V Wars by Jonathan Maberry

Pub date: May 29, 2012.

Author website.

A sweeping, threaded narrative of the global phenomenon known as the Vampire Wars! Mankind is silently infected by a millennia-old bacteria unknowingly exhumed by a scientific expedition in Antarctica. Now, in some rare cases, a person’s so-called “junk DNA” becomes activated, and depending on their racial and ethnic heritage they begin to manifest one of the many diverse forms of the “others” that are the true basis for the legends of supernatural creatures. These aren’t your usual vampires and werewolves — it goes much deeper than that.  (netgalley.com)

V WARS is actually more of an anthology centered around a single spine of a plot.  Maberry is in the middle of it all, weaving the basis of the world with JUNK, ESCALATION, SPECIES, GENOCIDE, EMBEDDED and LAST BITES.  JUNK takes up the biggest chunk of the story, centering on Michael Fayne, aka Patient Zero (not Joe Ledger).  The guy that started it all.  I only know Jonathan for his zombies but let me tell you he can do vampires too.  I just LOVED the science behind it, how it was basically a virus that activated dormant, or junk, DNA in our genetic code giving humans vampire tendencies.  Unlike zombies most of these guys blended into society so you would have no idea if the person standing next to you on the subway is leering at you because you're hot or because they're hungry.  To pun terribly, it's a more evolved pandemic than something like a zombie virus, as that's what people with the mutations come to think of themselves as.  Evolved.  They've moved on to the next phase of humanity.

Each subsequent story of Maberry's moves on to how the reaction to this virus would escalate in the world, the breakdown of the species (which I loved because all of these authors delved into some seriously off the beaten path vampires, the variety was awesome), deeming the mutants enemies of the state by the government and thus sanctioning their slaughter, the vampires teaming up to fight back and then vampires hiding in plain sight.  These stories were sprinkled along the book, mixed in with other authors and they created an excellent complement to everything else going around.  Everyone really wrote so well within Maberry's imagined world that while the voices differed the stories seemed authentic.  Seriously loved it.

Nancy Holder authored ROADKILL about bikers defending the border and then ultimately losing their grip on reality and who is really the enemy.  I liked this one for the ambiance.  The story didn't hold me so much as its setting.  I could feel the grit and the grime of the desert and it ground out the unreality of the situations into something tangible.  Probably because I've been to Arizona and could actually picture it.  Made it all the more real.

John Everson wrote LOVE LESS about a talk show host that's pretty much a closet sociopath.  I liked this character for her ingenuity but that's where it pretty much ended.  She wasn't sympathetic although she presented a really interesting variety in the vampire species going around.

Yvonne Navarro wrote EPIPHANY which was quite possibly my second favorite story in this compendium.  Also set in Arizona, it focuses on a seventeen-year-old Native American girl still living on the reservation and ostracized from her society in part because her parents were nonconformists to their world but also because she was raped.  She begins to morph into a kind of snake-like vampire that was just super crazy from the beginning.  She even adopted slightly snake-like features (if you're thinking Voldemort you've gone too far) and made a pretty good job for herself because of her, um, talents.  Between the setting and the fantastic character in Mooney, I didn't want this particular narrative to end.

Scott Nicholson wrote HEARTSICK, a short I wasn't all that impressed with.  Loved the lore of the Raven Mockers that would eat people's hearts but the characters were a bit too stereotypical heehaws for my liking.

James A. Moore added STALKING ANNA LEI which had a not-so-appealing vampire (something kind of cat-like) but a great plot.  A brother is on a mission to find his sister who he thinks was kidnapped by an ogre-looking vampire.  Except this nasty vampire is leaving a blood trail that points right back to the MC.  Definitely suspenseful and an author that's rather unforgiving with his characters.  I liked it.

Keith RA Decandido wrote THE BALLAD OF BIG CHARLIE which deviated from the truer vampire line just a bit to add in shapeshifters.  Charlie is a Bronx DA who also happens to be a werewolf.  This is the story that, for me, really zeros in on something more political in terms of equality.  Is Charlie even human anymore?  Should he be allowed out of the house?  Is he safe?  Obvious parallels to society's current issues with gay people and their rights, or minorities, or any people in adversity really.  It takes place an extended amount of time after the zero event so society has had a chance to thoroughly react to the issue and polarize itself.  I normally don't like moralizing but I was okay with it here.  It didn't seem contrived and fit really well with the story as a whole.  This one probably came in a solid number three from the top for me.

And last but not least Gregory Frost wrote VULPES about a Romanian scientist getting exposed to the virus in Antarctica but it doesn't go where you think it might go considering her home (as people's mutations depend on their heritage).  She is actually the antithesis to the vampires, a protector of mankind.  A great way to end the book, really.  Her line of mutation is the medicine for the vampire virus.  It's not pretty but with the "bad" mutations come the "good" ones that'll help protect society.

With the ridiculous mix of vampire lore going on in V WARS, there is definitely something for every vampire lover in here.  From the scientific aspect (which I found believable) to the emergence of little known vampire species (and the authors' willingness to deviate from the beaten and cliched path) and the various effects it has on the world, V WARS kept me entertained from beginning to end.  This is a serious Christmas gift for at least a couple of my die hard vampire-loving friends.  And I'm not talking about Twihards either.  They can stuff it.  These vamps would devour Edward whole, pound his granite glitter skin into eyeshadow and hand it out at strip clubs.

Ban Factor: High - Vampires, gore and sex.  This one's not for the kiddies.

Dead of Night by Jonathan Maberry + Giveaway!

Published October 25, 2011.

A prison doctor injects a condemned serial killer with a formula designed to keep his consciousness awake while his body rots in the grave. But all drugs have unforeseen side-effects. Before he could be buried, the killer wakes up. Hungry. Infected. Contagious. This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang…but a bite. (goodreads.com)

I continue to be amazed by the awesomeness that is Jonathan Maberry. He writes zombies like none I've ever seen. But it's not just the zombies. It's the lives of the people around the zombies, and even the lives of the zombies themselves. He knows what he's doing so well that if there's room for improvement, then I'm a natural blonde. I am continuously struck dumb at the end of Maberry's novels, in complete awe of the awesome that they are. From ROT & RUIN to DUST & DECAY and now DEAD OF NIGHT. I have the first two Joe Ledger books in my pile and I look at them longingly. But once those are read, my Maberry library dwindles and I'm left with little else. That's a sad day.

DEAD OF NIGHT is written in alternating viewpoints using mainly Dez, Billy Trout and Doc Hartnup as the rotating POVs. Dez is the hot white trash cop that's a total hard ass and will sooner kneecap you than compliment you. Billy is a reporter just striving to get a hit when he stumbles onto this mess. And Doc who unintentionally at the forefront of the apocalypse and hating every minute of it. We get peeks through other eyes and while those moments are small, they're no less significant. Each provides valuable insight into the greater story. Without it all, each and every piece, the story would be missing something. Thankfully it's not.

The thing is, even with all of the characters that we do end up bouncing around to, they're all written so uniquely that it's impossible NOT to tell them apart. They each pop off the page in their own singular way that all you have to do is read a few words from that particular chapter and you'll immediately know whose head you're in. Really, it's phenomenal.

And then there's the heart factor. One of the best parts about Maberry's ROT & RUIN series was how he humanized zombies. In DEAD OF NIGHT he takes it a step further and puts you behind the eyes of the single-minded corpses to see what's really going on. And it's truly horrifying. The deal with this strain, it detaches the conscious thought from the body, letting the parasite control the physical while the mental still belongs to the person. It is horribly, horribly, horrifying to be looking through Doc's eyes as he's doing things he can't control and begging for a real death. Not to mention a bit nauseating. I would not recommend reading this one while eating. I keep making that mistake.

The best heart, though, is Dez's. You see her as the immovable rock that she is in the beginning and slowly all of the horrors around her break through her defenses and you see her crumble only to build herself back up just as quickly. She's such a moving, dynamic character that it's hard not to like her. Yeah, she's a loud-mouthed bitch that shoots first and probably won't ask questions later but there's hope in her, buried pretty deep. But it's there. And as the story goes on it crawls its way out and really, the end is pretty touching. There were tears on my end. I won't lie.

I can't forget the human horror in the story. These apocalyptic tales are bound to have them. Enter the military and martial law and all that comes with it. Even though that part was pretty much expected, I didn't care. I loved every second of it. Because in reality, I believed it. I believed everything Maberry wrote. Seriously. This guy writes guns and battle and form like he's done it all himself (and I'm pretty sure he's done a lot of it). No cocking triggers for this guy! I was able to see, feel and hear it all. I'd get so sucked into the story's reality that I'd lose chunks of time and actually lift my head disoriented. How many books can do that to you?

If you love zombies, Maberry's got the front-running mark in that category. I've read three of his books so far and they're all astounding. DEAD OF NIGHT carries on his awesome writing, his eye for specifics and his insane character development to the next level. How he keeps hitting these marks he sets with his own books I have no idea. But I continue to be surprised bythe epicness that is Jonathan Maberry every time I read one of his books. Really, you'd think I'd expect it. But to say Maberry surpasses my expectations is like saying Pamela Anderson's boobs aren't that big.

Giveaway time!!!

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Blog Tour - Jonathan Maberry, Dead of Night and Brain Eaters

I had the pleasure of getting to read Jonathan Maberry's latest, DEAD OF NIGHT, and I have to say, it's pretty freaking awesome. This man writes zombies with such finesse that you'd think they were ballerinas. Dead ballerinas but ballerinas nonetheless. Of course I jumped at the opportunity to do my part in the DEAD OF NIGHT blog tour because, well, awesome. So here is where I turn it over to Jonathan so he can wax poetic about the state of the zombie.

The State of the Zombie.

Zombies have been with us in one form or another for decades (if you go by the Romero calendar), or centuries (if you’re a Voodoo purist), or even millennia (of you track it back to the first mention of the dead eating the living in the Epic of Gilgamesh, circa 18t century BC). They’re part of our culture and they’re here to stay.

But something has changed. Zombies are no longer niche market monsters that play to the gore crowd. They’re no longer the monsters you have to stop and explain to people. They’re no longer the get-no-respect also-rans in the world of the mysterious dead.

Zombies have come into their own.

It’s been a long time coming, but it’s happened.

The process started with Romero, sure. (And, yes, we all know that Uncle George did not call them zombies, but the name has stuck, so let’s move on.) Romero made the living dead flesh-eating ghoul into a cinematic phenomenon. There really hadn’t been much like it in film before Night of the Living Dead, but since then this monster has been imitated to one degree or another so many times that it has become its own unique trope. The zombie exists, and it is currently second only to vampires as a money-making monster. In 2012, financial reporters estimated that the zombie pop culture was a $5-billion dollar industry. We’re talking movies, TV shows, games, books, comics, toys, clothes, apps, and more. That figure doesn’t even touch the moneymaking machine that is advertising, where zombies have been used to sell everything from cars to clothing to sporting goods.

It’s refreshing to no longer have to tell my pop culture-impaired friends what a zombie is. Yeah, sure I still have to explain some of the back-story, and name some of the key players, but if you throw out the word ‘zombie’, people have a sense of what you’re talking about.

What most people don’t know is that there are some watershed moments in the development of the zombie trope, and not all of them had to do with Romero’s flicks.

One of the most significant turning points was the publication of Book of the Dead, an anthology of original stories released in 1989 and edited by John Skipp and Craig Spector. The stories were all set in circumstances closely approximating those of NOTLD, and it debuted less than a year after the release of DAWN OF THE DEAD. Three things about that anthology were landmark. The first thing is…that it was the first thing; the first anthology of zombie literature. Prior to this, there had been a few books –namely the novelizations of Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, and John Russo’s ‘sequel’ to Night called Return of the Living Dead –which was no relation in story or structure to the Dan O’Bannon film of the same name. The second incredible thing was the line-up of writers. These days you almost always see a few heavy hitters in an anthology line-up, but never for a book like this. But Skipp and Specter snagged Stephen King, Richard Laymon, Ramsey Campbell, Douglas E. Winter, Robert R. McCammon, Joe Lansdale, David Schow and a whole bunch more. The absolute A-list of that era's horror writers. And the third thing? The anthology was frigging amazing. Every single one of them.

Nor was this a fluke. Skipp and Specter scored again with Still Dead: Book of the Dead 2, with headliners Dan Simmons, Gahan Wilson, Poppy Z. Brite, Nancy Holder, K. W. Jeter, and others.

What's the upshot? Zombie fiction had suddenly 'arrived'. Or, maybe 'materialized' is a better word. With those books, Skipp and Specter proved that zombie fiction was viable, that it was commercial, that it was acceptable and that it was literature. Yeah, I used the ‘l’ word. Literature.

Without those books, it’s highly doubtful that we would have a shelf-full of zombie fiction today. Max Brooks would probably never have written World War Z, nor would Brian Keene have written The Rising. Not to mention the works of Joe McKinney, Carrie Ryan, Mira Grant, David Wellington, and others. And…me. I would be writing spooky stuff, sure, but I wouldn’t be writing about zombies. Not without the Book of the Dead.

There are a number of other landmark moments that, to one degree or another, have either fueled the fire of zombie enthusiasm, expanded the scope of the genre, or made the genre accessible to new audiences. Here are a few, and I invite you to comment with additions to my ‘Key Moments in Modern Zombie History List’. My list is by no means complete.

The Crazies (1971) –George Romero’s often ignored and overlooked classic that created the model for all outbreak flicks. This is the grandfather of flicks like 28 Days Later. The remake was pretty darn good, too.

Return of the Living Dead (1985) –Dan O’Bannon’s unofficial and highly irreverent sort-of sequel to Night of the Living Dead. Subversive and hilarious. The first time we had fast zombies, by the way.

Resident Evil –the first major zombie-themed video game, and one of the first ‘survival horror’ games, which has since become a staple of the industry. The thing about Resident Evil was –not only was it fun to play, it was actually scary. The movies that followed strayed from the storyline quite a lot, but they also invited in a massive new audience. And, hey, Mila Jovovich.

The Rising by Brian Keene. A supernatural, nihilistic, downbeat and uber-violent story about the total destruction of humankind. Brian Keene brought his considerable A-game to this project and established himself as the King of the Living Dead, a title he continued to earn with subsequent books. This was one of the very first zombie bestsellers, and it’s largely responsible for kicking of the modern era of zombie fiction. Thanks, Brian. We all owe you a drink.

The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks. The million-copy bestseller that remains as the top-selling zombie nonfiction book of all time. Funny, but actually pretty damn useful and very smart. Go Max.

World War Z by Max Brooks. Get this: a hardcover, mainstream novel about a zombie war, told entirely from the point of view of an historian collection personal accounts from something that ended years ago? And it’s a massive indictment of political game-playing. There is no way this should have worked, and yet it was a hardcover bestseller for over a year, and still hits the bestseller lists in trade and mass market paperback. The audience? The mainstream. Yeah. Wow.

Monster Island by David Wellington: The first of a trilogy of novels that gave zombies a new political spin, a supernatural twist, and the elegance of literary-quality writing.

Marvel Zombies (comic book) –Robert Kirkman brought the living dead to a massive new audience by turning Marvel heroes into flesh-eating ghouls. Introduced first in Marvel’s ‘Ultimates’ alt-verse, then intruding into our universe. I was delighted to play in this sandbox with MARVEL ZOMBIES RETURN.

The Walking Dead (comic book). Come on…really? We need to even discuss how important the ongoing comic and American TVs best horror show in…like…ever?

Shaun of the Dead: The best RomZomCom ever made. Endlessly watchable, always hilarious, and it succeeds while always respecting the source material. That isn’t easy. (Okay, so let’s all meet at the Winchester).

28 Days Later –Danny Boyle’s yeah-they’re-not-zombies-they’re-only-infected-humans pandemic masterpiece did an insane amount of good for the zombie genre. I know there have been fights over whether they’re zombies or not. Who friggin’ cares? If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck…

Dawn of the Dead (remake): Zack Snyder scored a letter-perfect flick that took the best elements of Romero (the outbreak, the bonding/collision of disparate characters in a confined space, etc.) and amped it up by giving us fast zombies and a killer soundtrack. This is an example of what happens when high production values are assigned to a genre too many people in Hollywood considered to be ‘throwaway’.

Zombieland: the 2009 action-horror-comedy was a massive hit and is currently the top-grossing zombie flick to date.

So…that rolls us up to today. What’s the state of the zombie? It’s healthier than ever. The Walking Dead kicks ass on TV, and the comic is as strong as ever. Brad Pitt is making (a statement that always feels like a punch-line, but isn’t.) Zombies have invaded the young Adult fiction world with best-sellers like Carrie Ryan’s Forest of Hands and Teeth and its sequels; Cherie Priest’s brilliant steampunk fantasy, Boneshaker; my own Rot & Ruin series; and many others. You see zombies in TV ads almost every day. Zombie toys are everywhere. And thousands of people gather for zombie walks or zombie crawls in cities around the world.

The state of the zombie? Yeah, the meat is very fresh and we’re all hungry for another bite.

**********

Jonathan Maberry is a New York Times bestseller and multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author, editor and Marvel Comics writer. He has written pre-apocalypse novels: Ghost Road Blues, Dead Man’s Song, Bad Moon Rising, Patient Zero, and The Dragon Factory; an apocalypse novel, Dead Man’s Song; apocalypse comics: Marvel Universe vs the Punisher and Marvel Universe vs Wolverine; and post-apocalyptic novel, Rot & Ruin, Dust & Decay, and Flesh & Bone. He hasn’t tackled Dystopian fiction yet…but you can pretty much assume he will. Find him online at www.jonathanmaberry.com and on Twitter, Facebook and GoodReads.

Click here to read bonus content from Jonathan's DEAD OF NIGHT! You won't regret it! Well, except maybe in the sleep department.

Two Awesome Books Go Live Today!

One of which I just reviewed yesterday. The other I reviewed last week but both merit yet even more mentions as they hit stores today. Both are progressive series books so if you haven't started either, you really need to. You're missing out on two amazing series of books! So without further ado, I present to you -

THE GRAY WOLF THRONE by Cinda Williams Chima

Amazon + Barnes & Noble + The Book Depository

DUST & DECAY by Jonathan Maberry

Amazon + Barnes & Noble + The Book Depository

What are you waiting for? Go buy them!

Dust & Decay by Jonathan Maberry

Pub date: August 30th, 2011.

Six months have passed since the terrifying battle with Charlie Pink-eye and the Motor City Hammer in the zombie-infested mountains of the Rot & Ruin. It’s also six months since Benny Imura and Nix Riley saw something in the air that changed their lives. Now, after months of rigorous training with Benny’s zombie-hunter brother Tom, Benny and Nix are ready to leave their home forever and search for a better future. Lilah the Lost Girl and Benny’s best friend Lou Chong are going with them.

Sounds easy. Sounds wonderful. Except that everything that can go wrong does. Before they can even leave there is a shocking zombie attack in town. But as soon as they step into the Rot & Ruin they are pursued by the living dead, wild animals, insane murderers and the horrors of Gameland –where teenagers are forced to fight for their lives in the zombie pits. Worst of all…could the evil Charlie Pink-eye still be alive?

In the great Rot & Ruin everything wants to kill you. Everything…and not everyone in Benny’s small band of travelers will make it out alive. (goodreads.com)

Evul. Jonathan Maberry is an evul, evul man. Holy good mother this was such a truly awesome sequel that I'm having a hard time forming it into words.

I LOVE Maberry's zombies. Love them. They're so Romero but don't second guess them. Like any good virus, it mutates so while he sticks to the classic Romero notion of slow, shambling, unthinking zombies, there's a twist. And it's pretty terrifying.

As if you thought things couldn't get any harder for Benny and Nix and Lilah and Tom (and Chong now), you thought so wrong you need to go dunk yourself in a dunk tank. Maberry does things to his characters that only the most sadistic of gods would do to its people. And I love him for it. He stretches and bends his characters, pushing them to the brink of their own destruction, just to see what they would do. Maybe they make it out, maybe they don't. But none of them are unscathed by it. They all show the battle scars of a mental and physical war run ripshod over their persons time after time after time. And they're all the better for it. Maberry's characters are some of the deepest, most dynamic I've found in YA to date. If you don't love them, I'm going to question your integrity as a human being.

There are horrifying revelations popping up all over the book that'll have you gasping (probably literally) and just maybe screaming at the book (just watch where you do it, you don't want people to think you're too insane). Mayberry goes THERE over and over and over again. Where's THERE? Where you think he just wouldn't go with the plot, where it would be too terrifying, too gruesome to even contemplate. He goes THERE, comes back and then crosses THERE to the other side where there's unknown stuff waiting. DUST & DECAY will keep you guessing until the last page. Maberry is so willing torture the hell out of his characters that you couldn't possibly admit to yourself that he might go THERE and when he does, whether you guessed it or not, you're still shocked.

And the ending? EVUL. Had me in tears. Literally. Thankfully I was home and could weep openly without judgment (although my dog did look at me a little strangely). There's resolve yet everything shatters but at the same time life goes on. You watch as these kids slog through hardship after hardship and yet even at the end, faced with the choice of going back to something easy or pressing on to something unknown, they take the road less traveled because it's who they are, shaped by the Ruin into something they were always meant to be.

Jonathan Maberry should be dipped in gold and worshipped as the zombie god he is. Read this series. Read it now. Then read it again and again and again. It is so fantastic in so many ways that I can't even possibly name them all. I don't think the language has created a few of those descriptors yet. Just read it.

Author Bites - An Interview with the Zombitastic Jonathan Maberry

It really shouldn't have been a surprise that I loved ROT & RUIN by Jonathan Maberry. Someone that stole George Romero's soul and put a YA twist to it? You really can't go wrong with that. Because I loved it so much, I asked Jonathan if he'd stop on by. Much to my uneaten brains' delight, he agreed. Some thought-out questions later and I had a kick-ass interview with Jonathan Maberry on my hands. And you know what I learned? I'm totally tagging myself onto his team when the zombie apocalypse goes down. Read on to see why. Thanks for stopping by, Jonathan!

BITES: Why have Benny hate Tom for the majority of his life? Was it a means to snap Benny out of his immature funk? He could have asked him about it instead of assuming for all those years. Why did this not get resolved sooner?

JONATHAN MABERRY: In ROT & RUIN, Benny Imura’s earliest memory was of his brother, Tom, running away from their family home, leaving their mother behind to get attacked by their father, who had already become a zombie. Benny believed that Tom ran away out of cowardice rather than staying to help their mother. Like most teens, Benny is firmly convinced that his view of the world is the absolute right one; and he certainly isn’t willing to listen to anything his brother would have to say. He’d assume Tom’s defense would be a lie. This is something I’ve seen too many times with dysfunctional families…including in my own family, where misunderstandings can pollute the whole family for year after year.

BITES: In a book world where zombies have been neutered of their former Romero testicles and humanized entirely, you've managed to maintain your zombies' creepiness but make them more than just the walking dead. Was this difficult to strike such a delicate balance? Why go this route?

JONATHAN: I wanted my zoms to be exactly like Romero’s zoms. If you watch his films, the story is all about the personal experience of the people. Barbara and her brother in the first film; the loss of Roger in the original Dawn; the pathos of Bub in Day of the Dead. Even the tragic evolution of Big Daddy in Land of the Dead had heartbreaking drama in it. That connection to humanity is lost in too many zombie stories; the zoms become merely targets to shoot at. This misses Romero’s most salient point: that we’ve becoming depersonalized and dehumanized, and that’s a tragic bit of social commentary.

When writing ROT & RUIN, I wanted to have Benny Imura begin from a perspective of entrenched hatred and dismissal of zoms. To him they are nothing more than monsters to be killed. However Tom shows him another perspective, that each and every zombie was once a person. It’s a shocking and life-changing moment for Benny, and it informs everything that happens in the rest of the series.

BITES: You seem to have a thing for zombies altogether. What started that interest?

JONATHAN: When I was ten years old I snuck into my neighborhood movie theater in Philadelphia to see the world premiere of Night of the Living Dead. I was a real horror film fanatic by then and thought I was prepared for any celluloid creature. But that wasn’t the case. The ghouls, in their endless numbers, scared the crap out of me. I had never been more frightened in my life. So…I stayed to see it again. And came back the next day, too.

Also, when I was fourteen I got to meet and speak with Richard Matheson, who told me about the writing of I AM LEGEND. That’s the movie that inspired Romero and John Russo to write the script for Night of the Living Dead. Matheson gave me a copy of the 1954 edition of LEGEND for Christmas. Talk about life-changing events.

BITES: In a genre where zombies can range from lumbering sacks of flesh to hyped-up speed demons, what made you decide to go a more classic route for your walking dead?

JONATHAN: I’ve played with fast and slow zombies in various works. I prefer fast zombies on film and slow zombies in fiction. There’s more tragedy in the slow zoms; and more genuine shock in the fast ones. My favorite zombie movie of all time is the 2004 re-imagining of DAWN OF THE DEAD (but only the unrated director’s cut).

When I was writing ROT & RUIN and DUST & DECAY, I wanted to get back to the vibe of slow, inevitable horror. Something that builds. And I was writing a post-apocalyptic novel, so I wanted a big scale. A world in which there are seven billion fast zoms is a complete no-win scenario with a zero chance of survival. A world with seven billion slow zoms…yeah, there’s a chance we could come back from that. The zoms can’t learn and they can’t adapt. We can, and that’s a big part of the Rot & Ruin series.

BITES: What was the basis for Charlie Pink-Eye and The Motor City Hammer? Were they meant to be the epitome of the breakdown of society or are they just the token assholes of the group?

JONATHAN: Alas there are always people who prey on other people. You see it when there is a catastrophic event, like 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina. People set up fake sites to collect money ostensibly for victims, but they were stealing it. And during Katrina there were rapes and murders, not to mention all the looting.

Charlie Pink-eye and the Motor City Hammer represent that mentality. They are evil, but not from their own perspective. They are more like Visigoths and Vandals –the kind of mentality that believes that anyone of sufficient power deserves to win.

I’ve known a lot of people like this. Sad to say, my own father was like that, so there is a bit of him in Charlie. Definitely in the way Charlie rationalizes his actions.

BITES: I get that an author's characters are like children, but I'm going to ask it anyway: which of your characters is your favorite?

JONATHAN: It’s funny, a lot of people expect me to name Tom Imura as my favorite character, but really my favorite is Benny. I like his sense of wonder, his humor, and the depth of his compassion…once he gets his head out of his butt. He’s also heroic in a self-effacing way. He will do anything to protect those he loves.

My second favorite character is Nix Riley, Benny’s girlfriend. When I set out to write the book she was intended to be a minor character who didn’t play much of a role beyond the first third of the book. That changed real fast, because every time I wrote a scene with her in it, she got more complex and more interesting until she pretty well demanded to be a central character. Who am I to argue?

By the way, there are thirteen pages of free prequel scenes for ROT & RUIN available on the Simon & Schuster webpage for the book.

However, it’s best to read the novel first before reading this scenes. Go to the website and click on the banner that says: READ FREE BONUS MATERIAL.

And there are twenty-five pages of free scenes set in the months between ROT & RUIN and DUST & DECAY. Here’s a link to the main page; access the scenes by clicking on the banner that reads: READ BONUS MATERIAL BY JONATHAN MABERRY.

BITES: You've already run your characters through the wringer in R&R. What more could you possibly put them through in D&D?

JONATHAN: R&R is a vacation compared to Dust & Decay. Everything that can possibly go wrong, does. And there’s some serious heartbreak in store for Benny’s crew, because not everyone makes it out of that story alive. Life—and war—are like that.

BITES: What's the basis behind The Lost Girl? Is she meant to be the opposite to the likes of Charlie Pink-Eye in the sense that a total breakdown of society made her a better person whereas in Charlie is brought out the worst?

JONATHAN: Lilah, the Lost Girl, is a distillation of a number of girls and women I knew while teaching Women’s Self-Defense at Temple University, which I did for fourteen years. I met a number of women who had been damaged in one way or another by abusive men, but who rallied and found ways to become strong. So strong, in fact, that they were in charge of their lives rather than victims of circumstance. Lilah is that kind of person. Terrible things have happened to her, but she healed in the places where she was broken and rose to become immensely powerful. However, in Dust & Decay, we learn that she has weaknesses and a fragile side, too. No one is powerful in all ways, all the time.

BITES: If you could have a zombie portrait made of anyone, who would it be?

JONATHAN: I’d love one of my wedding picture, but my wife would kill me. Instead, I’ll probably get done from a photo my wife found of me as a four year old being handed my first puppy. And I’ll get Rob Sacchetto to do the art. He’s a professional zombie portrait artist who did my ‘author photo’ for the dust-jacket and the Zombie Cards that appear on the end-papers. He’s also a character in Rot & Ruin –an erosion artist.

Actually, a lot of people in Rot & Ruin and Dust & Decay are based on real people. After all, some of the people I know will probably survive the zombie apocalypse. One of my best friends, Keith Strunk, is captain of the town watch; and a writer colleague, the noted novelist Solomon Jones, is a bounty hunter in Dust & Decay.

BITES: What do you think you would do in a zombie apocalypse?

JONATHAN: I’d survive. I’ve got nearly fifty years in the martial arts and hold an 8th degree black belt in jujutsu and a 5th degree black belt in Kenjutsu (Japanese swordplay). I’m a former bodyguard; and I’ve been giving workshops to law enforcement for years, including ‘immediate threat resolution training’ for SWAT. So…yeah, I’m going to get past the zoms.

I know where I’d go (a food warehouse, not a grocery store, because there more food there and far fewer windows); and if any of the folks in my party turn out to be the ‘whiny loudmouth’….he’s gone.

BITES: I hear Costco is one of the best places to hunker down in the event of a zombie apocalypse. Would you agree?

JONATHAN: Absolutely. As I said, go to the warehouse. They’re built like blockhouses; there’s food, bottled water by the ton; books to read; lanterns; beach chairs and even mattresses. Sit and wait it out while making a decent plan.


**************

ROT & RUIN is now available in paperback from Simon & Schuster and on audio from Recorded Books.

DUST & DECAY debuts in hardcover from Simon & Schuster on August 30; and also on audio.

Both books are available for Kindle, Nook, and all other e-readers.

Jonathan Maberry is a NY Times bestselling author, multiple Bram Stoker Award winner, and Marvel Comics writer. His novels include the Pine Deep Trilogy (Ghost Road Blues, Dead Man’s Song and Bad Moon Rising); the Joe Ledger thriller series (Patient Zero, The Dragon Factory, The King of Plagues, and Assassin’s Code); the Benny Imura Young Adult dystopian series (Rot & Ruin, Dust & Decay, and Flesh & Bone); the Scribe Award-winning film adaptation of The Wolfman and the standalone horror thriller –Dead of Night. His nonfiction books include the international bestseller Zombie CSU, The Cryptopedia, They Bite, Vampire Universe and Wanted Undead of Alive. He has sold over 1200 feature articles, thousands of columns, two plays, greeting cards, technical manuals, how-to books, and many short stories. His comics for Marvel include Marvel Universe vs the Wolverine, Marvel Universe vs the Punisher, DoomWar, Black Panther and Captain America: Hail Hydra. He is the founder of the Writers Coffeehouse and co-founder of The Liars Club; and is a frequent keynote speaker and guest of honor at conferences including BackSpace, Dragon*Con, ZombCon, PennWriters, The Write Stuff, Central Coast Writers, Necon, Killer Con, Liberty States, and many others. In 2004 Jonathan was inducted into the International Martial Arts Hall of Fame, due in part to his extensive writing on martial arts and self-defense. In October he’ll be featured as an expert in a History Channel documentary on zombies. Visit him online at www.jonathanmaberry.com, www.twitter.com/jonathanmaberry and www.facebook.com/jonathanmaberry.

Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry + Giveaway!

Published October 5, 2010.

In the zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic America where Benny Imura lives, every teenager must find a job by the time they turn fifteen or get their rations cut in half. Benny doesn't want to apprentice as a zombie hunter with his boring older brother Tom, but he has no choice. He expects a tedious job whacking zoms for cash, but what he gets is a vocation that will teach him what it means to be human. (goodreads.com)

I didn't know what I was getting into when I picked up ROT & RUIN. I just knew that I hadn't heard anything bad about out it or any of Maberry's other works. Don't expect me to break that chain either. I thought ROT & RUIN was amazing.

It's one thing to have a piece of horror focus on the scary: like George Romero's Dawn of the Dead. The living dead are supposed to be scary by default and that's how the book starts off. Zombies that live out in the Rot & Ruin, in the unknown. They kill people. They're something to be feared and reviled and we're supposed to applaud those that cut them down.

Benny, just like many other teenage boys, makes rash and emotion-filled decisions without really thinking them through. He hates his brother Tom because he thinks he ran away from their parents instead of helping them. He idolizes Charlie Pink-Eye because he kills the enemy. Getting a job is probably the worst thing that could happen to him right now. Pretty stereotypical teen boy thoughts, I think. But it's what Maberry does with them, how he forms and moulds Benny into something Benny never thought he could be.

Maberry removed the freak-out horror from a horror setting but in a good way. Zombies are still things to be feared, but as we piggyback along with Benny, we come to the same realizations that Benny does - zombies were people once too. Little by little Tom breaks down Benny's facade, chips away at his barriers and gets him to see the truth. Sure, zombies should be feared but they also deserve respect. It's amazing how far a little psychology could go.

Tom employs a different tactic for dealing with zombies, one that he tries to enforce on Benny. Benny, begrudgingly, adopts it but after a while, he does realize it's a better method. It's a hard lesson he has to learn but playing with your food before you eat it isn't necessary 99% of the time.

And I'd be a big fat crank of a liar if I said I wasn't crying at the end of the book. It was the nail in the coffin so to speak and while you can kind of see it coming, you can't really brace yourself for what happens. Benny does not escape learning some horribly hard lessons but he takes them all in stride and the growth he shows by the end of the book is astronomical. One of the blurbs on the back of the hardcover is Nancy Holder saying, "George Romero meets THE CATCHER IN THE RYE . . ." and I really couldn't agree anymore.

There is so much more to ROT & RUIN than just zombies. It's a coming of age, lessons-learned story with the horror of the undead thrown in. And don't forget the snark. There's snark in spades here. You'll be equal parts engrossed and terrified. Turning the pages will be automatic and something you won't want to stop doing. If you want a new perspective on zombies and read an absolutely amazing story at the same time, read ROT & RUIN now. You won't regret it.

Giveaway time!!!

Want my finished copy of ROT & RUIN? Just fill out the form below for your chance it win it.

• Open to US residents 13 years of age and older only.
• One entry per person per email address.
• Duplicate entries will be deleted.
• Giveaway ends August 1st at midnight, EST.

Author Bites - Janice Gable Bashman and Jonathan Maberry on Research and Writing

It was only natural that after reading the awesome that is Wanted Undead or Alive that I'd want authors Janice Gable Bashman and Jonathan Maberry to stop by and say a few words on it. It's obvious from the get-go that the effort that went into this book was massive, not only on a collaborative scale but on a research one as well. If what you're writing even hints at the notion of good versus evil, then this is one book you should pick up. And if you're writing anything non-fiction, or even fiction as these points travel beyond the confines of non-ficton writing, you'll want to read the guest post below. Short but sweet, Bashman and Maberry offer up some valuable tips and neat insight into their own writing processes. Thanks, you two, for stopping by!

TIPS FROM THE TRENCHES by Janice Gable Bashman and Jonathan Maberry

When writing a book there’s a whole lot that goes into the process. It’s more than just putting down one word after the next and hoping it all just comes together. That’s even more apparent when you’re writing non-fiction—there’s research and interviews and facts to deal with. You just can’t pull a story out of your head and throw it onto the page to create a first draft.

In our book WANTED UNDEAD OR ALIVE, we deal with the struggle of good vs evil in film, comics, pop culture, world myth, literature, and the real world. Everything from vampire slayers to paranormal investigators to FBI serial-killer profilers. It includes interviews with folks like Stan Lee, Mike Mignola, Jason Aaron, Fred Van Lente, Peter Straub, Charlaine Harris and many more; and the book is fully illustrated by top horror, comics & fantasy artists.

To research and gather all of this information takes time, as does reaching out to hundreds of people to interview them for the book. But it’s whole heck of a lotta fun. So, how do two authors create a book that’s chock-filled with facts and also a fun read? Here’s our tips from the trenches:

1. Know Your Stuff—There’s a lot to be said about knowing your material; it’s difficult to write a book without the knowledge. So, if you’re writing about vampires or ghosts or serial killers, like we did, take the time to do the research. It’s exciting if you’re interested in your topic—there’s so much information out there. We’re not complaining though; we got to read books and comics and watch movies to research WANTED UNDEAD OR ALIVE. Know your stuff but enjoy the process.

2. Find Experts For the Stuff You Don’t Know—Okay, maybe this is apparent, but if you don’t know something, find someone who does. It’s not about writing what you know; it’s about knowing what you write. We reached out to sooo many authors, filmmakers, comic writers, actors, FBI profilers, and more to get their take on the subjects in WANTED UNDEAD OR ALIVE, and we’ve included their responses in the book. Sure, we don’t know everything, but we have a great gang of people who do. It’s amazing how exciting these folks get when you approach them about an interesting project—they’re stoked to help you out and want to participate. So, reach out and find those who can help. With the internet and social media sites, it should be a snap.

3. Make it Fun—Non-fiction can be boring if it’s not done right. When you make it fun for the readers, the book takes them on a thrilling ride. We delved into the whole concept of good versus evil and mixed it up with movies and books and comics and a whole slew of stuff. There’s lots of sidebars and artwork and fun facts mixed in with a quirky sense of humor. We’re already getting great reviews because WANTED UNDEAD OR ALIVE is a fun book.

4. Build on Your Strengths—Co-authoring a book may seem like a difficult process—two people with differing opinions and the potential to seriously butt heads—but it’s not. Know your project, know your goals, and know your strengths. If one person is better at interviewing or researching than the other, then that’s who should do that part of the project. If one person is more versed in vampire lore and pulp fiction, as Jonathan was, or more knowledgeable about FBI profilers and serial killers or ghosts, as I was, then that’s who should tackle those chapters. Of course, you have to communicate and trust your partner. Co-authoring means just that—two people sharing and executing a vision. If you’re committed and lucky, you’ll end up with something fantastic that both you and your readers will enjoy.

5. Enjoy the Ride—We had a blast writing WANTED UNDEAD OR ALIVE and the people we interviewed had fun too. Remember to enjoy the process, meet the deadlines, and enjoy the ride.

Jonathan Maberry is a NY Times bestseller, multiple Bram Stoker Award-winner and a writer for Marvel Comics. He has written a number of award-winning nonfiction books and novels on the paranormal and supernatural, including THE CRYPTOPEDIA, VAMPIRE UNIVERSE, THEY BITE, ZOMBIE CSU and PATIENT ZERO. His latest novel is ROT & RUIN. Visit Jonathan’s website at http://www.jonathanmaberry.com/.

Janice Gable Bashman has written for THE BIG THRILL, NOVEL & SHORT STORY WRITER’S MARKET, THE WRITER, WILD RIVER REVIEW, and many others. Visit Janice’s website at www.janicegablebashman.com.

Wanted Undead or Alive: Vampire Hunters and Other Kick-Ass Enemies of Evil by Jonathan Maberry and Janice Gable Bashman + Contest!

Published September, 2010.

These days you can't swing an undead lycanthrope without hitting a Minion of Evil. They're everywhere - TV, film, the basement . . . right behind you! It's never been more important to know what you can do to keep them at bay.

From today's foremost experts on nightmares come to life, this indispensable guide identifies and described mankind's enemies - supernatural beasts, ghosts, vampires, serial killers, etc. - and unearths effective, time-proven responses to each horrific threat.

• Separate fact from fiction, the deadly from the merely creepy.
• Learn when to stand your ground and when to run screaming for your life.
• Determine which monster-specific heroes to call and their likelihood of success.

Whether we're talking ancient vampire hunters or modern-day FBI profilers, it's good to know someone's got your back in the eternal struggle between Good and Evil. And this book, with over fifty illustrations as well as commentary from luminaries like filmmaker John Carpenter, author Peter Straub, and the legendary Stan Lee, provides all the information and reassurance you need to sleep soundly at night. Just not too soundly. (book back blurb)

What a thoroughly amazing book. From the definition of evil to its incarnates and how to fight it in its various forms, Wanted Undead or Alive has it all, with pictures to spare. It's a textbook on fighting evil without the boring text. From Dracula to Ted Bundy, Maberry and Bashman don't leave any stone unturned when it comes to seeking out evil and unearthing the heroes that smite them.

And don't think we're limited to your standard film and literature fare. Oh no. Take that huge section on comics for example. Not only do you get a timeline of great comic heroes, but you get to see the trials and tribulations the arena went through in trying to bring those masters, and monsters, to life. See, things got too real for people in the comic world and the Senate, yes, the Senate, initiated the Comic Code of Authority which is, in fact, still in force today although not strictly adhered to anymore. Go ahead and read the restrictions that comic artists and authors had when it came to developing and writing their comics -

As a result of the 1950s Senate hearings and protests from vocal but deeply misinformed critics, comic book publishers were bullied into censoring their own content. The Comics Magazine Association of America (CMAA) was established and instituted the Comics Code Authority (CCA). In a stunning move to ignore the First Amendment, the Comics Code seal of approval would only be given to a new wave of sanitized comics. Here's what the code specified:

• Crimes shall never be presented in such a way as to create sympathy for the criminal, to promote distrust of the forces of law and justice, or to inspire others with a desire to imitate criminals.
• If crime is depicted it shall be as a sordid and unpleasant activity.
• Criminals shall not be presented so as to be rendered glamorous or to occupy a position that creates a desire for emulation.
• In every instance good shall triumph over evil and the criminal punished for his misdeeds.
• Scenes of excessive violence shall be prohibited. Scenes of brutal torture, excessive and unnecessary knife and gunplay, physical agony, gory, and gruesome crime shall be eliminated.
• No comic magazine shall use the word horror or terror in its title.
• All scenes of horror, excessive bloodshed, gory or gruesome crimes, depravity, lust, sadism, masochism shall not be permitted.
• All lurid, unsavory, gruesome illustrations shall be eliminated.
• Inclusion of stories dealing with evil shall be used or shall be published only where the intent is to illustrate a moral issue and in no case shall evil be presented alluringly, not so as to injure the sensibilities of the reader.
• Scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with walking dead, torture, vampires and vampirism, ghouls, cannibalism, and werewolfism are prohibited.
• Profanity, obscenity, smut, vulgarity, or words or symbols that have acquired undesirable meanings are forbidden.
• Nudity in any form is prohibited, as is indecent or undue exposure.
• Suggestive and salacious illustration or suggestive posture is unacceptable.
• Females shall be drawn realistically without exaggeration of any physical qualities.
• Illicit sex relations are neither to be hinted at nor portrayed. Violent love scenes as well as sexual abnormalities are unacceptable.
• Seduction and rape shall never be shown or suggested.
• Sex perversion or any inference to same is strictly forbidden.
• Nudity with meretricious purpose and salacious postures shall not be permitted in the advertising of any product, clothed figures shall never be presented in such a way as to be offensive or contrary to good taste or morals. (295-296)

So you think authors of today have it bad? Try having to write within those confines. Comic book artists and authors of yore were the heroes fighting the evil of misinformation, lack of education and just a sheer lack of intelligence. Of course, it wasn't too long before the comics started fighting back, starting with Stan Lee and Marvel. They pretty much said 'stick my fist' to the code and the rest started to follow. Eventually.

So whether those evils are the ignorant masses trying to stifle the First Amendment, some ghoul trying to eat your face or your run-of-the-mill serial killer trying to do the same, Maberry and Bashman have a hero (or antihero) to counter those guys. The amount of research gone into formulating this novel is amazing. From film and literature greats to FBI profilers and artists that let their artwork speak for themselves, everyone has a different take on what's evil and what's needed to fight that evil.

While the monsters under the bed and creeps on the pages and screens may give you nightmares, I don't think there's anything more truly terrifying than the last portion of this book detailing real life evil in the likes of notable serial killers. Some of the details are rather graphic and I'd recommend not reading that particular part while eating. I made that mistake and, well, let's just say I lost my appetite.

If you're a writer, you'll definitely want this mini-encyclopedia in your collection for GvE reference. It will certainly broaden your scope to avenues that you probably wouldn't think of. The unconventional along with the conventional is highlighted between these blood red pages and you'll get sucked right in. Hopefully you'll be able to get back out again. If you're thrifty enough and take note of the tips doled out in these pages, you'll be sure to walk away from this sight relatively unscathed. Relatively.

Contest Time!!!

Want to win a copy? Just fill out the form below for your chance to win. Open to US residents 13 years of age and older only. One entry per person per email address. Duplicate entries will be deleted. The question must be answered in order to qualify. Entry gives me permission to post your answers on this website. Contest ends November 1st at midnight EST.