Walter Greatshell's Blog - Posts Tagged "greatshell"

This is a question people ask me often, and I usually give an easy answer, but this time I thought I'd really try to parse it out. So here's at least a partial list of books and movies that inspired me to write XOMBIES:

For Lulu's narration, I was inspired by the wonderful character of Mattie Ross in Charles Portis's Western masterpiece, TRUE GRIT, and the strong female characters that populate Jane Austen's work.

The very idea of writing a zombie novel I owe to Richard Matheson's classic, I AM LEGEND. And the fact that my book is in the first-person probably comes from Anne Rice's INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE.

For the fast-moving, unkillable Xombies, I was inspired by the '80s zombie flick, RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD. Though the overall zombie concept must be credited to George Romero--in particular his DAWN OF THE DEAD.

For the submarine subplot, I have to give credit to the movie ICE STATION ZEBRA, as well as the novel ON THE BEACH, by Nevil Shute.

For the satire or black comedy elements, I was aiming for Stanley Kubrick, a la DOCTOR STRANGELOVE; Paul Verhoeven, a la ROBOCOP; and authors like Patrick McGinley (GOOSEFOOT), Joseph Heller (CATCH-22), and Thomas Berger (LITTLE BIG MAN).

There's a lot more, I'm sure, but that's good for now.

Well, the Goodreads giveaway of my book, XOMBIES: APOCALYPSE BLUES, is officially over. Congratulations to the five winners! The signed books are in the mail and should be arriving soon. I feel like Willy Wonka sending out Golden Tickets, although having a copy of my book doesn't necessarily guarantee a creepy-yet-delicious adventure where a girl turns blue...wait, yes it does!

Thanks to everyone who participated! We'll have to do this again when the sequel, XOMBIES: APOCALYPTICON, comes out in February. Oompa loompa fiddlee dee...

The last book in my satirical XOMBIES trilogy, XOMBIES: APOCALYPSO, has been released! It is the climactic final voyage of Lulu Pangloss and the crew of the USS No-Name, a decommissioned Ohio-class submarine converted to a refugee ship during the Agent X plague. Having been infiltrated by the disease, sub and crew now search for love and meaning in the post-apocalyptic American wilderness. Yes, it's a romantic comedy!

Also, my thriller MAD SKILLS just got reviewed by Sci Fi Magazine! Here's the best bit:

"Walter Greatshell is a first-rate writer of action scenes, who choreographs the regular bursts of over-the-top mayhem with a genius that makes Maddy an endearingly resourceful and often frightening superhero of sorts, capable of fighting heavily-armed hit squads to a standstill with nothing but household items scavenged from beneath bathroom sinks. The conspiracy elements, the paranoid world building, and the loneliness of his protagonist, are all also profoundly well-handled. The narrative itself is compulsively readable."

Thanks, Sci Fi!