Zombie Baby Review

Thanks to Infernus Mikey for this fun review of the first DYING TO LIVE!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXrSgiEMnXM

I love when the zombie baby talks!!

Old and New News

News about old stuff = New interview at Craig DiLouie's blog, revisiting DYING TO LIVE and my other writings.

New news = I just got the first peek at the cover for the Italian edition of VALLEY OF THE DEAD and it looks pretty cool. Not all "Leisure" like (and you know what I mean - skulls with red lettering). Really looking forward to this!

Another Great Write Up for VALLEY

Maybe everyone took the time over the holidays to read it?

Here's a really nice review that actually quotes from about my favorite scene in the book - it's the Circle of the Heretics (whom Dante equates with Epicureans, which he uses as a synonym for Atheists) and it's the tightest, most succinct theological exchange in the whole book - just one simple question and four simple answers that I think encapsulates pretty much all of Christian ( heck - Human) thought on the problem of theodicy.

I'm wondering if VALLEY will end up being like HISTORY IS DEAD - a consistent, slow but steady wins the race, kind of seller.

New Interview!

A really detailed one, focusing on VALLEY OF THE DEAD - over at THE ZOMBIE BIBLE! Good questions that made me remember all that went into the concept! Thanks!!

War Horse

Oddly Dickensian - in that you just have to swallow (repeatedly) unbelievable coincidences - but if you can do that (repeatedly), then everyone's actions, motives, and emotions ring completely true, and draw you in, in a way that doesn't feel manipulative or fake, but very real.

And please note - calling it WAR HORSE is like calling that other movie TITANIC. That movie wasn't about a big boat, it was about the people on it; this isn't about the horse, except as a catalyst for all the human characters. And mind you, that other movie has no other comparison to a film of this quality - Cameron's merely effective at exploiting and manipulating emotions (and, in Terminator esp, at staging real action sequences and not just blowing stuff up, like Bay); Spielberg, at his best, is a psychologist and an artist at playing on a palate of human emotions and eliciting what I think are real and healthful releases of such.

And really, this is one nice piece of dialogue between two old married people, who are sick of one another but still love each other: "I'll hate you more, but I could never love you less."

And finally, old lefty me, how could I not love a film whose message, loud and clear and repeatedly is, "Poor people and horses keep the world running; rich people and war make the world a miserable, wretched place." Never been a big animal fan myself, but I got no problem with that message.

Big Announcement!

Well, that came quick on the heels of my saying "Big announcement"!!

Nero Press has announced they will be publishing VALLEY OF THE DEAD in Italian! This is so exciting to me, as even since I conceived of the book, I thought to myself how cool it would be for people to read and discuss it alongside Dante's original (indeed, looking over reviews, so far, it may have appealed more to Dante fans than "traditional" zombie fans) - and now it'll be available in Dante's mother language! (And of course, remember all the trouble Dante had publishing his work in Italian instead of Latin, so it's a further vindication of him as well.)

The publisher provided me with this rough translation of the book's description:

"Our first title, for which the contract has been already signed, will be a horror novel by talented american author Kim Paffenroth. In addition to having published several books on the theme of the zombie, Paffenroth is also professor of religious studies at Iona College. The book's title is Valley of the Dead - The Truth behind Dante's Inferno, and in order to get a first taste of what it is, we recommend you to read this article on Alessandro Girola's blog, or pay a visit to Dr. Paffenroth's website.We'll not be revealing the title of the italian edition – for now – and we hope you will find very intriguing discovering how – according to Paffenroth – Dante Alighieri came to write The Divine Comedy, after witnessing during his exile something so horrible that he conceived such an unique Work, destined both to sum up and exceed the literature and culture of the Middle Ages."

This is really a big deal for me and I'm very proud!

Happy Boxing Day!

Sorry, with all the holiday madness, I forget to even make a pretense of a Christmas or Christmas eve message. But today's pretty quiet! So - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I guess I'm supposed to give some retrospective on the previous year, and announcements for the new, but I was pretty boring in the past year and that'll probably continue. But, here are some announcements related to my writing.

2011 saw only one major fiction release, but it was (together with VALLEY OF THE DEAD) I think the best thing I've written - DYING TO LIVE: LAST RITES. I feel like I was meant to write about smart zombies and bad people - it's a potent mix for me, and out of it came my favorite character - Lucy, the smart, beautiful zombie with a heart of gold whose urge to KILL is always just barely contained. Sort of a female, sexy, undead Sippowicz - since I always thought that was his appeal: you never knew when he was going to erupt into violence, and you half-hoped he did, but deep down you knew he was a nice guy - underneath all the racism and alcoholism and self-pity and rage; Lucy's the same way - you just have to get beyond (and survive getting beyond) that whole "she's not alive and every minute of ever day all she can think of is killing you and ripping your heart out and eating it"- other than that she's a nice lady!

OTOH, a bunch of nonfiction worked its way through the pipeline into some really nice essay collections on the genre - BUTCHER KNIVES AND BODY COUNTS, TRIUMPH OF THE WALKING DEAD, and GENERATION ZOMBIE all include essays by your humble servant and scholar of religion and all things horrific.

Next year should be a similar output. First, my ghost story, CLOSES AT DUSK, will be out from Belfire Press. Unlikeable characters all around, though again, I hope we sense they have something going for them, if they'd let their better natures prevail. I should finally finish my next zombie novel (I've been bogged down with my day job, mostly in a good way, more on that later) - PALE GODS, to be published by the awesome peeps at Permuted Press.

In nonfiction, I'm editing an essay collection with John Morehead on THE UNDEAD AND THEOLOGY, to be published by Wipf and Stock. I think you'll like it. Though I should note, as I surf the web this morning, I see (or notice once again) there are basically six types of reviews of my nonfiction work:

This is a fan boy book - stay away!
This is a fan boy book - I LOVE IT IT'S AWESOME TO ELEVENTY!
This is an academic book - stay away!
This is an academic book, just what the genre needs to save it from fan boys!
Even though it's a fan boy book, there are still valuable insights in it.
Even though it's an academic book, fans should find some things they like.

So, it's somewhere in there, in the nexus between fandom and detached, academic analysis. (Which is kind of what I'd expect, or what I was shooting for.)

I keep most of my cooking tips and discoveries on my Facebook page, but here's the scorecard for Christmas dinner. I went back to a whole turkey (brining just a breast worked great the first time, but I didn't feel did anything special last time) and it was good. Not the best I've ever made, but good on both taste and tenderness. Nice looking bird, too, very Norman Rockwell in the middle of the table. I try to make something I've never made before, every time I make a big dinner, and this year it was the turn of sweet potato pie. OMG. I don't like sweet potatoes, and I don't like pumpkin pie - so believe me when I say, this was the best thing I ever ate (even though it's somewhat similar to those two things I don't like). Amazing taste and consistency - creamier and ligther than pumpkin, not quite as spicy, but just the perfect blend. I see no reason other than tradition, to ever make pumpkin pie ever again.

So, anyway, back to the previous year as I sign off, since I left you hanging with the reference to the day job. I've been busier it seems with administrative stuff, but the main thing is that I've had two sections of the Honors Humanities Seminar. And in some ways this is more time-consuming than a "regular" class - more papers to read and a lot more reading of primary texts to do each week. I could wing it w/o doing the reading, I know, but OTOH, if I like a reading (like Oedipus or the Gita) then I like doing it again, and if it's a reading I don't like as much (esp Aristotle) then it's good for me to keep trying until I "get" it. (And I did feel this semester like I got a little closer to understanding what Aristotle's trying to do with Reason and prudence and discernment.) So what I'm saying is - that's taken more time than I expected, and so I haven't written as much, but it's been the high point of my teaching, and I think in the long run, all that intellectual stimulation from all those bright students (and they are an exceptionally bright and vivacious bunch this year - a little snarky, too, but in a fun way) will come back into my writing when I take it up again!

Thanks and Happy New Year to all!

PS - Big announcement any day now but I'm not cleared to say yet.

Praise for Triumph of the Walking Dead

Praise for TRIUMPH OF THE WALKING DEAD! (Like any contributor to an anthology, I immediately scanned the review to see if I were singled out - and though I wasn't, I'd like to think I'm under the general appreciation of "professors who obviously spend a good deal of time away from the ivory tower")

Black December Sale Expands

Permuted Press has added MORE titles to its big end of the year sale!! Check them out here!!

New Review and Interview

Over at CASSIE'S HOUSE OF HORROR. A very literate read of the first DYING TO LIVE, and some unusual questions after. Thanks!

HUGE End of the Year Sale for Permuted eBooks

Check out this huge sale Permuted's putting on, in which they off FIVE new releases, and FIVE classic, Permuted Best Sellers (including my DYING TO LIVE: LIFE SENTENCE) for only $2.99 each in eBook formats, PLUS FIVE more Permuted titles completely FREE in eBook form!

If any of these interest you, and especially if you haven't read the DYING TO LIVE saga past the first volume, now's the time!!

Walking Dead - Mid Season Finale

Though I'm not really in favor of a "mid season finale" - but it looks like everyone from SNL to AMC has decided that right when I have a month off, so should they! (When really, if anything, I'd need more new television to watch in my down time!!)

No spoilers, except I'll stipulate at the beginning that I'll speak of the necessity of one character's death (and thereby reveal s/he's still alive at the end of the episode).

All right. The glacial pace finally picked up, and the violence finally erupted. All to good effect. But I think, really, to reveal what everyone is really up to, what they "value" or what kind of people they are. And that's good violence. That's the kind of violence that has me sit up, put my drink down, lean forward, and clench my fists. That's effective and they should be commended for it.

I think everything's come together around the "real" central question or issue of the show: The dead (or becoming dead) aren't the real problem - it's becoming a self-serving, narcissistic sociopath like Shane, who masquerades as a hero - that's the real issue, that's the real danger. Of course, how can someone shoot him in the face, w/o becoming a judgmental, self-righteous prick like he is? Quite a dilemma they've gotten themselves into, but I think a fruitful one.

And my God - how many times will that asshole ask for credit for what he's done (and enjoyed doing, too, I might add)? It's my baby! I saved you! I saved Carl! I didn't mean to leave Rick behind, and besides - he's just not cut out for this! Gimme, gimme, gimme! Wah, wah, wah.

Or, put more positively, I think the show now revolves around the question of how to be a leader (and the related question of democracy, as everyone marginally supports the idea that everyone gets a say). I don't think there's any question that Rick wins in this contest, in the abstract, but he's got to prove himself in the concrete, nitty-gritty of day-to-day existence:

Herschel: "I'll decide what what needs to be done for the community, because I'm older and wiser than anyone else."

Shane: "I'll decide who lives and who dies and how we live, because the rest of you dumbass weaklings just aren't up to the task!"

Rick: "I'll take point, I'll be drained dry of blood, I'll go out in the woods or into a zombie infested city to look for people who probably aren't even alive anymore; I'll even look the other way and pretend I don't know my so-called 'friend' has been boinking my wife, and her baby might be his, because otherwise the rest of you will just start fighting each other and we'll all die."

Yeah, Rick doesn't have a lot of competition in the leadership race.

Now, the other race that's heating up is the "Who gets to Shoot Shane in the Face in the Real Season Finale?" race! I like that race a lot! Rick remains the logical choice, but I give you others:

Carl: That'd be stone cold and so, so satisfying. That'd be the ultimate rejection of Shane's way of "life" (which is only a way of death and meaninglessness). That'd be the ultimate "Fuck you, I'd rather die than live the way you do, get away from me and my mom."

Lori: Similar to Carl's motives, but tainted by self-interest, guilt, and her desire to undo her mistake of hooking up with him.

Dale: I would've bet on him previously, and maybe he'll pull it together, but his speech tonight makes it sound like "no," he just can't do it.

Andrea: I don't think she'll pull the trigger, but I do think her loyalty will be crucial in the weeks to come. She's made it clear she admires Shane, but she also doesn't have all the info; maybe she'll side with him even when everything's revealed. She seems so damaged that it's conceivable. But maybe she was just vulnerable to his ripped-body, alpha-male protector charms, like Lori.

Glen: That'd be a "wow" moment. But they're building him up as quite the unexpectedly assertive guy who's sick and tired of being pushed around.

Maggie: The preview for the next episode made it look like a possibility, or I wouldn't have mentioned it.

Herschel: Another big "wow" moment if it could happen - the pacifist who won't kill zombies decides the living, macho asshole needs to be shot? Like Lori, tainted with revenge and selfish motives, but it'd be satisfying.

And, I think, we're all now pulling for...

DARRYL! - the racist, redneck criminal with a heart of gold shoots the handsome, psycho cop because it needs to be done? Yeah, that'd be a great finale!

So, I think you can tell, I'm rooting for Carl or Darryl!

Five Years?

I had not realized it was the Five Year Anniversary of my blog, until I glanced at the sidebar and saw the archives go back to November 2006! So there you go!

Snag yourself one of my zombie novels for the gift giving holidays this December! I'm especially happy with how VALLEY OF THE DEAD turned out (also an announcement relating to that will be coming soon) and the "emotional armageddon" (as one fan called it) of DYING TO LIVE: LAST RITES.

Thanks!

Metal Gods

JUDAS PRIEST! My gosh that was a good concert.

Books You Need This Holiday Season

First, a great and very detailed review of TRIUMPH OF THE WALKING DEAD. You really need this volume as you watch Season 2 each Sunday!

(And scroll back through my blog entries for the contest to win your copy!)

And then, you really, really need Carole Lanham's short story collection THE WHISPER JAR. She has an amazing voice and you'll love these stories.