Summer of Zombie Blog Tour Stop--John O'Brien Guest Posts

 I am a big believer in supporting other writers. Publishing is a very tough business. Whether traditionally published or self-published, a writer always has to work very hard to draw attention to their work and find their readers.

I was approached about hosting a day in the Summer of Zombie Blog Tour and I immediately said "yes."

Today's guest post is by John O'Brien, author of  the A NEW WORLD series. Enjoy!

Safety is the dream.

Nightmare is the reality. A nightmare where danger lurks around every corner.

Jack Walker, journeyed half way around the world and completed his daring rescue. He must now return home, traversing a world filled with endless hordes of night runners; the genetically altered, ferocious species that now inhabit the dark recesses left over from the demise of mankind and now dominate the planet. The only things more dominate are the billions of corpses left to rot where they died.

It is through this world that Jack must use his special forces training to lead a small group of survivors back home to where there is the faint hope of sanctuary. His training is pushed to the limits as he is confronted with situation after situation coming face to face with the night runners. He must walk that delicate, fine edge between action and keeping his kids out of harm’s way; between taking risks and turning away as he continues his quest for survival.

Never having walked away from risky situations, Jack must now carefully weigh his decisions as the stakes are much higher. His kids’ very safety hangs in the balance, along with the safety of the few remaining survivors. This gripping, action-packed tale tells Jack’s story of survival in a post-apocalyptic world filled with peril.

Safety is the dream.

Nightmare is the reality. Those who have survived remember a time when the dream was the reality. But now, the world has moved on.

Book II in the series – A New World

Can It Really Happen?
John O'Brien

A fan asked wrote and asked me that one day.  First of all, I am not expert by any stretch.  There are much more knowledgeable folks out there than I.  My first thought was, no, it’s not going to happen and especially not that way.  That of course started a chain reaction of thoughts, yes, it does happen occasionally.  Sometimes, the three brain cells left inside will, every so often, bump in each other and give birth to a thought.  Now that thought will be a random one and there is not telling what may happen.  I could override the senses and filters and blurt out something inane – the highest of odds – or it could decide I suddenly needed to drool in public.  It’s all a crap shoot.

But I digress – another odds on favorite.

Viruses do mutate, some quickly and others over time but they all mutate.  Just look at the touch and resistant viruses emerging today.  They adapt and overcome – see, I knew viruses and Marines had something in common.  So, I need to stop here and point to above blurting out in public and filters.  I have a deep, abiding respect for Marines so don’t think I bad-mouthing or think they are viruses.  It’s just that viruses are Marine tough.  There, that’s a better way of saying it.  The other aspect is the brain is a wired object, meaning, rewire it and it changes.  It all works as a single entity and so block something and it changes what it was.  Too high of a fever, parts of the brain is burned.  Viruses invading and taking over certain parts of the brain, there’s now a different person bases on the viral makeup and what they take over.

There also has to be a survival aspect to viruses or they wouldn’t mutate to survive.  Yes, I know it’s through ones that survive and have a partial immunity but the viruses adapt and change.  They can even adapt and change to treatments on the fly.  That’s survival.  With survival, wouldn’t there be a propagation aspect?  So, there are a few ingredients.  They won’t technically be zombies but they will seek food and need to propagate to survive.  How fast they are and do what degree they can think will be determined by what parts of the brain are affected.

Far-fetched.  Probably.  Government super soldier, tough yet obedient, fearless, numb in the brain so they’ll take any order – not too far-fetched.  Lots of homeless around.  A trial version escaping – not too far-fetched.  And no, you can’t have my idea.  It might, just might mind you, become as aspect of another series.  Just sayin’.  

Okay, so it is a little far out there and the apocalypse will most likely come in some sort of financial collapse with resulting anarchy which will be sweet because I can now shoot the asshole who decides it’s not only the right thing to do to drive in the fast lane of the freeway at a brisk 45, but it’s there God-given right to do so.  And then when a lane does open up, on the right mind you, they speed up, and speed up until you’re doing 95 down the freeway next to them.  Another line of cars and suddenly they’re at 45 again.  Yeah, I know who you are buddy and it’s just a matter of time.  It could be a super virus as well but change is in the air and if you’re prepared for a zombie apocalypse, you’re prepared for anything.

John O'Brien is a former Air Force fighter instructor pilot who transitioned to Special Operations for the latter part of his career gathering his campaign ribbon for Desert Storm. Immediately following his military service, John became a firefighter/EMT with a local department. Along with becoming a firefighter, he fell into the Information Technology industry starting two large casinos in Washington as the Information Technology Manager and becoming the Network Manager for the Washington State Legislature, the Northwest Information Technology Manager for the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Network Systems Manager for Hollywood Video. Currently, John is self employed with his own Information Technology consulting company consulting and managing various businesses with their information technology needs. He also volunteers for a local youth center managing their computer lab. As a former marathon runner, John lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest and can now be found kayaking out in the waters of Puget Sound, mountain biking in the Capital Forest, hiking in the Olympic Peninsula, or pedaling his road bike along the many scenic roads.

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