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

Zombie Rules: Why Should Zombies Misbehave?

When I used to work a video store, the zombie films were always categorized under the "Horror" placard. Since then, I've always associated zombies with the horror concept; and yes, I'm going to use the "Z" word over and over again.

ZOMBIES. ZOMBIES. ZOMBIES.

At one point, I decided to write a horror novel that would include "zombies." Well… the evil scientist in the novel describes his creations as zombies because he believes that a dead person who loves to eat human flesh should be called such. I'm talking about Nightmare of the Dead, a book I would love to write a sequel for. Unfortunately, the book is a horror novel and not a zombie story; I didn't know there was a difference until recently.

I hate the argument that one person's description of a zombie is not "realistic." Are you kidding me? That's like saying the ghost sitting across from me isn't really a ghost because it's not wearing a bow-tie  We're talking about walking corpses that, for some reason, like to eat people. Maybe the "walkers" run, maybe they walk; in some stories, they talk, or think. Sometimes, zombies use tools! Sometimes zombies like to eat brains, and sometimes they vomit all over you. 

From what I've learned, a zombie story is supposed to feature a bunch of "average" people (now I'm getting upset, can't you tell?) who run around trying to survive while "killing" things that are already dead--things that can't be called "zombies" because that word is overused…

What's an "average" person? Are there people in your neighborhood who know how to use firearms? Are there nurses, electricians, hunters, criminals, policemen, firefighters--don't these people exist? Why is it scary when someone who has few "survival skills" is attacked by monsters / zombies? Isn't it scarier when someone who has specialized training which can help them survive a catastrophe learns their skills can't help them? What's "average" about someone who can swing a katana without any formal training in swordsmanship and sever both flesh and bone, without consideration to the blade's actual composition.

I guess I'm getting confused about zombie stories again. They're not horror stories. They're not supposed to be scary. They're supposed to be confined to a series of rules so that people can easily distinguish what a "zombie" book is even when the word "zombie" isn't used in the story at all. To make sure I can sell stuff, I'm going to make sure I basically clone either a television show, video game, or book because it's getting consumed on a mass scale and it follows the "rules."

Rules and art don't mix; creativity and innovation are stifled, but I guess writers aren't artists…

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...