THE NEW HUNGER

I have an announcement to make.



This may seem a little sudden. I have dropped vague hints into some of my postings and occasionally revealed the truth to random people on the internet in moments of drunken indiscretion. Passersby on the street have certainly heard me mumbling about it while scratching furiously at my neck with one hand and petting invisible cats with the other. But I've been waiting to officially announce it until I could give you some real information, since the mutterings of madmen count for little in this fast-paced, fact-driven new media web 2.0 world.



So here it is: I've written a prequel to WARM BODIES.



It's called THE NEW HUNGER.



It's coming out on January 28th. Yes, this January 28th. Like...next Monday.



Now I'll provide a little more detail to satisfy the media's insatiable demand for context, nuance, and accuracy.



THE NEW HUNGER is a novella, which is like a novel only cuter. It's 140 pages. It takes place 7 years before WARM BODIES. It involves a formative early encounter between R, Julie, Nora, and M.





12-year-old Julie travels with her parents through a crumbling America--a nightmarish family road-trip in search of a new home.



16-year-old Nora becomes her kid brother's reluctant, terrified guardian after their parents abandon them in the ruins of Seattle.


A man in a red tie wakes up in a forest with a mind as empty as the sky. With no idea who or what he is, he must unravel the grim mystery of his existence--right after he learns how to think, how to walk, and how to satisfy the mad creature shouting in his belly.







I can hear some of you asking, "Why a prequel? Why should I care what happened 7 fictional years ago? Quit stalling and get on with the sequel!"



First of all, I'm really starting to hate the words "prequel" and "sequel". They sound like marketing terms more than storytelling terms. Lethal Weapon had sequels and Star Wars (unfortunately) had prequels; books should just have other books. So I'll refer to these books as THE NEW HUNGER, WARM BODIES, and...Untitled Isaac Marion Project...Book 2, for short.



"Quit stalling and get on with--"



Okay okay.



Book 2 is about the future, but it gets there via the past. People are forgetful, dead people even more so, and confronting these conveniently buried realities will be crucial to understanding the world they're now living in--and how they might attempt to change it. THE NEW HUNGER is a necessary bridge between WARM BODIES and Book 2. It sheds a wider light on the landscape of this world. It introduces people, groups, and cosmic mysteries that will become very important. It shows how R, Julie, Nora, and M ended up where they are now, and points to where they might go next. And in my humble opinion, it's just a fucking good story.



So that is my announcement. I will have more news on release day, such as what this book looks like and where you can acquire it. Have a great weekend, and I'll see you Monday!



With much throbbing love,



Isaac