So Timothy W. Long has taken the zombie written world by storm over the last year. His previously released Among the Living has finally reached the spotlight that it so richly deserves. (It’s a great book that’s been getting a lot of attentioon recently.) With it’s sequel entitled “Among the Dead” coming out just around the corner we are happy to announce that Tim has also been signed on for a third book turning this into a full fledged trilogy which will be called “Among the Ashes.” This is one that Timothy’s fans have been hoping to hear about and now we’re happy to tell you that it has been set in stone!
Congratulations Mr. Long! As a friend and a fan I’m happy to be able to share this news with our readers. So for those who skipped our Among the Living Review and haven’t had a chance to pickup a copy of the novel yet:
BUYZOMBIE: Can you tell us a little about the Among the Living world that you have created?
Among the Living is sort of a kitchen sink zombie book that concentrates on the first days of a zombie outbreak. My favorite part of zombie and virus (Outbreak, Contagion) movies occurs in the first ten minutes. I like how the virus spreads and is almost treated like a character in the story. Of course, after that part of the story is told it usually moves on to the actors rushing to find a cure. The book is set in downtown Seattle and I took pains to make the locations real. You can actually walk the route the survivor’s take as they flee the zombie menace.
The characters are also atypical for the genre. They aren’t exactly the heroic type, in fact one of the main characters is a drug dealer that is more interested in protecting his home and stash than coping with the situation. The book’s scope is also very small. It takes place over a 36 hour period of time.
When I decided to do a sequel it was imperative that it remain true to the Among the Living world. Plus, if the book were to become a trilogy, I didn’t want the book to fall into the boring middle realm that 2nd books are expected to exist in. I took the fan favorite character Kate and structured the majority of the action around her and a rescue mission she is on with some National Guardsmen. But most of the surviving characters return, even Lester who takes a decidedly different approach to the end of the world.
BUYZOMBIE: For those who have read the first title, what can we expect (spoiler free please) to read in the sequel?
The sequel picks up a few days after the events of Among the Living. The city is in chaos and the military doesn’t know how to contain it and the people infected. In zombie movies everyone picks up a gun and just starts shooting but I wonder if that would really happen? Could I pick up an assault rifle and blow away other human beings, no matter how crazy they are? I like to think it would be a very hard moral choice to make and that is what I am trying to convey in the book.
It has a number of returning characters and a couple of new ones. Like my first book, you won’t find any Mary-Sues, that is, people that suddenly have all the answers and dead on aim. Characters live and die and hopefully I have done a good job of conveying that feeling of horror and helplessness that would exist in a real zombie event. Zombie fans have a pretty good idea what to do in the event of an outbreak. Mr. and Mrs. Average Joe do not have a clue and that is the reality that my characters face.
BUYZOMBIE: In my mind ashes signifies a very abrupt and painful end. Are we going to be seeing a bit more of a post apocalyptic world in the finale to your trilogy?
Among the Ashes has always been in the back of my mind for a finale. It’s hard to talk about the book without giving anything away, but I do have a few surprises in mind. When I saw the offer to do a third book, my initial thought was “Can I really rip out that much more of me and put it on the page again?†These may be “just zombie books†but to me, the characters are very real and the characters are also the primary reason for writing these novels. The situations they are put in, and the decisions they have to make are very painful at times. I will say that the books will flow very naturally into each other, and I promise to deliver every emotion I can think of to the series.
BUYZOMBIE: So a little undead bird told me that you have recently signed a deal (in blood) to have an audio book of Zombie Wilson Diaries on audible.com! How do you feel about your works getting the audio treatment?
That birdy must live on a deserted island with a hot zombie girl! This will be my third audio book and I couldn’t be happier. The audio treatments that my books have received have been nothing but professional. Each of the narrators has brought my books to life and I really can’t wait to see what they do with Zombie Wilson Diaries. The narrator that got the job has been getting rave reviews from my peers. I was careful and shared all of the auditions with a select few. This guy, his name IS actually Guy, just nailed the sarcastic and whiny attitude of the main character.
BUYZOMBIE: Could you share for our readers a bit about the Zombie Wilson Diaries?
The Zombie Wilson Diaries is a silly little book that started life as a free online blog. I wrote weekly entries and it developed a large following. The book centers around a man stuck on a deserted island with a companion who has special needs. He isn’t the smartest starfish in the ocean and neither is his new girlfriend. In fact she is very needy and quite bitey. His only companion is a zombie, so he doesn’t have a volleyball to talk to, like Tom Hanks’ volleyball. He just wants a companion and she just wants to eat him. The book started out as slapstick but ended up with a good bit of relationship satire.
At the end of 2010 the book made the list of best zombie books of the year on Barnes and Nobles website. I was more surprised than anyone!
BUYZOMBIE: If YOU were stuck on an island with a zombie… what zombified celebrity would you want the zombie to be?
If it was a female I’d pick Kelly Brooke since she was the direct inspiration for the Zombie-Wilson character. I was watching a movie called Survival Island when I got the idea for the book. She played this super-hot girl that always woke up with perfect hair, moisturized skin, and lips, even after being on the island for a week. I started thinking. What if she were a zombie, I bet she wouldn’t be so hot after being dead for a few days. I would miss the British accent though. Leads me to wonder, do British zombies moan with an accent?
If it were a male character, Mel Gibson because that man needs a break from reality. I think some time on a deserted island, as a zombie, might take care of some of his anger issues. Besides, when I had him tied to a tree I could throw coconuts, and dried star fish at him in the event he started screaming for his dinner.
BUYZOMBIE: Actually also being stuck on a beach what would your favorite inanimate object be to have as a friend as your sanity slowly dripped away to talk to?
A diary so someone could find that I lasted about fifteen minutes. I’m so out of shape and non-survival savvy that fifteen minutes might even be a stretch. “I’m stuck with no food, no water. Worst of all, no internet and no television. Goodbye cruel world!â€
BUYZOMBIE: We actually first started talking when the Zombie Wilson Diaries was just a rough writing project you were giving away online. Oh how far you’ve come! For the authors that read our site – what advice do you have for those just starting up?
Don’t expect to be the author that has overnight success with a blog. For every JA Konrath you read about, there are a thousand writers trying to do the same thing. It’s okay to take a deep breath and work on building a readership base. And write! If you want to be a writer then why are you reading this interview? Go work on your project and keep working on it every day. If you send out a piece and get a rejection, don’t take it personally. Maybe the editor loved the story but it just wasn’t a good fit. Try submitting it to another publisher.
BUYZOMBIE: Is there anything you would like to share with your fans or our readers about upcoming projects or just in general that we haven’t covered?
I’m excited to be working on an Urban Fantasy series that will be my first non-zombie book. But I’m not deserting the genre, far from it. I still have several books coming out from Permuted Press including the two more books in the Beyond the Barriers series. Jonathan Moon and I are also planning to unleash more madness. We are close to putting out The Apocalypse Strikes Back! Watch out for those books, they will give you giggle fits.
If you would like to see what else I am up to, be sure and swing by my website at http://timothywlong.com. I am also on facebook and my twitter is @TimWLong. If you have any questions, comments, or want tips on dressing zombies in grass skirts and coconut bras, I can be reached at [email protected].
