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Why Zombies Make Me Sad: Crying While I’m Cringing

Buy My Brother, My Zombie HERE

by Rusty Fischer

There is a moment in nearly every zombie movie, where the two heroes, or heroines, or hero + heroine, are almost out of the war zone, have just escaped the building, or crawled out of the tunnel and one of them gets bitten by a zombie.

You know the scene I’m talking about. And now the victim’s fate is sealed; depending on the mythology, in a couple of minutes, or a few hours, or maybe even a day or two, that’s it. They’re done; toast. Zombie toast.

And it makes me sad. Because they’ve always worked so hard to get to that point, and they’re just this side of free and, wham, instant living dead. Maybe that’s what’s so intriguing to me about zombies; maybe that’s why, after nearly 30 zombie stories, books and poems and counting, I’m still struggling to understand them, still coming up with new story lines to figure them out.

And, yes, I know they’re not real but… they’re the realest of the supernatural creatures to me. No superpowers, they don’t sparkle or fly or shape shift, they’re just there, looking like us, but not us.

That’s why my latest Reanimated ReadZ story, My Brother, My Zombie, holds a special place in my heart. It’s about a girl, who’s still human, and her brother; now a zombie. And it’s about their long trek together, their last walk as brother and sister, until he crosses over into what’s known as The Z-Zone, where only zombies fear to tread, and humans cannot go.

It’s a story of love, and loss, of regret and shame, of what was and what can never be. (Plus, it’s got a REALLY cool cover!) So, anyway, just a little rant for today about why zombies hold a special place in my heart, and why I keep writing about them, day after day, story after story, year after year.

So, my question for you: Why do you read about zombies? Do they make you sad, glad, mad or just plain scared? I’d love to hear your comments, and I hope you’ll enjoy My Brother, My Zombie and the rest of the Reanimated ReadZ series of 99-cent living dead shorts!

Yours in Zombie,

Rusty

Putrefied Preferences: Which Type of Zombie is Your Fave?

by Rusty Fischer, author of The Zombie Vote

You know what I’ve found? People like talking about zombies. This is a fact. Even if they say they don’t like zombies, or have never seen a zombie movie, they like to talk about zombies. I have dozens of books in print; business, diet, vampires, self-help, how-to, werewolves, all anybody wants to talk about is the zombie books. (Not that I’m complaining, mind you!)

So, in honor of my latest installment of Reanimated Readz, my series of 99-cent zombie shorts, I wanted to put it to a “vote” once and for all. I’ve identified five main zombie “types” you’re sure to recognize. So, which type of zombie is your fave?

1.     The Shuffler: This is the “classic” zombie, often referred to as the “Romero zombie” for those made famous in George Romero’s classic, Night of the Living Dead. Slow, pondering, not so smart, likes to shuffle, loves to kill.

2.     The Flash: These are the fast, angry, non-traditional zombies made famous in more recent movies like 28 Days and 28 Days Later. Smarter, leaner, more brutal and ruthless, is this “your” type of zombie?

3.     The Class Clown: The Class Clown is the kind of zombie you’ll see yucking it up in flicks like Dylan Dog: Dead of Night or Zombieland. Zombies with an attitude, zombies with a brain, zombies who can talk, think, even communicate, or at least throw off a little irony as they’re shuffling around, looking for brains. (Personally, this is my “vote” for favorite zombie ever.)

4.     The Thriller: The Thriller is the wild card. Something different, unique, maybe even never seen before. I’m thinking of “R,” the main character in Warm Bodies who can think and feel and even feel protective about humans.

5.     The Gimmick: The “gimmick” zombie is for folks who don’t necessarily like zombies but like to watch/read/talk about them. Zombies vs.Unicorns. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Sure, they have zombies but it’s mainly a wink-wink-nudge-nudge, look how cool we are for talking about zombies kind of thing. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course. For lots of people looking to inch their way into the zombie genre, this will be their “vote” for best zombie ever.

I know, I know, it’s a hard choice; and a personal one! But I’d love to hear your “votes” in the comment section below…

Yours in YA,

Rusty 

Available at BONO Books!

by Rusty Fischer

Losing a school election is bad enough. But losing it to a zombie? Who can’t even read? That’s not only a political failure but, for one (formerly) popular (and very human) student, it’s social suicide as well!

I frown and turn back to the microphone.

By the time I do, I see a string of zombies, maybe a dozen, maybe two, lined up at the microphone at the bottom of the stands. Mrs. Halston stands primly from her seat at the foot of the stage and turns to them.

She takes the microphone off the stand and points it in the face of the first zombie, a junior by the name of Carl Gaff. He used to play for the soccer team before Congress vetoed the Living Dead in Sports Act earlier this year.

He is short and slight and swimming in his green jacket, which only seems to come in one size: XXL. He looks at me calmly and says, slowly, deeply, but quite seriously, “What qualifications do you have that Calvin doesn’t?”

Before I can hear Brody’s voice screaming in my head I snap the first thing that comes to mind: “I can read, for one.”

There is dead silence in the auditorium as Carl Gaff looks at me. I cringe, expecting the place to boo, to erupt, to storm the stage and tear me limb from limb. What I get is even worse: “That’s it?” he asks. I don’t think he really meant it as a joke but the audience laughs, and laughs and laughs and laughs.

All except for the zombies, but that’s only because they’re still busy lining up to ask questions. One by one, they get in line, until the steps leading down from their section are full, and then they line up, side by side, very orderly like, two by two, side by side, a sea of green jackets and yellow teeth patiently waiting their turn.

I look at them, green jackets, yellow stripes down each sleeve, dark hair, dark eyes, gray skin, patient, slow, and eager for a chance at the microphone.

I don’t give it to them. I don’t care if it costs me the election, I don’t care if I look like a clown, I don’t care about anything anymore than getting off that stage.

Immediately.

Scenes from a Zombie Infestation: Or, What Kind of Zombie Reader Are You?

By Rusty Fischer

author of the Reanimated Readz Series

Buy Zombie Interrupted HERE

Last year I was fortunate enough to be on an author’s panel at a local horror convention. The topic was “How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse.”

I say “fortunate” because even though me and my little YA tales of friendly zombies and dating zombies and driving zombies and writing and reading zombies were WAY out of place on this panel of hardcore zombie authors, I got to see all the different kinds of zombie readers there are:

There are the diehard fans, who are purely out for blood. They like their zombie books hard and fast and full -- FULL -- of gore. The gorier, the better.

There are the lookie-loos, who have maybe seen a zombie movie or two and would like to know more about how an author makes zombies, you know, interesting. (I think this is my favorite type of zombie reader because they’re a blank slate and could go either way.)

Buy Project Z HERE

There are the 'fraidy cats, who don’t really like zombies but are curious as to what the fuss is all about and would like to get their feet wet by opening up their first zombie book and getting over that fear.

There are the serious zombie students, who take their zombies very, very seriously. They treat zombie books like nonfiction. Try telling them your YA zombie character became a zombie through lightning -- lightning! -- and they roll their eyes dismissively.

COMING SOON!

And finally there are folks like me, open-minded, curious, who don’t take ourselves too seriously. We like zombies the way we like vampires, werewolves and other paranormal creatures: dark and deadly but also with a few more dimensions than the ones who stumble around in the dark grumbling “Brains” all day long. We’re able to laugh at our zombies, feel for them and even sympathize with them.

Don’t get me wrong; all types are awesome in their own, unique way. I can totally get behind the serious, academic types and why they’re so “into it.” I just can’t really speak to them as well because my books are so non-academic, even non-scientific.

COMING SOON!

I can’t really relate as much to the 'fraidy-cats because my zombies aren’t that scary, but I know many, many books that have scared me and I dig those too.

Buy Private Eyes HERE

I think what was so encouraging about being on this panel was how diverse the (standing room only) audience was! Men, women, young, old, some were dressed up as zombies, some looked like businesspeople, some just wanted to know more and others thought they knew all there was to know.  

So, I have to ask, which type of zombie reader are YOU?

Yours in YA, 

Rusty

The Road Less Traveled: Are You Using Hash Tags to Properly Direct Traffic?

by Rusty Fischer

I’m a practical guy. So when I was given the chance to do some “how to” social media blogs for Decadent Publishing, I thought long and hard about how to make them useful.

It was really hard! I mean, I can talk all day about Facebook and Twitter, about blogging and building a social media platform, or even a brand, but… what gets results? That’s what I’m interested in and, I figure, if you’re taking time out of your busy branding day, that’s what you’re interested in, too.

So, let’s talk about hash tags! Seriously. I love hash tags. I talk about them a lot. I have great advice for using them. And yet, whenever I go to send a tweet, I invariably end up using the same ones over and over again.

If it’s for one of my zombie stories or books, I’ll use #zombie. Or #zombies. Wow, great Russ! Very imaginative! If it’s for a vampire book or werewolf story or demon poem (hey, I get around), it’s inevitably going to be #vamps or #werewolves or, you guessed it, #demons.

I have all these great intentions, ideas and passions around hash tags. I’ve even written a book about them! But when it comes down to tweeting a review or a guest post or an interview or a giveaway, I’m usually so rushed for time I just end up falling back on my old familiar #zombie tag.

But, here’s the thing: hash tags are like road signs. Certain people follow certain signs. When I use the #zombie hash tag, pretty much the same people go wherever I’m sending them, be it to my blog, Amazon.com, the Decadent page or some book blogger’s website.

And that’s fine; we all love repeat traffic! But… whenever I get inventive, try something new or use a different and unique hash tag, I invariably get not only more visitors to my blog but new visitors as well. I can tell because generally I get two to three new followers every time I try this experiment.

That’s because I’ve put up a new road sign, on a new lane, and different people are following it where I want them to go! That’s the beauty, and the power, of hash tags.

And it’s very simple to do. If you’re looking for a new hash tag to use, whether you write YA, romance, erotica, cozy mysteries, hardboiled noir or self-help, just go to Twitter and type in the hash tag you always use, like #romance, #mystery, #teen or whatever.

Then scroll down through the results. Generally people use more than one hash tag. So with me, I generally use #zombie #yalit #giveaway, or whatever I’m promoting that day.

So if you’re looking at, say, the #romance hash tag results, you’ll see #romance of course but, next to it, you might see something new, like #paranormal or #menage or even #marriage. (I just literally performed this experiment for you, so these are all “live” on Twitter right now!)

To find more hash tags to use, click on #paranormal or #menage or #marriage and see what others are listed there. And so on and so on. This is a great way to not only find new hash tags to use as single tags but great ways to find good combinations to use to narrow down the travelers you’re trying to attract.

Literally as I was writing this post, I took a break, typed the hash tag #zombies into the search box on my Twitter page, and using this same, exact method I discovered six new hash tags, including:

1.           #horror

2.           #zombiapocalypse

3.           #thewalkingdead

4.           #thelivingdead

5.           #paranormal

6.           #supernatural

So, now when I’m posting a review of one of my zombie books, instead of just, always and forever using the #zombie hashtag, I can use one of those above.

I’m not saying this is a silver bullet solution to increasing blog traffic 5,000% overnight, but try it for yourself and see if perhaps by mixing, matching and using a few new hash tags on your next few tweets, you don’t at least see a bump in blog traffic and potentially, blog followers.

Yours in YA, 

Rusty

About the Author 

A former public school teacher, Rusty Fischer has written for such educational magazines as Learning, The Mailbox and Teaching K-8. Now a full-time freelance writer, Rusty is the author of several YA supernatural novels for Decadent Publishing, including Ushers, Inc. and Panty Raid at Zombie High, as well as the Reanimated Readz series of 99-cent zombie short stories. You can read more about his current and upcoming projects, and 

Doomed to Drama: Or, Why I Write About Zombies

Buy ProjectZ HERE

By Rusty Fischer, author of the Reanimated Readz Series

There’s that scene in almost every zombie movie/book. You know the one I’m talking about: where one of the good guys, the stragglers, the survivors gets bitten and you know, everyone knows, that’s it; he or she is done for.

There’s no cure, chopping the arm or the leg off never works, that’s it: he or she is a dead thing walking. It may take a day, a week, an hour, but soon enough they’ll start to look… different. Eyes glazed over, skin a different color, they’ll stop remembering the name of the current president, or what year it is, or who went home last night on Dancing with the Stars.

And that’s that; human no more. Welcome to the Afterlife.

That’s the beauty of zombies: they’re doomed. Either to rot and fall to pieces, like in some books, or to walk the earth eternally, dead but living, like in mine. And there’s something sad but brave about that. That they just keep going and going and going, making an afterlife for themselves despite all the odds.

And in that doom, there is drama. Who will get it next? Who will the director or the screenwriter or the author decide to go “the zombie way” with? Isn’t that why we turn into the Walking Dead season after season: to see who’s going to survive? To see who’s going to get it?

And with zombies, it’s all still relatively new. Vampires, their rules have been established for hundreds of years. Even werewolves have a lot of literary baggage. But it’s only in the last few years or so that zombie books have taken off to this degree, and that still gives zombie writers like me a little creative freedom to turn that doom into new kinds of drama.

When I wrote Zombies Don’t Cry, I tried to create a world where zombies could be the main characters of a new book series. When I wrote Ushers, Inc., I wanted to create a world where vampires, zombies and werewolves could not only co-exist but, more importantly, play on a level playing field. When I wrote Panty Raid at Zombie High, I wanted grosser zombies than I’d ever written about before to still be the “good” guys.

What’s more, that “doom as drama” presents almost unlimited possibilities. Like today, my latest story in the Reanimated Readz series comes out. ProjectZ is about still being more zombie than human, but being just human enough to know what your fate is; to feel your dream, recognize it and have to deal with it. Other stories in the series talk about what it’s like to lose a brother to being a zombie, or when your ex turns against you because you’re a zombie.

All these 99-cent shorts are a great way to explore the endless possibilities of making zombies the good guys, or humans the bad guys, or vice versa – or a little bit of both. 

And that’s why I’m a zombie writer. So, what makes you a zombie reader?!? Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of ProjectZ. Don't forget to leave your email address in your response!

Meet Decadent Cover Artist Trisha Schmitt!

Cover by Trisha Schmitt

 How did you get your start in Graphic Design?

I have always been the creative type. I love to draw and do pastel landscapes. I am a huge reader, and one of the series I adore is Lara Adrian's Midnight Breed novels. When I joined her fan forum, I was introduced to photoshop. I was hooked!! I started to make banners and little graphics for the peeps on the board. It kind of spiraled into me teaching myself everything I could in Photoshop. From there, I went on to photo-retouching for photographers, which helped hone my skills, but was boring.. So I put my love for books and art together and started pushing to do cover work. Here I am now!

What are your favorite sorts of covers to do?

Hmmm... My favorite.. I really love anything paranormal. They have more creative freedom and are just plain fun! Nothing like a hawt vamp to make my muse sing.

You’re one of our house cover designers. Do you remember the first project you did for Decadent Publishing?

 Ha, ha, well.. Heather kinda fan/stalked me before I did any work with Decadent. (Not in a bad way! I just posted how much I loved her stuff on her FB page. LOL!--Hb)  I do a lot of character fan art for the books I love, and she found me that way. I love know she had rotating wallpapers of my art on her computer. That kind of stuff rocks my world! Then, I believe we were in some sort of chat one night, and I said to Heather, " Hey, why am I not creating covers for you?! " a few weeks later I had my first cover project Another Chance by Rebecca Royce. I love working with the team at Decadent. You all rock! Oh and FYI, Heather can booty dance like nobody's business!

What are a few of your best or favorite Decadent Publishing covers?

I really like Usher's, Inc. that was fun and my first and I think only YA cover!  Daughter of Lust was challenging and creative, too.

What other authors do you design for?

Oh, too many to list! I have done over 136 covers this year alone! I am a workaholic! When I get a project assigned, I have to get it done THEN! Which is getting harder to do. I am working with a few major NYC houses now, and they keep me pretty busy!

Do you have other creative outlets besides designing?

I love to scrapbook. Which I have not done in ages, but I love it. The design composition with scrapbooking actually is the same as cover composition. 

Thanks for having me here! I wish you all the success in the world!!