Review: The Walking Dead Webisodes

I am often asked about THE WALKING DEAD by fans of the AS THE WORLD DIES Zombie Trilogy.  I suppose it makes sense since both works are about a group of people surviving the zombocalypse.  Though I had never read THE WALKING DEAD, when I heard about the TV show, I was very excited just like all the rest of the zombie fans.

I eagerly tuned in and was...disappointed.  Though I loved the zombie makeup, gore, and the setting, I found myself struggling to invest in the characters. Though Morgan and Duane captured my heart, they vanished from the show after the first episode.  Later, I rather enjoyed the gang in Atlanta, but they, too, were only on for one episode.  I did end up liking Glenn and Daryl enough that I worried about them dying.

But I didn't like the treatment of ALL the female characters on the show and most of the minorities.  When all the women did was the laundry, cooking, and screaming, I was ready to kick my TV.

BUT...that being said, I had high hopes for season two anyway.  The first season felt rushed and crippled by being only six short episodes.  I think it takes most TV shows around six episodes to usually find their footing (unless its LOST).  Some episodes were freaking awesome, while others somewhat bored me.  The trip to the CDC was incredibly annoying and boring (and I understand its not in the comics).

Yet, I was still so happy to see a TV show about zombies at last.

When I saw the link about the webisodes a few weeks ago, I watched all six in one sitting.  And I have to say right now that if the second season of THE WALKING DEAD is anything like the webisodes, I'm in heaven.


The webisodes are about the iconic "torso zombie" from the first episode of THE WALKING DEAD.  She was heavily featured in most of the promotion of the show (see the ad above as an example) and was probably one of the most graphic and disturbing of all the zombies.  In fact, the torso zombie was the one zombie that broke my heart.  By her appearance it was obvious to the viewer that something just terrible had happened to her.

And now we know...

Episode one "A New Day" opens with the introduction of Hannah as she awakens in her car after an accident.  Stunned, wounded, and terrified by the disappearance of her children, she rushes through an Atlanta neighborhood seeking them out.

Hannah in a still from the show.

Of course, the world has been turned upside down and she is quickly in danger from the walking dead roaming the streets.  Scenes of carnage are everywhere, from a birthday party gone terribly wrong to a mail carrier being eaten on the sidewalk, it is clear that the world has come to a bloody end.

The rest of the webisodes follow Hannah, her children, her ex-husband, and his wife through a terrible day of death and destruction.  No one is safe in the tale, and of course, Hannah's fate is already sealed.  Yet the show has plenty of thrills and chills despite the short length of each episode.

Though Hannah is going to die, her character is the strong female we did not see in the actual TV show.  She is a devoted mom who is determined to save her children no matter what it takes.  She is never shown as weak and is the most well-rounded character in the entire webisode series.

In the end, even Hannah's death is not because she is weak, but because she is strong.  I won't lie.  I cried.

So if this is what THE WALKING DEAD season two is going to be like, I'm more than a happy camper.

Check out the preview for THE WALKING DEAD Season Two.

Guess What This Is?

Two Things I Love-Zombies and Shoes!!

Yes, I bought them. Yes, I'm excited.

And TOTALLY worth every penny (or UK currency...since I ordered them from there).

Zombies Invade My Book Signing on Zombie Day--EEEEK!!!

Zombie Baby, the woman behind the Zombie Ball at Elysium.

Ah Zombie Juice...I love you so.

Zombie Christa holding her brand new copy of As The World Dies: The First Days. That's me at her side.

Cassandra, owner of Secret Oktober, and her husband, Ross. He has mad zombie love for her...and her maggoty cheek.

Me and Mary, co-owner of Secret Oktober.

EEK. Zombies!! The pretty zombie beauty queen was the genius behind the zombie makeovers today.

Me and the little zombie!! The hanging eyeball thing was huge with the kids today. This little guy had fun walking back and forth in front of the store scaring peeps.

Me and Zombie Baby's husband, a.ka. D.J. Void of Elysium.

Darling, you read the book...not eat it!!! *sigh* Zombies....

We had a sign in book for people to leave us their email for updates.

My husband hates having his picture taken. Here he is wearing the t-shirt he designed for As The World Dies: The First Days. It is nicely accessorized with the earphones from his PSP.

As the photos show, there was much fun to be had.

It was a FUN day!


Yay! Zombies!!

October 11, 2008 is ZOMBIE DAY at Secret Oktober!!!

This coming Saturday, October 11, 2008, is ZOMBIE DAY in Austin, Texas. Not only is the Zombie Ball hosted by Zombiebaby occurring at Elysium, but Secret Oktober is celebrating all things zombie.

If you are in the area and looking for the final touches on your costume, come on down. There is also a rumor that someone will be doing zombie makeovers.

And, of course, if you want my latest zombie novel, As The World Dies: The FIrst Days, drop by, pick up a copy and get it autographed. I'll be there from 4PM to 8PM.

Remember the Zombie Day and keep it GOREY!

The Word Is In From Dr. Pus!!!!

I posted recently about my correspondence with Dr. Pus of The Library of the Living Dead podcast. There was a good chance he would spend some time on As The World Dies: The First Days. In what capacity was unclear, but tonight, he posted on my promotional thread on the Permuted Press forum.

This is what he wrote:

And this just in ......

"As The World Dies" will be presented on the "Library of the Living Dead" podcast with voice actors, f/x and music. I'm gonna do this one up right.

It's one helluva story folks!!!! I love it bunches.

Yer ole Dr. Pus ain't never lied to you about purchasing a book, or even NOT purchasing a book.

This one's a real winner. BUY A COPY TODAY!!!

You rock my undead world Rhiannon!!

Undead love,

Doc

I'm bouncing off the walls with excitement. I can't really even express how happy I am in this moment. I'm so very excited!!!

As I get more information, I'll pass it on to you!

Surrounded by Zombies

Strange how I ended up with a zombie trilogy, a zombie novella, and a series of zombie short stories considering my first and foremost love is for the vampire. Though, if I consider my past carefully, I realize that my love for the vampire was born out of my stark fear. They were my childhood bogeymen. They were the things I feared most appearing outside my window. Vampires were my night terror, my personal demon, my greatest fear. The only way I could make peace with that fear was to embrace them, to write about them.

I suppose, in a way, that is what I have now experienced with the zombies. The first time I saw Day of the Dead as a kid, I threw up. It terrified me. I refused to watch anymore zombie movies until an old boyfriend talked me into watching Night of the Living Dead with him. I had such terrible nightmares afterward, again, I swore off watching zombie films.

When my husband and I first started hanging out, we realized quickly we had a lot in common. We were constantly together and never bored, so I suppose it was inevitable we would end up together. For some reason, we decided to watch George A. Romero's Zombie Trilogy. I fell utterly in love with the movies. They scared me to death, but I loved the characters in the stories. I winced for those I cared about when they fell and cheered when ones I hated got their comeuppance. I tried watching a few other zombie movies after I was done with the original trilogy, but none had the feel or the emotional resonance that Romero's did.

I did enjoy the remake of Dawn of the Dead, but again, I only truly cared about whether or not one character lived or died (and he was bitten right before the boat). I feared the zombies, but I just didn't care too much about the characters.

I'm not sure why I wrote that first short story (Tiny Fingers). Maybe it was to gain control over a bad nightmare I had. Or just to try something different. I remember just wanting to get the story into words and posted for people to see. I had read a lot of online zombie fiction before I wrote my own story. And like at lot of the zombie movies, I just didn't really care about the characters or the situations they were in.

As The World Dies: The First Days is exactly what I wanted it to be. A strong zombie story with lots of action, gore and characters you care about. I would never claim to be the master story teller George Romero is in his wonderful tales of the undead, but he definitely inspired me to find the heart of the story and embrace it.

I still love my vampires. I will be returning to them. I admit I was rather snobbish about my vampire novels and treated my zombie story like the red headed stepchild in the beginning. But I have learned to embrace both sets of monsters and the worlds they inhabit.



I'm okay with being not just a writer of vampire fiction, but of zombie fiction as well.

But those werewolves....man...that's a whole other story...

Zombies, Vampires, Genetically Altered Rats and Robots.

I'm a fan of a blog called Paperback Writer. Lynn Viehl is a very prolific writer and I am in awe of the amount of work she puts out every year. I'm not necessarily a fan of her genre, but since I found her blog and found her to be so entertaining, I do plan on picking up her science fiction work. I enjoy reading her advice on the writing process and though I have decided to be an Independent Self-Published Author, her insight on the publishing world is fascinating. Reading about how she does not have control over the titles to her books or the covers made me grateful that I have creative control over what I will be presenting to my readers.

One of the things my husband and I had discussed at the beginning of this endeavor was that we wanted to have free material online for fans to read. We're big believers in the new media and have a lot of respect for Trent Reznor and his recent stand against the big corporations' stranglehold on the creative process. Though I would like to make enough money from my writing to one day be able to stay home and only write, I'm aware of the fact this will take some time and my readership needs to grow. Presenting free works online is a good solid way to bring awareness to my writing and to also give back to the fans who have supported me the last two years with their encouraging words.

While visiting the Lynn's blog, I noticed she had free short stories, writing guides, and short novels for free online at Scribd. I've been slowly reading through these and enjoying them very much. And they are doing their job in that I am now aware that 1) she exists as a writer 2) I enjoy her writing style 3) I want to pick up her books. As I was prowling around Scribd, I realized this was the perfect way to post the works I had wanted to give out free to the public and possibly garner awareness that 1) I am out here 2) I'm a good writer 3) maybe someone will pick up my books.

Therefore, I have now uploaded three vampire tales, one robot tale, and my latest zombie novella. Anyone interested in my writing can visit my Scribd page here. Some of the stories have had a long shelf life on my hard drive and I'm very glad to finally get them out to the general public.

One of the stories, Vengeance, was actually well received by an editor who actually turned it down for her magazine. It was too violent, but she took the time to tell me she did like the story, especially its ending. Maybe it was too controversial with the idea of a battered wife getting her revenge against her abuser from beyond the grave, but I still love the story and it felt great to get it up onto Scribd.

Another one, Flesh and Circuits, was originally written for a robot anthology. I mucked up the original premise trying to get it to fit the guidelines and the editor rejected it. Though I agreed the horror element did not belong, he made quite a few suggestions for the story that did not feel right to me. In fact, my husband was livid over the proposed edits. "That's not your story," he said to me. I considered changing my story completely to try and satisfy the editor, but realized I liked my story as it was. I had no desire to eliminate one character altogether, change the basic plot or throw out the "happy" ending. This was during a time where I was dying to get my foot in the door in the publishing world and it was a rough choice to make. But in the end, I loved my story as it was and was determined to keep it that way. Now you can read the original version on Scribd.

Another short, The Aspect of her Eyes, came to me one night and I could not stop writing until it was done. It is a darkly romantic piece and I really loved the way it flowed. The narrator of the piece is a servant of a master vampire and he/she (it is never clarified which sex the narrator is) observes the great eternal love the vampire has for his bride. It's a story that was very well received by my friends who love the vampire genre and they encouraged me to try and get it published. When I submitted it to a magazine that specializes in the genre, the editors never answered. I was more than glad to dig it out and put it up on Scribd.

The Memoirs of Moniki the Great was a short that I loved writing, but when I got done I had no idea what to do with it. I couldn't even figure out what market it belonged to. But its a fun yet touching story and I wanted to share it. After posting it today, I feel inclined to do a follow up called Moniki and Monsieur Rat versus the Nazis.

The last story I posted today is actually a novella. It is one of the As the World Dies: Untold Tales. It's recent appearance on the forums was very well received, so I thought I would tidy it up a little and post it for the Scribd readers. Also, anyone who enjoyed the story when it was on the other forums can download a complete copy of it on Scribd.

I have some uncompleted short stores tucked away on my computer that I now feel the inclination to finish. At one point I had tried to write short stories to try and pry the door open to the publishing world. The problem was that my short stories were not what magazines or anthologies were looking for. It's rough to break in when the gatekeepers have predetermined concepts of what they want.

I hope to post a fantasy short called Dragons in her Eyes and a vampire short called The Two Mothers in the next few days. I have a few other short stories and novella ideas bouncing around in my head, so those may be posted in the future as well.

I hope you enjoy my works. Please drop me a line and let me know. I always love hearing from the readers.

Writer's Blockage? Writer's Bitching?

I did post a new mini-chapter yesterday to the forums carrying my new zombie novella. I liked the way the chapter came out and the response from the readers has been good. I did try to write just one more mini-chapter before bed, but discovered that it just wouldn't flow right.

Now the gist of what I want to be in the chapter is there and I think the readers will enjoy it, but it wasn't coalescing in a way that felt strong and solid. It kept coming across as a very dull news report and very passive. Chalking it up to being tired after a long day, I closed down yWriter and went to bed. My best writing time is usually around 7PM after I've come home, unwound from work, and feel energized again. I will tackle the chapter again tonight around that time.

I do wish I had more time to write, but I gotta work with the life I have, don't I? I am still trying to decide which novel I want to write next. I have a lot of ideas floating around in my head and some of them are ready to be born. I'm not certain which one is up next, but it has come down to possibly three options. Ah, sweet torture.

Meanwhile, I have editing to do on my next book in the zombie trilogy and I need to take a long hard look at my Victorian Gothic vampire tale. Do I really want to trim it down to the word count to meet industry standards for a first novel? Hrmmm....

I wonder what it would feel like not to have all these ideas in my head wanting to be on paper?

Nah, I like being an author.

It's all good.