R.W. Ridley's Blog, page 16

The French have reinvented the undead genre

It’s French, bitch! (Any Colbert fans out there?)

I saw a preview for a new series coming to ABC called The Resurrection, and it looked promising.  From what I gathered from the 60 second commercial, the premise is that the dead start coming back to life in some unnamed American town.  They aren’t zombies.  They come back as they were before they died.  I immediately thought this is a series I could get into if it not for the fact that it is slated to air on network television.  If the rise of cable original programming and internet based shows has proven anything, it is that network television sucks at producing truly innovative and quality original programming.  ABC will either air a terrible or serviceable show that in the end won’t be worth watching.

So, I did what most people do these days, I googled the show to find out more about it.  I came across a few blogs that claimed it was based on a French TV show called The Returned.  It just so happens Netflix had just included The Returned to their streaming of offerings, subtitles be damned, I decided to give it a try.  And I’ll be damned if it ain’t a spectacular bit of storytelling.  The French have reinvented the undead genre.  It was spooky and compelling without zombies clumsily chasing the living around the darkened streets of a post-apocalyptic world.

Digging a little deeper, I discovered that the French show is based on a movie titled They Came Back, and the American show is based on a novel by Jason Mott titled The Returned. Confused yet?  They have the same conceit.  They just draw from two different sources. The early word by reviewers is that The Resurrection is so-so.  I’ll give it a try, but I do not have high hopes.

In the meantime, I urge you to check out The Returned (the French TV show).  It is what they call a genre-bending experience.

QUICK UPDATE: Word is that A&E is doing a remake of the French TV version.  That is promising.

The horrible things I do

I am! Really! I meant it!

I’ve been inexcusably absent from the blog for months, and frankly my book sales show it.  They’ve dropped pretty significantly, and that’s not good when you consider ebook pricing has already cut into my income.  Oy, those little buggers are cheap.  Pay attention indie authors, inactive blogs are useless.  This one will be inactive no more.

I am busy doing horrible things to fictional people.  Right now I’m trying to wrap up a new C. Hoyt Caldwell book.  This one is about human trafficking.  As you can imagine, it’s emotionally draining.  You may wonder why I chose to write such a story.  I didn’t.  It chose me.  That’s sounds like metaphysical, ethereal nonsense, I know, but there’s no other way to explain why I’m writing this thing.  I’ve been reading the first few chapters to my lovely wife, and it struck me that I really do awful things to my characters.

Which brings me to Book Seven of the Oz Chronicles.  As soon as the new Caldwell book is done, I’ll start in earnest on the final installment of Oz’s journey.  And yes, horrible things await Oz, Wes, Lou, Gordy, Ajax, and the others.  I hope to throw a little light in there too, but we shall see.

Until then, keep an eye out for C. Hoyt’s new book The Little Deputy and the Closeout Kings.

Thank You!

Oy vey let’s eat!

I’m thankful for all the readers and supporters of Oz and the gang!  One more book to go!  And much to a recent reviewer’s chagrin, it will have more monsters.

Here’s hoping you and the ones you love have a happy Thanksgiving full of peace, joy, and turkey!

And happy Hanukkah to one an all!

Contest winner #2

The Riesen brood cover the Halloween spectrum: cute, classic, and scary. I approve! Audiobook awarded! Keep’em coming!

First contest winner!

Little minions score a free audiobook of The Takers! It’s not too late for you to get your free copy. Just email me a pic of you or your favorite little minions in their Halloween costume! member@rwridley.com

The first audiobook contest

An idea just bubbled out of my tiny brain.  The first five people to send me a picture of themselves or their kids in their Halloween costumes will win a code to download a copy of The Takers audiobook for free.  If it goes well, I’ll do a second round of the same contest.  Send the pictures to member@rwridley.com.  The pictures will be posted on the blog, so prepare for instant, mild, nearly nonexistent fame. 

The costume need not be Oz Chronicles themed, but if it is, I’ll make you fan of the year. 

The Takers Audiobook Giveaway

I have 25 free downloads of The Takers audiobook at my disposal.  I’m trying to come up with a fun giveaway for Oz fans.  Any and all suggestions are welcome!

Book Seven is eking out of me.  I may pull a Salinger before this one is done and hide out in the mountains until I die, the book only to be released five years after my death.

Either that or I’ll just write the damn book and let the chips fall where they may.

The Takers audiobook sample

Here’s the sample of The Takers audiobook. John Anthony Davis is the narrator. Click on his name to friend him on Facebook and find out what else he’s got going on. He’s a busy man with voice over work, acting, music, and writing.

Could I? Should I?

Book Seven is underway. By that I mean it’s occupying a majority of my waking thoughts. An outline exists, but it is useless at this point. So much has changed. Yesterday a wild idea came to me that will raise the stakes for our weary group of warriors.  The question is can I really go there. We shall see.

New phone

My old ancient phone

I’m out of BlackBerry hell. Had that old phone for over five years. I’m actually posting from my new Android phone. It’s like I went from a rotary phone to a Star Trek communicator. Hopefully this will allow me to post more. Lucky you!