 |
| Peek-a-boo...zombie girl sees you! |
With a month and a half before the latest installment of the DEAD series hits the world, I am slammed with deadlines and the usual stuff as I prepare to release the largest book in my young career as an author. At around 180,000 words, (as opposed to the 100-106,000 normally found in a DEAD novel), this book should bring some serious satisfaction to the people who have gone this far on the ride.
Of course, there will be three more books in the series to bring it all to a FINAL conclusion (there will not be a book 13 in the series...this is not a Who Farewell Tour with three or ten additional entries. Book 12 is already titled. DEAD: End.) So what does a person do when they rely on book sales as their source in income? Hopefully write a new book that gets as much or more attention than the last successful one he or she wrote.
Some of you are starting to warm to my That Ghoul Ava series. I am very excited as the sales numbers begin to VERY SLOWLY rise. However, I am the first to admit that I love zombies and want to see them continue to be well represented. That is why I have begun development on my new ZOMBIE book! This is where YOU come in.
If you have ever "fantasized" (I use that term in the best way possible, certainly not implying that you are wishing for the utter destruction of humanity) about the zombie apocalypse, now is your chance to see YOUR town die to the undead horde. By leaving your town, village, hamlet, or whatever, in the comments section below, you will be putting your town square in the sights of the zombie apocalypse. It is with great pride that I announce officially the name of my new series. Drum Roll Please...
DEAD: Snapshot...{your town here}
The new series will take place in the DEAD universe. The mythology created in the DEAD series will be intact.There might even be "guest" appearances by familiar characters from the DEAD series if they happened to pass though in their journeys. However, each entry into the DEAD: Snapshot series will be a stand alone tale with a beginning and an end as we follow a specific person or group of people. The entire story will take place in the specified location. Some will end happy...others...not so much.
I will use Google Earth to get a look at the area and try to include landmarks that anybody passing through will recognize. I will use resources like census information and even the city's PR web page to give as much authentic flavor as possible.
Stop reading about faraway places. Bring the Zombie Apocalypse to YOUR town with the DEAD: Snapshot series. Book one is due around January of 2016. The location is up to you. And who knows...you might find yourself in the heart of the action with a character who bears a striking resemblance to you.
DEAD: Snapshot...{your town here} - what an awesome idea!
ReplyDeleteThanks. I wanted to keep writing in the world that DEAD created, but I did not want to go past my announced 12 books. This seemed like the next best thing, plus it will make for some entertaining research when I call local law enforcement, city halls and newspapers.
DeleteNewark, DE (where I am living right now) is an awesome college town and Delaware is situated between Philly and NY to the north and Baltimore and DC to the south, so it makes for an awesome low key location. Jonathan Maberry used a few choice locations in DE in his first Joe Ledger novel but no one (aside from me that I know of) has killed off most of the town.
DeleteSo many excellent choices!
DeleteThere's a 'big' town/city about 30 miles from my little town. The little town tends to have loads of trees, guns, & hunters. Think it would hold out for a good little while. Umm...can I message you the town names?
ReplyDeleteYou have my email, Caroline, feel free to send it via email or message.
DeleteThis is for the: Dead...Snapshot, Destroy your City (Contest), LA VERNE, CALIFORNIA, we're approximately 35 miles NW of Disneyland, my favorite place outside of The Dead series
ReplyDeleteCorrection we're NE of Disneyland
ReplyDeleteEntered, Mark.
Deletemy city would be a this turned out really bad for this city book.
ReplyDeletei live about 10 miles from the ocean to my west and to my east small mountains. we are kind of land locked with only 1 major freeway that goes through town. lots of farm roads. pop of 100K. and a bridge that is on the outside of town to the north that if it were taken out might pose a huge problem for my town. Santa Maria CA
Gotcha down and entered.
DeletePrestonsburg, Kentucky
ReplyDeleteThis is a very cool idea.
Entered, and thank you.
Deleteoh, can I kill my moms town off? She lives in Panama with people carrying machetes all the time because of the brush. That might be cool to work with!
ReplyDeleteHi Todd!
ReplyDeleteI'm excited about this idea! Would you possibly consider Boulder City, Nevada for a location? We have the Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam) and the new bypass bridge that's 900 feet above the Colorado River. There's also Lake Mead adjacent to the town, with some bleak, bare islands in the middle. No casinos in the town itself, though. And, Las Vegas is just a few miles away, through the railroad pass. Population is almost 16,000. I also love Denise's request for Panama! Machetes...too cool!
Very groovy. And I have tons of research on that dam already done!
DeleteHi Todd!
ReplyDeleteWould you consider Boulder City, Nevada as a location? Highlights: Hoover Dam, the Dam bypass bridge 900 feet above the Colorado River, Lake Mead with its bare, bleak islands, and Las Vegas a few miles away through the railroad pass. Population is almost 16,000. Also, I love Denise's request for Panama! Machetes...too cool.
(If this double-posts, it's because all my text disappeared the first time I pushed "Publish.")
This is a great idea, im in Chester in the UK and have just been introduced to Vicks. Really like the change of pace of approaching the zombie outbreak from different country. Your costing me a small fortune on audible Todd but keep up the good work buddy. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, and now your town is in the running for the zombie outbreak. Tell your neighbors that they are welcome.
Delete:-)
Syracuse, NY. But only if you include some of our politicians in exceedingly gruesome scenes!
ReplyDeleteZombies don't like junk food...but maybe if I dress the politicians in bacon...
DeleteI love this idea! I live in Mesa, Az almost all the way into Tempe, Az and with large density of population and little water around here im not sure it would end well lol
ReplyDeleteAlso I spend a lot of time in the state where I was born still I couldn't find if it was against the rules to say two places so ill tell you about my second home state lol
My home town is pretty small Pleasant Prairie, WI its way south right on the border with Illinois. The nearest bigger town is Kenosha where I was actually born :P its right next to beautiful lake Michigan
I love small towns. They can be a challenge to portray, but offer some great settings.
DeleteAMES iowa. Cause apparently we have idiots causing riots on a Tuesday night.( Before veisha which subsequently got cancelled) home of iowa state cyclones
ReplyDeleteMaybe the riots are...no, couldn't be.
DeleteI am on attempt #4. I think computers or electronics in general detest my complete existence!
ReplyDeleteHi Todd!
I read what Chris above wrote because I also live in Santa Maria California. He left out a few vital ZA bits of info: We are almost exactly between VAFB and Diablo Nuclear Power Plant! Nearby is also Lompoc Federal Prison and slightly farther away is Atascadero State Hospital. Atascadero State is a all male psychiatric ward for the criminally insane. That should make for some interesting zombies and/or escapees, plus we all know from your books that prisons make good areas to rebuild. About 22 miles off of the coast is Catalina Island, California's only Island resort, can mutated zombies walk that far? I spent my honeymoon there 30 years ago and I think I have been doing the zombie walk ever since. I have a 24 year old daughter that got me into the zombie world, we ask each other all of the time: "you open that door and there are zombies in the hall, what do you do first?"
I think Santa Maria, actually the whole Central Coast would be an incredible setting for a book, my daughter has tried to suggest that I write but I lean more toward the art side of the paper. I love reading what the pro's write and you are at the top of that list. My kindle is packed with zombie stories and I am really grateful that I don't have to hang outside of bookstores bribing teens to go in for the latest zombie book. I can keep my grandma status with dignity and order online. I would LOVE to read a book or even part of a book, that you had written. Please keep our area in mind.
Thank you Todd,
Kathy
PS I still owe you a letter. I am using a virus free lap top that I am so lost on but I am getting closer. I will explain more when I figure this out and am sure I will not send any problems with an email. It is nothing stalkerish or crazy, you wrote the sweetest ever blog about my review and done some other really nice things. I keep trying to get a simple letter out to you and some electronic nightmare attacks me, or pilot error takes place and I get frustrated. I really have no idea how you actually are able to THINK and use these things. When they work great they are heaven, when they don't well things head the other direction.
I am just glad to see you pop in. Looking forward to that letter. And Santa Maria is on the white board!
DeleteTodd couldn't get through on my phone comment section stopped working need to have my kid fix it lol my neighborhood is a small part of a much larger city It's Norwood in Warwick R.I. and we have never been in a book before especially a zombie book I look forward to the next Dead book and look forward to the one
ReplyDeleteI am certainly not going to lack for locations...and I will need a bigger hat for this first choice. I am overwhelmed at the response!
DeleteSan Antonio, TX...We live just a little south of that. Looking sooo forward to whatever you come up with in the future!! Good Luck!!
ReplyDeleteI am loving the Dead books and can't wait for July, what will I do until then?
ReplyDeleteI would like to Stanley, Co-Durham in the UK (near Newcastle Upon Tyne), Need to get the UK in on the action!!!
Milwaukee, WI is where I grew up but now have moved out to the burbs. The neat thing about MIlwaukee is that it is an old city that is bordered by Lake Michigan to the East, totally blocked unless you travel down around Chicago. North of Milwaukee is Oshkosh, WI that is home of the Oshkosh Company. They are huge producers of military vehicles and special order hummers and ATV for battle. Of course MIlwaukee is known for being Brew City and having the world's largest music festival, Summerfest. North of Milwaukee is the Kettle Moraine State Forest which is basically all of the dump off of the glaciers and can create an interesting terrain. It would be neat just to have something happen here considering we are "fly-over country" and are a bit neglected when it comes to visitors. People regularly think of Chicago at the center of the midwest but do not often think of MIlwaukee. I look forward to see the other cities you include in the snapshots. This idea makes the stories feel more realistic and not such fantastical. :)
ReplyDelete