Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Questions from Selina Maeder about the DEAD series...

Recently, I put out the call for anybody who wanted to ask questions about either of my series--DEAD or Zomblog. Selina Maeder compiled a few...so here goes.

I'm bipolar and know how important my meds are for me to function normally. How did Mackenzie deal with Margaret after the meds ran out?
I believe that her hope was that it could stay hidden. I don’t think people who do not suffer from any sort of psychological malady truly understand or appreciate the degree of importance that proper medications play if day-to-day functionality.

There was a mention from Steve's group about a couple, Randi and Barry that they were once counselors. They picked up a phrase from one of their patients, "Tight like a Tigah". This is the phrase used by Juan Hoya who is running with another group in the world. Do they have any inside stories on Juan we might like to hear?                    
Barry was the drug-and-alcohol counselor for a young man named Juan Hoya. He knew Juan as a youth that spent many of his early years passing through the “revolving door” of the county jail. He saw a young man who became one of the anonymous street people with minimal formal education and thus, little to no job marketability. Still, underneath it all, he suspected that there was basically a “good kid” underneath the gruff exterior. All Juan needed was an opportunity.

 How was Juan able to go from criminal to good guy so fast? Was it what was going on with the deaders or was it finding love?
Juan initially joins up with a band of petty criminals. He has some of that “me-versus-the-system” mentality that is common in individuals who experience any degree of incarceration. However, when he witnesses the mistreatment of that elderly couple and then the insanity of Travis and Gary together, he has a bit of an epiphany. He also exemplifies the danger of judging a book by its cover. Juan is symbolic for me.  
                                                                                                
Besides the fact that Garrett was twisted from when we first met him. Why did he want to kill his mother?
I actually wrote a bit of his backstory and included it in the Special Edition of DEAD: Vignettes. Also, there are little tidbits couched in his story arc about his life growing up.  Garrett is a very damaged individual. He is a composite of some of the worst sorts of people I have had the displeasure of meeting.

Because of his own abuse, has he struck out on younger males at some point in his sexual career?
Studies show that people like Garrett, even if homophobic, do not differentiate in the gender of their victims. However, Garrett was a time bomb that had not yet exploded. The end of the world unleashed him with no possible repercussions from society. Unchecked, the depths of his depravity have no boundaries.

Garrett cut off the forearm of a zombie to cook. As he fried it in the pan its smell was putrid. Why did he continue to try and eat it?
Starvation has a way of wiping away logic. There was a plentiful supply if the experiment worked. Otherwise…he was doomed.

With the lack of IQ on Garrett how was he able to amputate Kirsten’s arm and eat it? And then do it the right way? With a tourniquet and a blow torch for cauterizing?
There is no way of knowing how long Kirsten would have survived the ordeal. The act itself was not a major feat. Given the plethora of “torture-porn” movies out there like Saw and Hostel, he could have gotten that idea from a number of sources. There is an amputation of an arm in Romero’s Day of the Dead. The action was simply one of desperation and survival. I doubt that Kirsten lived past a day or two had she not done what she did.

What's up with the Old Man in Australia?    
Honestly, he was a simple nod to mysticism and things we may not fully comprehend. It was actually based on a dream I had.

How to find my stuff...and you can ask questions too! Also, for fans of either series...if you could sit down in a room (or behind protective glass in some cases) and ask questions of the actual characters...feel free to send those to me at twbrown.maydecpub@gmail.com. or twbrown@maydecemberpublications.com with {character name} interview questions in the subject line.


DEAD

Zomblog:
Other Titles:
http://www.amazon.com/DEAD-Special-Edition-Compendium-ebook/dp/B00822CMZ4

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