ZOMBIE NOVEL UPDATE: Almost Done!

DEATHBREED: A Zombie Novel sits at just over 107,000 words and the end is so close I can taste it! I expect to get another major cram session in over the weekend--with any luck, I might even finish the damn thing.

ZOMBIE NOVEL: 100,000 Words And Beyond!

Deathbreed: A Zombie Novel has now gone beyond the 100,000 word mark!!! No; it's still not done, but it is getting close. 100k is about 350 pages when published. It's taken me 41 days to get this far--not bad considering all the days (weeks) I took off, either to work on other projects or to recharge my creative batteries...

Looking back, I got around 25,000 words done in the mid-late April, then I was up to 57,000 words by the end of May, then in June, I went from 65,000 words on June 2nd to almost 101,000 as I write this blog entry, June 23rd. To think I was worried about ever reaching 90,000 words when I started!

Woohoo! We're in the home stretch to completing the first draft now, gang! Just a little longer...

ZombieNovel.Com

Check out my new messageboards at ZombieNovel.Com.

ZOMBIE NOVEL: What's In A Name?

Well, it's official... After much deliberation, I've finally brainstormed up a title for my novel! It's now called DEATHBREED: A ZOMBIE NOVEL. I had wanted to work the words "dead," "living dead" or "zombie(s)" in there somewhere, but in the end, opted for something more original. About the only one that works in a title these days without sounding cheesy is just plain old "dead," but that's not as specific as "zombie" and I want fans to immediately know that this is a zombie novel. "Living Dead" could mean "vampires" or some other form of undead, so that's another reason why I ruled that out.

To get around the issue of not having the word "zombie" in my title, I take a cue from several other authors, by adding "A Zombie Novel" as the subtitle. For the book's main title, I wanted something short and sweet, and DEATHBREED fits that bill nicely. Zombies are bred from death, and create death in their wake (that's how they reproduce), so it's a clever name, even if maybe it does sound a bit like a heavy metal band, LOL. I've gone back through all my old blog posts and edited them to reflect the new title.

For more information on my novel and other projects, as well as to chat with me and horror fans from around the world about whatever floats your boat, you can visit my official messageboard at either ZombieNovel.Com or DeathbreedNovel.Com.

Thanks for your support and I hope to see you there!

P.S.: I'm still at 95,000 words on my novel--creating and maintaining the messageboard community has eaten up much of the past week but I think it has been worth it. The boards are a work in progress, so if anyone wants to create banners, skins, websites or other design elements for me, that would be great!

ZOMBIE NOVEL: 95,000 Words

After taking a few days off to clear my head and catch up on my film noir DVD rentals, I've finally got the first draft of DEATHBREED up to the 95,000 word mark... Still toying with several ideas about how the last act will play out. Decisions, decisions...

CANNIBAL FLESH RIOT

Here's a weird new indie movie that looks interesting: CANNIBAL FLESH RIOT! Redneck gravedigging ghouls...

ZOMBIE NOVEL: How Does It End?

After a brief nap and watching reruns of The Dukes of Hazzard eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in my underwear, I got back to work and started wondering...

So, zombie fans--How should my novel, DEATHBREED, end?

A) Everyone gets eaten! (like in Burial Ground)

B) Everyone cool lives, but just barely, ala Day of the Dead.

C) At least one person survives, but faces an uncertain fate, ala the original Dawn of the Dead.

D) Most people survive and face an uncertain fate, setting the book up for an obvious sequel and pissing everyone who reads it off because there's no resolution...

E) It was all a dream! (like in Nightmare City)

If you do vote, I'd appreciate knowing why you picked the ending you did. It will definitely help me in my decision. Thanks!

ZOMBIE NOVEL: 90,000 Words Reached!

Holy frickin' frijoles! It seems like yesterday when I started on my zombie novel, DEATHBREED (although I think it was actually April 13, if my backdated calendar is to be believed). I'd thought then that the first draft would need to be 90,000 words in length (approximately 350 pages in its final, printed form). I remember thinking, "I'll never make it." Yet I did and am still not done, although I've just now entered the final act. Another 30,000 words to go and it should be done... The first draft, anyway! Then it's time to go over it again and again, as many times as it takes to get to the final polish--that moment of moments when I can lean back and say, "Goddamn! This shit kicks ass and it can't kick no more!"

I know first novels are supposed to suck, LOL, but I got my fingers crossed anyway. I'm betting my prior experience as a screenwriter and author of short fiction/non-fiction will mitigate the mistakes a lot of new authors make. I didn't exactly fall off the turnip truck, you know! Maybe first novels are only supposed to suck in comparison to your later novels, when you've perfected your voice and honed your craft to a fine, razor's edge.

I know for a fact there's a ton of good stuff in my novel; the trick is in the editing to make sure everything shines through. I can live with a few mistakes, but I won't let the novel out of my hands until it's as perfect as I can make it. I recognize perfection as being an impossible goal, but am not naive enough to think that all my prose comes out golden on the first try, hence the phrase "as perfect as I can make it." Kind of like shooting a movie. Rarely do you get what you want on the first take! So too it is with a first draft. But I'm in the homestretch now, racing toward the finish line, full speed ahead... What a glorious ride it is!

ZOMBIE NOVEL: 80,000 Words And Counting

Another major push forward on my Zombie Novel tonight, to the 80,000 word mark! I was up all night, furiously pounding away at the keyboard. I now realize the "epic" first draft is going to be more like 100-125,000 words than 90k. Well, dem's da breaks, as they say in showbiz. But this is a good thing, despite the extra time it's going to take to complete it. Anything worth doing is worth doing right...

It's always better, in my opinion, to overwrite than underwrite; I'd hate to have to go back in and try to pad it out with crap if I couldn't meet my 90k target, but happily, it seems that won't be the case with my first novel.

Ha! Padding... Reminds me of some jerks trying to pad out their movies run time with 10 minutes worth of credits, LOL. Not that I haven't been guilty of that myself, mind you, but I always hate doing it. Unfortunately, the industry (and audiences) have certain expectations of how long a film should be (85-90 minutes minimum).

The great artiste in me says a film (or a book) should be not one frame (or word) longer than it needs to be in order to tell its story effectively.

The businessman in me realizes the reality that something too short won't sell--either at all, or not nearly in the same numbers. So, certain compromises must be made.

On the other hand, 9 times out of 10, you don't want your masterpiece to be too long, either. In most cases, there's no reason for it to be, except to be pretentious and to justify charging extra. Really, what many of these spawling "sagas" need is a good editor to start chopping them down to a more manageable size (but not anymore than is needed for them to be "perfect")... unless they are one of the truly great ones that demand the extra run time or pages (Dawn of the Dead, A Game of Thrones, etc.). Something so freakin' spectacular you never want it to end!

I think I've got something pretty special in my first novel, but I'm not gonna kid myself and say everything I write is golden, just like when I direct a film I'm never happy with every shot. It's all in the editing... Speaking of editing, I'm gonna need an impartial pair of eyes (in other words, an editor) for my novel, LOL. I suspect the first draft will be done in just a few more weeks.

ENERGY DRINKS: Best And Worst List

As a filmmaker and author who keeps odd hours, I often find I'm in need of "instant energy." I hate coffee. I hate vitamin pills. What's left that's legal? Energy Drinks! My beverage of choice for waking up early or burning the midnight oil.

But not all energy drinks are created equal. Some taste good, but lack important herbs and vitamins (the stuff besides caffeine that keeps you up). Some taste bad, so who cares what's in it? I'm not gonna drink something that tastes like crap, no matter how many vitamins they cram in it.

Here then, compiled at last from my extensive years of taste-testing just about every brand ever marketed in the western USA. Not all brands are available in all sizes. For short-term boosts that won't keep me awake all night, I prefer 8 oz. cans. However, I usually go with 16 oz. cans; one can lasts me all day.

The curious thing about energy drinks is they take forever to go flat when you leave them out at room temperature, but if you refrigerate opened cans they go flat fast. This is a serious problem with 16 oz. cans, which claim to contain "two servings" yet have no resealable lid, so you're forced to either drink second servings warm or try and time them in the freezer (about 20 minutes will do), which is inconvenient.

As to 24 oz. cans, I tried them only once and got so damn jittery I said, "Never again!" Therefore, I don't recommend them, and certainly don't drink them all at once.

My personal preference is for lots of Vitamin B6 and B12 and NO high fructose corn syrup. Regular Red Bull, Monster and the various "Diet" or Sugar-Free Energy Drinks are, to the best of my knowledge, the only ones not to have high fructose corn syrup. Check the labels.


BEST TASTING ENERGY DRINKS
(As always, check the can's label for "nutrition facts")
#1 SOBE ADRENALINE (pleasant, fizzy peach, tasty)
#2 BERRY FLAVOR WIRED (fruity, fizzy, tasty)
#3 PHUNKY FRUIT PUNCH SUGAR-FREE PIRAHNA (with Splenda)
( Note that Piranha has only caffeine in it, no herbs or vitamins, and sometimes upsets my stomach like coffee)
#4 SOBE NO FEAR (watered-down berry, not tasty like Sobe Adrenaline)
#5 ROCK STAR COLA (not bad as far as colas go but hardly delicious)
#6 ROCK STAR (unidentifiable flavor, definitely an acquired taste)
#7 DIET ROCK STAR (not much different tasting than the regular)
#8 RED BULL (tastes like carbonated cough syrup; an acquired taste)


WORST TASTING ENERGY DRINKS
(As always, check the can's label for "nutrition facts")
#1 DARK DOG (horrifying liquid chocolate, disgusting!)
(I'm not even sure they make this stuff anymore; it was imported from Austria)
#2 SUGAR-FREE RED BULL (tastes like a child's chemistry set)
#3 SHARK (I think they make this nasty stuff in Thailand)
#4 LIGHTNING (cloying, sickly sweet strawberry)
#5 WIRED/DIET WIRED (tastes like gritty, liquid chalk)
#6 MONSTER (Any Flavor, they all taste bad to me--like they might be healthy, LOL)

As with anything based on personal opinion, YMMV ("your mileage may vary"). A video editor friend of mine, for example, loves to drink MONSTER. If you know of any other energy drinks you think deserve to be added to my best or worst list above, post your thoughts here. Maybe I'll try them. But I tend to stick with Diet Rock Star because it comes in the 16 oz. size I like along with the vitamins and herbs that I want, it's sugar-free so I don't get fat, and (most importantly) I can get it for 75 cents a can (per case of 24) at Costco. It's normally $2-2.50 per can everywhere else!

You can usually find good deals on 16 oz. energy drinks ($1 each or less!) at Dollar Tree and other discount stores; however, these are rarely the "good" name brands. Another possble source for cheap energy drinks is in Asian markets... unfortunately, while often bargain-priced, most taste awful, have stupid names and come in weird sized cans.

UPDATE (9/30/08): I've cut out drinking energy drinks except in emergencies, LOL. Now I stick to 5-Hour Energy (no jittery crash, lasts a LOT longer than others) or Hi-Ball brand, which has no sugar at all (not even that sucralose fake sugar crap). As for energy the rest of the time, I changed my diet and now I have all the energy I need most days... and I sleep better, too!

P.S.: My lawyer said to tell you that I am not a nutritional therapist, medical doctor or anybody else who knows anything about any potential health risks of consuming energy drinks, particularly on a daily basis. I'm just giving you my personal experience as to which ones taste the best and worst and/or work for me. Always follow the warnings on the labels and consult your physician before use, yada-yada-yada. In other words, if you get sick or drop dead, that's your fault!

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THE TRAGIC LOT OF THE CREATIVE TYPE: Part 2

Get a load outta this latest bullshit I suffered through tonight:

I'm talking to this guy I know (who shall remain nameless); he asks me what I'm up to and I tell him I'm writing a Zombie Novel called DEATHBREED. He starts ripping on it, rolling his eyes and cracking this stupid grin as if he's being very clever by tearing me down. He's never seen a zombie movie, never read a horror novel and yet he knows all about it!

I try to explain that it's not about zombies, it's about people and how they react to the fact that the world is ending. That answer seems intelligent enough to him, so he says, "Oh," and waits a couple seconds before switching tactics. I can see he's got another great avenue of attack thought up by the braindead look on his face. Sure enough, I'm right...

He asks me, "Why don't you write the DaVinci Code instead?"

I answer, "Because it's already been written."

He says, "Yeah, but you should write something like it; you know--a bestseller!"

At this point, I'm ready to punch him in the nose, but instead I patiently tell him, "Look; this is my first novel. The chances of it ever becoming a New York Times bestseller are pretty much zero. But it might do okay under the right circumstances, and it could open a few doors. The worst case scenario is that it's a learning experience for the next book; plus, it's something I've always wanted to do."

He thinks about this for a second, then comes back with, "Yeah, but have you ever read the DaVinci Code?"

After visualizing pounding this fucker's head into a brick wall until he spits teeth like sunflower seeds, I reply, "No..."

He says, "Well, you should. That's a real book! I bought it at Costco."

Okay... I'll make a note of it. Let's see: First, I should write a book that's already been written; second, I must "magically" make it a bestseller (maybe I could "magically" find enough money to buy up the entire print run or bribe somebody at the NY Times?); and third, I should make sure Costco sells it. Got it. That's good advice; he should start charging for it! LOL

You ever notice how people who don't know shit are the first ones to offer advice when they should just sit back, chill out and pour themselves a nice, tall glass of shut the fuck up? These know-it-all fucks will NEVER do a goddamn creative thing in their lives but somehow, they've gained the wisdom to advise me on how to write a "bestselling" book, or make a "blockbuster" film, or even how to wipe my ass the "right" way. Now, if Steven Spielberg or Stephen King wanted to call me up and give me free career advice, I'd be happy to listen, LOL, but this DaVinci dimwit? Forget it!

I'm just not going to talk to "normals" about my novel or anything else creative I do anymore. They're too fucking stupid to "get" it and too jealous to do anything but try to tear me down. No success is ever good enough for them; no job is a "real job" unless you're pushing a broom and taking orders from people you hate. It would be funny if it wasn't so painful, LOL.

Maybe you're wondering how this conversation I was having with the "font of all wisdom" ended. Well, after showing me a newspaper clipping and telling me I should buy an eBay store franchise like the lady in the article, he complained his TV wouldn't turn on. He asked me to fix his giant plasma screen so he can watch The West Wing, American Idol and ice skating contests (TMI, dude!). I check the remote's batteries, and find that they're okay. Next, I unplug his TV, then plug it into a different outlet. Poof! Fixed like magic.

He says, "Wow! Maybe you should be a TV repairman instead of a writer."

Hmm... Yeah, and maybe I should kick you in the nuts, jackass!

He's probably still sitting there, breathing out his mouth and watching people on TV try and make something out of themselves, wondering why his own life passed him by... LOL!

PS: I have nothing against Dan Brown or The DaVinci Code. I may even get around to reading it someday... after all the obnoxious hype wears off.

ZOMBIE NOVEL: 70,000k Check-Up

Woohoo! 70,000 words on DEATHBREED and counting... I just wrote not only another super-scary zombie scene, but the hottest, wettest, dirtiest, most desperate "end of the world" sex scene ever! Maybe I should write a romance novel next, LOL. Okay, probably not, but this was some seriously steamy stuff that'd make any housewife blush. Damn it, that was hot! I gotta go take a cold shower... ;-)

MY READING LIST: June 2005 - May 2006

I read a lot. You should, too. But what to read? I can't answer that, but I can tell you what I've been reading--and recommend. These are all the books I've read since June 2005... Not as many as I would have liked, but I did read 60 total in 2005 and 40 the year before.

ACTION/ADVENTUREFrank Garrett (aka Dan Schmidt): KILLSQUAD #3: LETHAL ASSAULT
Don Pendleton's THE EXECUTIONER (various ghostwriters): #235 PLAGUE WIND, #56 ISLAND DEATHTRAP, #54 MOUNTAIN RAMPAGE, #49 DISCIPLES OF DOOM
* Richard Sapir & Warren Murphy: THE DESTROYER #3: CHINESE PUZZLE (reading now)

FANTASY
Jacqueline Carey: KUSHIEL'S DART
John C. Hocking: CONAN AND THE EMERALD LOTUS
Robert E. Howard: THE SAVAGE TALES OF SOLOMON KANE
George R. R. Martin: A GAME OF THRONES, A CLASH OF KINGS, A STORM OF SWORDS
John Maddox Roberts: CONAN THE BOLD
Karl Edward Wagner: DARK CRUSADE, DARKNESS WEAVES

HORROR
J.L. Bourne: DAY BY DAY ARMAGEDDON
Max Brooks: THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE
Charles M. Collins, editor: A WALK WITH THE BEAST
David Wellington: MONSTER ISLAND

HISTORICAL FICTION
Bernard Cornwell: THE ARCHER'S TALE, VAGABOND, HERETIC
Michael Curtis Ford: THE LAST KING: Rome's Greatest Enemy

NOIR
Paul Cain: SEVEN SLAYERS
Elliott Chaze: BLACK WINGS HAS MY ANGEL
David Goodis: STREET OF NO RETURN, THE BLONDE ON THE STREET CORNER
Charles Williams: THE HOT SPOT
Jonathan Latimer: SOLOMON'S VINEYARD

ZOMBIE NOVEL: BEHIND THE SCENES

After my last major push, I'm up to 65,000 words in my Zombie Novel, DEATHBREED. Holy Smokes! You might be asking yourself, what does 65,000 words look like? It all depends on the font, line breaks and type size. In "manuscript" form (12 pt. Courier, double-spaced) it equals 260 pages (that figure would be significantly cut down in final publication form). But remember, I'm not done yet. I would guess the finished product will be around 250-300 pages, especially if I end up going over my 90,000 word target number.

There are times when the novel writes itself and times where I stare at the page and get little to nothing done. If I can't get anything done on the novel directly, I like to spend the time affecting it indirectly by doing research. Brushing up on Strunk & White's ELEMENTS OF STYLE (available free online), or consulting wikis on subjects such as plague, riots, and martial law. I also like to keep abreast of what the competition is up to (both past and present) so I know what works and what doesn't in a zombie novel. After having read what I consider to be the major fictional works on zombies, I can breathe a sigh of relief and say that what I am doing is not what they are doing. Not that there aren't similarities dictated by the origins and nature of the genre, or shared influences and inspirations. In particular, I don't want to cast aspersions on what anyone else is doing, because I was most definitely entertained by reading their works. But as a first-time novelist, I want to tell a unique story and tell it in my own voice. I don't want to make a carbon copy of anything that has gone before.

How many different ways are there to tell the story of the Zombie Apocalypse? Aside from variations in the nature of the zombies themselves or the cause of the plague that created them, and how society responds to that threat, I would say that the single most important way to make your story unique is through your characters and how they react to the end of the world. If you look back on NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968 or 1990) and DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978), what made them work? Why do they stick with us for the rest of our lives and continue to draw new fans, decades later? It's not the gore, not the zombies... it's the characters.

Zombies are unlike most other monsters. They don't talk, don't plan, don't do anything except try to catch you, eat you, and make you one of them. This isn't Count Dracula or Freddy Krueger we're talking about. There is no complicated strategy, clever one-liners or anything else you'd attribute to a standard villain. It's like being attacked by a school of hungry piranha. If you know zombies are present and take reasonable precautions, you should survive. It's only when you get overconfident or freak out that you run into trouble. Unfortunately, you can only stay "sharp" so long, and everybody flips out sooner or later under the right conditions. The more people in your group, or the less well you get along or know each other, the faster bad things will happen. Are you running a democracy or a dictatorship? You probably don't have a lot of time to sit around and discuss a rapidly deteriorating situation, not if you want to live... Great, so now you have a plan! How much can you really trust anyone not to screw it up or fuck you over? Especially people you just met who are operating under impossible stress and in "do or die" circumstances? Can you count on your group to be reasonable, to follow orders? No.

The problem is that people are not, by nature, reasonable. They are selfish, greedy, stupid and self-destructive. Society imposes a certain level of reasonableness upon us via a system of legal consequences. Strip that threat away and you have chaos, anarchy. Might makes right, only the strong survive, etc. What would you do when confronted by the complete freedom to do whatever you wanted? Money is worthless, so you must steal to get what you need to survive. You probably don't give that a second thought. Your former friends, neighbors and loved ones are trying to eat you, so you start killing them. At first, you find it horrible, but you quickly get used to it if you want to live. Then let's say somebody in your group gets bitten, infected. Do you really want to keep them around? What if they die when nobody's looking and suddenly reanimate in your shelter? Do you kill them or leave them to die? Do you take the risk of keeping them with you?

Now let's say there's a total bastard (example: "Harry Cooper" from NOTLD) in your group. He constantly antagonizes you, hoards stuff you need for himself and selfishly puts the group in danger. He refuses, or only pretends to, listen to reason. What do you do? Do you throw him out, knowing it's a probable death sentence? What if he doesn't get eaten but comes back, maybe with more bastards like him, to kill you or burn down your shelter as revenge? Or maybe he becomes a zombie and by instinct, leads more zombies back to your shelter? Do you kill him outright? Remember, you can do anything now. There is no law except "Do What Thou Wilt." You have to think of your own survival and of those you care about. The old rules don't apply, and if you try to make them, some very bad things can happen to you in short order. Are you even willing or able to live in a world like that? Seeing how different people react to a rapidly devolving, crisis situation is at the heart of any good, apocalyptic story.

We should not rule out the zombie menace altogether; it's what brought our characters together. After all, what do zombies represent? Fear of our own mortality, of conformity, germs, and crowds; loss of identity, control, of everything that makes you "you." To quote Barbara (Patricia Tallman) in the 1990 remake of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, "We're them and they're us." That makes zombies a powerful symbol. I think that's why there are so many social commentaries "hidden" inside zombie movies. Some are deliberately inserted, while the most effective simply creep in all by themselves without the author even realizing it, as was the case with the 1968 NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (contrary to revisionist historians).

With all this in mind, I can get back to work on my novel. I think it's going to be a good one!