Happy New Year!

Busy with holiday stuff for the last couple weeks, and also making more Facebook posts for miscellaneous, little updates like what I had for dinner or whatever. But the blog needs an end of the year recap, I suppose, together with prospects for 2011.

So, let's see how it goes!

For 2010:

The TPB of VALLEY OF THE DEAD was released to great reviews.

DYING TO LIVE was re-released in a new edition. (Some fans have asked if there was new material: the short answer is "no." If you want complete accuracy: I corrected some typos and took out two lines of dialogue that I regretted in the original.) So if you still shop at those "real" bookstores, run down there and get one before they're gone! (And from all recent news, it looks like B&N and Borders are in a race to be gone before my book sells out - so "they" in that sentence is ambiguous!) If, OTOH, you shop online, Amazon still has it for one-third off the cover price.

ORPHEUS AND THE PEARL was re-released by the nice people at BELFIRE PRESS, bound together with Dave Dunwoody's new novella NEVERMORE.

VOM UBERLEBEN UNTER ZOMBIES, the German edition of DYING TO LIVE was released by FESTA VERLAG to such robust sales that they immediately signed up for DIE TRAURIGKEIT DER ZOMBIES (DYING TO LIVE: LIFE SENTENCE).

On the academic side, AUGUSTINE AND PHILOSOPHY came out from Lexington Books.

So, not a huge year, but chugging along!

And coming in 2011:

DYING TO LIVE: LAST RITES will be out sometime in the spring, and it is already up for pre-order over at the B&N site, so click over and buy your copy (it's on a huge pre-order discount of 1/3 off right now).

FESTA VERLAG will release the German edition of DYING TO LIVE: LIFE SENTENCE (DIE TRAURIGKEIT DER ZOMBIES).

The Russian edition of VALLEY OF THE DEAD will be out from OLMA MEDIA.

My first (so far, only) non-zombie novel, CLOSES AT DUSK, will be published by BELFIRE PRESS sometime later in 2011.

On the academic side, AUGUSTINE AND PSYCHOLOGY should be out in late 2011.

There you go!

First Blurbs!

For the much anticipated Dying to Live: Last Rites!

"Last Rites is Kim Paffenroth at his absolute best. There is intelligence here, and injustice, and heartache, and even love. But most of all, there is a delicious irony, for Paffenroth’s zombies are in fact the good souls we all want to be…that we all believe we can be. They have lost their lives, yes, but in giving up their mortality, they seem to have gained a humanity the rest of us can only approximate. Paffenroth has made a name for himself by challenging readers’ expectations of what the zombie story should be, and Last Rites is no exception. But this time, he’s taken his message not just to our heads, but to our hearts as well, and the result is a haunting book you will not soon forget. "

- Joe McKinney, author of Dead City and Apocalypse of the Dead

"DYING TO LIVE: LAST RITES delivers a gritty dystopian nightmare that runs a crazy zigzag between the gross, the touching and the carnivalesque. A master of the genre, Paffenroth gives us equal parts horror and social commentary in a tale that crackles with startling insights about the human condition. "

- Alden Bell, author of The Reapers Are the Angels

"...insights about the human condition" - I think that's what great literature is about. (No, not that mine is "great literature" - but it's got glimpses of what makes some literature great, in the hands of a greater, more accomplished artist.)

Christmas Gifts - Away!

Going to the post office to send some undead cheer this season! First, to a dear friend from high school whom I recently reconnected with on Facebook, and then to our contest winners! Here are their winning and heartwarming stories of the zombie lovers in their lives!

From Niky:

I would give the books to my fiance' John. He is an avid reader of your books and his favourite is "Dying to Live" which I must admit after a couple of years and multiple reads, is quite dogearred and coffee stained. We heard about your work while we were members of Zach Recht's forum. I became quite close to Zach and he recommended your book to me, not only did I love it, but John did too (hence the state of the book). It would really mean a lot to me, to both of us, if I was successful and we won the books. John is my soulmate, and I know it would really make his Christmas to have a copy of your work and know that it was sent from the author.

From Nick:

I'd like to win a copy of one of your books for my brother-in-law Dave. He's the consummate zombie fan and nearly every time I see him he has something to say about Romero, the Walking Dead television series, or some graphic novel he's picked up in recent days/weeks---the problem is that I've heard it all before---at least if he were to get one of your books I'd be hearing about something new! Thanks!

From Chad:

First of all we’re from Pittsburgh, the home of the zombie. I’ve known Melanie for about 8 years now and she is a zombie/Horror fiend (has been forever!) (in fact I think Valley OT Dead is the only book of yours she doesn’t have…hmm?) We attend every horror convention, every zombie walk, and in fact were entered in the ugliest contest for the 10.10.10 Zombie gathering that won the world record for zombies attended. OK… so.. she loves zombies, you get that. Here’s why I would love to surprise her under the tree with your works of horror grandeur. We both swore not to “buy” each other anything for Christmas this year and instead spend what little we have on her 3 year old daughter Callie. While this is all fine and good in theory…. You know how it always turns out.. someone gets someone something and doesn’t tell the other, then the dude who says “I thought we weren’t doing Christmas this year” looks like an ass, OR, the exact opposite happens, and the dude gets something cool for his girl, and then she doesn’t get anything for him and feels terrible all day about it. Well.. this contest is the perfect fix-all! You see if I WIN her something she really wants, then I don’t get in trouble, and she doesn’t have to feel bad about not buying me anything. It’s so freak’n perfect! I was planning on just buying it for her, but your fun lil’contest is like a ray of hell from heaven!

Those are all pretty nice, and I hope your loved ones enjoy the books this Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Wordle

Some strange and pretty thing you can do, apparently, by plugging a document in and it generates this artwork from it!

M. C. Norris

Mike is a fellow contributor to the anthology HOLY HORRORS. Check out his new spiffy website!

Christmas Contest!

In the spirit of gift-giving, let's give away a couple books for Christmas!

Since this book will be a gift, it shouldn't be for the person entering, but for him/her to give! So let's do it this way:

Write a sentence or two about the zombie fan to whom you would give the book, if you won! Say why s/he would like to see this book under the tree! (Specify which of my books s/he'd most like, if you want.)

Send it to me at kimpaffenroth@msn.com with the subject line "Zombie Christmas." I'll chose the most touching/funniest/whatever.

To give me time to send it and have it arrive in time for the holiday, let's make the deadline DECEMBER 15, 2010! Thanks and good luck and Merry Christmas!

Submitted for Your Approval

Check out this other academic book on zombies, this time on the foreign policy implications!

And then, though it is non-zombie, read this delightful essay on Nietzsche and Melville and how we might be able to have a non-exclusivist culture/society that is nonetheless full of meaning, purpose, and beauty. What an optimistic way to start the week!

Various Publishing News!

The new collection of academic essays on apocalyptic themes in film, Reel Reveleations, just arrived in my mail box! Nice looking cover! If you're going to ask your library to order it, I guess it doesn't matter where they order - it'll be the (exorbitant) price of $90 (like most academic books). But if you want to snag a copy, be sure to go the publisher's website and log on as an "independent scholar"!

My copy of the NEWLY covered DYING TO LIVE: LIFE SENTENCE also came in the mail! Here's the AMAZON link (though it still shows the old cover and I'm not sure which one will come in the mail if you order today - but go ahead and order today!).

And the THIRD installment in the DYING TO LIVE saga is now available for pre-order HERE AT B&N at a HUGE discount (with a release date of MARCH 2011)!

There are at least two more, but I have to wait to make sure it's okay to announce them! Thanks!