Post date: Sep 20, 2010 12:51:33 AM
Zombies weren’t my idea. Neither were Vampires, or Elves, or Dwarves, or Robots…. And maybe that’s the reason why I’m hesitant to write about them.
I love a good zombie story. They terrify me! I love imagining what I would do in a collapsing world. Where would we go for shelter? Where would we go for food? What mistakes, that they always make in the movies, could I avoid?
I actually wrote a Cowboy Zombie movie script some years ago and tried to sell it to the movie studios. Of course, my zombies were different. I’d at least changed them in a fundamental way…. But I don’t know if I would be quick to work with them again. They’re not mine. They don’t belong to me. They belong to whoever the first guy to think them up was. Yes, there was a guy once upon a time. He may have lived hundreds of years ago, but zombies were actually thought up. They were invented. They were, and in a sense are, some one person’s property.
Still, I love imagining a collapsing world. I love thinking about what I would do as civilization crumbles. I think that living in the United States in 2010 that this is timelier than ever! We’re actually in the middle of a financial depression. Yes, they all call it a recession on television, but they would, wouldn’t they? They’re afraid to say the word because they think that will make things even worse. But it’s not a recession. It’s a depression, and everybody knows.
I’m writing a story now that deals with the fall of civilization, and then wandering around in the ruins and looking for food, safety, companionship after the world. I’ve had to dream it all up again. There are no zombies. There’s something new. I’m going to give you something that you haven’t seen before.
Really.
I didn’t invent Vampires, but I invented this one. Please stay tuned…. 34,000 words and counting….