Guest Post - Russell R James #WinterofZombie 2015

Guest Post: Russell R James #WinterofZombie

 NOVEMBER 10, 2015 BY ARMAND ROSAMILIA

The Staying Power of the Undead

You can’t keep a good zombie down. At least not without a bullet to the head, and certainly not since 1968. Why does this fictional terror maintain its hold on our psyche across generations? Because zombies are relentless? Remorseless? Repellent? Nope.

Because they were once us. Sure, aliens and demons are scary. I’m not in a hurry to meet any of those. But there’s a separation between them and humanity, a line they cannot cross that places a subconscious, psychological distance between us and them. Zombies, however, were once human, and in the same horrific way that a serial killer was once a cute little Cub Scout next door. There’s a relatable reference point to see just how awful this creature has become.

But that brings on the ultimate zombie-inspired spine-tingle. You could become a zombie. The terror that physically hunts you while you are awake continues to psychologically, subconsciously hunt you as you sleep. Turning zombie separates us from our humanity, the only thing that places us above the beasts. The infection melds the horror of a diagnosis of ALS with the curse of having it never be fatal. Imagine an eternity spent existing as an undead monster, with no escape except through your execution by some other terrified human being, who you’d just as soon kill before he did you the favor. There’s no silver lining to this black cloud.

It is the sum of many fears we all harbor: aging, Alzheimer’s, cancer, the list goes on. All these afflictions eventually turn us into someone we never were before, and someone we definitely don’t want to be. And as with all of them, there is no return, no cure. How better to try and subjugate that fear than by dealing with it fictionally before we have to deal with it factually.

We are about a decade into America’s latest danse macabre with the zombie phenomenon. Is it about to burn out? After almost fifty years going strong, I’d say no.

*   *   *   *   *

The stench of frozen flesh is in the air! Welcome to the Winter of Zombie Blog Tour 2015, with 40+ of the best zombie authors spreading the disease in the month of November.

Stop by the event page on Facebook so you don’t miss an interview, guest post or teaser…and pick up some great swag as well!

Giveaways galore from most of the authors as well as interaction with them!

#WinterofZombie is the hashtag for Twitter, too!

Guest Post - Ted Nulty #WinterofZombie 2015

Guest Post: Ted Nulty #WinterofZombie

 NOVEMBER 10, 2015 BY ARMAND ROSAMILIA

Zombie Tour

Zombies, I’ve loved them since I saw ‘Night of the Living dead’. The overwhelming sense of dread at facing a swarm of the living dead is a rush. But they really became cool when they got fast, Dawn of the dead, 28 days later fast. Now single zombies were a threat where before it took a whole town to be scary.

I wrote ‘Gone Feral’ as a homage to all the zombie writers before me, but I wanted it to be real, I wanted it to make sense where sometimes some of the other tales left a little too much gap in the realm of plausibility. Watching CNN in a bar one night with some Marines, we saw a naked man going cannibal on another man on a freeway overpass in Florida. The story about bath salts was my inspiration for the series. You see every single aspect of the chemical poisoning of the population was ‘Gamed out’ at the Marine Corps EOC (Emergency Operations Center) at Camp Pendleton. I learned how many airplanes it would take to disperse a water soluble drug to 60% of the population. Throw in a little artistic license, and I was ready to go.

I did want to stay as close to the zombie “rules” as I could. So I made the chemical transferable through a bite. I also made the affected, immune to pain and hard to kill. Add in some rage and you are looking at as close to a zombie as I can realistically get.

The positive response from readers was quite a shock, and I immediately began work on book II at the behest of my small but growing fan base. I wrote ‘Barry’s Walk’ in response to that feedback and it turned out to be wildly popular with folks. Barry was a minor character in the first book that people said they wanted to know more about. I wrote it as a stand-alone novel and therefore had to include some of the story from the first book for continuities sake. I burned that sucker out in 30 days and had a blast doing it. I left a little cliff hanger there at the end just because I had another novel in mind. But I had another flight of fancy first and decided to scratch that itch.

‘The Other Side of Me’ is my homage to Jekyll and Hyde. I wanted to write about a really good person who through no fault of his own becomes a very evil monster, then I want that tortured character to face the challenge of reconciling his acts with the knowledge that it wasn’t his fault. Kind of a PTSD on steroids type of thing. Again the plot twist bug bit me, and I had to throw a few curve balls in there. The story is set in the ‘Gone Feral’ universe, and the drugs the terrorists use are the vehicle used to catapult this whole new cast of characters through a wild journey.

Did I mention I’m a Marine? Well I am, and we like challenges. So not only did I make my zombies hard to kill, and fast. I made sure that all mammals were affected by the drug, making Cats, Rats, Dogs, and Pigs (Especially pigs) susceptible to the effects of the toxin. This made the world exponentially more difficult to survive in. It also gave me more ways to herd, corral, push, or otherwise guide my characters into more trouble.

I can’t get through a day without some form of humor, so I have taken the task very seriously to introduce some form of off color shenanigans into my books. It’s what us Jarheads do to cope with stress, and I know it would happen in the real world. I have to confess that the kid humor is always taken from my devil spawn children. You’ll have to take it with a grain of salt (pun intended).

So thank you for joining us here on the Winter of Zombie Tour. I am humbled to be included with this very talented group of authors. I hope you enjoy our work, we enjoyed writing it for you.

Ted Nulty

*   *   *   *   *

The stench of frozen flesh is in the air! Welcome to the Winter of Zombie Blog Tour 2015, with 40+ of the best zombie authors spreading the disease in the month of November.

Stop by the event page on Facebook so you don’t miss an interview, guest post or teaser…and pick up some great swag as well!

Giveaways galore from most of the authors as well as interaction with them!

#WinterofZombie is the hashtag for Twitter, too!

Guest Post - Rhonda Hopkins #WinterofZombie 2015

Guest Post: Rhonda Hopkins #WinterofZombie

 NOVEMBER 10, 2015 BY ARMAND ROSAMILIA

SURVIVAL: SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE WE MAY NEED WHEN THE ZOMBIE SHTF

So I’ve been thinking. Yeah, I know. That can lead to dangerous situations. (Or funny, considering what a klutz I can be.) But hopefully not this time. This time, I’m actually trying to think of things I might need to know to keep me out of trouble in the event of an apocalypse. I know those zombies are just around the corner! And writing about the zombie apocalypse, I need to know at least these basics (or know where to get the info). I’m always coming up with something that I need to know when writing. Thank goodness for the internet and experts that are willing to offer up their knowledge.

Anyway, there are some skills that would definitely be valuable after TEOTWAWKI (The End of the World As We Know It). Now I know I can’t learn all of this. At least not quickly. But maybe having one or two skills to barter when cash is worth less than a pile of manure (after all, you can you manure for fertilizing) might be essential to survival.

So what kinds of things will we need? Here are a few of the things I think will be important skills and knowledge (things I’ve had to research while writing theSURVIVAL series or have on my list to research for my next book) in no particular order:

Farming — growing crops/gardening and raising livestock

Butchering (I hope someone else knows how to do this because it’s not on my want-to-know-skills list. But you do what you got to do, right?)

Hunting/Fishing/Trapping

Knitting/Crocheting

Curing/Tanning Animal Skins

How to Store and Preserve Foods – canning, drying, curing, pickling, etc.

Sewing

Making Soaps/Candles/Cleaning Supplies

Carpentry

Plumbing

Mechanical Knowledge

Knowledge of Solar Power

How to Operate a Ham Radio

Knowledge of Weapons – how to use, clean, and maintain

First Aid

Self-Defense

Now I know I’m not likely to learn how to set up a building to function on solar power, but there are a few things I can do, and most of you can do, to be more self-sufficient in a world turned upside down. For instance, we can all learn about self-defense, take a first aid class, learn to prepare and store food without a refrigerator or other appliances.

We can learn about a weapon or two. I already know how to handle my Glock, so adding one or two other weapons to that shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve fired other handguns when target shooting with friends. And I’m pretty good with a bow and arrow. I’d love to learn to use a crossbow effectively.

I’ve also gathered quite a collection of eBooks on canning and food prep as well as candle and soap making. So, I need to start putting those to use. And my aunt’s been trying to get me to let her teach me to crochet. I think it might be time. Hey! Those crochet hooks and knitting needles can become weapons if needed!

By the way – did you know you can make a candle out of a stick of butter in an emergency? While this might not help during an apocalypse, it might help if the electricity goes off and you don’t have any candles in the house.

Even if you never need any of these for a zombie apocalypse, just think how handy these survival skills could be in your everyday life. At least you’ll be a well-rounded person with a lot of different expertise for others to admire. So take a few classes, watch a few videos, read some books, and practice.

So that’s it. What did I miss? Let me know in the comments what skills or knowledge you think will be important after a zombie apocalypse.

Award-winning author, Rhonda Hopkins, has learned firsthand that truth is stranger than fiction. Her two decades of experience as an investigator provide her characters with a depth and realism that gives truth a run for its money. Having come in contact with the best and the worst that society has to offer, Rhonda’s imagination is filled with story ideas. Rhonda writes horror, suspense, paranormal, and YA urban fantasy. She is the author of the zombie apocalypse series, SURVIVAL, and the award-winning paranormal novella, THE CONSUMING. She also has a non-fiction book, NAVIGATING FAMILY COURT: IN THE BEST INTEREST OF YOUR CHILD, to assist those going through custody litigation.

You can connect with Rhonda at:

Website: http://rhondahopkins.com

Facebook:  http://facebook.com/RhondaHopkins.Author

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/Rhonda_Hopkins

Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/rhondahopkins

Google+:  https://www.google.com/+RhondaHopkins

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/rhondarhopkins

Find more from Rhonda at Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Rhonda-Hopkins/e/B009KWDCCW

*   *   *   *   *

The stench of frozen flesh is in the air! Welcome to the Winter of Zombie Blog Tour 2015, with 40+ of the best zombie authors spreading the disease in the month of November.

Stop by the event page on Facebook so you don’t miss an interview, guest post or teaser…and pick up some great swag as well!

Giveaways galore from most of the authors as well as interaction with them!

#WinterofZombie is the hashtag for Twitter, too!

Guest Post - Jack Wallen #WinterofZombie 2015

Guest Post: Jack Wallen #WinterofZombie

 NOVEMBER 10, 2015

1

Winter of Zombie 2015

Suspension of disbelief

One of the issues we horror writers often deal with is the readers willingness to suspend disbelief. What exactly is this magical turn of phrase? It was coined in 1817 by Samuel Taylor Coleridge who suggested if a writer could infuse a “human interest and a semblance of truth” into a fictional (and fantastical) tale, the reader would suspend judgment concerning the believability of the circumstances in the story.

This is something every reader of zombie horror fully understands. The problem, however, lies in just how much the reader is willing to suspend. Consider this:

You’re reading a novel about the apocalypse, one where humans have died and come back to life as brain/flesh eating machines of love and grace (or hate and indecency, depending on your bent). That is the big suspension. Why? As of this moment, the human creature, once dead, stays dead. There is no coming back from the big nap. You’ve willingly ignored that one essential component of the human condition, because without doing so would drive you mad otherwise – you’d spend every page, paragraph, sentence, and word cursing the writer for penning such improbable fiction.

Once we get beyond the big bad of suspensions, things start to get a bit dicey. How? Because as we climb down the ladder of intellect, rung by rung, we start dealing with topics that are much more “binary” than the idea of human re-animation. Add to that, we run across topics that certain cross sections understand quite well.

Take, for instance, the topic of weapons. There are some readers out there who know very little about guns. So when a writer says “Weapon X does Y”, that reader just buys into it. Other readers aren’t so ready to toss this aside. Weapon aficionados probably know that Weapon X doesn’t actually do Y, it does Z. So those readers are apt to toss up their arms and shout “I quit!”

Another hot topic in the realm of apocalyptic fiction is that of power. When the virus takes hold, there are varying schools of thought on how long the power grid will hold up. Some countries would go down quite quickly, whereas others might hold fast for a longer period. Certain types of power generation will last longer than others. Hydro-electric power will last quite a bit longer than coal. Solar will last indefinitely, so long as there is a sun. Where the idea of electricity gets very tricky in the world of fiction is when you attempt to apply the laws (and loss) of power, you wind up losing out on a great number of constructs that are often necessary to move along a plot. One good example in my I Zombie series is that ofZombie Radio. The DJ has managed, on a number of occasions, to save the day (or the sanity) of various and sundry groups. Without him not only would Bethany not be as capable, but the Zombie Radio series wouldn’t exist.

Another big suspension is that of biological engineering. I am not a bio-chemist (though I have played one on the stage), so the depth of my knowledge for creating cures for the Mengele virus (or any virus for that matter) is kiddy pool shallow. Thanks to the fact I didn’t get my Phd in bio-chem, readers have to be willing to suspend disbelief when it comes to matters of the molecule.

You see where this is going, right?

Post apocalyptic fiction is one of my favorite genres to write and read. Collected in the Winter of Zombie 2015 are some of the best writers in the genre – each of which delivers a particular spin on the story. Some of the writers rely heavily on military, some on militia. Some writers lean more on the global/social aspect of the apocalypse, while others depend upon the human story. Regardless of what each writer uses as their tools of the trade, there will be some suspension of disbelief necessary in order to get through the stories. That is part and parcel to the drama. We use our imaginations to get characters in and out of situations and drive the story (and series) arc forward. Sometimes, we have to bend the concepts of reality and physics to meet our needs. Hopefully you, the reader, are willing to bend as well.

I want to take a moment to thank each and every reader here; not only for your continued support, but for your willingness to suspend disbelief as you navigate the words of our post apocalyptic fiction. Without your wonderful and willing minds, none of us would be here right now.

Bend on ladies and gents, bend on.

Get more Jack

• http://www.monkeypantz.net
• http://facebook.com/author.jackwallen
• Twitter: @jlwallen
• Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B004MZWR3W

*   *   *   *   *

The stench of frozen flesh is in the air! Welcome to the Winter of Zombie Blog Tour 2015, with 40+ of the best zombie authors spreading the disease in the month of November.

Stop by the event page on Facebook so you don’t miss an interview, guest post or teaser…and pick up some great swag as well!

Giveaways galore from most of the authors as well as interaction with them!

#WinterofZombie is the hashtag for Twitter, too!

Guest Post - Shawn Chesser #WinterofZombie 2015

Guest Post: Shawn Chesser #WinterofZombie

 NOVEMBER 9, 2015

3

My Zombie Apocalypse Dream Team

By Shawn Chesser

On my Facebook page the other day, I asked the question: What would your zombie apocalypse dream team look like? I put no restrictions on who they could pick for their team. A real person—living or dead, a comic book character, someone from the movies … it did not matter. I only wanted to know who their top ten would be, and why?

Some people picked relatives who had excelled on the field of battle and I think that’s beyond awesome! Way to honor them! Others stacked their team with superheroes. Most had a mix of team members as varied as the folks who read my ‘Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse’ series.

Therefore, without further adieu, here are my top ten picks.

1. After thinking about this for about half a millisecond, I picked my own protagonist Cade ‘Wyatt’ Grayson. He’s former Delta, patriotic, and loyal to a fault.

2. In the second half of that same millisecond I chose Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, the late great legendary sniper the enemy took to calling “The Devil of Ramadi” on account of the high body count he racked up on them. With a scoped long gun and an ample supply of ammunition, the Z bodies would pile up very quickly.

2. Marcus Luttrell was a must-have shooter for my team. A Navy SEAL Corpsman, he was the lone survivor of his four-man recon team. Deep in enemy territory in Afghanistan and vastly outnumbered by Taliban fighters, the four warriors fought tooth-and-nail to the bottom of a valley where Luttrell was knocked out by a fall before being spirited away to a friendly Pashtun villager’s home. His medical knowledge and dogged determination to survive against all odds makes him the perfect zompoc teammate.

3. Michonne from AMC’s The Walking Dead. Her skill with the Katana is out of this world. Keeping as pets armless and jawless walkers whose stench masks her scent from other walkers earns her extra cunning points in my book.

4. I could not pass up Wolverine from Marvel’s ‘The X-Men’. His accelerated healing factor should cancel out the possibility of infection from a zombie bite. Adamantium bones and razor sharp claws will allow him to wade through even the largest undead herds with impunity. Is fielding a mutant an unfair advantage? Yep … but I need to hear him call just one Z “Bub.”

5. I would never hear the end of it from my readers if I left out Alice from Resident Evil. She is a master of weapons who just so happens to have telekinetic powers. Five years of fighting zombies and Umbrella Corp has conditioned her nicely for a full-blown zompoc.

7. Han Solo. He flies the Millennium Falcon like a demon. Presumably, those skills will translate to fixed and rotor wing aircraft. I just hope that he won’t lawn dart it into a golf course with everyone aboard.

8. Because I am a huge Punisher fan, Frank Castle makes the cut. With his martial arts training and weapons knowledge, he would round out nicely a four man recon team consisting of Chris Kyle, Marcus Luttrell, and Cade Grayson.

9. Glenn from The Walking Dead would be a stellar addition. He is afraid of nothing. During runs outside the wire—save for the Noah debacle—he has proven he can move amongst the Zs without detection almost at will. Moreover, he always does what is best for the group. If you still need convincing … two words: Well Walker. If you have to ask, you are not a true Walking Dead fan.

10. As one could imagine, a full day of zombie slaying drums up quite an appetite. Therefore, I chose Chef Emeril Lagasse—Bam!—to whip up our post Z-ass-kicking meal.

These are my ten.

What does your dream team look like?

P.S. In my STZA universe, Omega does not affect Wolverine. My imagination = my rules.

Below are links to Shawn Chesser’s latest STZA release. 

Frayed: Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse at Amazon

Frayed at iBooks

Frayed at Barnes & Noble

Frayed at Kobo

Connect with Shawn Chesser

FB Author Page

FB Page

Amazon Author Page

ShawnChesser.com

Connect with Shawn Chesser on Twitter

@sdchess

*   *   *   *   *

The stench of frozen flesh is in the air! Welcome to the Winter of Zombie Blog Tour 2015, with 40+ of the best zombie authors spreading the disease in the month of November.

Stop by the event page on Facebook so you don’t miss an interview, guest post or teaser…and pick up some great swag as well!

Giveaways galore from most of the authors as well as interaction with them!

#WinterofZombie is the hashtag for Twitter, too!

#WinterofZombie 2015

If you haven't stopped by, check out the 2015 #WinterofZombie Blog Tour! Head on over to www.dyingdayszombie.com and get in with the most excellent Armand Rosamillia as he takes on 48 of the best minds in the Z-poc business. There are guest posts, interviews, and giveaways all month long. Check out the action on Facebook HERE and be sure to catch my Spotlight On interview later today! There will be a sneak peek at the long-awaited Six Feet From Hell: Endgame later this month!

In other news, Refuge From the Dead - Lockdown is nearly complete. Cover art by the talented Eloise Knapp at www.ekcoverdesign.com! Look for it to be released towards the end of November/first of December. 

Don't miss out! Be sure to click "FOLLOW" on my Amazon author page to stay up-to-date on new releases! Click HERE to go to my page.

Lost Between and Writemares available now!

Two new releases are hitting today! First, grab Writemares - A short story collection and if that doesn't cure the itch, then grab Lost Between - The Travelers Saga #1!  Both are only 99 cents. Writemares includes short stories from the 6FFH universe as well as previously unreleased and released material. There are 7 total stories in Writemares, including one short in the Travelers storyline.