Undead Anonymous

So on Zombie Talk Thursdays on Twitter (#zombietalk), the question posed today was:

What songs would you listen to while battling the zombie hordes?

Naturally, since Breathers is written from the viewpoint of the aforementioned and often-maligned zombie hordes, it’s not second nature for me to think about what songs would be appropriate for dispatching of the undead.  But I came up with the following playlist, along with a brief description of why I included each song:

“Down With the Sickness” by Richard Cheese
Both this cover version and the original version by Disturbed appear in the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead. I like this one because it would a nice, surreal, lounge music feel to the mayhem.

“The Man Comes Around” by Johnny Cash
Also on the soundtrack to the remake of Dawn of the Dead, this is a prophetic song for a zombie apocalypse.

“Comanche” by The Revels
From the Pulp Fiction soundtrack, this is the song that plays when Bruce Willis take his samurai sword to Zed and his pawn shop pervert pal. Enough said.

“Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” by AC/DC
The opening guitar riff is enough to put me in the mood to pick up an axe and start swinging.

“Dead Man’s Party” by Oingo Boingo
Just to add a little irony to the playlist.

“Brain Stew” by Green Day
Mostly I love the title, but the steady bass beat and the scratchy, dissonant sounds at the end are the perfect aural accompaniment to using a chainsaw.

“Subtract You” by Zebrahead
While the title is appropriate for dispatching the undead, the song itself is fun and playful. And who doesn’t want to have fun when you’re killing zombies?

“No More Mr. Nice Guy” by Alice Cooper
Another well-titled addition to the playlist. After all, you can’t be George Baily and kick some zombie butt.

“Surrender” by Cheap Trick
Like “Subtract You,” this title has the attitude that you’re not backing down. Plus it’s got that uptempo beat that makes getting splattered brains and blood not such a big deal.

And finally, for those lovers committed to battling the zombies together:

“Never Tear Us Apart” by INXS

What are some of the songs in your zombie battle playlist?

You can follow me on Twitter @s_g_browne.  Or follow Andy on Twitter @AndytheZombie.

No.  The title of this blog entry does NOT refer to the Facebook application where you can build an army of zombies and vampires and fight other zombies and vampires to become bigger and stronger.  I stopped playing months ago because I just didn’t have enough time to keep feeding my zombie and taking care of it.  But apparently, in my absence, my zombie has become a Level 6 Samurai.  I have no idea how that happened.

But I digress.

Zombies vs vampires.

I’ve always been a zombie fan.  Ever since I saw Romero’s original Night of the Living Dead on Creature Features back when I was in 6th grade. I even used to dream about them chasing me or surrounding my house or doing my taxes.  And I will admit that I enjoy the fast moving zombies as well as the shuffling ones.  They’re both terrifying in their own way.

Vampires?  They’re okay, if you want an immortal, supernatural creature with superhuman strength and the ability to shape shift.  I don’t have anything personally against vampires, I’ve just never been that enamored with them.

For the most part, fans are either in one camp or the other.  At least most of the zombie and vampire fans I know.  But I like to generalize, so for the sake of me being right, we’re sticking to this argument for the time being.  You don’t get a lot of fans straddling the fence, loving zombies AND vampires.  And there’s a good reason for this.

Vampires are like fraternity boys.  All pretty and full of themselves and constantly trying to get you into bed.  They primp and they pose and they get all dressed up to go out for a night of partying.  Every move the make, all the posturing they do, is just a smoke screen to lure you in so that they can feed on you.  Drink your blood.  (Okay, maybe not the vampires in From Dusk Till Dawn or The Lost Boys, but your stereotypical vampire, sure.)

They’re insincere.  Hiding their true motives.  Bullshitters.

Zombies, on the other hand, don’t try to impress you with their good looks or their charms or their fancy outfits.  They don’t pretend to be something they’re not.  They wear their decomposing hearts on their sleeves and aren’t ashamed to say, “I’m a zombie and I want to eat your brains.”

I admire that in a monster.  Plus, they’re tragically comical.  Shuffling along, losing their hair and teeth and nails and the occasional appendage.  Add the fact that they used to be us, that we could all become them one day, and it creates a sense of empathy that, ultimately, was the reason I wrote Breathers in the first place.

So how about it?  Zombies or vampires?  Which camp are you in?  Or do you go both ways?

So last week my marketing manager at Random House presented my with the opportunity to contribute a blog to a web site called Largehearted Boy, which is, per the web site:

“a music blog featuring daily free and legal music downloads as well as news from the worlds of music, literature, and pop culture.”

One of the ways the site blends literature and music is in their Book Notes series, where authors create and discuss a music playlist that in some way relates to their recently published novel.

I’d never really thought about creating a playlist for Breathers, but once I got going, it seemed like a natural fit. Plus I had a lot of fun.

Check out the Breathers Playlist and let me know what you think.

In other fun news, USA Today did an online and print article on the front page of the Life section titled, “Zombies lurch into popular culture.”

Read the article.

Personally, I like the print version better because the cover of Breathers is included, whereas it’s left out in the online version.  But it’s not like I’m complaining.  Okay, maybe a little.

What’s also great about the article is that it plugs several other zombie novels, including three by some YA authors I’ve become friends with through the magic of the Internet:  Carrie Ryan (The Forest of Hands and Teeth), Amanda Ashby (Zombie Queen of Newbury High), and Stacey Jay (You Are So Undead To Me).

Check ‘em out!  And look for the zombie round-up of fiction in the April 20 issue of TIME.

Okay, so I’m about three weeks late with posting this interview on Fangoria.com, which was actually my first live interview.  I realized how much I ramble when speaking live to someone rather than having the chance to actually take the time to craft my answers in a written interview format.  Which is why writers need editors.

The interview was done by Matt Goodlett, who originally wanted to talk to me for a piece in the Omaha City Weekly.  I think that ran back in the second week of March.  Matt put the expanded interview on Fangoria.  I think it turned out pretty good, in spite of my rambling.  Plus they posted the YouTube link to one of the Necrobufrin videos:

Necrobufrin Kills Depression

In other news, I’m getting interviewed Tuesday by someone from the Chicago Tribune about a piece on the recent increase in all things zombie and, presumably, on Breathers.  This is supposed to take place about the time I’m sitting in the rain and thunder for the Giants opening day at AT&T Park.  Then on Wednesday, a review is supposed to appear in the Style section of The Washington Post.

After that, a zombie trend story that will include Breathers is scheduled appear in the Thursday, April 9 issue of USA Today.  And TIME magazine will be including Breathers in a zombie book round-up currently set to run in the April 20 issue (on newsstands April 10).

So this week looks like it’s shaping up to be a lot of fun.  Now if only the rain will hold off until Thursday…

I had a number of fun responses to what G should be for: Gore, Gases, Guts, Gross, Ghoulish, Ghastly, Gangrene. But the one that resonated more than the others was Graveyard.

Who doesn’t like graveyards?

In Breathers, Andy and the other members of Undead Anonymous spend a lot of time in graveyards – visiting loved ones, paying respects to the recently buried, and digging on the vibe.  After all, they have more in common with the dead than with the living.  And graveyards are the only place where zombies can gather without having to worry about being carted off by Animal Control.

The graveyards, or cemeteries, in Breathers do exist and I hung out in several of them in order to add some realistic details to the scenes.  Particularly the Soquel Cemetery, where Andy’s wife is buried.  (She died in the car accident and didn’t reanimate).  Even the cypress tree that resembles Tom with his missing arm is there.

A number of the tombstones mentioned in the book also exist, including the one for Santa Claus.  However, the marker with the marble cat curled up beneath the solitary name Lilith is an homage to one of my cats – a black Alpha female named after the character on Cheers who was killed and eaten by another animal in July of 1995.

My cat, not Bebe Neuwirth.

(Next entry:  H is for Helen)

So I’m on my way back from San Diego after 10 days of signings and readings and pimping Breathers out to about 50 different book stores and signing stock copies.  Ready for home but had an awesome time.  Here are some highlights:

March 15 – Caesar may have been told to beware the Ides of March, but my first official signing and reading at Borderlands Books in San Francisco was fortuitous.  Great crowd.  Lots of friends.  Several dozen books sold.  And Jude and Alan are the consummate hosts.

March 18 – Drove around Los Angeles signing stock copies of Breathers at local book stores.

March 19 – Met at the Coffee Bean on Sunset in L.A. with Mason Novick and Geoff LaTulippe, the co-producer and screenwriter for the film version of Breathers.  Great fun.  One of those “pinch me” moments.

March 20 – Met with my film agent, Sarah Self of the Gersh Agency, who wants me to write an original screenplay.  I now officially have homework.

March 21 – My second official signing at Dark Delicacies in Burbank, CA, with Amber Benson (previously of Buffy the Vampire) who was also signing her first solo effort,  Death’s Daughter.

Admittedly, Amber’s line was just a little longer than mine, but I had a great time sharing the event and meeting her. Del and Sue were wonderful hosts and the store is fabulous.

March 22 – My third signing at Mysterious Galaxy Books in San Diego.  Shared the reading and signing with Michael Boatman (Spin City and Arli$$), who read from his new horror comedy novel The Revenant Road.

Mysterious Galaxy is a fabulous store and it was lots of fun to meet Michael.  Also received my first hug from a fan from L.A. who missed me in Burbank and drove down to San Diego to see me. Thanks Elizabeth!  You made my day.

March 24 – Hit up another dozen stores in the San Diego area to sign stock copies.  Met a lot of enthusiastic people and fans and had an all around great time.  I think I need to come back here…

Not long ago, I was friended by a woman on MySpace who, along with her male counterpart, review books and interview authors on Blogspot under the title In Bed With Books.

Great name.  Who doesn’t like to be in bed with a book?  Okay, so I can think of a reasonable argument to that, but I won’t go into it here.

By the way, is it just me, or does the term “friended” sound like a platonic verb?

In any case, the interview was posted today and includes some fun questions about the zombie apocalypse vs. the beespider apocalypse, the greatest snack food, and what I would do if my best friend was bitten by a zombie.

Oh, and they’re also having a contest for free copies of Breathers, so head on over and check out the In Bed With Books Interview.

Okay.  First of all, I have to apologize because I’m completely and irrefutably delinquent on posting this.  I meant to post this a week or so ago but it seems that I really do have stuff leaking out of my head.  I think it’s called gray matter.

Second of all, I have to say that Rhonda Parrish, the interviewer and CEO of Niteblade, is a fabulous gift of a person.  I met her at my first ever World Fantasy Convention in Calgary last Halloween and am absolutely positive that had she been the only person I met, the convention would have been worth the trip.

You can check out my interview with Rhonda at Niteblade News, which also includes wonderful interviews with other authors.

And while you’re at it, check out the on-line magazine at www.niteblade.com

82.

That’s the number of agents who passed on Breathers in one way or another before Michelle Brower of Wendy Sherman Associates said “Yes.”  Which was a good thing, because had I hit the century mark in rejections, I was going to need some serious therapy.

This was back in November of 2007, 15 months after I’d sent out the first queries for Breathers.  12 years after I’d submitted my first novel.  18 years after I’d written my first short story when I was living down in Los Angeles and working 60 hours a week doing post-production work for Disney.

It’s a bit of a paradox, really.  When I wrote my first short story titled “The Club” back in 1990, I never thought it would take so long to reach this point.  And yet everything seems to have happened so quickly.

Two months after offering me representation, Michelle had an offer on the table from Broadway Books.  A little over a year later, my book is being published and the film rights are being sold.  Surreal.  Bizarre.  Wonderful.  Pick an adjective.  Any adjective.  Then insert HERE____________________.

Although I can’t say I had a clear cut idea of what I hoped for in an agent, Michelle is everything I could have wanted.  The simple fact that she believed in me when so many others didn’t was enough.  But I can’t imagine finding anyone better to guide me into the publishing world than Michelle.

Okay, put away the hankies and the tissues.  I’m just saying that my agent is a rockstar.

Next entry:  B is for Breathers.  (Big surprise.)

Okay, I realize I said I was going to start writing Breathers from A to Z two months ago, but number one, I realized the timing was off. And number two, I’m a lazy blogger.

Part of that has to do with the fact that I’m just not comfortable sharing personal information. Politics. Religious beliefs. How many bowel movements I have each day. Not really something I want to talk about.

I prefer to stick with the whole writing thing. The occasional flash fiction. Perspectives from Andy. Maybe some insight into what happens when I sit down at the keyboard.

So since I’ve had several interviews and a number of future fans already wondering how I came up with the idea of Breathers and what it was like writing as a zombie and how long it took me to find an agent, I thought I’d start a running blog, twenty-six entries, going over the process of Breathers from A to Z.

Now, similar to Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk, this isn’t going to be the type of blog that goes “And then. And then. And then…” It’s going to jump around a bit depending on the letter and how much caffeine I’ve consumed on any particular day. And on those days when I want to sleep in, I’ll have Andy fill in for me to add the zombie’s point of view on the whole process.

So starting on Tuesday, I’ll post the first entry, A is for AGENT. Because really, I wouldn’t be writing this without her.