’s really a bad guy. And when I did realize that he’s gone over the edge, I still found myself loving the character. David Morrissey plays the Governor the same way Anthony Hopkins played Hannibal Lector – you know he’s a psychopath, but secretly you hope he survives and escapes.

Ang: Finally, how prepared are you for the zombie apocalypse we all know is just around the corner?

Scott: Not yet. I’m in the middle of a major move from northern Virginia to northern Florida, and at the moment everything is in transition. Once I get settled in the new home, however, I will be preparing my survival kits.

While I don’t consider myself a survivalist, I do believe that if you are prepared for a zombie outbreak, you’re also prepared for any type of situation that could occur – terrorist attack, natural disaster, social unrest, collapse of the infrastructure, etc. I haven’t built an underground bunker or stockpiled a year’s worth of supplies, but I can hold my own in a crisis. And if that crisis does happen to be a zombie apocalypse, I have more than enough ammo to really enjoy myself.

Bite into the Rotter World trilogy here. Get your fill of Scott on his blog, Facebook, and Twitter.

Zombified Interview with Vincenzo Bilof

Vincenzo Bilof is the ghoulishly gifted guy behind Necropolis Now. The first book in the Zombie Ascension series is his latest terrifying tribute to the zombie world. Let's rip open his skull and get a taste...

Ang: When were you first bitten by the zombie affliction? Can you take us back to how the infection began? What’s the most difficult part about sharing this ghoulish love as an indie?

Vincenzo: I've always loved zombie fiction. Like most fans of the genre, I grew up with the Romero films and the Return of the Living Dead franchise. There really wasn't a lot of zombie fiction out there for a very long time until the explosion in the last few years. I was writing my own zombie fiction but there wasn't a market for it, until some brave authors helped make it relevant. The most difficult part about loving this genre is a lot of people don't take it seriously; it seems to be regarded as a comical sub-genre rather than something capable of inspiring horror and dread. The zombie genre is just as important as any other monster franchise.

Ang: If you had to dumb down the plot of your series so a zombie could understand, how would you explain it?

Vincenzo: The zombie epidemic breaks out in Detroit, and a former soldier-turned-serial killer, Jim Traverse, holds the secret to the apocalypse. A large cast of characters become drawn into the chase to find him and save the city.

That's the easiest way to describe Necropolis Now, which is the first book in the Zombie Ascension series.

Ang: Describe the lucky survivors who engage with the festering horde of the dead.

Vincenzo:
Amparo Vega - A haunted mercenary whose life has been defined by violence. When she's called upon to hunt Jim Traverse in the middle of a city on the brink of destruction, she discovers an opportunity to redeem herself by searching for an innocent girl in the chaos.

Jim Traverse - A legendary soldier who discovered a dark secret while on a mission in Egypt; warped by his knowledge, he became a serial killer, though the chaos in Detroit allows him an opportunity to escape the asylum where he's been studied by military doctors.

Mina Neely - A porn actress confined to the same asylum as Traverse; her dark secrets and macabre lusts are connected to the undead uprising.

Patrick Griggs - A former police detective and porn industry maven who was ordered by the court to halt the sales of all his videos featuring Mina, Griggs uncovers his own need for violence while attempting to rescue the woman he loves.

Desmond Hunter - A lawyer who clawed his way to the top after being raised in a crack house, he represents Griggs in his lawsuit against the state of Michigan. Desmond unwittingly provides the video tape which sparked the war against the undead cannibals.

Ang: What was the most important aspect when writing your non-zombie characters? Realism (losers, assholes, and cowards) or fantasy (Rambo or the guy/gal who has a Rambo hiding inside them)?

Vincenzo: My characters are troubled individuals whose flaws actually help them survive; they're not "good" people; realism adds relevance to their struggles. There is a fantasy element involved with one or two of the characters, but it's not something you would anticipate…

Ang: Does your series begin just as the zombies start building their paradise or have zombies already gotten things rocking and rotting?

Vincenzo: Necropolis Now unfolds during the zombie apocalypse as the city begins to burn.

Ang: Zombies are people too. They come in all shapes, sizes, speeds, and smarts. What types of the walking dead inhabit your series?

Vincenzo: The zombies in this series are Romero-esque; slow, shambling corpses who are clearly disfigured by however they were murdered.

Ang: Will your infection spread to more books and series? How many blood and guts offerings do you predict in your future? How soon can our zombie and human readers expect to see your next festering contribution?

Vincenzo: The sequel to Necropolis Now will be available this summer. There will also be a novella that serves as a prequel shortly after that. There will be a "third" book sometime in 2014.

Ang: What is your favorite way to kill a zombie? Shoot ‘em, hack ‘em, poke ‘em, burn ‘em, or something even more fiendish? ***Zombie readers please turn away to avoid having your putrefied feelings eviscerated.

Vincenzo: By any means necessary. Think of Joe Pesci killing a zombie with a phone book or a rotary telephone… anything can become a weapon when you're trying to survive.

Ang: Do you have a favorite cinematic zombie? Example: My co-blogger Zombie Earl is quite fond of Zombie Roger from the original Dawn of the Dead.

Vincenzo: My favorite zombie is the one that appears at the start of Day of the Dead. A shadows approaches the cement, the camera looks up at the sun, and the zombie's figure is an eclipse… very beautiful.

Ang: Who is your favorite character from The Walking Dead (comics or TV show)?

Vincenzo: I personally love Michonne from the comic books. You get a sense of why she is the way she is. From the show, I thought Shane was a very engaging character because there were so many factors that motivated his actions. The conflict with Rick was very well done in the show.

Ang: Finally, how prepared are you for the zombie apocalypse that we all know is just around the corner?

Vincenzo: I think zombies will be a lot scarier than we think… and we'll never be prepared enough…
Bite off a chunk of Necropolis Now at the following AmaZons (US, UK, Canada).
Shuffle after Vincenzo at his website and on Twitter.

Zombified Interview with Daniel J. Williams

Daniel J. Williams in the gory guy behind the Mace of the Apocalypse series. He followed his first monsterpiece with its sequel The Value of Jade. His third Znovel is shuffling this way in April. Let's claw into that tasty cranium of his...

Ang: When were you first bitten by the zombie affliction? Can you take us back to how the infection began? What’s the most difficult part about sharing this ghoulish love as an indie?

Dan: I was just a kid, around 10, when I first caught Night of the Living Dead on TV. I was all alone and it just scared the hell out of me. I don’t think I could even get out of my bed after watching it. I don’t know why fear has such an intoxicating effect, but from that moment I was completely hooked on zombies.

The hardest part of embracing the zombie genre as an author is being taken seriously. When you try to tell someone that you’ve written a zombie book they kinda look at you sideways, lol.

Ang: If you had to dumb down the plot of your series so a zombie could understand, how would you explain it?

Dan: You get bit, you go bye-bye. Don’t get bit. It’s all about survival.

Ang: Describe the lucky survivors who engage with the festering horde of the dead.

Dan: The main character, Mace, is a troubled man who is haunted by his past and struggling to find himself in the middle of all the madness. He has some anger issues that push him to his boundaries.

Mace’s girlfriend, Jade, is extremely loyal, competent, and no shrinking violet when it comes to confrontation. She is his rock. Mace’s mentor is Father Jack McCann, who tries to hold onto their humanity and faith amidst all the death and chaos. I could go on but then you wouldn’t need to read the book. :)

Ang: What was the most important aspect when writing your non-zombie characters? Realism (losers, assholes, and cowards) or fantasy (Rambo or the guy/gal who has a Rambo hiding inside them)?

Dan: I went with realistic characters. I wanted people to be able to experience real emotions and not just get taken on a ride. I wanted the reader to experience every emotion in the book: Joy, pain, laughter, sadness, etc…

Ang: Does your book begin just as the zombies start building their paradise or have zombies already gotten things rocking and rotting?

Dan: The zombie apocalypse begins in San Francisco. The first book details the circumstances that create the apocalypse. I hadn’t seen too many books that did that so I wanted to produce something more original.

Ang: Zombies are people too. They come in all shapes, sizes, speeds, and smarts. What types of the walking dead inhabit your series?

Dan: My zombies used to be people. Now they’re just walking dead maniacs. They lost all trace of their humanity when they became infected. They are fast, vicious and operate on pure rage. They are propelled by alien proteins that control their brains and central nervous systems. They do not have the ability to reason. They have no desire to share anything but death. They are scary, man.

Ang: Will your infection spread to more books and series? How many blood and guts offerings do you predict in your future? How soon can our zombie and human readers expect to see your next festering contribution?

Dan: I am about to release my third book, Children of the Apocalypse, in early April. I am going to write at least one more book in the series, but the zombies will start to die off so I’m not sure where it will lead.

Ang: What is your favorite way to kill a zombie? Shoot ‘em, hack ‘em, poke ‘em, burn ‘em, or something even more fiendish? ***Zombie readers please turn away to avoid having your putrefied feelings eviscerated.

Dan: Shoot ‘em in the head! Exploding heads are just awesome! But wait, hacking them up is pretty awesome, too. A crowbar through the skull? Fucking wicked. I guess anything that takes one out is cool with me.

Ang: Do you have a favorite cinematic zombie? Example: My co-blogger Zombie Earl is quite fond of Zombie Roger from the original Dawn of the Dead.

Dan: Zombie Roger was a pretty good one, but Zombie Shane would have to be my favorite from The Walking Dead. That was a great scene when he rose up in the field.

Ang: Who is your favorite character from The Walking Dead (comics or TV show)?

Dan: It would have to be Rick. He’s kept them alive so far, even with his mind slipping.

Ang: Finally, how prepared are you for the zombie apocalypse that we all know is just around the corner?

Dan: I am not prepared in the least, which is how I want to face it. I want to try to survive it on the fly. I know basic zombie 101, but after all, we don’t really know what type of zombies we’ll be facing.

Get your copies of Mace of the Apocalypse and The Value of Jade at Amazon. ***Mace of the Apocalypse is free at Amazon until the 13th***.

Gruesome Goodreads Giveaway: Necropolis Now

GOODREADS GIVEAWAY…BE SURE TO TAKE A SHOT AT THIS ZOMBIE BOOK
Necropolis Now: Zombie Ascension Book One by Vincenzo Bilof
 

Summary

Detroit has become a war zone. Slow, shambling corpses feast upon the living while fire consumes the city. Amparo Vega, a haunted mercenary, fights through streets that are choked with the dead. Her mission: extract the legendary soldier, Jim Traverse, who holds the terrifying secret behind the zombie epidemic.

While the bullets fly, Traverse befriends a group of survivors whose fates are forever linked to his: an infamous arms dealer, a young lawyer, and a former detective struggle against the zombies together.