Author Interview Game Changers of the Apocalypse

How long have you been writing?

I’ve been writing since I was at school. I won’t say how long that is… It started off with song lyrics, which morphed into poetry. Then I decided to give novels a try. For a long time I could only write novels, not short stories, which was rather strange. Now, thankfully, I can manage both.

  • What is your favorite genre to write?

For a while now my favorite genre has been horror but I’m gradually gravitating towards science fiction.

  • Which genre have you never tried before, but would you like to try out?

I’ve written a dark psychological thriller (Satan’s Fan Club) but never tried out-and-out crime. I’d like to put that right one day.

  • Please tell us about your book.

My latest release is a post-apocalyptic horror novel called Game Changers of the Apocalypse. Greg and Polly are the last two people left on Earth. The whole fate of the human race rests on them getting their relationship to work. Unfortunately they split up the day before the world ended and there’s an outside entity acting against them.

  • Which character was your favorite, and why? Which character was your least favorite, and why?

My favorite character was Polly. She was a lot of fun to write because she’s so feisty and doesn’t let anything go. It wouldn’t have worked if the main characters had always seen eye to eye. I wanted the couple to be at loggerheads even as the world’s ending.

There’s almost too few characters to have a least favorite character but probably Milo who plays a slightly bigger role than his disappearance early on would suggest. He’s just an objectionable person.

  • What was the hardest part about writing your book?

Only having two characters for much of the book made things a bit difficult at times but hopefully contributed to some of the intensity.

  • What is your writing routine? Are there things you absolutely need to start writing?

I’m not even sure I have a routine. I just write when I can. All I need is a working laptop. I use a pen so little these days that I can barely read my own handwriting.

  • How long did it take you to write your book from start to finish?

That’s a good question and a bit hard to answer. It was written with so many pauses to work on other projects or for family reasons but I would say about a year.

  • Can you tell us about your editing process?

I write the first draft straight through quite quickly. Subsequent drafts get longer and take longer. Editing is when the novel starts getting shorter again, so I’ll cut some but mostly it’s a case of agonizing over the right word.

  • Is this book part of a series? If so, how many installments do you have planned?

It’s a standalone novel.

  • Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

Believe in yourself and enjoy the process. Anything else is a bonus.

  • Why should everyone read your book?

It’s a very different take on post-apocalypse with an added dimension. The main characters gain access to a printer that prints drafts of the future. They have a brief window in which to try and sidestep their fates before a new draft is written.

  • If you could meet three authors, dead or alive, which authors would you choose?

Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe and Donna Tartt.

  • What inspired you to write your book?

One night, when I was still at university, I had the idea of a couple left alone on Earth forced to rely on each other even after their relationship had failed and fighting their own flaws, each other, all the horrors of the apocalypse and a malevolent entity continually upping the ante.

  • Are you working on something at the moment? If so, can you tell us more about it?

Yes, I’m working on a novella about a man who goes to confront God after the death of his wife and gets caught up in the eternal war between heaven and hell. It’s a very modern heaven and hell and neither God nor the Devil are quite as one would expect.

About the Book

It’s always the end of the world when you break up with someone. This time it really is…

Everyone on the planet has mysteriously disappeared, leaving exes Greg and Polly. They’ve survived the apocalypse, yet shouldn’t have. Battling each other and a malevolent entity that teases them with their fate, how long can they remain ahead? Even more terrifying than everyone else on the planet disappearing is what’s about to take their place…

“GAME CHANGERS OF THE APOCALYPSE is a weird and twisted adventure. Mark Kirkbride brings the pain and has some strange fun along the way.” -Jonathan Maberry, New York Times best-selling author of V-WARS and DEEP SILENCE

“This is a wild, thrilling ride through the apocalypse. The end of the world has never been more fun—or more full of heart.” -Nik Korpon, author of QUEEN OF THE STRUGGLE

Author Bio

Mark Kirkbride lives in Shepperton, England. He is the author of Game Changers of the Apocalypse and Satan’s Fan Club, published by Omnium Gatherum. His short stories can be found in Under the Bed, Sci Phi Journal, Disclaimer Magazine and Flash Fiction Magazine. His poetry has appeared in the Big Issue, the Morning Star, the Mirror and Horror Writers Association chapbooks.

Links

Author website: http://markkirkbride.com/

Universal Amazon link: http://lrd.to/GameChangersOfApocalypse

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KirkbrideM/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkKirkbride/

Book Review: Sanctuary by Makayla Love

Title: Sanctuary
Author: Makayla Love
Genre: Steampunk / Post-Apocalyptic
Rating: 4 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

Shiloh isn’t adjusting well to her new life in Ironbridge. Life isn’t how she always imagined it would be, and every day is harder than the last. Things only get worse when a small family on their way to a settlement called “Sanctuary” shows up on Shiloh’s doorstep looking for an escort the rest of the way. But Sanctuary isn’t all its supposed to be.

When they find themselves trapped, every second becomes a fight for survival. Can they find a way out before one of them falls to a mad tyrant? Or will their little group be broken up forever?

Sanctuary is the second book in the Titanomachy Series, and it starts off with our protagonist, Shiloh, who has trouble adjusting to her new life in Ironbridge. Shiloh’s past has left her scarred emotionally. The times when she reflects to her early childhood are a bit heartbreaking when you compare them to her current life, and how alone this makes her feel sometimes. She cares deeply for her sister Rilei, and it’s a welcome change to see a sisterly bond represented so predominantly in a book.

The worldbuilding was phenomenal, and I really enjoyed getting to know Shiloh and the other characters. Despite not having read the first book, I didn’t really feel like I was missing out on too much, and I coudl follow the story easily.

An excellent, recommended read for fans of fantasy and steampunk.

Book Tours: Starter Day Party Sanctuary

I’m hosting the starter day party today for the book tour for steampunk / post-apocalyptic “Sanctuary”. Thank you for visiting!

Tour Schedule

March 10th: Starter Day Party @ I Heart Reading

March 10th: Promo Post @ Author C.A. Milson’s Blog

March 10th: Author Interview @ Aaron Michael-Hall’s Blog

March 10th: Promo Post @ Stormy Night Reviewing

March 12th: Book Excerpt @ Bright Street Books

March 15th: Book Excerpt @ Nesie’s Place

March 16th: Author Interview @ The Single Librarian

March 17th: Book Review @ I Heart Reading

About the Book

Title: Sanctuary

Author: Makayla Love

Genre: Steampunk / Post-Apocalyptic

Shiloh isn’t adjusting well to her new life in Ironbridge. Life isn’t how she always imagined it would be, and every day is harder than the last. Things only get worse when a small family on their way to a settlement called “Sanctuary” shows up on Shiloh’s doorstep looking for an escort the rest of the way. But Sanctuary isn’t all its supposed to be.

When they find themselves trapped, every second becomes a fight for survival. Can they find a way out before one of them falls to a mad tyrant? Or will their little group be broken up forever?

Author Bio

Makayla Love is an aspiring Harley Quinn-esque super villain who has decided to spend her time between nefarious schemes by writing paranormal novels in her lair somewhere in the general Kansas area. She enjoys sit-coms and doesn’t have enough shelf space for her ever multiplying collection of books.

Links

Instagram: @agirl_unwritten
Facebook: Facebook
Blog: Website
Twitter: @AGirl_Unwritten
Amazon: Amazon

Release Blitz Sanctuary

About the Book

Title: Sanctuary

Author: Makayla Love

Genre: Steampunk / Post-Apocalyptic

Shiloh isn’t adjusting well to her new life in Ironbridge. Life isn’t how she always imagined it would be, and every day is harder than the last. Things only get worse when a small family on their way to a settlement called “Sanctuary” shows up on Shiloh’s doorstep looking for an escort the rest of the way. But Sanctuary isn’t all its supposed to be.

When they find themselves trapped, every second becomes a fight for survival. Can they find a way out before one of them falls to a mad tyrant? Or will their little group be broken up forever?

Author Bio

Makayla Love is an aspiring Harley Quinn-esque super villain who has decided to spend her time between nefarious schemes by writing paranormal novels in her lair somewhere in the general Kansas area. She enjoys sit-coms and doesn’t have enough shelf space for her ever multiplying collection of books.

Links

Instagram: @agirl_unwritten
Facebook: Facebook
Blog: Website
Twitter: @AGirl_Unwritten
Amazon: Amazon

Book Tours: Starter Day Party Immurement

immurementbanner

I’m hosting the starter day party today for the book tour for YA science-fiction / post-apocalyptic “Immurement”. The tour runs from December 16 to December 30.

Tour Schedule

December 16th: Starter Day Party @ I Heart Reading

December 16th: Book Excerpt @ Dark Treasury

December 19th: Book Excerpt @ 5 Girls Book Reviews

December 20th: Book Excerpt @ Author C.A. Milson’s Blog

December 22nd: Book Excerpt @ Rising Indies United

December 23rd: Author Interview @ The Single Librarian

December 24th: Book Excerpt @ The Page Unbound

December 26th: Book Excerpt @ Katie’s Stories

December 28th: Book Review @ Reading to Distraction

December 30th: Book Excerpt @ I’m an Eclectic Reader

About the Book

ebook-1700px 2500px_72DPITitle: Immurement: The Undergrounders Series Book One

Author: Norma Hinkens

Genre: YA post-apocalyptic sci-fi

The earth’s core overheats. The sovereign leader vanishes. A young girl is the survivors’ only hope.

What little land is habitable is patrolled by cutthroat gangs of escaped subversives, but that’s not the greatest threat facing sixteen-year-old Derry Connelly, her brother Owen, and a ragged band of Preppers holed up in a bunker in the Sawtooth Mountains. Mysterious hoverships operated by clones are targeting adolescents for extraction.

Owen, is one of the first to disappear. To save him, Derry must strike a deal with the murderous subversives, and risk a daring raid to infiltrate the heart of the extraction operation.

But will the rookie leader falter when forced to choose between her brother and a clone who ignites something inside her she didn’t know was possible?

Author Bio

normaface180x180Norma Hinkens is an author who takes a fiendish delight in pushing reluctant characters over cliffs to find out what they’re made of. Epic odds, seemingly impossible missions, pasts that haunt, intrigue and misadventure. She’s happiest when wrangling provocative big picture ideas that are never black and white when you turn them inside out. It’s all about the tension in the journey.

Norma grew up among rich storytelling traditions in her native Ireland. A Celtic bard at heart, she’s happiest wielding her wordsmithing sword with as much wit and eloquence as a bard can muster. She currently resides in California with her husband, three children and Chihuahua extraordinaire. She is the author of the YA Undergrounders Series: Immurement, Embattlement and Adjudgement.

Links

 Purchase the Book

Website & Newsletter Signup

http://normahinkens.com/

Join author on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/NormaHinkensAuthor

Follow author on Twitter

https://twitter.com/NormaHinkens

 

Book Review: Engines of the Broken World by Jason Vanhee

17343401Title: Engines of the Broken World
Author: Jason Vanhee
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Post-Apocalyptic, Horror
Rating: 5 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Merciful Truth and her brother, Gospel, have just pulled their dead mother into the kitchen and stowed her under the table. It was a long illness, and they wanted to bury her—they did—but it’s far too cold outside, and they know they won’t be able to dig into the frozen ground. The Minister who lives with them, who preaches through his animal form, doesn’t make them feel any better about what they’ve done. Merciful calms her guilty feelings but only until, from the other room, she hears a voice she thought she’d never hear again. It’s her mother’s voice, and it’s singing a lullaby. . . .

Engines of the Broken World is a chilling young adult novel from Jason Vanhee.

Engines of the Broken World is definitely chilling. It starts out with Merciful Truth and her brother Gospel, who’ve just stowed their dead mother under the table. It’s not that they don’t love her, it’s simply too cold outside to bury her. They live too far away from civilization to ask anyone about it – there’s only the widow and Jenna living over the hill, and they can’t exactly go out in this cold to ask them either. Besides, mother isn’t the only thing dying. Everything is dying all around them.

The only one left to guide them is The Minister, a talking squirrel who preaches the word of God. But when the world is about to die, with an unforgiving fog that sweeps up everything in its path, climbing the steep mountains toward their home, the word of God is only a slight comfort.

When mother’s corpse starts running about, Merciful thinks she’s lost it. But when the corpse begins to see a lullaby in her mother’s voice, fear and curiosity mix. Is her mother still alive, or has something else taken up her mother’s body?

Boy, was this book a different experience. I could never expect what was going to happen next. Every page was an adventure, every plot twist unexpected. The prose is very strong and powerful, and the main character’s uneducated dialect immediately pulled me into the somber atmosphere of the story. Some sentences are short, almost like a knife cutting through. There’s this hurried, disillusioned feel about the novel.

There’s a feeling of dread from page one, but the dread only continues to grow as the book moves on. There’s no reprise, no moment to take a breath, no time to put the book away. The narrative is relentless, the story won’t stop, the end is inevitable. This is no zombie apocalypse you can fight, no virus you can find a cure against, no aliens attacking from outer space. This is God taking vengeance upon the greedy, the sinners, humanity itself. It’s the last hours of humanity, and it’s as dark and bleak as it can get, and by the end, you’re almost going out of your mind as much as the main characters are.

The main characters, Merciful and her brother Gospel, are polar opposites in most aspects, but they do love each other. To see their bond weaken, and to see it grow, were intriguings part of the novel. To see their choices reflect not only upon themselves, but also upon others, was really great.

In the end, the book left me with a claustrophobic feeling. I could feel the characters’ pain and desperation. As far as I’m concerned, this is one of those masterpieces of books, the ones your library can’t do without. It’s disturbing, weird, creepy, emotional, dark, and utterly fascinating. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I absolutely loved it.

Book Tours: Starter Day Party When Dreamers Wake

whendreamersbanner

I’m thrilled to host the starter day party today for a tour for post-apocalyptic scifi novel “When Dreamers Wake”. I’ll review the book later on during this tour. Meanwhile, stay tuned and visit the other tour stops.

Tour Schedule

October 27th: Starter Day Party @ I Heart Reading

October 27th: Book Excerpt @ Stories of Romance

October 28th: Book Review @ Bookaholic Ramblings

October 29th: Book Excerpt @ I’m an Eclectic Reader

October 30st: Book Excerpt @ Orion Publishing House

November 1st: Author Interview @ The Single Librarian

November 3rd: Book Review @ Cassidy Crimson’s Blog

November 4th: Book Excerpt @ The Book Gazette

 November 5th: Author Interview @ Cassidy Crimson’s Blog

November 6th: Book Excerpt @ The Book Daily

November 8th: Book Review @ I Heart Reading

November 10th: Author Interview @ Pressed up in a Book

November 12th: Book Excerpt @ The Reading Guru

November 14th: Book Review @ Bookish Madness

November 16th: Book Excerpt @ Book Suburbia

November 18th: Author Interview @ Editor Charlene

November 20th: Book Excerpt @ 365 Days of Reading

November 22nd: Book Review @ Forever Book Lover

November 23rd: Author Interview @ Endazzled Reading

November 24th: Book Excerpt @ Hollow Readers

November 26th: Author Interview @ Majanka’s Blog

November 27th: Book Excerpt @ Sylv Jenkins’ Blog

About When Dreamers Wake

When Dreamers WakeTitle: When Dreamers Wake

Author: J.E. and M. Keep

Genre: Post-Apocalyptic SciFi

The Old Gods have risen and moved on, leaving Earth in ruins.

Leon liked that just fine.

He got along better after the collapse of society, and has his own vision for how things should be run: with him in charge of his own fate, with many lovers beneath him.

Yet when he has a run-in with a beautiful and mysterious woman, his life will never be the same.

 

Author Bio

J.E. & M. Keep love to combine fantasy, scifi, horror, romance and mystery into exciting and titillating novels.

They are long term, loving partners in a very happy relationship and because of this, they love to torture their characters. Dark romance touches all of their stories in one way or another, from elicit trysts to forbidden love.

Some of their work contains dubious consent and erotic pain, so it’s not for the faint of heart. Their stories are often called twisted and arousing — at the same time.

All work is 18+, trigger warnings available on the second page of every book. If you want to hear about new releases, sign up for the newsletter!

Website: http://www.jmkeep.com
Newsletter: http://www.jmkeep.com/newsletter
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jmkeep
Twitter: http://twitter.com/jmkeep | http://twitter.com/jekeep

Watch the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1z5dJwl7u0&feature=youtu.be

 

Release Day Party When Dreamers Wake

releasedaydreamers

We’re happy to celebrate the release day party for When Dreamers Wake today, a post-apocalyptic scifi novel. Enjoy the release day party, and don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

About When Dreamers Wake

When Dreamers WakeTitle: When Dreamers Wake

Author: J.E. and M. Keep

Genre: Post-Apocalyptic SciFi

The Old Gods have risen and moved on, leaving Earth in ruins.

Leon liked that just fine.

He got along better after the collapse of society, and has his own vision for how things should be run: with him in charge of his own fate, with many lovers beneath him.

Yet when he has a run-in with a beautiful and mysterious woman, his life will never be the same.

Author Bio

J.E. & M. Keep love to combine fantasy, scifi, horror, romance and mystery into exciting and titillating novels.

They are long term, loving partners in a very happy relationship and because of this, they love to torture their characters. Dark romance touches all of their stories in one way or another, from elicit trysts to forbidden love.

Some of their work contains dubious consent and erotic pain, so it’s not for the faint of heart. Their stories are often called twisted and arousing — at the same time.

All work is 18+, trigger warnings available on the second page of every book. If you want to hear about new releases, sign up for the newsletter!

Website: http://www.jmkeep.com
Newsletter: http://www.jmkeep.com/newsletter
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jmkeep
Twitter: http://twitter.com/jmkeep | http://twitter.com/jekeep

Buy your copy

Amazon , B&N , iTunes

http://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/120903/When-Dreamers-Wake

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/370339

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-whendreamerswakepostapocalypticnovel-1326373-168.html

Participate in the giveaway

There is a tour-wide giveaway for a gift basket with a Call of C’thulhu RPG Guide Book, “The Dreamers Awake” tote bag, a Strange Aeon’s Magazine (#11) and a Paracord Bracelet.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Review: The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

3432478Title: The Forest of Hands and Teeth

Author: Carrie Ryan

Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Post-Apocaliptic

Age Group: Young Adult

Rating: 4 stars

Purchase: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N

In Mary’s world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future—between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

The Forest of Hands and Teeth is a mixed bag. There are strokes of brilliances throughout the book, but then there are pages filled with mediocre storytelling as well. Mary is the main character, and she’s always dreamt of the ocean, a magical place told about in her mother’s stories. However, with her Dad fallen victim to the Unconsecreated, and her Mom lingering on depression, her brother alienating himself from her, Mary’s life isn’t like a fairytale or magical story at all. In her life, there are a few simple truths. The Sisterhood knows best. Guardians will protect and serve. Unconsecrated will never relent. And don’t go beyond the Fence.

But when Mary’s mother falls victim to the Unconsecrated as well and her brother doesn’t want her around, she gets sent to the house of the Sisterhood, where she discovers the truth may be hiding a lot of lies. When her friend Travis is brought in seriously injured, she spends more and more time with him, even though he’s bethrothed to her best friend. When she finds out Travis returns her feelings, it’s like a dream come true, but unfortunately there’s little time for things as silly as love in Mary’s world.

When a stranger arrives in town and is immediately hidden by the Sisterhood, Mary discovers a lot more than she bargained for. Then the stranger is bitten and turns into one of the Unconsecrated, except she’s impossibly fast and tears down the entire village. Mary and her friends narrowly escape, but they’re left on their own to find their way to safety. With Mary’s love for Travis growing stronger every day, and her desire to reach the ocean outweighing everything else, the journey to safety also becomes a journey of self-discovery. But with the Unconsecrated on their heels, every day is a fight for survival.

The world Carrie Ryan sketches in this novel is a bleak, futureless, post-apocalyptic world that seems to have gone straight back to the middle ages. The village is the main setting, but when it gets overrun by Unconsecrated, Mary and her friends move on to new territory, walking through the fenced-off roads leading to outside the village, hoping to find a new place of refuge. Survival is key in this world, and dead may come knocking on the door every day. Fear is present from page one, and lingers on until the very end. Setting-wise, this book is very powerful.

The plot was strong as well. I liked the idea of the zombies here, and it reminded me very much of the movie “The Village”, with the same claustrophobic atmosphere and creepy vibe, except that here, the Unconsecrated are zombies, and are very real. I also liked Mary’s drive, of wanting to find the ocean, such a supposedly simple dream that could turn out to be so hard. There was plenty of action and tension as well.

What didn’t convince me were the characters. Mary is all right, I suppose. She has a straightforward way of seeing things, which I liked. She sees things for how they truly are, no matter how unsettling the truth may be. But her relationship with Travis was…well, laughable. There’s no tension or emotion between both characters. Travis was as one-sided as a card-board figure, and I never really got a sense of him. That said, I never really got a sense of any of the side characters. Maybe it was because the book was told from Mary’s POV only, but it was like the other characters were props, or personality-less creatures, like they’d already somehow transformed into Unconsecrated even though they were still alive. Whereas Mary’s personality shined through, and she actually went through a lot of personality development, the other characters remained puppets, stage figures for Mary’s great show.

The thing was that I didn’t really mind. The way it was written, with the sharp contrast between Mary, so obviously very alive, and the other characters, already seeming like zombies, was brilliant. For some reason, it worked. It alienated Mary even further from the others, indicating that perhaps by living in fear for their entire lives, they’d already turned into some kind of zombies, void of dreams and hopes and much emotion.

Less brilliant was the repetitiveness of some of the scenes. I’d actually thought I’d already read a scene when I hadn’t, simply because it sounded so similar to another scene chapters before.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth isn’t your typical post-apocalypstic zombie book, and for that, I greatly applaud it. The author made some brave choices along the way, choosing to give her audience a dose of the horrific every now and then, when necessary for the story. I’m looking forward to reading the next part in this series.

Book Review: Undead on Arrival by Justin Robinson

15733320Title: Undead on Arrival
Author: Justin Robinson
Genre: Horror, Zombies
Publisher: Solstice Publishing
Publication Date: June 21st, 2012
Goodreads | B&N | Amazon (Paperback) | Amazon (Kindle)
Review copy provided by the author in exchange for honest review.

Today is the last day of Glen Novak’s life.
Five years after the end of the world, the few remaining humans are barricaded in a small vacation town on the California coast, beset by hordes of the undead.
A single bite turns a man into a walking corpse. There’s no cure and no hope.
Someone made sure Novak was bitten and now he has one day to put things in order, protect his people and, most importantly, exact revenge.

Undead on Arrival isn’t your typical zombie Apocalypse book. It takes place after the end of the world has happened, and focuses on the remaining survivors. The protagonist, Glen Novak, isn’t a person you’d normally like, or would even talk to. He has a position of power in this new world, but he’s still coping with the guilt he’s carried with him all these years – guilt over his dead wife, guilt over the children he abandoned when the world crumbled apart. He lives in a secluded village, slightly more than a compound, and tries to survive. Unfortunately that may become a hassle when someone lets a zombie head loose in his house, and the zombie manages to bite him. The rule is to kill everyone who’s been bitten. There is no cure to becoming a zombie. There is no hope for those infected. But Glen Novak is determined to find the man or woman who did this to him. And by extracting his revenge, he may end up causing more harm than he initially bargained for…

What is so unique about this book that I liked it from the moment I started reading is the author’s fresh take on the zombie apocalypse. Usually when I read a zombie book or watch a zombie movie, I see people running for their lives practically three fourth of the time. Here, not so much. Humanity has settled down. They’ve made make-shift cities, they’ve tried to survive in a world that’s suddenly become hostile. They still have memories of life before, and are trying to place those. Some are overwhelmed by grief. Others by guilt. Everyone has their story and the burden they carry, but they work together, as good or as bad as the circumstances let them, and try to make it through another day. They come across a large number of problems: food shortage, gasoline shortage, no electricity, no internet. And the most difficult thing of all: some of them have lost their family, and have no clue whether or not they’re still alive. Maybe they’re wondering out there somewhere, still human, looking for their loved ones as well. That thought along is chilling, it’s such a strong, thought-provoking idea it lingered in my mind during the entire read.

Undead on Arrival spans little more than twenty-four hours, but a lot can happen in that time. Glen Novak gets to the bottom of the secrets buried at his new home, at The Athena, a mighty and large hotel overlooking the compound, and the people behind it. We see the worst in humanity, as well as the best. All characters Glen meets during his search for vengeance are well-defined, complex human beings. They could walk straight out of the book. Some of them I hated from the start, others I grew to like as the story progressed. Hardly ever have I seen an author put that much care and thought into the side characters, developing them until the point they could become protagonists themselves.

The first half of the book sets the mood. It begins slow, painting for us the circumstances of the afterwar of the apocalypse, the daily life of survivors, and the quest to solve the mystery Glen Novak wants to solve before he dies. But then a zombie attack happens, and we’re thrown in the middle of the action, fighting along with the characters for our lives. It’s a vivid experience for a reader when you can say action scenes are so well described you feel like you’re playing in them – and that’s the case here.

The writing is sublime. It was spot on, every single time. Slow when needing to set the mood, fast and relentless when the action started. Mr. Robinson is obviously a very talented author, and one I hope to read several more novels from. He has described the zombie apocalypse in a way no one else has, and I’m truly amazed at how well he portrayed all characters in this book.

If you want to survive the zombie apocalypse, you better read Undead on Arrival.

Author Interview

I’m delighted I could ask Mr. Robinson some interview questions about his book, Undead on Arrival.

1) When did you know you wanted to become a writer?

I don’t know if there was ever an exact moment. I’ve been writing all my life, but there were periods where I stopped. I decided to write novels after working as a script doctor for an animation studio, and working in the comics industry. Writing novels is more rewarding because you’re writing for people who legitimately love to read.

2) What inspired you to write Undead on Arrival?

I love film noir, and am a huge fan of DOA. I wanted to do a riff on that classic story using zombies.

3) Which character did you like to write about the most? Which was your least favorite character?

The first is Pulaski, with Cheeseman a close second. I really liked the concept that the biggest bad ass in town was a transvestite, and his voice was a lot of fun to channel. With Cheeseman, he sort of symbolized the main character’s self-loathing, so I had a good time giving voice to the fact that Novak really isn’t a good guy.

I had trouble with Calomiris and Rippey, the other two town fathers. They’re noir villains so they had to be pretty reprehensible, but I also didn’t want them to be cartoonish monsters. It was a tough line to walk and I’m not sure I succeeded.

4) How long did it take you to write Undead on Arrival from start to finish?

Outlining and the first draft took about three months, and I think I took around three months on subsequent drafts.

5) What was the most challenging part about writing Undead on Arrival?

Writing the main character, Glen Novak. He had to be a bad guy, so that there were enough people who wanted him dead. But I also had to make him sympathetic enough so that the reader wasn’t actively rooting for him to die. I tried to do that by making him a bad person by our standards, but maybe not as much for his time and place. I tried to use Novak’s self-awareness to mitigate some of his worse qualities.

6) Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

Read every day. Write every day. And always use outlines.

7) Are you working on something right now? If so, please tell us more about it!

I just finished a draft of a comedy noir novel that’s sort of like The Big Lebowski if David Huddleston was a giant eyeball.

I’m looking forward to reading more of your books, and thanks for answering my interview questions!

Giveaway

On top of that, Mr. Robinson agreed to give away a paperback copy of Undead on Arrival to one lucky winner. And guess what? The contest is international. If you want to participate, just fill in the Rafflecopter form!

a Rafflecopter giveaway