David Moody's Blog, page 89

TRUST

I promised to tell you about two new projects this week. Here’s the second.

Ten years ago, I started out by giving books away. When that strategy began to work, I set up Infected Books and moved into self-publishing, though I preferred to call it independent publishing, not least because of all the negative connotations self-publishing had (and, to an extent, still has).

Since then I’ve been fortunate to have been published traditionally in a number of different countries, and I’ve sold more books than I ever dared dream. I still get asked constantly about my self-publishing days, and I often find myself wondering what would happen if I did it again today. The marketplace has changed so dramatically over the years and has grown so much, and recently I’ve been wondering how an Infected Books release would fare in 2012.

It’s time to find out. It’s time for an experiment.

This coming July, I’ll be releasing a fully re-written and expanded version of TRUST – a book which has been unavailable since 2008 – through Infected Books. TRUST will be available from launch as a low price eBook, a mass market paperback, and a limited edition hardcover. Not only that, the entire book will also be serialised free online, with chapters being posted each Monday and Friday through until the end of 2012.

This doesn’t mean I’ve given up on traditional publishing (nor, hopefully, that traditional publishers have given up on me). With both the AUTUMN and HATER series recently having come to an end in quick succession, this is the ideal time for me to stop and consider all my options. Right now I’m working on a number of projects which I hope will find homes with other publishers, but equally I have a lot of other material in development which I think might benefit from this independent approach.

Exciting times. Who knows where this will lead! More details to come shortly…

TRUST is a post from: David Moody - author of HATER, DOG BLOOD and the AUTUMN series

Joe and Me

I promised to tell you about two new projects this week: here’s the first.

Many of you will already know about This is Horror – an excellent website which, in its short existence, has developed a large following and a reputation for being a key resource for finding out about all things horror. The founders of the site have plenty of enthusiasm and ambition, and are about to branch out into a new venture: the This is Horror Premium Chapbook series. These chapbooks will be released every quarter and will showcase original stories from (in TiH’s words) “some of the very best names in the genre today”.

I’m honoured to have been asked to contribute a story, and I’m very pleased to announce that my piece – Joe and Me – will be the launch title.

I don’t want to say too much at the present time, I’ll just give you the salient facts: the chapbooks will be strictly limited to 500 copies, and Joe and Me will be launched in early June (with a launch event to take place in Warwick later in the month). Pricing, subscription and ordering details will be made available very shortly, but for now you can find out more by visiting this page over at www.thisishorror.co.uk. My story will be followed later this year by tales from Conrad Williams, Joseph D’Lacey, and a collaborative story from Gary McMahon and Simon Bestwick.

So what’s Joe and Me about? Well again, I won’t give too much away at this stage, I’ll just say that if you have even a passing interest in the AUTUMN series, you might want to check it out!

Joe and Me is a post from: David Moody - author of HATER, DOG BLOOD and the AUTUMN series

Weekend reading

Hello all. I was hoping to tease you with announcements about a couple of new projects this week, but for various reasons I’m holding off a short while longer. As it stands I hope to be able to tell you about new stories/books next week, and I hope you’ll be pleased. I’m very excited. In the meantime, I thought I’d use this opportunity to pimp the new issues of two of my favourite genre magazines.

Issue 10 of SCREAM is now out. I post about this mag every time they release an issue and I stand by my assertion that it’s a publication made by real horror fans, for horror fans. This issue’s highlights include interviews with Howard J Ford, one of the brothers behind THE DEAD (which I wrote about here), special effects genius Alec Gillis, and legendary 2000 A.D. co-creator Pat Mills. Also, magazine subscribers can enter to win one of five signed copies of HATER. Click here for more details.

I posted about my love for STARBURST back in February, and this week issue 376 dropped through my letter box. It’s great to see it back on the shelves and in such good shape, and this month I geeked myself out by achieving my long-held ambition of actually appearing in the mag. I wish I could hop back in time thirty-odd years and show this issue to the nerdy, snotty-nosed, overweight, ten year-old me. See, Dave, I’d tell myself, ignore all the kids who take the piss. Stick with your STAR WARS and horror film addictions – you’ll do okay in the end.

Right. Have a good weekend. Be back here next week if you want to hear about a couple of new releases.

Weekend reading is a post from: David Moody - author of HATER, DOG BLOOD and the AUTUMN series

Another great signing with Mr Simmons!

Wayne and I had another very successful time at Waterstones, Cardiff yesterday. Huge thanks to Sam Cowling for having us, and for name-dropping our zombie writing double-act to pretty much the entire Waterstones chain. It looks like we’ll be making a fair few more of these joint appearances around the country in the near future. If you want us to come to a branch near you, either drop me a line or ask the staff at the relevant store to get in touch.

It was definitely one of my favourite signings to date, not just because we both pretty much cleared out the store’s stock of our books, but also because we got to meet the legend that is Mike McShane. For those in the UK who aren’t as old as me, Mike was a regular on TV panel show ‘Whose Line is it Anyway?’. Even more excitingly, he was in Cardiff to star in the penultimate episode of the forthcoming new series of a certain long-running and very popular BBC alien time-traveller show! We asked, but he wouldn’t tell us anything more…!

Another great signing with Mr Simmons! is a post from: David Moody - author of HATER, DOG BLOOD and the AUTUMN series

Out and About

A quick post to comment on one excellent event and for some last minute publicity for another. Last weekend I was at alt.fiction – a great writing event held in Leicester. On Saturday I took part in a panel discussing adaptations of books, films, comics, games etc. into different formats, and on Sunday I was there for another Mammoth Book of Body Horror panel along with the book’s editors Paul Kane and Marie O’Regan, and fellow contributors Simon Clark and Conrad Williams.

Myself, Simon Clark, Conrad Williams, Paul Kane and Marie O’Regan (photo courtesy of Paul Kane)

It was great to meet Graham Joyce too, and to be there for the premier of Black Dust – an excellent short movie based on one of his stories. Thanks to everyone who supported the weekend and to the organisers for having me.

I know I’m leaving this next bit late, but don’t forget that I’ll be at Waterstones in Cardiff tomorrow, signing with Wayne Simmons. Wayne’s launching his new novel DOLL PARTS – the sequel to DROP DEAD GORGEOUS. Please come along if you’re in the area. We’ll be there from 12:30pm onwards.

I hope not to leave it another two weeks before posting again. With a little luck I’ll be back in a few days to let you know what I’m working on now that the HATER and AUTUMN books are done and dusted. There’s some good stuff coming…

Out and About is a post from: David Moody - author of HATER, DOG BLOOD and the AUTUMN series

A couple of new AUTUMN releases

It's all a bit quiet around here at the moment, and it's likely to stay that way for the next couple of months. I'm working on a number of new (and old) projects right now, and will let you know what I'm up to just as soon as I'm able. In the meantime, here are a couple of AUTUMN re-releases which came out this week.

Firstly in the UK, Gollancz are continuing their mass market paperback re-releases and we're now up to AUTUMN: PURIFICATION (or, as my family have christened it, the green one). And in Spain, the mass market edition of CIUDAD ZOMBIE (AUTUMN: THE CITY) is now out. The Spanish editions of the AUTUMN books have gone down really well, so thanks to everyone who picked them up.

Right… back to work. By the way, don't forget I'll be at alt.fiction in Leicester this weekend (just in the morning on Saturday, most of the day on Sunday), and I'll be signing with Wayne Simmons at Waterstones in Cardiff on Saturday 21st. Please come along and say hello.

A couple of new AUTUMN releases is a post from: David Moody - author of HATER, DOG BLOOD and the AUTUMN series

The AUTUMN artists – Michael Dick

Rounding off my series of articles on the artists who have kindly provided artwork for www.lastoftheliving.net, is this piece on Michael Dick. Michael contributed a lot of art for the launch of the site back in 2010, providing several illustrations for the short story HOME, the opening scenes of AUTUMN, and AUTUMN: PURIFICATION. I was keen to have a range of different styles on the AUTUMN site, and Michael's drawings fitted the bill.

Click the link to read more about Michael and to see some of the other images he contributed.

Born in Buffalo, New York, Michael currently lives with his family in Virginia. After studying Visual Communications and Illustration and working in the industry for some time, he was forced to change direction when he moved. He took a job as a car salesman which, in his words, gave him "plenty of down time which let me start dabbling in the writing field."

He describes himself as a spontaneous artist, who takes inspiration from the moment. "I find a great Rockabilly/Psychobilly song gets me in just the right mood… blood pumpin', brain swelling, and the lyrics are incredible. There's nothing like a Meteors' song or a Demented Are Go song to get the old grey matter working again."

Michael's style varies, and he likes to throw in the occasional unexpected extra (like the Hater references in the HOME pictures above and below). "I might throw an illustration together that looks like a Picasso with a Bart Simpson thrown in just for the fun of it. Since I got away from the art field as a job I tend to draw whatever it is I feel like at the time. One day it might be designing skateboards, the next, gas tanks on motorcycles. You just never know."

Since contributing to www.lastoftheliving.net, Michael's had some success with his own writing. He currently has five shorts in print with another four accepted. He's currently working on his first novella which should see the light of day in the near future. You can read his fiction in several anthologies (click here for a list) or click here to visit his website.

Sincere thanks to Michael for his contribution to www.lastoftheliving.net. I wish him every success in the future.

The AUTUMN artists – Michael Dick is a post from: David Moody - author of HATER, DOG BLOOD and the AUTUMN series

AUTUMN: AFTERMATH giveaway winners

Thanks to everyone who entered the recent AUTUMN: AFTERMATH giveaway. I had hundreds of entries, which was great to see. I'm pleased to be able to announce (most of) the winners. Congratulations to:

Meera Flame, Chip Fehd, Matthew Vaughan, Louie La Compte, Maribel Tostado, Peter Schwotzer and James E Parsons.

Your books will be in the post shortly. I'm still waiting for three final winners to confirm their details with me. If you followed me on Facebook last month, check your messages as the books were all won by new Facebook followers.

Thanks again to everyone who entered, and huge thanks also to the kind folks at Thomas Dunne Books / St Martins' Griffin for putting up the prizes.

AUTUMN: AFTERMATH giveaway winners is a post from: David Moody - author of HATER, DOG BLOOD and the AUTUMN series

Recommended reading – THE RETURN MAN

A while back I was sent a copy of a new zombie novel to blurb. Nothing unusual about that you might think, but when I looked into the history of the book and its author, I immediately wanted to know more. You see, THE RETURN MAN by V M Zito had very similar beginnings to AUTUMN.

Zito had been dabbling in short fiction writing for some time, but when it came to writing his first novel, he didn't want to risk shutting himself away in isolation: "I knew I'd go mad in a vacuum of space and time if I locked myself in my office for a year, working on a single project. I was nervous about going so long without a sense of completion, or feedback, or knowing if I was on the right or wrong track. Posting chapters online, one at a time, was a great way around that dilemma; the feedback and support I received from online readers kept me motivated and engaged in the writing process. I think I've grown from the experience, and writing a second novel the "traditional way" would be possible for me now – but I'm pretty sure this first one would still be a draft on my desktop if I hadn't gone online." Those words certainly rang a few bells with me!

THE RETURN MAN is a novel I thoroughly enjoyed. Here's the blurb:

"The outbreak tore the USA in two. The east remains a safe haven. The west has become a ravaged wilderness. They call it the Evacuated States. It is here that Henry Marco makes his living. Hired by grieving relatives, he tracks down the dead to deliver peace.

Now Homeland Security wants Marco, for a mission unlike any other. He must return to California, where the apocalypse began. Where a secret is hidden. And where his own tragic past waits to punish him again.

But in the wastelands of America, you never know who – or what – is watching you . . ."

I talked to Zito about the book and his influences. Watch the trailer, then click the link below to read more.

It's increasingly difficult to find an original zombie story like this. I asked Zito where the inspiration for the book came from. He told me "THE RETURN MAN began with idle daydreaming about the zombie subgenre, all the books and movies I've obsessed over since I was a kid. Many of these touch upon the fact that the dead 'monsters' were once human. That made me curious. If zombies were human, they'd had families. And what if the families were still alive? Wouldn't it be horrible, knowing that your dead wife or child was out in the world somewhere as a suffering zombie? From there all the parts of THE RETURN MAN seemed to snap together. The main character would be a professional corpse killer, operating out of love and mercy rather than an 'extermination squad' mentality. Dawn of the Dead had long ago hinted that zombies might gravitate to 'places that were important to them,' so I decided to explore that further – the idea of using insight into the living person to find their zombie."

So how did Zito's online book end up in the hands of Hodder and Stoughton? "A few months after I'd begun posting, I was contacted by the Zombie Times, an e-zine for zombie fans, offering to run a promotional blurb about my website in their next issue. An editor at Hodder & Stoughton happened to be a subscriber; she saw THE RETURN MAN mentioned and checked out the site, which ultimately led to a great opportunity for me. I'm extremely fortunate our paths crossed."

It's great to hear stories like Zito's where a writer's passion for getting their work directly to potential readers has resulted in such success. And that success isn't limited to his publishing deals; movie rights in THE RETURN MAN were recently acquired by THE INK FACTORY. It should make a cracking movie.

THE RETURN MAN is available now from Hodder and Stoughton in the UK and Orbit in the US. Highly recommended!

Recommended reading – THE RETURN MAN is a post from: David Moody - author of HATER, DOG BLOOD and the AUTUMN series

The Swimmer

If you've spent any time poking around www.lastoftheliving.net, you'll know that I love to see art that people have produced in response to my work. I was recently honoured to receive the most spectacular piece of Autumn artwork I've yet come across. Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce The Swimmer.

Hopefully you'll remember this particular character from AUTUMN: DISINTEGRATION. She's the corpse of a young woman trapped in a swimming pool changing room. The survivors at the Bromwell hotel use her as a kind of barometer to assess the condition of the thousands of corpses outside from a safe distance. You can read a brief introduction to her from the beginning of the book by clicking here.

I've talked a lot about the delays which beset the publication of Autumn: Disintegration, and you can remind yourself about that saga here. Back in 2006/7 when the book was first announced, I was speaking regularly by email to Patrick Crilley, a reader based in the US. He told me he sculpted figures for a hobby and offered to sculpt The Swimmer once the book was released. As you know, there followed a delay of several years. I wrote to Patrick last year to tell him the book was finally on the horizon, and he immediately repeated his offer. And here's The Swimmer in all her glory as a brilliantly realised, 9 inch tall sculpted figure.

I think you'll agree, she's a remarkable looking piece of work. I spoke to Patrick about her creation. Click the link below to read our conversation and to see more pictures and designs.

Raised on Romeroesque zombies (he lists his top three zombie movies as the original Dawn of the Dead, Return of the Living Dead and the Dawn of the Dead remake) Patrick told me he started sculpting about seven years ago. "I have always been a creative individual, and I attended the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan until I started drowning in my student loans. I realized after joining the U.S. military (to pay said loans) that I did not want to rely on my creativity to pay my bills. I have since completed my education and have begun my career in healthcare. I have been very fortunate to continue my artwork on my own terms, picking and choosing projects that interest me rather than how much they pay. Zombies were my first love, so when I started playing with clay it was a very natural thing to start sculpting zombies."

I was interested in the design process. Patrick explained that he began by sketching the figure, and you can see scans of a couple of his original designs here. Once comfortable with the character, he created an armature out of relatively heavy gauge wire, which he then manipulated until he settled on a pose he was happy with. Polymer clay and Apoxie was then used to 'put the flesh on the bones'. Patrick told me that sculpting The Swimmer took about twenty hours, followed by around five hours of painting.

All that effort was definitely worth it, as she now has pride of place in my office. This is going to sound wrong no matter how I say it: I sometimes get lost looking into her vacant eyes and studying her grotesque, once-feminine curves. I guess part of the fascination I have with zombies is how our bodies change so dramatically after death. Decomposition stretches and shrinks us in all the wrong places, and our natural skin tones quickly change and become completely unnatural. In the case of The Swimmer, I love the way Patrick has captured that process… her ragged and stretched swimming costume, her visible vertebrae and bulging gut… She's morbidly fascinating. My pictures don't do her justice.

I asked Patrick what influences his work. He told me "Literally everything I see, smell, hear, touch, or taste has some influence on who I am today and who I will be tomorrow. I imagine it's very much the same for my creativity. Specifically, I enjoy the work of Joel Peter Witkin, Francis Bacon, Clive Barker, Tara Gracey, etc. Music is a big part of my life, and I currently enjoy everything from Aphex twin to The Beatles… the painting of the Swimmer figure was done almost entirely while listening to In Rainbows by Radiohead."

For me, writing is therapeutic and it allows me to exorcise a lot of demons and release otherwise pent up frustrations. Sculpting gives Patrick a similar release: "I imagine that I would be a very different person if I weren't allowed to release my creative energy once it has reached a critical mass of sorts."

Huge and sincere thanks to Patrick for taking the time to produce such a magnificent piece of art, and also for being willing to send it to me – a trip of more than 3,500 miles. Thanks also to him for still talking to me after the five year delay I mentioned at the beginning of this post! If anyone would like to get in touch with Patrick to ask him about his work or sculpting in general, you can email him at biogeist@hotmail.com.

Here's to The Swimmer, and to many years of her sitting on my desk, inspiring me to write about the living dead!

The Swimmer is a post from: David Moody - author of HATER, DOG BLOOD and the AUTUMN series