Interview with Dane Hatchell author of the zombie book Resurrection X

Check out my interview with Dane Hatchell, the author of Resurrection X. (TDWS is short for The Dead War Series)

TDWS: What inspired you to become an author?

DANE HATCHELL: Conventional thinking eludes me at times, not always to my benefit I might add. I’ve been drawn into worlds created by other writers, where imagination is the only limit. Over the years I’ve had various plots for stories appear in my mind, but I never had the ability to flesh out a full story. One day I came across a ‘For the love’ anthology, and decided to sit down and give it a shot. That was over five years ago, and I’m approaching the one million word mark in my fiction writing.

TDWS: Why write in the zombie genre?

DANE HATCHELL: Zombies are an unconventional enemy. A creature who is already dead is a most formidable foe. What better way to explore the human condition than pushing it to limit with flesh eaters with unquenchable appetites who require no sleep?

TDWS: Let's get to your book. What's it about?

DANE HATCHELL: Resurrection X is a post-apocalyptic novel set five years after the defeat of the undead by recombinant DNA warfare. The zombies are turned into obedient slaves and help rebuild the world they nearly destroyed. A lab experiment gone awry turns Lisa Goudard into a zombie-human hybrid with the key to immortality flowing in her blood. Because of the affliction, she losses her status as a citizen and now has to fight for equality. During her downward spiral, forces are at work to enslave her in hopes of perfecting the immortality drug, Resurrection X. But while all of this is going on, though programmed to serve mankind, the zombies harbor the will to survive. The taste of flesh and blood is still a recent memory, and a slow burning hunger intensifies. Let’s just say all events lead toward a day of zombie insurrection.

TDWS: Is it a series?

DANE HATCHELL: Resurrection X is a standalone novel. However, it is the second book in a shared world series. The Dark Times begins the apocalypse, and occurs seven years before Resurrection X.

TDWS: As I'm sure you know there are thousands of zombie books out there right now. What makes yours stand out?

DANE HATCHELL: Resurrection X brings zombies into modern society as True Blood did with vampires. Zombies are integrated into the workforce and are treated as a slave caste. The zombies are used as pawns as different forces in power manipulate their future. Without giving too much away, the zombies are evolving on their own. And whereas this is not a survival novel, there is some old fashion undead crunch and munch to be enjoyed. So Res X puts zombies right into the world of today and there are some twisted individuals that gives the story a real roller coaster ride.

TDWS: What's the cause of the zombie apocalypse in your book/books?

DANE HATCHELL: The Earth wanders into a cloud of space dust and an embedded alien virus rains down. The virus is at first benign, but as time passes it mutates and raises the dead.

TDWS: Are your zombies the fast or slow moving type?

DANE HATCHELL: The zombies are your clasic slow moving type.

TDWS: Are you trying to make any greater point with your books or just write a good zombie story?

DANE HATCHELL: There is a greater point than just a good zombie story. Without being preachy, it does put the ‘shoe on the other foot,’ so to say. Lisa, who harbors no love for the zombie slave caste, essentially joins the ranks when she becomes the human-zombie hybrid. Her physical appearance and physiology changes somewhat, but she retains her sound mind. Lisa is forced to live the life and for once can empathize what it’s like to be treated like a slave. But, this is not some ‘oh woe is me story.’ Lisa may become compassionate for the other side, but she still maintains her character. She always believed in working for what she earned, and her new predicament doesn’t change that. Far left and far right politics both have their weaknesses. Lisa shows real strength comes from seeing both sides of the issues and working for the common good of all.

TDWS: Do you have an online presence? If so where? Blogs, web sites, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

DANE HATCHELL: You can find me on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/dane.hatchell

My Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/Dane-Hatchell/e/B003KAR05K/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

And even Twitter: @DaneHatchell

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Does the race of the hero in a book matter to you?

Recently a friend and I were talking and he wondered allowed if the fact that our books feature black protagonist might be limiting our sales. I had never really thought of it from that standpoint as I write in the horror/sci-fi genre and I was more concerned about how to market my books to a black audience who might be reluctant to read it.

I know with comic books a hero's race can be an issue with some readers but at the same time comic books are a much more visual medium than fiction books/ebooks. Not much is left to the imagination there.

Now I'm a little naive so I still have faith in most readers. I believe that most readers don't care about the hero's race as long as the story is good and they can become engrossed in it. I also believe that at some point many forget the race of the character or find it irrelevant after a while.

So instead of me just guessing if a hero's race matters to readers I'll just ask you. Does it? Feel free to answer the poll below honestly. No one is judging anyone here.

Zombie Book Of The Day: Day Zero By Charles Ingersall

Marine Corps sniper Sergeant John Walken hitchhikes home after being discharged with a career-ending injury.

Along the way he is picked up by Sebastian, a retired Jarhead truck driver. They travel to the small New England community of Rainier Island for a routine gas station delivery.

While John waits, a bloody and muddy young girl stumbles into the center of town and attacks one of the residents.

The police department quickly barricades Rainier from the Main, trapping John and Sebastian. But isolating the bridges and using John's special skills may not be enough as the island is plagued with unexplained deaths from within and human threats from outside its borders.

Paperback-----Kindle

New zombie book, After Z Day by Eric S. Brown

The dead rose from their graves, hungry for the flesh of the living. Civilization crumbled in a matter of days. But in the wake of the apocalypse, there are those who struggle to survive. Colonel Porter and her unit, now a mix of military personnel and tag along civilians, stay on the move. Looting what they can from corpse of the old world, they head westward into the American Heartland in search of somewhere safe that they can stop their endless flight. However, the apocalypse was just the beginning and the worst is yet to come.

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The Dead War Trilogy Now Available For Nook, Kobo, & Smashwords

Great news everyone. The Dead War Trilogy is now available for The Nook, Kobo Readers and on Smashwords! The great thing with Smashwords is that it works on many readers and formats including Kindle, Nook, Sony, Kobo, Adobe Digital, iPad, your computer, etc. So whatever reader you have you can now read the greatness ( LOL ) that is The Dead War Trilogy. Use the links below to buy:

SMASHWORDS: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/359908

NOOK: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-dead-war-trilogy-george-l-cook-iii/1116445937?ean=2940148767589&itm=1&usri=2940148767589

KOBO: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/the-dead-war-trilogy

Check out this drawing of Dead War hero Sgt. Richards!

Hey it's me Dead War author George Cook. I asked an artist to a drawing of Sgt. Richards based on the description in the book. Check out the photo below and let me know what you think.

Interview with George Cook about the Dead War Series Book Three: WAR

Here is an interview with George L. Cook III who has FINALLY released The Dead War Series Book Three: WAR.

TDWS: Welcome Mr. Cook. First let us congratulate you on the release of The Dead War Series Book Three: WAR.

George Cook: Thank you for having me and on your congratulations on the release of the book.

TDWS: First question right off the bat. What took so long?

George Cook: Let me apologize for that but i hope to the fans of The Dead War Series the wait was worth it.

Writing a series is not easy and can at times be painstaking. You have to keep things organized and make sure what happens in book three matches what happens in books one and two. You have to keep track of what certain characters have said or did no matter how insignificant it may have been at the time they said or did it. Those stories I had to keep going back to not only included books one and two but the short stories also. The short story DOCTOR provided some issues I hadn't anticipated.

Also I thought I knew how book three would end when I started writing it and then began to jump back and forth between that ending and another ending. I eventually decided to go with the original which meant that about ten pages wound up going in the trash.

TDWS: From the beginning of the book it's apparent that no character is safe and some of the deaths will surprise fans of The Dead War Series. How did you decide who lived and who died?

George Cook: I wanted to keep things as realistic as you can in a story about a zombie apocalypse. I mean there are zombies and humanity goes to war with vampires ( did I mention the word realistic? ) , characters will die on all sides. Some deaths I had planned in advance others came naturally in the course of my writing the action and battle scenes.

TDWS: There is a lot of action is book three but still some scares. How did you manage that?

George Cook: Many of the action sequences were supposed to be in book two but didn't fit the story at the time. Also in book three we are dealing with a bigger scale for the story as war has broken out and it takes place in multiple places. That allowed to up the action ante.

There were two scenes where I deliberately went for scares to set an even more ominous scene and I think I did that. If you read or have read the book you will know what those two scenes are.

TDWS: We get to meet more Scouts in book three beside Richards and Liu. What took so long with that?

George Cook: Well the Scouts normally work alone so it would be unusual to see that many at one place.

If we stop and think about it we the only Scout we really know is Richards the established hero of The Dead War Series. We really don't know much about Liu as he is not in book one and only appears briefly in book two. Other than that he only appeared in two of the short stories and in one of those he is not yet a scout. So I wanted to give Liu more to do and show the variety and diversity of the scout Corp with the other Scouts introduced in book three. Patel the only other scout mentioned by name also shows up in book three.

TDWS: Can I ask you questions about the ending of the book?

George Cook: You can but i'm not answering. :)

TDWS: Okay let's try this. With the way the book ends will we see more of The Dead War Series?

George Cook: Hell yes. I enjoy the Dead war world and have several stories to continue to write those stories.

TDWS: When can we expect those books?

George Cook: One is almost done now although I don't know if it will be the next release as it goes in a different direction.

TDWS: Well thanks again for the interview ans let's not take so long between books okay.

George Cook: I promise the next release will be much sooner.LOL.

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The Dead War Series Book Two: Abomination.

The battle continues! The Dead War Series Book Two: Abomination.

Hi this is George Cook and I'm proud to announce that The Dead War Series Book Two: abomination is finally here. I apologize for taking so long and I promise you that Book Three: War! will be released On October 31, 2012. I'm working on it now. Thank you all for the success of the first book. I hope that you enjoy the second. Check out the synopsis below:

The US Army battles on!

The battle against the dead continues. Sergeant Richards, Sergeant Jackson, Delice, Duncan, Blake and the dead are all back. New friends, new enemies and plenty of the undead. Surprises galore as it's revealed who released the Beserker Virus and why.

TDWS: Zombie Book Of The Day TOOTH AND NAIL by Craig DiLouie

This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang, not with a whimper, but a slaughter.

As a new plague related to the rabies virus infects millions, America recalls its military forces from around the world to safeguard hospitals and other vital buildings. Many of the victims become rabid and violent but are easily controlled--that is, until so many are infected that they begin to run amok, spreading slaughter and disease. Lieutenant Todd Bowman got his unit through the horrors of combat in Iraq. Now he must lead his men across New York through a storm of violence to secure a research facility that may hold a cure. To succeed in this mission to help save what's left, the men of Charlie Company will face a terrifying battle of survival against the very people they have sworn to protect--people turned into a fearless, endless horde armed solely with tooth and nail.

For the boys of Charlie Company, the zombie apocalypse will give a whole new meaning to the proverb WAR IS HELL.

TDWS Zombie Book Of The Day: Dying Days by Armand Rosamilia

Sunny Florida, beautiful beaches, no traffic on A1A... Zombies roaming the dunes in search of the living... Darlene Bobich in a fight to survive, find food, safety and ammo for her Desert Eagle before its too late...

Dying Days are upon us... The Undead Roam the Earth... Searching for the Living... To Eat... To Feast... To Rip Apart... Extreme Violence... Extreme Sexual Situations... Extreme Undead...

TDWS: Zombie Book Of The Day, Texas Biker Zombies from Outer Space by Etienne Guerin DeForest

“Texas Biker Zombies From Outer Space” is a choose your own adventure style book that takes advantage of the E-Book’s ability to hyperlink. It was intentionally designed to give the reader an interactive experience using the advantages over print that E-Books allow.

“Texas Biker Zombies” revolves around the main character, nicknamed “Camaro Steve” who manages to wake up in the middle of a zombie outbreak. He’s a misogynistic, anti-authority, coked up, ultra violent, sadistic, antihero that gets killed off 95% of the time for being a complete jerk.

The book pokes fun at racism, sexism, socioeconomics, and religion in a casual/offensive way. And if you’re easily offended you will be horrified by this book. So don’t buy it if you’re a whiny bish!