ARTICLE: Zombie Fiction: My Post-Apocalyptic Playland
When I started writing fiction seriously I never thought I’d end up a zombie writer. That’s not to say I am strictly a zombie writer now, I’m a multi-genre writer, but zombies have always been a passion of mine and my first novel, DEAD MECH, just happened to be my take on the zombie genre.
Then the zombie boom hit and I found myself with fans and followers clambering for more. Who am I to turn them down?
Now, to clarify, I see myself more as a post-apocalyptic writer. I have two other novel series that I plan on writing and putting out there that have noting to do with zombies, but are set in the future after civilization has ended one way or another.
I guess this is what has drawn me to zombies most of all: The End Of The World!
Ah, the post-apocalyptic landscape is so refreshing to write in. It’s a way to strip things down, get back to basic survival without having to write historical fiction. You don’t need to research a futuristic wasteland, it can be whatever you want it to be!
In DEAD MECH I’ve created a landscape that is scorched and left for dead centuries after nuclear annihilation was the government’s choice to destroy the zombie infestation. Didn’t really go so well for them. But what rose from the ashes was a mixture of low-tech barbarianism and high-tech feudal city-states. Not to mention the giant battle robots (Mechs) humanity uses to battle the still roaming zombie hordes. Have I mentioned some of the mech pilots have died and become zombies while in their mechs? Oh, the fun I have with that world!
I’ve also written a YA novel, Little Dead Man, which is still in the editing stage, and is in a more conservative post-zombie-apocalypse setting. This is different than DEAD MECH in that it is set only a couple decades after the world has succumbed to a zombie virus, so there aren’t any major technological changes. Everyone is just trying to survive with what they have. The beauty of using this setting is it makes the story more intimate, makes the main character easier to empathize with, and means I can use modern history as the backdrop instead of creating centuries mythos.
Either apocalypse is good by me.
Now, with different post-apocalyptic settings, come different zombies. And before you all start getting into the Fast vs. Slow debate, understand I do not have a preference. It really is whatever the story needs. In DEAD MECH, they’re fast. They have to be or there wouldn’t have been a need for humanity to build the mechs. But, in Little Dead Man I have all kinds: runners, shamblers, lurkers and the broken. Each has different ways of attacking which makes the zombie action and violence varied and less static. Keeps the protagonist on his toes.
For me the setting and zombie type is nothing without a great story and strong characters. It just happens that my brain likes it best when the world has ended and the creatures like to eat some flesh!
However you like your zombies (fast or Slow) or like your setting (current apocalypse or futuristic wasteland) I will agree with you. I’m easy that way and really, when all is said and done, it’s the reader that decides what works. I just hope the story I put out there works for you. And if one doesn’t, just stay tuned, I’ll probably have the right mix for you soon.
Who am I to turn you down?
