I am excited to be participating in this blog hop (my first one!) Thanks to
ML Katz for tagging me last week! Be sure to check out her post-apocalyptic book Raft People!
The rules of the blog hop are to mention the person that tagged you, answer some similar questions, and then tag some additional authors to keep the blog hop going!
The theme of this blog hop is "The Next Big Thing", which is about an upcoming work. I have decided to discuss some details about the next book in my Contamination series (Book 2) which will be called Crossroads. I plan to release it around Jan/Feb of 2013.
What is the working title of your next book? Contamination Book Two: Crossroads.
Where did you get the idea for your new book? I have always been a fan of the post-apocalyptic and zombie genres. In this book, I expand on some of the "conspiracy" themes of the first several books in the series. I have always enjoyed seeing people from different backgrounds come together—in this case the survivors of the first two books. It is fun to envision how they would interact and survive!
Can you give us a one-sentence synopsis of your book? Two groups of survivors converge in the place where it all began; forced to face hordes of the infected. They soon realize the undead are the least of their worries. (Sorry—that was two sentences!)
If you plan to publish, will you be self-published or traditionally published? Self-published. Go indie!
How long did it take you to complete your first draft? Still in progress. However, I am more than halfway through. It has taken a few months so far.
What other books would you compare this to? The most obvious comparison would be the previous two books in the series. Other than that, Dean Koontz. I was a huge Koontz fan growing up. I'd like to say there are comparisons to his works, but that may be a stretch!
What inspired this book? The initial inspiration for the book was a single character: Sam Cook (the storeowner from Book One). It was a lot of fun getting inside his head. I think the story spawned from a combination of envisioning his character, and then creating the setting of White Mist. The zombies were an afterthought.
What might pique the reader's interest even more? I'll end off with a small excerpt from Crossroads. **SPOILER ALERT** If you have already read the first two books, or are interested in reading them, you may want to skip this part.
The man spat on the
storeowner. Sam wiped his face, grit his
teeth, pressed the blade further into his neck.
The man started to laugh.
“There is no
escape. You’ll all be infected soon,
anyhow.”
“Are you responsible for
all this? Did you poison all these people?”
Sam felt his blood begin
to boil.
“Humanity’s fate has
always been sealed,” the man said.
“We’ve just given you an expiration date.”
“You’re sick!” the
storeowner yelled.
The man’s smile faded,
and his eyes narrowed into slits.
“As soon as you let me
up, I’m going to kill all three of you.
You know that, don’t you? You’re as
good as dead.”
Sam raised the knife
over his head, watching as the man began to laugh again. He thought of the young man that had just
been killed, of all the others that had been infected—of Kendall. In spite of all that, could he kill this man
in cold blood? He didn’t think so.
He began to loosen his
grip on the blade. The man’s laughing
persisted, blood now spilling out of his mouth and onto his chin. Without warning, the man’s arm shot up
towards the storeowner, vying for the blade.
Sam plunged the knife deep
into the man’s chest, twisting the handle until he felt it scrape against bone. The man’s eyes widened, and he gasped for
breath. A ring of blood radiated
outwards from the center of his lab coat.
Sam’s fingers slipped off the handle and onto the grass, and he choked
back the urge to vomit.
Shouts erupted from the
top of the hill, and the storeowner stumbled to his feet. Delta and Noah were staring at him in shock.
“Run!” he yelled.
Thanks for taking the time to read this post, and thanks again to ML Katz for the tag!
Tag - You're It! Authors with Works In Progress:
Terah Edun - Check out Red Madrassa, the first book in the Algardis Series from this YA Fantasy author, as well as the short story Flight Feathers which is now FREE! She is also a GRIMM fan so you can't go wrong!
Meinos Kaen - Author of the Proud Parents Blog (S-Class) with an upcoming book S-Class in March 2013. Check out his author page and pick up the book on Amazon!
