Tag: zombie fans

The Greatest Zombie Movie Ever, by Jeff Strand

 

greatestzombiemovieever-300
(I do not own this image. Image belongs to Sourcebooks Fire.)

 

Jeff Strand is the author of numerous novels and short stories, many of them macabre. And funny. His new novel, The Greatest Zombie Movie Ever hit shelves on March 1st.

Justin and his buddies have been making movies for a while. Well, they’ve been starting movies for a while. But now they’ve decided to actually finish a movie: The Greatest Zombie Movie Ever.

They have a month to make the movie, the script is initially unfinished…and then merely horrible, a budget that depends on the goodwill of family, and they don’t have permission to film in the high school. Not to mention, Justin’s crush has been cast as the star, so he really needs to make this happen if he has a chance with her. What could possibly go wrong?

The Greatest Zombie Movie Ever is a hilarious misadventure of filmmaking at its best, er, worse.

(Galley provided by Sourcebooks Fire via NetGalley.)

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Getting Over Feeling Guilty

So, I know I said I was going to do some writing-related work every week and post about it here to keep myself accountable, but…that just didn’t happen last week.  At first I felt guilty.  I had an entire week, why couldn’t I carve out some time for writing?  Then I thought about it:  I was busy last week.  Really busy.  It wasn’t like I did nothing last week.  I just didn’t have enough hours to fit in everything I had to do, much less the things I wanted to do.  I have valid reasons for not getting to the writing.  I may not be happy about the situation, but it is what it is, and I’m in the process of making my life more conducive to doing things I want to do, instead of merely what I have to do.

My (excellent list) of (valid) reasons I didn’t have time for writing last week:

1)  I worked an extra day at the day job.

2)  School. (And registering for summer classes, which I wasn’t planning on taking.)

3)  I started packing my apartment in preparation for moving in 3 weeks or so.  (Blech.  I HATE packing.)

4)  Pre-vacation planning and packing (I leave on Thursday.)

5)  Extra schoolwork so I don’t have to do it while on vacation.

To me, those are excellent reasons (not excuses).

I did just sign up for a webinar Thursday with Holly Lisle and Booknook.biz about e-book formatting, so I’m counting that as writing-related for next week…

Also, I took a few hours out to go see Divergent.  I haven’t read the book, but I loved the movie.  I thought it was really well-done.  Also, since my WIP (which currently stands for Work I’ve Paused) is dystopian, the movie got me thinking about the genre, which seems to have gotten big with the success of things like The Hunger Games and The Walking Dead (yes, I’m counting that here).

So, I’d really like to know:  why do you like (or dislike) dystopian stories?

All Our Foolish Schemes, by Raymond Esposito

All Our Foolish Schemes, by Raymond Esposito
All Our Foolish Schemes, by Raymond Esposito

“All Our Foolish Schemes,” the second book in Raymond Esposito’s The Creepers saga, is available now. Once again, Mr. Esposito’s writing evokes echoes of Stephen King and Richard Matheson, in this tale of a world gone mad.

A devastating virus has swept the world, changing most of humanity into mindless, ravening monsters in a matter of days, sometimes hours. Even the government’s “extreme measures” could not contain this horrific virus, and the world changed to a terror-filled nightmare overnight. Too bad the zombies aren’t the only horrors the survivors have to face.

Though the group made it out of Fort New Hope, they still aren’t safe. With some of them wounded—and changed more than they know—they are now in a desperate race to stay ahead of Connor, and his pack of undead monsters. There is no doubt the Creepers are changing, evolving into something even more horrific, and they face tough choices and insurmountable obstacles in their battle to reach a safe haven. But not all of them will make it out alive.

With more page-turning action and vibrant characters, “All Our Foolish Schemes” carries on the story of The Creepers saga. Amidst a dark and desperate world, the characters readers have come to know and love fight for their very existence while trying to stay true to each other.

Zombified

"...brains..."
“…brains…”

I have become a zombie.  It’s true.  Several months ago, I noticed that most of the people on campus at my university can’t seem to go anywhere without headphones on.  It takes what, three minutes to walk between classes, and they can’t go that long without listening to music?  And some of them would sit in the classroom/auditorium/lecture hall with their headphones on, until the professor would come in and actually start talking before they’d take them off. Then they’d act like it was a huge inconvenience to be without them.  It was like all these people were withdrawing from the world, wanting to live in their own little bubble, with no contact with anyone outside of it.  On one hand, it irritated me greatly.  On the other, my Muse thought it had great potential to be used in a dystopian story, and that turned into The Fall.

Today I realized I’m guilty of this as well.  I don’t know when it happened.  I don’t know how.  But I rarely go anywhere on campus now without my headphones on.

It’s not because I don’t want contact with the people around me–although sometimes that’s the last thing I want.  Have you seen how annoying teenagers are now?  (Suddenly, I feel very old.)  Plus, there are inevitably people who decide to talk to me, even though I am clearly wearing my “Please Don’t Talk to Me” face (Seriously, people?  Can you NOT see the look I’m giving you?  Get a clue.).  But even that’s not the real reason.

The real reason is because I find myself in desperate need of inspiring and uplifting music to get through the day.  My priorities have shifted drastically over the last six months, and one of the things that has changed is the music I listen to most of the time.  It keeps me on an even keel.  And considering the stress in my life, I need an even keel (and, possibly, a life preserver).  Hence the ever-present headphones.  But I do take them off when I go into a classroom.  And I can’t listen to words with music when I’m writing–not that I’ve done much writing lately–so I don’t use them there, either.

I haven’t written in a couple of weeks, but I did some background work on The Fall this weekend, filling in some details.  I also worked on the revision outline for the zombie story, AND the revision on the werewolf story.  I also spent an hour or so starting the Scrivener tutorial.  I’ll try to finish that up this week, and start actually using it this weekend.

I need to write.

I Think I Might Have Found the Solution…

…to my complete inability to get anything done writing-wise.  Something that eliminates a lot of my tendency to procrastinate, and allows me to focus on a project for a short period of time.  What is this magical solution?  Setting the timer on my phone for 30 minutes.

Yes, this is something super-simple that I probably should have thought of before, but I didn’t.  I was trying to bribe my Muse into coming to work today, and said “Okay, if I can just write for 30 minutes, I’ll be happy.”  So, I set my timer for half an hour, pulled up my manuscript of The Fall, and started writing.  I managed 3-4 pages before the timer beeped.  It was a short enough time period that I didn’t get distracted, but long enough for me to actually get something accomplished, which made me feel about a thousand times better than my usual “You lazy bum, you didn’t get any writing done at all today!” vibe.

It worked so well that I tried it twice more.  I managed to revise an entire chapter in the zombie story from 3rd-person to 1st-person POV.  And I also did 14 chapters in the revision outline for the Werewolf story (less than ten to go).  It may not work for everyone, but it’s worth a shot.

If anyone has any other ideas, ways to get over the lack of inertia and start working again, I’d LOVE to hear them!

time

 

 

‘You and Me, Against the World,’ by Raymond Esposito

"You and Me, Against the World" by Raymond Esposito
“You and Me, Against the World” by Raymond Esposito

 

You and Me, Against the World is the first volume in The Creepers saga, by Raymond Esposito. Mr. Esposito is a long-time fan of Stephen King and Richard Matheson, and has written many short horror stories.  You and Me, Against the World is his first novel.

A devastating virus has swept the world, changing most of humanity into mindless, ravening monsters in a matter of days, sometimes hours.  Even the government’s “extreme measures” could not contain this horrific virus, and the world changed to a terror-filled nightmare overnight.

Dr. Russell Thorn is thrust into this new world without warning, and the Creepers ,as the zombie-like victims of the virus are called, lay siege to his home, as he searches desperately for escape amidst the chilling revelation that the Creepers are changing…growing more intelligent.  Dr. Thorn’s rescue by a group of young survivors starts him on a desperate quest to find the last safe place on earth.  But the evolving Creepers are not the only thing standing in the path of safety.

You and Me, Against the World is a chilling tale that zombie fans will love.  The action starts on the first page and never lets up.  The story is filled with non-stop twists as the group of survivors battles the Creepers and dangers they never imagined in a thrill-packed, blood-chilling adventure.

This book had me up half the night reading it.  I literally could not put it down!  I read a lot of zombie stories–I’ve even written a couple myself–but I loved the unique twist the author puts on his “zombies.”  Not to mention how quickly the virus spreads.  And the cats…(shudder)…the cats really creeped me out.  I found myself watching my own cats a little more closely.  You should DEFINITELY read this!