R.M. Hamrick's Blog, page 4

Available Now: Chasing Trilogy Ebook Bundle

“The world is consistent and real, and the story full of heart.”  – John Calligan

I’ve compiled the entire trilogy into one ebook available for purchase on Amazon and for borrowing through Kindle Unlimited.

For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this is the only way to read Books 2 and 3 on KU. I’m transitioning all of the Chasing books out of KU in December so I can offer it on other platforms. But if you borrow now, you’ll be able to read it at any time, at your leisure, even after it formally exits KU.

Buy the bundle now for $9.99 and save over 20%

Amazon (US)

Amazon (UK)

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Radio Interview: Muses, Memoirs, and More

Radio Show on WRUU 107.5 Savannah

At the Sweets, Treats, and Reads Fall Festival, I got to meet Adam Messer. He’s an author of Savannah’s vampire novel series, Blood Thrasher and an organizer of a great many social events in Savannah area. 

My table at Sweet, Treats, and Reads Fall Festival

Adam Messer hosts a radio show called Muses, Memoirs, and More on WRUU 107.5 Savannah, Saturday at 3PM. He interviews guests in the creative and entertainment industries. And he asked me to come on his show!

If you’re not in the Savannah area, you can listen live on WRUU.org at 3PM EST on November 17, 2018. And if you don’t catch it then, Adam will also edit it and post it on YouTube after. 

3:00-4:00 PM

Muses, Memoirs, and More

Saturday, November 17, 2018

WRUU.org or 107.5 FM Savannah

Just don’t tell me you’re listening. I don’t want to know. It’ll make me nervous. lol. 

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Books & Brews: Nov. 16, 2018

Books & Brews at Southbound Brewery

Books and Brews combines authors and adult beverages raising funds for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Coastal Empire and to promote literacy in the Savannah community.

I’ll have a guest appearance, slinging books and talking zombies, at Books & Brews’ first event at Southbound Brewing Co. Come visit Friday, Nov 16, 2018 between 6PM-9PM for beers and bookworm chatter.

Follow the event on Facebook.

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RM Hamrick at Sweets, Treats & Reads Fall Festival

Photo by Alex Geerts on Unsplash

I’ll be at Sweets, Treats & Reads Fall Festival presented by The Savannah Quill in Savannah GA on Saturday, October 20, 2018. 

This will be my first public appearance with all three books available for sale. Come hang out with me and get your book signed!

Sweets, Treats & Reads Fall Festival
10AM – 5PM Saturday, October 20, 2018
Cottonwood Suites Savannah Hotel and Conference Center
301 Governor Treutlen Drive, Pooler, GA 31322

Facebook – event page
Tickets $10 – available here

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Chasing Extinction (Book 3): Preview

Chasing Extinction

The oak leaf litter, muddled browns and rich blacks,
muffled Audra’s footsteps. But the bare trees did little to shield her approach
as her short, lithe frame climbed through the Georgian brush. Pearl skin and
speckled green eyes flashed underneath a thin hood which she adjusted over her
hair. Although summer’s coppery highlights were fading back to their chocolaty
auburn, it remained in sharp contrast to the colors of a bleak winter.

Audra felt
the outline of the scrawled letter through her threadbare jacket. She’d have to
remember to put it in her pack if it rained. She hadn’t delivered mail in a
long while. Not since a simpler time. But, it allowed her to do the one thing
she could do.

Run.

Darting
through the forest was Audra’s specialty and priceless in this world where
escaping a zombie’s bite meant you lived another day. Audra’s life had centered
around running. First, running for Lysent Corporation as she tried to secure a
cure for her bitten sister. Then, she ran for Osprey Point to secure a cure for
everyone.

Both
failures on her account.

Audra
wasn’t sure why she should be running anymore. It was all for naught, just lies
she had believed. Just lies she had told herself.

Audra’s
stomach grumbled.

Winter
wasn’t a lie.

She
surveyed the ground for something to settle the churning in her gut. Tracks of
a nearby animal to hunt was asking for too much. She’d dig up some acorns
buried by squirrels or dandelion roots sleeping through the winter — anything
to make her salivate and lie to her stomach that food was on the way.

She should
have packed rations for her journey, but splitting their stores between Osprey
Point and their new quarantine location had made it startlingly clear there was
not enough food for either group’s winter. As they divvied up their fall
harvest of hickory nuts, chicory roots, and the like, it was clear winter
foraging would be a daily task.

She
couldn’t take from their supplies.

But, she
had also forgotten the difficulties of blazing a trail. This wasn’t walking
through her well-worn paths around Osprey Point or Lysent rail lines. This was
navigating to a town far from the Lysent network with no clear route. Audra had
forgotten how much energy it took to keep in the right direction and hike
through the brush. Maybe she’d risk taking the roads back. But unfamiliar roads
meant unfamiliar people and possible traps. Easy moving might turn into easy
dying.

Audra
moved from maple tree to maple tree, pulling the shriveled winged seeds from
branches, shaking off the cobwebs. Flavors would differ from tree to tree, but
winter declared they would all be bitter. Still, snapping the wing off and
popping the seed pod into her mouth — it was better than nothing.

Audra
recalled Gordon’s directions to find the town. It had to be close. Maybe not
close enough. Or maybe she was lost. The sky’s grey whiteness vaguely lit the
forest, but also hid the time from her. She pushed forward. The cool day would
lead to a cold night she wouldn’t want to suffer in her flimsy summer tent. She
needed walls. Shelter.

While she
was sure the letter would find its way in, she wasn’t so sure if she’d be
allowed to accompany it. Audra and Osprey Point no longer had anything of value
to offer. She’d cross that bridge when she came to it. For now, she just wanted
to find the small town before the sun tumbled from its hidden perch.

*     *     *

Audra all but stumbled upon her destination. She
had been sure she was lost, but the small main street with its defunct traffic
light popped up in the wood. A few shops barely justified it being called a
town before. Now, it was tired and ghostly. It would be like any other small
hub for farming neighbors, except for the giant chain grocery store just on the
outskirts which had seen its demise before the world’s end. Audra imagined that
the store had gone out of business just as quickly as it had popped up, leaving
a parking lot that would never be filled and a building much too large for
anyone to utilize. Until now.

The curb
against the road had been stacked with overturned grocery carts, creating a
barrier of materialistic waste from the droves. Every defense against the zoms
risked drawing the attention of marauders. This wall of coated metal carts was
a shiny beacon for those looking to take. Audra refused to underestimate them
and took caution as she scooted through the opening in the carts.

A few feet
onto the concrete parking lot were parked cars, lined bumper to bumper. The
path to the green sedan in the center looked well-traveled. Audra found the
driver’s door to be unlocked and most of the interior gutted. Audra slid
through to the other side, where she opened the passenger door and slipped out.
There, another line-up of cars, this time an opening between two of them. She
looked over the row to find more vehicles, all positioned purposefully.

Settled
dust on hoods and roofs indicated the residents carefully walked around them
for their ingress and egress. Maybe to shed doubt on the store’s occupancy, or
perhaps to keep scent trails intact. It was a maze or a queue, really — a way
to slow small groups of wanderers. It wouldn’t stop a large herd though. They’d
just flood over the cars.

Audra
pulled a rag out of her bag. It wasn’t white but it would have to do. She
didn’t want to be mistaken for the sick. Holding it over her head, she walked
the circuitous path.

When in
Rome.

As she
finally reached the store front on the other end of the parking lot, she heard
a throat clear above her. She looked up to see a long rifle pointed at her from
the roof, steadied on a rusty security camera. 50/50 the rifle was loaded.
20/80 he could shoot and wasn’t just up there for show. Behind the rifle was a
ruddy face with a bulbous nose.

Audra
waved her little raggedy flag once more.

“I’m
Audra. I’ve got mail for someone inside.”

*     *     *

Continue the Chase

Chasing Extinction is available as an ebook on Amazon.com, and in paperback on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and other booksellers.

Amazon (US)

Amazon (UK)

The post Chasing Extinction (Book 3): Preview appeared first on RM Hamrick.

Chasing Extinction (Book 3): Available Today!

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Die together or die alone.

At the brink of war, Osprey Point might first collapse from within as the final wave of the z-virus sweeps through the community.

While Audra resolves to upend Lysent without the aid of others, Lysent singles her out too. They target her forgotten zombie tags for collection. People she found and did not help.

Audra must face long-standing mistakes and gather her shattered community for a final move – one that will prevent humanity’s fall or accelerate it toward extinction.

A gripping dystopian, Chasing Extinction is the final book in the world of zombies, epidemics, and corporate greed.

Finish the Chase

Chasing Extinction is available as an ebook on Amazon.com, and in paperback on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and other booksellers.

Amazon (US)

Amazon (UK)

The post Chasing Extinction (Book 3): Available Today! appeared first on RM Hamrick.

John Calligan’s Exclusive Interview with RM Hamrick

Want to know more about the books and me? John Calligan wrote a telling biography and asked just the right questions for me to spill the beans on what my zombie stories are actually about.

Visit for my interview, but stay for his epic fantasy: Winoc the Traveler. It’s a free web serial for you, full of faeries (the best way to spell faeries, don’t @ me), adventure, and danger.

Read the interview here

Start Calligan’s epic journey here

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RM Hamrick at Savannah Mega Comic Con

I’ll be in Vendor Booth #74 at the Savannah Mega Comic Con – May 12 & 13. (Mothers get in free on Sunday).

I’ll be slinging books with my friend and fellow author Alledria Hurt. Stop by and see us!

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Chasing Redemption (Book 2): Chapter 1

Audra swept the stray auburn hairs away from her face and ear as she paused on the half-cleared trail. She had been tracking it for a while, but now she could hear its shuffling. The speed of the walk told her it had no purpose to its wandering, but was lost and unfocused. She could relate, but not today.

Today she had one goal. To find one and save its life.

When Audra was a child she wasn’t trying to save their lives; she was running from them in these same Georgia woods. Zombies – zoms – seemed fewer and farther between now, at least the salvageable ones. Audra wondered if Lysent Corp was collecting them ahead of her to protect their business model. Lysent connected rich families with their wandering loved ones – and received a healthy cash sum in return. Audra had stolen their antidote to cure the zoms. Her group replicated and gave it freely, chiseling away at Lysent’s corporate bullshit as they could.

And today they could. Today she had one goal.

She heard its snapping of twigs, the rustling of leaves. The fresh litter dusted the ground of years of pine straw. She could even guess it was male – larger feet, heavier legs dragging. She reverted to breathing through her mouth as soon as she got the first whiff. Male or female smelled the same – putrid. The summer drought hadn’t allowed many to be rinsed off in afternoon storms, so the products of any bodily functions stuck to the zombies, wounds festered, and odors lingered on their remaining garments.

Soon she spotted her prize, although he hadn’t caught a hint of her. Zoms were first and foremost provoked by sight, and she remained behind him. Would this zom voraciously attack when he discovered her or would he be too weak? The chase hadn’t been much of a chase lately. It seemed last winter had weakened them and lessened their enthusiasm as hunters. Like most animals, the longer it had gone without eating, the more likely it wasn’t going to eat.

Tired of following, she took a chance and let out a sharp whistle. Audra watched him stop before pivoting. She whistled again as he finished his one hundred and eighty degree turn with a wretched stagger. His gray, hollowed face came into view. She waved her hand in a joke greeting. The hair – no, the scalp – had fallen off to the side, revealing a thin layer of dermis over the skull. Otherwise he was intact, skin upon frail bones – disgusting, but salvageable. Clothes hung off his body, gray and indiscernible from his pallor. His rail-thin arms bore deep scratches where he had gotten caught on branches and pulled hard. Audra avoided looking at his eyes with her green ones. They were all the same – dark gray – the same as Belinda’s. Audra had already spent days staring into them, trying to find someone, any part of someone, inside.

He shuffled to her, but Audra would not call it a run. Starvation had taken its toll. Audra reached into her bag. In the past, she would have pulled out her biometric reader to determine whether Lysent was interested in the person. Now, it did not matter. Inquired, deposit paid, no family matches available, other people and their actions no longer gave value to your life. The fact that you were here gave you value. You were worth waking up. Audra made sure of it. She retrieved a thick band of cloth to use as rope.

She wouldn’t need to pull some clever evasive maneuver at top running speed to take him down. She merely sidestepped his clumsy launch and let him fall. From there she grabbed one wrist and turned him on his back before grabbing the other. She avoided his long, jagged nails as his neck and upper body craned to bite at her. She restrained him with a boot to his chest, gently as not to remove skin from his sternum. She wrapped up his wrists, finishing with a surgeon’s knot. He struggled for a moment, like a dying upturned cockroach. How the world must seem different from down there.

The zoms were in pain. That much she and her team knew. Their first non-regulated awakening, Gordon, had taken a while to put into words that it was as if he had caught fire. Relief was unknown. As they woke up others, they heard similar stories. Did these zoms wander and search for food to ease their constant suffering? The virus tore away will, everything but their most basic desires – to be without pain, to have food, to spread. Audra cocked her head and wondered if she and the zoms were so different. The same virus had torn her from her family. She constantly searched for relief, food, and shelter. They had both lost to the virus. One had just turned gray. Audra wondered if she too would fade away, like this dying specter in the woods. Audra stopped, closed her eyes, and reminded herself who was to blame.

Lysent.

Lysent had created this virus. For what reason, she still did not understand, but she would make sure that it ultimately hurt them in the same way. They would be torn apart, searching for relief, food, and shelter. And then they would fade away into the grayness until it was just a dim spot in their history.

Audra stepped off the zom and twisted him up to kneeling before helping him to his feet. Audra was caught off guard and off balance as a yank pulled her in. She looked up into a wide-open mouth, and fought to keep her eyes from rolling back in response to the emanating smell. She regained her balance and swung forward and away before he could master his depth perception.

Audra shook the funk off and increased the clearance between her and her captive. If she found any mint leaves on their way back, she’d be sure to shove them into his face. Minty decay.

 

Finding a rhythm, they started to the laboratory. One upsetting point about not using her biometric reader was that she didn’t get to know a name for their journey. Walking through the forest with a zom with no name was not as exciting as it sounded. Names and the nicknames she derived from them made the zoms seem more personable and her days less lonely. She looked at his opposite combover. She was surprised he hadn’t lost it. Should she, uh, put it back? Another gasping growl of foul stench told her he’d be OK for another day.

Audra wished she could remember the name of someone in past culture with a combover. That’s the name he’d get, but it seemed all her childhood memories of television were fading. One day they’d get back to that, at least re-watching those shows as classics. Maybe they’d eventually make their own again. Audra couldn’t imagine a town with resources plentiful enough to support a sitcom. Whatever. Not in her lifetime.

With a few miles under their belt, Audra felt a change in her zom’s gait. She could tell a lot by the tautness of the rope, the sway of it, the fetor and noise. Something was different. She turned around then immediately diverted her eyes. She spotted a split tree and led her fellow to it. Pulling his arms through the opening, she wrapped her rope back around the tree and behind him. With his arms secure, he couldn’t turn his body. Audra pulled up his pants and tried to tighten his belt, which crumbled in her hands. She pulled out a rope from her bag and tied them up. She didn’t have to put up with that view the entire run.

Beyond her bodily-fluid soaked zom, she noticed another smell – the distinct smell of burning rubber. Curiosity got the better of her, and since – damn, why couldn’t she think of any combover names? –  was secure in more ways than one, she investigated. Audra shimmied up a thin pine, the bark scraping her hands. Not the highest view, but she could verify that the scent on the breeze was from miles away. The thick, dark plume rose in the distance, near the highway, probably on the highway.

A car fire? Audra tried to rack her brain for a reason an abandoned car would catch fire on its own, but she knew there had to be a person behind it. Staying hidden was usually a layer of protection against others; whatever their reason for the blaze, they were giving up their location and didn’t care.

Audra wasn’t too worried about them wandering off the highway and finding her community. Her community was deep in the woods and hard to find. Most people who left the highway followed the well-maintained train tracks. It was a golden road to civilization, and it led them to Lysent Corp’s string of townships.

Her community.

It still felt weird to say that.

But that’s what it was. What was first just a laboratory attacked by Lysent had now become a home.  They had even named it. If by naming it, you meant they started calling it by the name on the industrial park sign. Osprey Point. Audra had never seen an osprey there, but whatever; it beat calling it “the lab that’s now a community.” It was a survivor’s refuge with one weird exception. Most of these survivors were not initially survivors. They were cured infected. She looked down at her bound prize. Curly here would be their newest member.

Audra came down and grabbed a handful of the acorns from the neighboring tree. They weren’t her favorite, but others liked them. They made good flour for bread, but the “coffee” was particularly disgusting. She put them in her bag along with the other found food. That wasn’t her mission out here, but any amount helped.

The sun was no longer climbing. They would not make it before dark. That was fine. They’d stop to eat and camp. She’d have to trap something moving for him – a small mouse or a squirrel would do the trick. Audra appreciated her timing; they’d arrive at Osprey Point in the morning. She’d be able to drop off, resupply, and head back out. With a day’s worth of sunlight, Dwyn or the scientists wouldn’t have a reason to keep her.

While Audra felt safe at Osprey Point, she figured the less involved she appeared, the less likely Lysent would hurt the community to reach her. Larange Greenly, CEO of Lysent, hated what Audra was doing and what she knew, but she didn’t appear willing to wage war over her yet, despite her continued stunts.

To appease her friends, she left some things there and claimed a bed-thing. She regularly returned. But still she spent more nights out in the woods in her pop-up tent than in the confines of the fences, and ate most of her meals by a small grate over a fire rather than in the mess hall. Although often out of its range, the radio they shoved into her bag reminded her she hadn’t traded much when she got rid of Lysent. She was still out in the woods, capturing zoms, just for a different community. At least this one didn’t dangle her sister’s life in front of her like a carrot on a stick.

She stayed to keep an eye on Lysent and wait for her chance to destroy them. Once Lysent was shut down with no chance of resurrection, and Greenly was dead for all the things she had done, then Audra would leave. She’d see what else was out there. She’d bring the antidote farther north or west and see more than live oaks and pines and damn mosquitoes.

She slapped at one. She and her zom together emitted that much more carbon dioxide to draw the buggers. And they preferred her fresh blood over the zom’s once they arrived. Audra pulled on a long-sleeve shirt and wrapped a cloth around her neck, despite the warm late summer. One bit the high of her cheek. They were insatiable today. She muddied her face. She felt uncomfortable, but at least she was no longer getting chewed up. Not getting destroyed by insects was one thing she did miss about modern civilization. She hoped bored survivors would fix that before reviving sitcoms.

With her coverings in place, she looked back – her new friend was now receiving the brunt of the attack. The thought of applying mud to his body made her sick; she decided against it. His kind had spent years trying to bite humans, infecting them. He could get a taste of his own medicine for the evening. When they stopped for the night, they’d get a good smoky fire going and get a breather from the bugs. A good fire, maybe a mouse for her, a rabbit for her friend, a nice sleep. Then they’d be on their way in the sunshine with renewed energy. Maybe he could even run. They’d get there in half the time. Today she’d had one goal. And now, it’d be a good night. Audra smiled and pulled along her new friend. He pulled up closer. Oh yeah, some mint… that’d make it better.

 

Thanks for reading the first chapter of Chasing Redemption. The book will available in paperback and ebook on March 29. Sign up for updates on the sidebar to the side.

The post Chasing Redemption (Book 2): Chapter 1 appeared first on RM Hamrick.

Chasing Redemption (Book 2): Cover Reveal

Covers by Christian has painted a great depiction of The Chasing Series: Book Two.

Check out what’s inside that trailer!

Chasing Redemption will be available March 29, 2018. Mark your calendar and sign up for updates in the sidebar.

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