The Next Big Thing-Necropolis Now: Zombie Ascension Book One

What is the title of your latest book? 

My latest novel is called Necropolis Now: Zombie Ascension. The book is available from Severed Press. 

Where did the idea come from for the book?

For this particular novel, I concentrated on the concept of redemption. Most of the characters and images that comprise the novel are heavily inspired by dream-sequences and music. For this book, the musical artists Deadmau5, Frou Frou, Drake, Deftones, and Sigur Ros heavily inspired large portions of the plot.

What genre does your book fall under?

Necropolis Now: Zombie Ascension is a horror novel.

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?    

Amparo Vega- This haunted mercenary would be played by Michelle Rodriguez, who would capture Vega's badass demeanor while her desperation would be simmering on the surface.

 James Traverse-The villain of this novel is a professional mercenary and madman who refers to himself as a "homicidal artist" and "the patron saint of pain." A former super-soldier, he has been tormented by an experience in Egypt, in which he learned that he might be able to acquire demonic powers in the midst of an undead apocalypse. Daniel Craig would be perfect, and nobody would ever expect him to take on such a role.

Vincent Hamilton-A famous arms dealer in Detroit, Vincent is a former soldier who has become unhinged by the zombie apocalypse, though he learns how to cope with it and become the man he never thought he could be. Mekhi Phifer would be ideal.

Bob Fields-A professional soldier, he has been hunting Traverse for a long time. A grizzled veteran who loves combat, an bearded Robert Deniro would be perfect for the character who assumes a fatherly role over Amparo Vega.

Mina Neely-Lindsay Lohan would need green contacts and would have to have almost porcelain skin for the role, but she could play the deranged cannibal. Whenever Mina dreams, zombies devour her flesh, and the only way to stop these nightmares is for her to eat the flesh of the living. Her mind serves as a temporal gateway for the dead, and she is horrified to learn that the zombie menace is indeed real.

Patrick Griggs-Griggs is a former homicide detective whose obsession with adult films led him into a relationship with Mina Neely, who coincidentally ate another actor while Patrick tried to film them together. Even though Mina has been institutionalized, she's all he has left, and if he finds her, he hopes to restore his film studio to prominence. Patrick just happens to love using a Desert Eagle magnum, something Mel Gibson could pull off very well.

Desmond Hunter-He grew up in poverty and watched his mother succumb to crack addiction while he raised his brother, Jerome, who ended up becoming a junkie. Desmond became a lawyer; he's a crusader who will stop at nothing to succeed, and he feels extremely responsible for Jerome. Desmond has just opened up his own law practice, and his first client is one Patrick Griggs, who wishes to sue the state of Michigan because they've barred him from selling videos that depict his former actress-turned-cannibal, Mina Neely. Desmond is given a video of Mina to help create a psychological profile, but he hardly knows what this video really is…

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

While the undead menace threatens to destroy the city of Detroit, an elite cadre of mercenaries is dropped in to find a deranged killer who might be the key to stopping the zombie outbreak.  

Is your book self-published or represented by an agency?

I am working with Severed Press.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

Three months. The first draft was complete at the end of August, 2012.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

The only books that come close are Epidemic of the Dead by P.A. Douglas, and Dead of Night by Jonathan Maberry. Any other zombie books that have military action might be close, too, although I haven't read too many of them. 

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

The inspiration for this book came from dreams and music.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Mercenaries, sex, violence… there are a lot of bullets, and there are a lot of zombies. Most of my characters are "damned" people who must find some way to understand themselves better in order to survive the cataclysm. This story involves an ensemble cast, as the book uses character perspectives for chapters while the stories finally collide in the emotional climax. Vega, the protagonist, is a Shakespearean character, whose flaws lead her into an abyss of war and terror. 

Full Synopsis:

Detroit has become a war zone. Slow, shambling corpses feast upon the living while fire consumes the city. 

Amparo Vega, a haunted mercenary, fights through streets that are choked with the dead. Her mission: extract the legendary soldier, Jim Traverse, who holds the terrifying secret behind the zombie epidemic.

While the bullets fly, Traverse befriends a group of survivors whose fates are forever linked to his: an infamous gangster, a young lawyer, and a former detective struggle against the zombies together.

Can Vega's elite cadre of mercenaries find Traverse before the epidemic becomes global? 

Nightmare Reflections

            

While writing Nightmare of the Dead, there were several moments where I actually had to step away from the keyboard and consider whether or not I'd gone too far.

            In fact, I did go too far while writing Dr. Saul's back story, which is the section of the novel I feel is the most horrific. Dr. Saul is a rather tragic figure, and I truly believe the environment can dramatically affect the psychosis of a young mind. Saul might be considered a "villainous" man, but the other characters involved in the melodrama are just as profoundly disturbed as he is. Hence the nightmare that readers delve into.

            There is a lot of potential in the zombie genre; I thought I could explore the depths of human depravity and the dark subconscious savagery the zombies themselves represent. When we consider zombies as the antagonists in any medium, we're hardly interested in why they might crave human flesh, or how they could possibly digest their meals, considering that they're "undead." If these monsters operate on some primal level—as a lot of zombie fiction suggests—then what does that say about the living?

            The Civil War has been called one of the bloodiest conflicts in human history. With the advent of mechanized warfare, battlefield medicine was still too far behind to deal with the horrific wounds that were inflicted upon the young men who fought for either the Union or the Confederacy. War itself often provides ample opportunity for the disintegration of ethics and the demoralization of the human spirit, thus it serves as the perfect backdrop for the most depraved characters I could imagine. Of course, the war provides another thematic parallel for character conflict, but I won't spoil it for you…

            The protagonist, Neasa Bannan, is hardly an angelic figure, yet her own experience is rather horrific without zombies or war; imagine finding yourself on a train and your identity has been completely wiped away. You don't know who you are, but everybody else seems to have some idea who you might be. This certainly provides an opportunity for thematic development in the story, as we venture to discover what she is just as much as who she is. This is just as important when we realize that she was already questioning her identity before it was taken from her. Love will do that to a person.

            After finishing Nightmare of the Dead, I almost wondered if the book would fall into the splatterpunk category. I've always believed there is a lot of room for horror to be both thematic and entertaining. As an avid reader of classic literature, I've read books that are far scarier than most of the books that are considered "horror" classics. I truly think that an exploration of horror can unlock the secrets of the human soul, as it seems to do for the characters in my novel.

            Readers looking for historical fiction will be disappointed, because I don't venture into the Civil War as often as someone might like, and I really don't discuss the philosophies or rationale behind the conflict. The second book will include a historic battle, as will the third, and of course we’ll have plenty of zombies. I only write what I see, and I don't have a whole lot of control over the characters. I'm telling the story that follows me into the realm of nightmare and shadow…