I never planned to write about zombies. 28 Days Later freaked me out, and Pot has a long-standing fear of the Zombie Apocalypse (though here are some very excellent reasons why humans will survive–Pot’s not buying it. It only covers the undead kind and doesn’t cover all these ways the ZA could happen.). So, yeah, while I have a sort of academic interest in the science of zombies, they never entered my radar for something I wanted to write about.
Yesterday Pot and I were brainstorming about Devil’s Eye. I’d gone through yet another outline that we both agreed was just weak and didn’t deliver the goods. Deciding that the Devil’s Eye is an artifact was a step in the right direction, but the concept hadn’t been fully developed. This story has, from the beginning, had a great setup that went…well, nowhere really. So we had to go back to the root and she made me think about what I want to give the reader with this story–you know, beyond the whole “another title”, “a glimpse into my world”, and “something for free”. And what it came down to was action and a thirst for more adventure. Adventure was sorely lacking in this story. I’m finding it very VERY hard to come up with something that fits in the short, bite-sized package I’m wanting to offer. So I cut everything back to the First Plot Point, which left me with just over 5k of story. My beginning, as I said, is solid.
So we’re sitting there and she’s freestyle spewing ideas for stuff that could happen and she says “Pinch point one ought to be something about them coming up against guardians of the Eye.”
To which I immediately said, “Zombies.”
Honestly, I was kind of being facetious at the time. But then we followed the plot line through to the end. And it worked. So now there are zombies and a demon and a little bit of Indiana Jones in subterranean crypts in New Orleans. Yes, I do know that New Orleans is below water level. I’ve got that covered. Now I kind of feel compelled to go watch Temple of Doom to set the mood.
10 thoughts on “Bring On The Zombie Horde!”
Thanks for this glimpse into your process. I would have loved to be a part of that. I SO wish there were writers or people interested in stories around me that I could this with. You’re lucky you have that kind of support/helper system in place.
And zombies DO make the story sound interesting.
This is really funny after our exchange yesterday about not knowing enough about zombies and the movie 28 days. lol I think Maberry has a zombie book out, you might want to check that out for inspiration or research?
That is the beauty of the internet because there is certainly no one around HERE. You should check out Crit Partner Match. You might find someone to hook up with there (which is why I founded it).
And I feel compelled to point out that the only reason Kait’s come up with zombies is because they scare the bejeezus out of me, and this is total payback for the animated doll attack in Hush Money, which I wrote just for her.
Payback’s a bitch. King’s to you, Kettle.
I swear that hadn’t occurred to me before, but now that you mention it…
I wrote a blog about how I would never write a zombie as a romantic lead. Just…gross. (And my blog post was gross, LOL) However, zombies as guardians? That works. It makes sense. Just no kissing, ok? Bwa ha ha.
Somebody tweeted me yesterday mentioning that she had a zombie hero in her erotica and that it had played hell on his love life. I was kind of disturbed…
Ewwww!
I can’t get into the whole zombies in romance thing…*way* too weird for me.
This sounds intriguing though…as do crypts under New Orleans(?). Looking forward to seeing where that goes…
I know! SO CREEPY! I mean, okay I can come up with how you can make vampires or werewolves or other shifters or fae or any number of other paranormal creatures sexy, but ZOMBIES?
Zombies are like bacon, they make everything better.