New Characters Appearing in Zombie Ascension Two (Dream Cast)

Queen of the Dead (Zombie Ascension 2)

Release Date: August 2013 

Although the characters in the first novel were thematically... "corrupt," for a lack of a better word, it was my intention to go a different route with the redemption concept in the second book. The fans have asked for "good" characters, and here are a few of them:

Father Joe Martinez

A former boxer who killed a man in his last fight, Father Joe's faith is absolute, and so is his belief that he must always redeem himself for the mistake he made. His personal championship fight with his past turns him into a selfish man who never breaks a promise. Benicio Del Toro would bring the priest's charm and strength to the screen that would make this hero stand out above the rest of the cast.

Jack Mender

Jack is a drummer for a heavy metal band that his brother, Jerry, has engineered; Jack has no sense of self-worth because he's been Jerry's punching bag. Jack wants to feel like he can be of worth to somebody; he lived in his mother's basement while taking care of her as a debilitating mental condition wore her down. It would be nice to see Seth Rogen in a more humbling role where he can use a more diverse emotional range, which he's capable of doing.

Agent Rose

A seductive assassin who was "built" and trained for more personal encounters with men and women, Rose is the former pupil of Jim Traverse, the madman who's still running lose in Michigan. Their relationship went beyond the student-mentor realm, and since he left her for his last mission in Egypt, she's done everything she can to put him out of her mind. At last, she's been called in to apprehend Jim, though she fears he's become a dreadful monster that she won't recognize. Emile Clarke could play the love struck assassin convincingly enough to make her a sympathetic character the audience might want to cheer one… whether they want her to reunite with her serial-killer lover or not.

Sergeant John Charles

A man dedicated to do whatever it takes to serve his country; the sole survivor of Crater's team, John is a soldier to the bone, whose willingness to sacrifice for his country caused him to lose his family early in his career. His country is all he has left. Sam Worthington would play the dedicated patriot with the steely-eyed determination that makes John an endearing character.

General Masters

This homeless man is convinced he's an ex-soldier who was once a key player in the Vietnam conflict, until he decided that the only way to win was to train soldiers Colonel Kurtz style. He's been hanging around a liquor store in Detroit to make sure the family that runs it is always "safe," and we learn this crooked-tooth mystery man isn't very squeamish, nor has his dedication to America wavered. He seems to know more than the others about what might be behind the zombie epidemic. It would be nice to see Carl Weathers return in an action role… because it's Carl Weathers!

Synopsis:

Blood runs through the streets of Detroit and into the gutters of nearby cities. Monsters, both human and zombie alike, have brought civil order to its knees. The haunted mercenary, Vega, must confront this apocalypse head-on with survivors who have their own versions of morality; she’s joined by Father Joe, a pious man who will do everything in his power to save a single life, no matter how many others have to die…
Jim Traverse, the sociopath who has decided the apocalypse will be “beautiful,” has nearly completed his genocidal masterpiece. Jim races against Vega’s company to reach Selfridge Air Base, where they’ll fight for control of the woman who has ascended over life and death, a woman whose relationship with an infernal intelligence gives her power over the walking dead. 


One woman can save the world, or destroy it: The Queen of the Dead

Shane and Griggs: Foils in Zombie Fiction

While writing the second book in the Zombie Ascension series (Queen of the Dead), I keep thinking one of my characters is a lot like another character in a wildly popular television show. It's not intentional and some of the comparisons are weak, but I think both characters underscore important ideas.

Patrick Griggs, a former police detective who was fired from his job because he came apart at the seams; he couldn't keep his family life together, due in part to his addiction to pornography. He shares a lot of traits that Shane exhibits in The Walking Dead. Yes—Shane. You remember Shane, don't you? How are they similar? Why does it matter? 

Let's answer the first question. Griggs has been exposed to violence. He worked in Detroit's homicide department, his career choice heavily influenced by his father's police career. From his first crime scene, Griggs accepted violence and murder as nothing more than common occurrences; blood and death weren't a big deal. He married and had kids because it was something men were expected to do, in his opinion. Secretly, he enjoyed coming to work, but gradually became unhappy because he didn't feel fulfilled. The depravity and dehumanization of porn influenced him to jump into the porn business after his wife left him and his detective career had been lost. 

Shane may've also seen his share of violence; he's also used to making difficult choices. He'll do anything to survive once the zombie apocalypse begins, and he firmly believes that he's always doing the right thing for the good of the group. He's a pragmatist, and holds no illusions about what's at stake. He'll go to any lengths to get what he wants, including murder. Like Griggs, Shane's primary goal is to reunite with the woman he loves more than anything. Both men have felt misunderstood, but Griggs has Mina, and Shane has Lori. Or so they think.

Griggs and Shane are both selfish people, but as we learn more about their ideals, we see how far gone these men have become; they've rationalized their violent actions as part of a belief system that keeps them alive. This blind faith in a methodology does not make them right; they're counters to moral "correctness" in a world where morality may have expired with the milk everyone left in the refrigerators. They’re both tortured men--we want to sympathize with them, but we often decide not to because they're "bad" men. 

Both of these characters are important because they provide balance to their stories; they're fates are embedded and conflicted with the protagonists'. They don't represent evil, but rather provide the questions. They often serve as a quasi-Greek chorus, questioning whether or not morality still reigns in a world gone mad, or helping us discover it all over again. Just as Griggs is the counterpoint to Vega's crusade to find innocence in the wreckage of her life, Shane—and the Governor—provide the counterargument to Rick's morals. 

These characters aren't always antagonists. They're foils—and they've been a part of the Western storytelling tradition for centuries. They're important to a story for obvious reasons. By the time Queen of the Dead is unleashed upon the world in mid-July, I'll finally know whether or not Griggs will be around in the final book.

Soundtrack for NECROPOLIS NOW

I have very distinct taste in music. I grew up on Heavy Metal and Rush, then Grunge music was a big part of my early teenage years. Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Black Sabbath, Rush--these are my favorites. Deftones, Tool, Alice in Chains, Slayer, Metallica (pre-"Black" album), Soundgarden, Rage Against the Machine... all beloved artists who have provoked my imagination. I'm also a huge Opeth fan, and Mars Volta happens to be the best live band I've seen. When I write, however, I find that different musical styles can help influence the mood for different scenes, or characters. Not all of my characters, especially in Necropolis Now, are fans of the music I like. I actually listened to an entire Mars Volta album repeatedly to help me write the Civil War zombie novel, Nightmare of the Dead. Here are some tunes that set the mood for some of the characters / scenes in the zombie / action novel, Necropolis Now. 

(I have included cover images, song titles, and artists, but to respect the artists, I won't post links to the songs, even though you can find entire albums for free on YouTube.)

The book opens in a bar during a rainstorm. I wrote most of the scene before I went back and looked for a song that would help set the tone, and of course, the title track for this iconic album by a legendary band, "Black Sabbath," sets everything up nicely. 

This one is probably a bit of a shocker, but I really felt like 2 Chainz captured the essence of the character, Vincent Hamilton. The song "Spend It" is really what he cares about the most; even with all the zombies running around, all Vincent can think about is getting his money and preserving his criminal empire. 

When I wrote the action scenes, I couldn't help but think about setting; Detroit has its share of skyscrapers and of course, there are plenty of abandoned buildings. After watching the "Tron" sequel, I felt like I really got into the soundtrack, and it made me think about all the burning steel while the city fell apart. Thus, I made a Tron: Legacy and a Deadmau5 station on my Pandora radio. While Vega and Bob are running through Detroit with zombies closing in, Deadmau5 helped set the tone.

This will sound obvious, but every October I listen to this album. October Rust always seems to capture how I feel about the fall season, and there are a couple of tracks that really helped shape the character Mina, who, as you know, is a former porn star who escapes from a mental institution during the zombie apocalypse; she was being kept there because she has a taste for human flesh, a taste that helps keep her nightmares at bay, in which zombies consume every inch of her. "Love You to Death" and "Red Water" are two standout tracks that remind me of Mina. I also think zombies and Type O Negative kind of fit together...

Okay... I know what you're thinking. I'm from Michigan, but to be honest, I'm not a big fan of Eminem, though I do enjoy some of his earlier work and I respect him as an artist. It's almost stereotypical for people who live around these parts to love him... well, this song, "Welcome to Detroit City," by a dude named Trick-Trick and his buddy, Eminem, is referenced in the book during a zombie/street scene with some bullets flying. I feel like if you're going to have a zombie apocalypse in Detroit, Eminem should figure into the party somehow, and this song could really serve as a "title" track for the entire novel. I also reference Ted Nugent in the book. I feel like if you're going to write about a specific place, you need to represent some of its cultural aspects... the "place" has to be real. 

I always listen to Sigur Ros when I'm writing. More so than their other work, I could really feel a sense of damnation when I wrote about the zombies while listening to this. Even dead, I feel like zombies still have their own sort of personality, something George Romero captured nicely in his films, and that's what I try to describe when zombies are around. I usually had Sigur Ros playing in the background during each of Detective Griggs's scenes, although he isn't a very nice guy...

There is a lot of variety here, but the song "The Dumbing Down of Love" is very beautiful, and it truly captured Vega, who is arguably the heroine of the entire novel. This is the song I listened to at the book's conclusion, and it was also present when Vega and Miles were alone together early on in the book. Vega is a very lonely woman, and this song seemed to emanate both isolation and desolation. 

The sequel is being developed, and this album in particular, along with some 2 Chainz, is really influencing the creative process right now. Of course, there is a new character in the second book who really digs heavy metal... replace the aliens in the album with zombies, and some of the themes are definitely prevalent... 






I work with a series of images rather than a plot outline, and while I know how my story ends, I don't always know what happens to all the characters, and I don't know everything about them right away. I've learned about some new music (to me) while getting to know the people who are faced with a crises on an apocalyptic scale. Zombies, heavy metal, gangster rap, techno, and Frou Frou...