Daniel Waters

Know Your Goals, 2011 Edition

2011-12-30T09:43:00.007-05:00

**Amazon has dropped their price on the Kindle edition of Generation Dead:Stitches to $2.69! That is less than a Venti coffee, I think. don't know how long that price will last, so get yers today!

People who know me well know that I am somewhat fanatical about the setting and achievement of goals. This personality quirk (some would say defect) appears to be at odds with the generally unfocused and haphazard nature of my day-to-day personality. But every year, the week before New Years' Eve, I enter into a ritual of self-reflection where I meditate for long hours on where I am and where I would like to be in life. At the end of this process, I leave the incense filled sweat lodge of my office with a list of goals for the coming year. Every night when my head hits the pillow, i will mentally review this list of goals. This nightly review isn't just a recitation; I will try to bring in sensory detail about the goals I'm shooting for--what it feels and looks like to work towards them, to achieve them, etc. I do this every night, without fail, no matter how tired i am or how many martinis, espressos, or snarky GoodReads reviews I've had before bedtime. And then I fall asleep. Eventually.

I end up thinking about these goals often, consciously and subconsciously, throughout my days. I keep a daily journal, and often I will comment upon some real-world (real, at least, to me) aspect of these goals, and then at the end of every month I check my progress and write a status update for each goal.

Please understand I'm not recommending these practices in a sort of motivational, self-helpy kind of way, or in an instructional "do this and and the secrets of the universe will be yours" sense. I'm not even suggesting the practice is sane. All I'm saying is that it is what I do, and it seems to help me get some positive results.

I had fifteen goals for 2011. Thought about them every night. Every single night, without fail. The Goal Police would be right to point out that not all of these goals meet the SMART criteria necessary for proper goal setting (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time bound). some, you may notice, might actually be just bordering on my sphere of influence. Ah well. I'll work on that for 2012

Here's how I did in terms of accomplishment.

1. Write Three Generation Dead Short Stories
I ended up writing four. Earlier in the year, a reader asked me why there weren't any Generation Dead ebooks. I asked the same question of my publisher, and offered to do a new story for each ebook. After they were out, another reader asked if the stories could be available separately, because she already had all of the books, so I suggested to the publisher that we bind them up and that I would write another new story to include. Stitches was the result; a project that I hadn't even thought of in 2010. Now readers are asking for a physical book. Did I mention I love readers?

2. Write Three Non-Generation Dead Short Stories
I should have this completed by the end of tomorrow.

3. Write Two Novel Outlines
My novel outlines usually end up around thirty pages long. I completed this goal.

4. Finish a Draft of Teenage Monster
This is a novel I began working on last year. I finished the draft and my agent and I are working on it now.

5. Finish a Draft of Another Novell
Top secret. I finished this goal.

6. Deliver Break My Heart 1000 Times to Hyperion
Done. Wrapping up the final edits. We're on track for a Fall 2012 release. I'll post the cover before long.

7. Undisclosed Business Goal
Accomplished, but I can't tell you about it! Sorry!

8. Have a Project Optioned for Film
Accomplished. More about that in the new year

9. Collaborate on a Comic Book Project
Not accomplished. I've had many conversations with my pal Matthew Dow Smith about this, and we keep talking about it, but he is a very busy man drawing Doctor Who and working on a number of thrilling writing projects. Maybe next year

10. Undisclosed Family Goal
Accomplished.

11. Increase My Internet Presence
Okay, I'll admit that one is kind of vague, which is probably why I consider it not accomplished. I have a few more blog followers than before, but I blog less. I'm on Twitter, but have very few people following (hint,hint). I'm not on Facebook as much, and I didn't do as many interviews or guest blogs as in years' past. But...I'm really okay with all of that. Weird.

12. Get my Office Together
I'm about 80% to goal. I have half of it painted, most of the necessary equipment is there, I have some art on the walls, it is looking and feeling comfortable. Another round of painting and a trip to IKEA and I'll be all set.

13. Read 100 Books
Arbitrary and doesn't speak to quality, I know. Too bad. I read a hundred and fourteen and will probably finish another tonight.

14. Lose 10% of My Body Weight
Accomplished! Lost 12%, actually. Next year my goal will be a running goal vs. a weight loss goal--I ran 812 miles this year. Running, swimming, basketball and a little weight lifting helped me hit this, because I still eat like a piggy.

15. Undisclosed Financial Goal
Accomplished

So of my fifteen, I hit twelve, made a great deal of progress on one, and failed on two. Not a bad year at all.

I'm looking forward to seeing what targets I will have for myself for 2012....

Stitch #4: Purpose Statement

2011-12-28T10:16:00.004-05:00

Last year I was happy to be involved with the Dear Bully project, which was put together by my friends Carrie Jones and Megan Kelley Hall. The initial idea for the Generation Dead series came out of my reaction to watching a television show about bullying in schools, and many of my story ideas for the world of GD involve some aspect of bullying. "Purpose Statement" is one story directly in that vein.

I foresee myself writing stories about pretty much all of the more peripheral characters in Generation Dead--since writing Stitches I've written one about Mal--and I've wanted to do a story about Popeye since introducing him in Kiss of Life (Tak will take his turn at bat soon also; I think there could be a whole book about him!) and "Purpose Statement" grew out of that desire.

It is one of the darkest tales in the whole series, but Popeye is one of the darkest characters I've written. I realize now that Margi's appearance in the story was to try and bring some light into that darkness. Popeye is one of those people who always feels that the world is against him, but unlike most people, he prefers it that way.

Stitch #3: My Dead Heart

2011-12-26T20:11:00.003-05:00

I'm sure I wasn't the only one that felt that Tommy and Phoebe had some unfinished business to attend to after Tommy hit the road in Kiss of Life. "My Dead Heart" is where their story picks up again.

I love working with different points of view; the Generation Dead novels have featured many different POV characters (only one character has been a POV character in all three books--do you know who?), but Tommy, oddly, has not been one of them, so I really wanted to have him take center stage in his homecoming story--especially because he hasn't blogged in a long time!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

2011-12-25T11:05:00.005-05:00

Don't forget to save $3.19 of your Amazon, B&N, or iTunes gift cards so you can download Generation Dead:Stitches! And eat a few candy caaaaaaanes!

Stitch #2: Doll Parts

2011-12-24T09:56:00.003-05:00

Writing this story was like scratching an itch--I'd left poor Sylvia in pieces at the end of Kiss of Life, and then she ended up on the cutting room floor (pun intended) in Passing Strange after I'd excised a long chapter that more fully resolved her situation than her brief cameo in the final book hinted at. I wasn't pleased with making the deletion at the time, but in retrospect the cut made more sense for the novel, and "Doll Parts" was the easiest of the four stories to write. I knew the tone I wanted, I knew the beginning the middle and the end, so all I needed to do was try to get the order of the words right.

My first publications for pay were horror short stories, and "Doll Parts" is similar in tone. And yes, for those of you who are aware of my worshipful love of Mystery Science Theater, the initial inspiration for the story did come from a movie they spoofed called The Brain that Wouldn't Die. That, and the idea that the existence of zombies would provide all sorts of challenges and opportunities to our medical community, some of which would not be approached with good intentions.

Stitch #1: How's Life

2011-12-23T07:41:00.005-05:00

My first writing sale, as in "I send you a story, you send me money", occurred two years before I sold Generation Dead. Although I had a number of stories "on the street", it was the only sale I made that year. I was paid seventeen dollars and thirty-one cents; the publisher paid by the word, much like the pulp magazines of old, a detail that somehow made the transaction seem more concrete and legitimate to me. They paid me on publication via Paypal, so I didn't have the thrill that I've often read about of making the lonely trek to the mailbox on the corner and finding the payment envelope within, but Then again I had the money. I then set for myself a business goal for my writing: I would try and double my writing income every year, so that the following year I would need to make $34.62, the next $69.24, then $138.42, etc. Doing the math out for ten years helped me feel like I had a pretty spectacular career on the horizon. I sold some horror stories and a horror music column the following year, enough to beat the $34.62 goal, and the year after that I was given a contract for Generation Dead and Kiss of Life, a contract that was worth quite a bit more than $69.24, so hooray for setting goals.

While working on those two books, I did not write any short stories. I wrote a few ideas down--I've got a roomful of story idea featuring GD characters-- but it wasn't until I was invited to submit a story to the Kiss Me Deadly anthology that I actually wrote one. I was thrilled with the way "Many Happy Returns" turned out, and writing it rekindle my passion for short stories. Writing the stories that ended up being included in Stitches was a pure pleasure, a nice break from working on novels, and a great opportunity to write different types of stories (one of the Stitches is a straight-up horror story) as well as explore some of the character relationships in a deeper way than I was able to in the novels.

"How's Life", the first story in the collection and the first of the four that I wrote, comes directly from that impulse to explore relationships. One thing that nagged me in the novels was that I didn't take more of an opportunity to work with Margi, especially how she worked to overcome the fear and loathing she has at the start of the series for zombies. It doesn't come out on the page as much as I would have liked, but in Kiss of Life especially I wanted to juxtapose Phoebe's instant acceptance of Adam with Margi's initial rejection of Colette. "How's Life" is a story of the emotional work that friends sometimes have to do to strengthen their friendships.

There was a song echoing in my mind when I was writing the story, "What is Life" by George Harrison. Perhaps wrongly, I've always assumed that song to be about the love between friends and not romantic love, and its tone and the sentiments express match closely what I hoped to convey in my story. Catch me in the right mood and I get all choked up listening to that very beautiful song.

I almost used his title as my title, but then I thought that "How's Life" was something Margi or Colette would be more likely to say to each other. I instead adopted George's no question mark technique in the title; omitting the question mark makes his song a declaration and I've always been in love with that semantic nuance.

I Saw My Skull

2011-12-21T08:21:00.002-05:00

I've only had real stitches once in my life--23 of them. Fifteen years ago or so I knocked heads with a guy while playing basketball. I split my forehead open; he got a concussion. Smashmouth athleticism! I literally could see my skull in the curving wound above my left eye; I touched it with two of my fingers. I was a gory mess. 'Cause guess what? Head wounds bleed a lot.

I was conscious and joking around, on an adrenaline high because of all of the slam dunks I'd been throwing down. About have a dozen medical staff gathered around to watch the doctor stitch me up, probably just because it was one of those cool non-life threatening wounds. I never took the Percocet they gave me.*

Stitches the book has nothing to do with that harrowing experience. I called it that because the stories link or "stitch" the novels together; "How's Life" occurs after GD but before KOL, "Doll Parts" happens after KOL but before PS, the last two happen after PS and before...??? Plus I liked Stitches as a title because I picture some zombies as being stitched up, Frankenstein-esque, sewn together by hands less skillful than those that stitched me.

Over the next few days, I will blog about each of the four stories in Stitches, now out at fine ebook sellers everywhere.

*This story is actually mostly true. Except for the slam dunk part.

Generation Dead:Stitches

2011-12-20T20:49:00.003-05:00

Out today in ebook! iBook,Kindle and Nook!

"How's Life"
"Doll Parts"
"My Dead Heart" (Exclusive to this collection!)
"Purpose Statement"

This one is dedicated (or is that deadicated?) to YOU. It's true! Buy a copy if you don't believe me!

My Wild Life, Part LXI

2011-11-26T17:49:00.001-05:00

Even more to be thankful for

My Next Novel

2011-11-20T21:31:00.002-05:00

My next novel is a ghost story; it will be out sometime next year.Yes, I'm in counting down the days mode again.

I took this photo today.

Get All Stitched Up

2011-11-18T20:02:00.002-05:00

Available for preorder at many fine e-tailers!

New Bookstore Alert

2011-11-03T12:54:00.005-04:00

You may not know this, but I worked for the Borders corporation for a number of years. So when they closed the doors forever a few weeks ago, my reaction was melancholy mixed with I told you so. But they were mostly happy years slangin' books, and less bookstores in the world can never be a good thing, whatever my personal feelings about my previous employer (”That's for employing me for twelve years!", Homer says as he flips a Molotov cocktail over his shoulder, firebombing the bridge to the power plant as he rides his golf cart into the parking lot and...to the future.

Anyhow.

News like THIS makes me very happy. New bookstores rising up from the ashes of the old, very thrilling. If you live within a hundred miles of The Book Frog, please go there and buy some books. Or frogs. Or books about frogs.

Separated at Birth?

2011-10-30T20:22:00.005-04:00

Takayuki:

Richard Harrow (Boardwalk Empire):

Dan:

There is a downloadable Richard Harrow mask I found somewhere on the web--you can also get the mark that he wears, so your mask can have a mask, get it> If I wasn't obviously scary enough, I think that I would enjoy being Richard or Takayuki for Halloween.

I'm actually watching a lot of television lately; there's a lot of good story-based entertainment on at the moment, and Boardwalk Empire may be the best of the bunch. Jack Huston is spectacular as sensitive and scarred killer Richard Harrow.

Generation Dead in the UK

2011-10-27T16:57:00.003-04:00

Amazon UK and Simon and Schuster UK is having a sale on the Kindle edition of Generation Dead. It is on sale for a mere £1.99!

So if you live in the UK you can get yours

HERE

I believe the sale runs until the 1st of November.

The Rainbow Bridge

2011-10-19T11:20:00.001-04:00

Appearances by Me and Other Strange Creatures

2011-10-10T16:27:00.003-04:00

I will be at the SW CT Youth Book Expo signing books and hanging around this Saturday with a horde (some would say a ravenous horde) of fellow authors of books for young people. More info is HERE

Also,I discovered that my pet is the rarest of dog breeds. I give you: the treagle!

Young Zombies in Love and Peril

2011-09-10T15:00:00.004-04:00

Is there really a difference?

Generation Dead: Stitches

Four short stories:

"How's Life"
"Doll Parts"
"My Dead Heart"
"Purpose Statement"

Release date 12/20/11, initially only in ebook!

With so many of you set to receive iPhones, iPads, Kindles, Kobos, Nooks,and all manner of e-reading devices for the holidays, make sure you save a whopping $3.99 left on your gift cards for this new Generation Dead release.

Just check out these advance reader comments:

"It will leave you in...wait, can I say the title of the book in a blurb? Is that ok? Or is that stupid? Shut up you guys! I've never blurbed before!" --Margi Vachon, Perky (but not Mall) Goth

"It will...knock...you..dea...forget it, I'm not...saying...that. Idiot." --Adam Layman, Hometown hero, zombie of utmost integrity

"My only comment is that I regret the stories won't be released concurrently in physical book form, so that my disciples could build a great pyre of the entire print run. Every copy--and every character, if they are around. There's nothing like a roaring blaze fueled by the bodies of the damned to kindle the holiday spirit." --Reverend Nathan Mathers, leader of One Life Ministries and professional hater

(Menacing Glare)--Takayuki Niharu, bon vivant

"I feel as though...my personal privacy has been...invaded. You had no...right...to publish...my deepest...thoughts...about Phoebe. I will be...blogging...about this." Tommy Williams, undead activist

Coming Soon!

2011-08-31T22:07:00.003-04:00

Salem Literary Festival

2011-08-04T22:59:00.005-04:00

I've been asked by the one of the wonderful editors of DEAR BULLY (click the link for maximum Beiber and info on the book and it's raison d'etre), Megan Kelley Hall (visit her here:Megankelleyhall.com to sit in on a panel promoting the book and the cause at the Salem Literary Festival in mega-awesome Salem, MA. I have an essay in Dear Bully that tells the secret origin of the Gen Dead series. I'm glad to go, because both Megan and Salem* rock.

Also rockin' is Megan's co-editor Carrie Jones, who you can visit at her website here: CarrieJonesBooks.com. One thing I know about Carrie is that she really likes Grover. Like, a lot.

The Festival is Sept. 23-25. I hope that I will see you there.

*Special Salem/Gen Dead trivia: both Increase and Cotton Mather had a role in the Salem Witch Trials** I loosely based my arch-bioist character Reverend Nathan Mather on some of their less pleasant beliefs and personality quirks.

**Special bonus book recommendation: track down the Shirley Jackson book on the Salem Witch Trials, a very quick and insightful read. Then read her novels. All of 'em.

Dead Kiss

2011-08-01T16:35:00.004-04:00

I'm told this comes out next week in the U.K.:

Not a new story, but a compilation of Generation Dead and Kiss of Life. A great, low cost entry point for readers new to the series, or for those who want another flower for their bouquet.

But speaking of new story, there will be some new Generation dead material soon. Ever wonder what would happen when Tommy returns to Oakvale from his time on the road? I bet it involves Phoebe!

What I Did Over My Summer Vacation

2011-07-27T11:50:00.009-04:00

Part of it, anyway. I went to NECon, a Writers' conference held every summer in Rhode Island. I've been going for a few years now with my pal, the writer and artist Matthew Dow Smith (currently working his magic with Doctor Who), and I always look forward to this event and to get a chance to catch up with friends, meet new people, and socialize with some of my heroes. This year I moderated a panel: "Dark YA Fiction: Get Them While They Are Young". My panel was stocked with talent--F. Paul Wilson, Jim Moore, Chris Golden and filmmaker Mark Steensland, whose middle grade debut Behind the Bookcase comes out next fall from Delacorte Press. The panel was just one of the many highlights of a fun an inspiring weekend.

This was another:

Every year I play cards at the con and compete for medals that are designed by the con's Artist Guest of Honor. This years' guest was Steven Gilberts, whose work I adore, and I was lucky enough to win the bronze medal that he designed, above. I also bought one of his prints of a painting called Mechanics of Autumn Discourse. You can check out much of Steve's awesome artwork at Steve's websiteHERE.

My Wild Life, Part XIII

2011-07-17T15:04:00.008-04:00

It can't be all zombies and ghosts, can it? How about some other strange creatures, like hummingbirds? Two or three of them visit us on the patio at dinner--here's some photos:

Dinner Time

The Approach

Vampire Bird?

Drinking Deep

Bye, Kids!

Other People's Blogs and Giveaway

2011-07-14T22:30:00.003-04:00

I did a guest post over at The Bookish Brunette, a blog that--without hyperbole--contains some of the best book blogging I have read of late, especially for YA (the blog in general, not necessarily my post). If you would like a chance to win the signed copy of Passing Strange that we are giving away, or you are curious as to what the title of my first non-GD novel from Disney will be, check out my post at The Bookish Brunette!

R and R

2011-07-09T13:46:00.003-04:00

Passing Strange comes out in paperback next week; don't forget to buy copies for all of your closest friends (and a few of your enemies--maybe the gift will soften their hearts).

I've a number of good news items on the horizon that I'll be posting soon. In the meantime, enjoy this horizon. I certainly did.

Wrote it, Can't Read It

2011-05-28T14:42:00.003-04:00

But it makes me about seven kinds of happy...

The Turkish edition of Generation Dead, a few copies of which came in the mail today!

Music Recommendation of the Day

2011-05-05T21:24:00.004-04:00

One of my favorite musicians, Joe Frawley, has a new CD out. Joe's music is so unique that it defies easy description; both cerebral and emotive, a fascinating mix of fresh composition and found sounds. I haven't yet heard his newest release Carnival, but I have yet to be disappointed with any of his music.

You can check out the new release HERE

May is Margi Month

2011-05-01T09:49:00.004-04:00

Many thanks to Kirsten H., who sent in this lovely artwork of Margi, who wraps up a story on mysocalledundeath. I think it really captures her special spark!

Generation Dead Around the World

2011-04-21T19:50:00.003-04:00

Received a bunch of these, the Spanish edition of Passing Strange, in the mail the other day, and they look sweet. Weirdly, they are almost twice as thick as Beso De Vida and Generacion Dead even though the page count is nearly the same. Super thick paper, I guess.

A few quick notes:

**I mailed out all of the contest winners' books last week, so hopefully they should have arrived or will arrive in a day or so.

**A few of you asked about the Gen Dead series for Nook, because those editions were not available the same day the Kindle editions were; they are all available now.

**The Unicorn Conference was a great time, and I met and hung out with a number of fun industry professionals and promising writers. Thanks again to Jan and staff for having me and to Christopher Golden for passing my name along.

**I have become obsessed with acquiring an Apple iPad 2, but have been holding out for a specific one. My friend laughs at me when I say that I will never download a game (did I mention I find video games very addictive?) but I insist it is true.

**Once I have said iPad, I will probably begin using my Twitter account, which I've had for quite awhile but never used before. I don't really even know how to tell you where to find me on Twitter; I think my Twitter ID is WatersDan. I've never sent a tweet before but expect to be chirping with the best of them.

GenDead Around the World

2011-04-06T22:11:00.003-04:00

I am informed by members of the European and South American branches of the After Party that this will be out on April 7:

If you find yourself in a Spanish speaking country, by all means go to the local bookstore and buy two or three copies, just to be safe.

Unicorns, Writers, and Winners

2011-03-29T20:36:00.008-04:00

I will be a guest speaker at the Unicorn Writers' Conference at Saint Clements Castle in Portland, CT this April 9th. A Castle? Unicorns? Writers? All that was missing was a troll for under the drawbridge, which was why they called me.

Actually, they called me at the suggestion of my friend Christopher Golden. Chris is multi-talented, multi-faceted author who has produced great work in a variety of genres and styles and you should check out his website href="http://www.christophergolden.com/index2.html">HERE

True story--the very first book I was given as a recommendation by an encouraging editor when I began to submit YA work was a book Chris wrote with Tom Sniegoski. My book deal materialized about a year later--coincidence, or conspiracy???

If you are interested in the Unicorn Writers' Conference and perhaps in conversing with a troll ("Answer me these riddles three..."), then visit the Conference site HERE

Regarding the big e-book contest, here are the final three winners from last week:

krazykittymatt!

Jennifer D.!

Carole M.!

Thank you all for your work making the After Party such a success!

With luck, I will mail out the books next week. Also, this weekend I will be picking the winner of the grand prize--the entire Generation Dead series, signed, in hardcover! Stay tuned

Generation Dead Series E-Books Released!

2011-03-22T21:41:00.008-04:00

The Generation Dead Series is Finally available in electronic editions, and each title has a brand new Generation Dead Short Story!

"How's Life"

Order Generation Dead for Kindle from Amazon and get the new short story "How's Life" HERE

"Doll Parts"

Order Kiss of Life for Kindle from Amazon and get the new short story "Doll Parts" HERE

"Purpose Statement"

Order Passing Strange for Kindle from Amazon and get the new short story "Purpose Statement" HERE

Stay tuned to My So-Called Undeath! Margi has an update on her mystery that she will post tomorrow!

Even More Winners! Plus Sneak Peak #3

2011-03-21T14:56:00.013-04:00

Sunday's Winner: Shy_yet_Talkative_Girl! A frequent poster, here, there and everywhere--thank you for your work with the After Party!

Monday's Winner: Yes, people really do win on Mondays. Just ask Aamna M., who will be receiving a signed copy of Passing Strange! Many thanks, Aamna!

Release date for the electronic editions is tomorrow, but we're picking winners all week. For details on how to enter, check HERE

SPECIAL SNEAK PEAK OF BONUS SHORT STORY #3

"Purpose Statement" takes place after the events of Passing Strange--"life" in the GenDead world continues on! Tommy is back in Oakvale after his world-changing trip across the country and to D.C., where he successfully implored lawmakers to grant the differently biotic some basic rights--including the right to attend school! "Purpose Statement" follows the trials and tribulations of one of Oakvale High's newest undead students--Chadwick Sebastien Appleton, who you all know as Popeye. After a confrontation with TC leads to an after school challenge, Popeye decides he is going to teach him and his fellow students a lesson they won't soon forget.

Winners! And Sneak Peak #2

2011-03-19T23:35:00.003-04:00

Friday's winner: Jenyfer H.! Thank you, Jenyfer!

Saturday's winner: Quinn! Thank you for your thoughtful post, Quinn! One signed copy of Passing Strange going your way! Thank you for all you've done for the After Party!

The contest runs through Saturday of next week--plenty of time to get your entries in and win, win, win. See how right HERE.

SPECIAL SNEAK PEAK OF BONUS SHORT STORY #2

Just what happened to Sylvia when she went through the mysterious--and horrifying--process known as the Augmentation? What--or who--was going through her mind during procedures that literally took her body apart? Find out in "Doll Parts", the bonus short story that will appear in the electornic edition of Kiss of Life!

More Free Stuff & Sneak Peak

2011-03-17T14:58:00.007-04:00

And the next signed copy of Passing Strange goes to Marie R. Yay, Marie! Thank you for your tireless dedication and work with the After Party!

You can still enter the contest: Details HERE

SPECIAL SNEAK PEEK OF BONUS SHORT STORY #1:

Have you ever wondered exactly what happened the day that Colette Beauvoir tragically lost her life? And did you ever wonder how she and Margi began to deal with the trauma of her return? How's Life, a new short story that will appear in the electronic edition of Generation Dead, will address these questions, and more. Join Colette and Margi--and many other GenDead cast members!--as they step out onto the thin ice of their new post-life friendship!

Contest Update! And the First Winner is...

2011-03-16T17:02:00.003-04:00

And the first signed hardcover copy of Passing Strange goes to After Party founding member Jennifer R.! Many thanks, Jennifer!

I'll be giving away loads (wee, another dozen, anyway) more books--if you haven't entered the contest yet you still can--all you have to do is blog, Tweet, FB, or otherwise post to the magical land of the Internet something about the Generation Dead series being released on March 22nd. Each new release comes with a brand new GenDead short story! OMZ!!!

For full details, see my previous announcement HERE

Generation Dead: The Movie

2011-03-08T22:42:00.002-05:00

The long awaited. This cast is spectacular, but Pete will always hold a special place in my heart.

The After Party and Goal Update

2011-03-05T18:50:00.004-05:00

My pal Dee submitted "The Afterlife of the Party" for the "name the Virtual Street Team" contest, which I'm modifying to "The After Party". Free book for Dee! But I think Dee has signed copies of all my books--would you like spanish Kiss of Life, Dee? I think I have a few of those. Hit me on my email!

For those of you wanting to be members of The After Party, there's only one requirement, and it isn't a pulse (pulses are totally optional). All you have to do is tweet, blog, or post somewhere on the Internet that the Generation Dead series is being released in electronic editions on March 22. Drop me a line or a comment letting me know where you've posted, and you could win all sorts of free zombie-ness.

Each one of the new editions will have a brand new short story. Here are the top secret titles, only available to members of The After Party (if you aren't in the After Party, avert your eyes!):

"How's Life" will appear in Generation Dead

"Doll Parts" will appear in Kiss of Life

"Purpose Statement" will appear in Passing Strange

These stories also represent the completion of one of my fifteen goals that I set for myself at the beginning of the year (remember: goals, not resolutions), which was to write three Generation Dead short stories (one of my other goals is to write three non Generation Dead stories). At the time I'd set the goal, I had no idea we'd be including them with the electronic editions; I'd just had such a good time with "Many Happy Returns", the GenDead story I wrote for the Kiss Me Deadly anthology that I wanted to write some more. That was my only purpose at the time I set the goal--to have fun. That I get the chance to share that fun with readers on their nooks and kindles and iPads makes it even more fun.

So far, that is the only of the fifteen that is completed. Does that mean panic has begun, with two months of the year (including my arch nemesis February) expired? A resounding "no!" as I've made signifigant process on ten of the remaining fourteen. I've read fourteen books towards my "Read a hundred books" goal, most recently a biography of the cartoonist Charles Addams and If I Die in a Combat Zone by Tim O'Brien. Another goal is to "lose 10% of my year-end 2010 body weight by the time we open the pool"; I'm happy to report I'm 7% lighter with a few months to go. As far as writing goals, I think I'm going to finish the draft of a new YA novel by the end of March, which would allow me to scratch another item off my list.
Sweeeeet.

A Chat with Shels

2011-03-03T23:07:00.003-05:00

I'm not sure if you are aware of these facts, but I am available for interviews, guest lectures, conferences, school visits, trivia contests, voiceover work, avatar photos, bat and bar mitzvahs, workshops, kissing booths, dunking booths, pickup basketball games, furniture moving, weddings, dance contests, critter evictions, dj'ing, poker games, chats, and general clowning. Serious inquiries only.

Here's a recent interview I did with Shels on the Walter Rhein blog: Click me! Click me!

GENERATION DEAD EBooks in just 19 days!!!!

Virtual Street Team and CONTEST!!!

2011-02-21T20:19:00.004-05:00

Next month, the Generation Dead series will finally be available in electronic editions in the U.S., and I'm hoping that you (yes, you--the one with the cute hat, and also you there in the purple, and the one who had the Cobb salad for dinner, and you, who always sits on the left hand side of the bus near the window in the third seat--all y'all, actually) will help with the "launch".

I will be giving many wonderful prizes to randomly selected people who blog, tweet, Facebook, or post info about the upcoming editions. Any old post will do. "I read a moldy dead tree version of Kiss of Life and I liked it, and now it is coming out on the Kindle" or "I'm really excited to read the new ebook edition of Passing Strange" or "The GenDead series made me wish I was dead, and not in a zombie way, but you should think for yourself and give the new electronic editions a chance on March 22." Anything along those lines. I'll be googling "Generation Dead series ebooks", but you could post a comment here on my blog or on my Facebook page to make it easier to find you.

Also, one mention would be nice--two at the most; one prior to launch and one on launch day. I'm torn between my desire to "get the word" out to reach new readers vs. creating an obnoxious spamtastic (spamsmodic?) advertising campaign. If I see a book recommendation pop up from a writer or a Facebook friend or a blogger I read it makes me happy and I may act on the recommendation. If I see the same recommendation from the same person every day for two weeks, I assume that they have been replaced by a Pod Person and I never take their recs again. So if you are so moved--I'd appreciate a quick plug. But please, no spamination.

As far as the goodies go:

I'll be giving away a signed copy of Passing Strange every day during the week the ebooks launch to randomly selected members of the Virtual Street Team (which needs a cool zombie-themed name--a signed copy of PS to whoever gives me the best one!!!).

One Virtual Street Team member will receive the complete signed GenDead series in hardcover!. I haven't decided how I'll pick the winner of that one--most clever post? The post that gets the greatest number of responses and comments? Someone I like?

And to help you help me help you help me, here are some interesting facts about the new releases:

Each title will contain a special, brandy new GenDead short story written just for these editions! Wow!

All three books--Generation Dead, Kiss of Life, and Passing Strange--drop on March 22!

Each edition will contain all of the zombie-riffic words that were in the print editions (unless we find any mistakes that need correcting)! Plus as noted above, brandy new short stories!

These new editions will be completely impervious to your little brother leaving abig Cheeto thumbprint on them!

So again, if you want to help with the launch, blog, post, text, status update, vlog, IM, chat or otherwise Internet-thingy "Generation Dead series ebooks" and "March 22". Wonderful prizes await!

GenDead Around the World

2011-02-13T09:42:00.004-05:00

And here I'll take a break from posting paperback covers from my library to posting one of my own covers. Here is the cover for the Turkish edition of Generation Dead, out this month from Artemis:

Great Paperbacks I Have Loved-- the Work of Shirley Jackson

2011-02-13T00:09:00.011-05:00

I'm still loading up Expedit, reordering, re shelving, etc. And reading. Reading, reading, reading.

Today I'm posting images of the editions of Shirley Jackson paperbacks I love. My first introduction to Shirley Jackson was through the works of Stephen King; when I was a young reader I loved King, and I wanted to read what he read, and so his book Danse Macabre was like the Rosetta Stone of horror (and to a large extent, science fiction). He was the first author that I would hunt around for every scrap of writing, every review, and every interview, and Kind was always extremely generous in sharing his passions about what he read. The reading list from Danse Macabre was where I started, and one of the first books I read on the list was The Haunting of Hill House, which to this day remains one of my favorite novels, and created a life-long love of haunted house stories. I'll read just about any haunted house story that comes my way, but few even come close to the perfect gem that is The Haunting of Hill House (I just finished writing a haunted house novel, hopefully coming soon to a bookstore near you.

This is isn't the edition I first read, but it is my favorite of the three I own. The cover is a still from the movie The Haunting , which I thought was a pretty good adaptation of the novel. I read this edition again every couple years.

I posted the cover of We Have Always Lived in the Castle last blog, but The Sundial is a close third for me. Nothing like an end of the world dark comedy to cheer one up:

Here's the psychedelic cover of The Bird's Nest, a novel of split personalities:

I just this moment realized how much it reminds me of the cover of Ssssh by Ten Years After:

Groovy, Man.

Here's Hangsaman:

Which someone smarter than me could draw parallels with Catcher in the Rye, except in this Holden is a girl, and instead of doing madman stuff actually does insane stuff.

Hmm, I still haven't found my neat old copy of The Road through the Wall, and I can't find the cover online--I'll scan it when it turns up!

But then, there's this:

Great title, great cover. Think I'll read it again.

Unpacking My Mind

2011-01-30T22:27:00.012-05:00

Today my son and I built Expedit from IKEA. I got the one that is four by four squares, and the squares are pretty deep, too. Perfect for my monstrous and somewhat absurd paperback collection, which has been mostly boxed up since we moved this summer. I started unpacking and shelving, as part of my mad plan to have the ultimate basement office, but I have to admit that it wasn't too long until I got, um, sidetracked by some of the great books I've collected over the years. Every book I have tells two stories, to me--the story within the pages and a piece of the story of my life when I was reading it. Books like this one:

That's the original title. I love cover art and book design, and when the story is great as this one is, well then, everyone wins.

Ah, Raymond Chandler. As much as I love this edition, which I found at a used bookstore for a dollar this year, I actually like these better:

Mainly because those were the editions I read when I was a kid; I love the Deco-ish lettering and cover art. I picked one up because I was watching the Philip Marlowe shows on HBO starring Powers Boothe and I instantly was hooked, for life, on the stories.

Then there's these, which I have a couple hundred of:

I've often said that Stephen King, Gary Gygax, and Bill Gaines were the three most influential men that I wasn't related to in my life when I was a kid.

I've got over a hundred of these, too:

Still not a complete set, though. I guess I could get the few I'm missing off ebay, but where's the fun in that? Used bookstores and yard sales for me.

Although I did get this one off Amazon or abebooks or one of them:

Jack Yeovil is actually Kim Newman, who is one of my favorite writers working today. I think this is his first novel.

And then there's this:

What a cover! Unlike my Mad and Doc Savage collections, I do have a complete set of old Shirley Jackson paperbacks. I'll buy any of the old ones that I see because I give them away often (and read them to death, it turns out). Her ouerve, although not huge, had a huge influence on me.

Every book I unpack is like a brick, or cornerstone, of the city of my mind. I first read Czar of Fear, above, when I was about ten, and read it again in my twenties when I got it in my head that it would be a good idea to read them all again, in order. I read The Bedside Mad at least a hundred times between the ages of eight and fifteen, and probably a dozen since in various formats. The one I read the most though wasn't this one but the one with the Norman Mingo cover. I read the Yeovil/Newman book late 2009, after I went on a quest to read everything that he's written (still working on it, but The Original Dr. Shade (and other tales) is supposedly in the mail. Jackson and Chandler I read very young and re-read every few years.

I'm about a third of the way unpacked...

Two Questions

2011-01-26T20:48:00.003-05:00

I recently heard a profile on NPR on a new biography of one of my literary heroes, J.D. Salinger, and during the segment it was mentioned that he tromped all over Europe--and into combat--during WWII while carrying the manuscript of Catcher in the Rye with him. I came across an article regarding the new book, and the article mentioned that on a few occasions ole J.D. sought out Hemingway to discuss writing (as well as mentioning a recollection of J.D. taking cover under a table during a shelling so he could keep typing!). Those stories made me intensely happy, the first because it is an insight into the obsessive and passionate nature of my hero, a nature I believe is required to create art, and the second because I believe it is an insight into the humility and desire to learn that is required on the path towards creating art.

I can picture Salinger going to the by now widely published, and highly regarded Hemingway--what was going on in his head, what he hoped to learn, what he hoped to share. I can picture it because I've done it myself, time and again, not with Hemingway of course but with a multitude of writers whose work I loved and respected.

I don't believe for a moment that Salinger went to Hemingway with the intention of asking him how to get published, or if he could recommend a good agent, or if he could provided the names and numbers of contacts who could truncate his path to publication. These topics may have come up, but that would not have been the reason why Salinger went to Hemingway.

Salinger's questions would have been around the work itself--how did you create what you've created? What was going through your head, and how did you get it on the page? Why did you write it? And there would have been an exchange; it would not have been Papa pontificating without Salinger taking the time to discuss his thoughts on process, on story, on work habits and on why he needed to carry that manuscript around with him, through the explosions and the flames.

Okay, maybe my romantic notions spill all over reality and their conversations weren't anything like what I just described. Maybe the little vignette I just related, stitched together from radio and print fragments, is just a fantasy that allows me to point out the differences in the questions that aspiring writers, like Salinger was, like I was, (heck, like Hemingway himself was), ask of those who are professionals: there is a world of difference between "how do I get published?" and "how do I write something great?".

One of those questions is everything to a writer. Figure out the answer to the important question, and the answer to the lesser one will arrive before too long.

Flying High Again

2011-01-21T00:18:00.002-05:00

Flew home from San Diego this morning, leaving my hotel room at 4 a.m. I am not a morning person. Fortunately, I fell asleep at seven the previous night.

Good thing I did, too, because I woke up ready write. Once I checked in at the airport, I ate a bunch of eggs. And I wrote. And I wrote. And I wrote. Then I boarded the plane, bidding goodbye to weather so beautiful it hurt. Then I wrote. And I wrote. I listened to music, and I wrote.

Eventually I landed in Atlanta, where I ate a sandwich and wrote. And wrote. Boarded the plane, wrote some more. I've been handwriting lately, something I haven't done in about five years. For whatever reasoin, it is really working out for me. At the end of the day I had fifty yellow legal pad pages--the drafts of one new short story, and another chapter or so of a new book I'm working on.

Maybe I should just turn my office into a guest bedroom, hang out in airports and fly all over the country. I'd probably get more done.

A Complex Math Problem

2011-01-11T20:28:00.004-05:00

Here are the facts:

I have 888 songs on an iPod playlist I call Blast! that I play on shuffle. This is the playlist that I workout to.

I workout on the treadmill for an hour about five times a week (since Thanksgiving).

I run somewhere between 5.5-6.0 miles during that hour.

The songs on Blast! range between 1 minute 23 seconds ("Walk Among Us", by The Misfits) to 11 minutes 15 seconds (Black #1, by Type O Negative).

All but 19 of the 888 songs on Blast! are the finest hard rock, punk or metal songs from my vast, vast collection.

In the interest of full disclosure, many metal purists would call quite a few of these songs "false metal".

At least seven of the 888 songs are cover songs. Of these, two of the originals also made the playlist.

The newest song that I've added to Blast! is "Say You'll Haunt Me" by Stone Sour, which is Corey from Slipknot's other band. The name of Slipknot's fan club is "Dead Generation". I am not a member.

Conundrum: How is it that, invariably, I listen to exactly 16 songs during my workout?

This Year Will be Different, part XLII. And Also, Please Help Me Out With This

2011-01-08T19:09:00.006-05:00

2011 is already giving me every indication of being a banner year, writing career-wise. The first week of the year is just over I've already had a couple of pieces of good news regarding some future publications that I'll be blogging about in the near future.

I did my usual year-end review of the past, and decided that it was a pretty good year overall, goal-wise. A few of the goals I knocked off last year: selling our house, buying a new house, and moving (about 98% of the credit for these accomplishments goes to my beautiful wife, who was able to handle contractors, realtors, inspectors and an insane husband with grace and aplomb). I was also able to scratch "Foreign language publication" off my list, in a year that saw Generacion Dead and Beso de Vida released in Spain. I was thrilled to have a short story published in the Kiss Me Deadly anthology, fulfilling yet another long-held goal. I didn't hit my whole list--in fact, I failed miserably at a number of the things I wanted to achieve--but, onward and upward. Bury your dead (unless they are differently biotic dead) and move on.

The second part of my New Years' ritual is the annual gaze into the future Looks bright, very bright. Note to self: buy sunglasses, wear sunscreen. I try to project what I want my year to look like and what I want to accomplish. I delivered my goals for the next year to myself (I'm a stern taskmaster) a few hours before the ball dropped. Or the Snooki dropped. Whatever it was we dropped this year. I reviewed what I had submitted, and we decided that the fifteen goals that I'd submitted were good ones. A nice mix of creative, business, family and personal goals, a few of them were holdovers from last year that I didn't accomplish--I'm determined to do a film project and a comic book/graphic novel project, and although I've done a lot of blah blah blah about both, nothing has happened yet.

I enjoy this process, I really do. And it always seems something like magic to me when one of the goals clicks into place--last week, just a few days after writing them, the mechanism to complete goal #4 clicked into place, clear out of the blue.

Anyhow, here's where the "please help me out" comes in. A bit of patience, if you please.

One of my goals, #14 is

"Renew focus on my Internet/Blog/Social Media Presence"

What does that mean, exactly? And why is that a goal for me?

Well, here's what it means now:

A.Continue to answer all reader emails and Facebook posts (I do pretty good with this one. I might miss a few, but I try my best)

B.Blog on DanielWaters.com at 52 times this year (I did horribly last year; 23 blogs in 2010, down from 77 the year before)

C.Have Tommy and the gang blog on mysocalledundeath.com 26 times this year (again, horrible--12, down 28 from last years' 40)

D. Update my status on Facebook three or four times a week (I probably do something like that now)

E. Continue to do the occasional online interview/guest blog when invited and schedule permits. I think I did a dozen or so of these last year, the most recent of which is Here at The Book Smugglers and is about my favorite YA book of the year.

I guess that is actually a bunch of little goals within the bigger/vague-er goal. So, why? Why do I want to commit myself to doing all that work this year?

Mainly because of something I realized when I went weeks and sometimes even months without blogging:

I miss it.

I miss it. I like blogging, and I love the interactivity of blogging; I said a lot of what I wanted to say about the topic in this School Library Journal Article Here and I'm kind of shocked, embarrassed and disappointed with myself for being such a slacker. Yeah, Inner Voice #8 is saying, you moved, you took a job, you have pre-teen kids, etc. etc. And then Inner Voices #3 and #7 say, "Shut up, inner voice #8. We don't make excuses here. And will you please put the cap back on the soda bottle tightly?"

So, a plea for help. Help keep me honest and on track with my goal. And if you are so inclined, let me know what you like me to blog about, and what bores the heck out of you. Let me know wheat it is that you like in your "Internet Relationships" with other authors, and what you don't (I should mention that I'm a little scared of Twitter; let me know if I need to get over that fear. Should I do a newsletter? Write about what I'm reading? Write about writing? Offer a free story here and there? Write about writing about writing? Create humorous videos? More dog photos (we have a second beagle now). Music? As I type this, "The Living Dead" by the London Suede is on, appropriately enough. That song nearly always moves me to tears. I'm thinking I should pretty up this site a bit, too. What else should I be doing? What do you think?

What do you think?

I'd like to end with a shout out to Brendan Halpin, who's blog Here directly inspired my fourteenth goal.

Bully for Me

2010-12-12T18:58:00.003-05:00

I'll have an entry in an upcoming project from Harper Collins called Dear Bully: 70 Authors Tell Their Stories, which was put together by fellow writers Carrie Jones and Megan Kelley Hall, neither of whom had to bully me into contributing.

You can read all about the project here

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T09:22:00.004-04:00

People have sent me numerous emails this year telling me that they are going out with Generation Dead themed costumes (yay!). Supposedly, there will be hordes of Karens,Phoebes,Taks, and even one Mal out there on the streets getting treats.

Sometimes people will provide the evidence, like S. did here with her awesome Margi costume:

Other times people will send me evidence of their zombification, as BlueMonkie here did:

Have a safe and happy Halloween! White vans don't have candy!

True Tales of Terror

2010-10-25T13:27:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow I'll have a guest post at totalbookaholic dot blogspot dot com. Jessica, who runs that fantastic site, asked for a true paranormal story so I gave her one.

Be advised that it is kind of scary. And true.

Seriously.

I like Pretty Pictures

2010-09-27T16:36:00.004-04:00

This was done by Leti, a reader from Spain who tells me that Beso de Vida will be available there on October seventh! Thanks, Leti!

Know Your Goals: Or, the Thrilling Story of My Facebook Profile Picture

2010-09-11T13:55:00.010-04:00

I changed my Facebook profile picture the other day. I think I've been on Facebook a couple years now and I've been blogging about a year after that. It is the only time I have ever changed my picture, and quite likely I will never change it again. I'm impressed and amazed by the frequency that most people change their profiles, but I just don't have the energy. For that, anyway.

Here's my new photo, which my wife took of me two years ago:

While this might look like a casual snap of me staring off into space or taking a snooze, it was actually a very staged photo, one that was a celebration of sorts for my wife and I. It was meant to look like this:

That's Don Was,a musician and music producer.It is an advertisement for a brand of speakers. One of the tag lines, which you probably can't see, is "Was at Work". I ran across this advertisement in a magazine when I was out of college working various dead-end jobs, and sort of became a little obsessed with it. I'd long known by this time that I wanted to be a novelist, you see, and that advertisement (shallow of me, maybe) helped me conceptualize what my vision for my life would be. I told my future wife Kim that the advertisement spoke to me in such a way, and I was fortunate that she bought into that vision, going as far to write the company to see if she could get me a poster of the advertisement. The company did not have any posters, but they were kind enough to send a color photocopy of the advertisement on heavy card stock.

Now, don't get the wrong idea when you look at these photos. My personal vision for my life was not to just sit around in a tropical paradise, napping whenever I chose. What kind of fool would want that for a life? I was going to work countless hours every week pursuing that as a goal?

Well, not exactly. I still work seventy hours a week. When I'm writing, I like working seventy hours a week. I'd work more if I could. But sometimes that work requires that I stare off into space; as the writer Jack Ketchum said, and I often quote, "Sometimes staring at the wall is writing!"

My vision was to make writing my work, and from that work, achieve certain forms of autonomy. The autonomy to work where I wanted. When I wanted. With a dress code that included bare feet if I so chose. But most importantly; the vision was to create and to bring something forward that others could experience and possibly enjoy and find interesting. The kicker of the advertisement was that Don Was had just won a Grammy. Despite appearances, this was not a lazy man. At least, that was how I chose to read it.

I should mention that I carried the advertisement with me for over a decade before my wife took the similar photo of me. That's a lot of seventy hour work weeks in between, but that was how many it took for me to feel like I'd achieved at least enough of my vision to not feel like I was lying to myself by replicating the photo.

Inspiration and motivation are where you find them. I've had the photo nearby my desk ever since I first saw it, and I'll take it out every so often, when things are going good, when they are going bad, when I need to be reminded just why it is I do the things that I do. And now every time I log into Facebook, I'll be reminded of what it feels like to fulfil, even momentarily, one's vision.

And then, once it is fulfilled, create a new vision...

My next vision for myself will include having hair like Mr. Was's in this photo...

Wherin I Enter the Digital Age and Give Away a Signed Passing Strange

2010-09-10T21:15:00.002-04:00

I finally, finally got a Kindle. Love it. Whoever guesses the very first book I downloaded will recieve a signed copy of Passing Strange.

Hint: befriend me on Facebook so you can see all the wrong guesses there--improve your odds of winning!

Hint #2: My books are only available in the U.K. on Kindle

Book Tour Thanks

2010-06-30T20:16:00.002-04:00

Thank you to everyone who came out to meet us on the unRequired Reading tour, and thanks to Hyperion/Disney and all of the great bookstores and event coordinators for putting it together--it was more fun than anyone has a right to have.

And thanks especially to my fellow authors/touring partners, who in addition to writing wonderful books were just all around spectacular, funny and wonderful people. If you didn't catch us on the road, the books and their respective authors are:

Tweet Heart - Elizabeth Rudnick
The Half-Life of Planets - Emily Franklin and Brendan Halpin
The Ghost and the Goth - Stacey Kade
Carter's Big Break - Brent Crawford
A Field Guide for Heartbreakers - Kristen Tracy

If you haven't checked out their work yet, what are you waiting for?

Passing Strange Trailer Contest!!!!!

2010-06-16T11:10:00.004-04:00

Check out http://www.girlslife.com/post/2010/06/10/passing-strange-contest.aspx by clicking the blog title above!

Here's your chance to direct your own mini-movie!

GL and Hyperion Teen are looking for you to showcase all of the exciting drama of the new book Passing Strange by creating your own video trailer.

Give readers a taste of the conflicts and drama awaiting Karen in the book, and all of the inevitable complications for this not-so-typical high schooler. The top video selected by Girls’ Life and Hyperion Teen will premiere exclusively on Girlslife.com! Plus, the lucky leading lady will score a makeover from a MAC artist!

ENTER TO WIN:

Do you ever wake up and just feel like a zombie? Uh, yea—everyone's had one of those days (or try several)! The winner of the Passing Strange Video Trailer contest will score a makeover fit for a starlet. She'll get her makeup done by a professional MAC artist and will pick up up to $200 worth of MAC product. The best part? Your video will be featured on Girlslife.com in a video poll. Now a prize like that is sure to zap a zombie back to life.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

In Passing Strange (out now wherever books are sold), all-American teenager Karen DeSonne faces more than the usual high school drama—she happens to be dead. Her troubles only multiply as she finds herself caught up in a high-profile scandal— new anti-zombie regulations that have forced nearly all of Oakvale’s undead into hiding.

Obtaining enough evidence to expose this sinister plot means doing the unthinkable for Karen: Betraying her true love and becoming the girlfriend of the one guy she truly cannot stand—Pete Martinsburg. Karen’s only hope is that the enemy never realizes who she really is—because the consequences would be even worse than death.

HOW TO ENTER:

What is a book trailer?

Videos are the newest way to promote the hottest reads. Called book trailers, they are similar to movie trailers, in that they are designed to build interest in an upcoming or current novel and are used to encourage people to buy the book the trailer is about.

What’s the difference? A movie trailer already has visual images to work with—clips from the film. With a book trailer, the maker (that’s you!) has to convert the written words into a fun visual.

How to create a great book trailer:

The trick is to convey a sense of what the book is about without giving away any juicy deets away.

Most book trailers run from one to two minutes and can be anything from someone reading a passage from the book to an elaborate mini-movie.

Here are some links to book trailer examples we like:
Generation Dead trailer by the author
Generation Dead trailer by a fan
Another Generation Dead trailer by a fan

Here’s how to make yours, step by step
1. Get your BFFs together or go solo.
2. Learn it! CLICK HERE to download the script for the Passing Strange trailer.
3. Decide how you want to put your trailer together.
4. Video your best one to two minute book trailer by following the script You can use the video cam on your cell phone, digital camera, camcorder or computer.
5. E-mail the file (10M or smaller, please) to passingstrange@girlslife.com or upload to facebook.com/girlslife.
6. HURRY! ALL VIDEOS MUST BE IN BY 7/15/10.

THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT:

We’ll announce the winner on 8/1/10 by featuring the trailer on every page of our site! So put on your director’s hat, get in the zombie mindset and good luck.

Book Tour and Psychic Book Club

2010-06-14T22:42:00.003-04:00

A Field Guide for Heartbreakers - Kristen Tracy
Carter's Big Break - Brent Crawford
The Ghost and the Goth - Stacey Kade
Passing Strange: A Generation Dead Novel - Daniel Waters
Tweet Heart - Elizabeth Rudnick
The Half-Life of Planets - Emily Franklin and Brendan Halpin

Dates and times for the unRequired Reading Tour:

June 18: 6pm, Davis Kidd, Memphis (Waters, Rudnick, and Halpin)
- June 18: 7pm, Keplers, Menlo Park, CA (Tracy, Kade, and Crawford)

- June 19: 7pm, Books & Books, Coral Gabels, FL (Waters, Rudnick, Franklin, and Halpin)

- June 19: 1pm, “Meet & Greet” at Copperfields, Petaluma, CA (Tracy, Kade, and Crawford)

-June 20: stock signings tk

- June 21: 7pm, Little Shop of Stories, Decatur, GA (Waters, Rudnick, Franklin, and Halpin)

- June 21: 6:30pm, Pudd'nHead Books (Tracy, Kade, and Crawford)

-June 22: 7pm, Anderson’s Bookshop, Naperville, IL (all authors)

- June 23: 2pm, Watermark Books & Café, Wichita, KS (all authors)

- June 24: 6pm, Books of Wonder, New York, NY (all authors)

- June 25: 6pm, ALA Convention, Disney Book Group booth #2654 Washington, DC (all authors)

-June 26: 3:30pm, Politics & Prose, Washington, DC (all authors)

And now a chilling tale...sort of.

I’ve got kind of a long drive home so on Friday I call up my good friend Matt Smith, most recently of Dr. Who fame (Matthew Dow Smith, the artist on the Dr. Who comic book series, not Matt Smith the new Dr. Who). I’ve only known Matt for a few years, but he’s one of the few people who it seems I’ve known my entire life (as opposed to many people I have known practically my whole life, of whom I often think, ‘who are you?’), especially as we seem to share a brain on nearly everything and have the sort of finish each others’ sentences, start laughing before he says the punchline types of relationship. So we give each other the quick update on life, the universe and everything and then we start our inevitable discussion about books. We‘re both book junkies. Not just reading junkies, but actual book junkies, so the discussion ranges from what we’re reading to books we’ve picked up in our travels. Matt tells me he made a foray to a used bookstore and picked up a few things, and he starts telling me which ones he’s read. And then it gets weird. Listen:
Me: “Nice finds.” Then, remembering my own recent excursion to a used book store, “Hey, have you ever read anything by James Herbert?”
Matt: “Other than The Magic Cottage, you mean?” he says, reminding me of a conversation we had three or four years ago. We’d both really liked The Magic Cottage.
Me:“Yeah. Anything recently?”
Matt: “Funny you should mention it. I picked up one of his on that outing. That was one of the first ones I started reading.”
Me: “Really? When did you say you went to the book store?”
Matt: “About two weeks ago.”
I’d gone to the used bookstore near me two weeks ago.
Me: “Um, which one was it that you got? ‘Cause if you say…”
Matt: “Moon.”
Me: “…I might freak.”
Moon. The very James Herbert novel I’d picked up at a used bookstore two weeks ago.
Me: “How much did you get it for?”
“Three bucks.”
I told him I’d paid a dollar, but when I looked at my copy later that night, I saw the little 3—penciled in the upper right hand corner on the frontispiece.
Matt: “Well. That’s a little bizarre.”
Perhaps less bizarre, we’d reached pretty much the same conclusions about the book.

Now, understand, that Moon isn’t a current NYT Best Seller—it is a twenty-five year old horror novel. Now, you might say, “Well, Dan, both you and Matt are both horror fiction geeks, so it only makes sense that you could end up reading the same book.” But that, to me, only makes it weirder. True, we are horror fiction geeks—between us we’d read a good number of Herbert’s two dozen novels. He is a pretty big name in the horror field, and so the odds of neither of us having read the book prior would seem very slim—and then to decide to read it at the same time after buying the same twenty-five year-old edition (hardcover, Herbert’s first in the U.S.) at the same time, for the same amount of money, seems weeeeeiiiird to me.

I think maybe we should start “Matt & Dan’s Psychic Book Club”. The thing is, I already know which of you want to join.

Career Ending Injuries and other Stresses

2010-06-13T21:51:00.006-04:00

By using the above chart, I have calculated my personal stress level of the past month to be 433. The legend at the bottom of the chart suggests “If you score more than 200, you have an above average level of stress and should simplify your life.
By reading that ridiculous statement, I think my score went up to 443.Either way, I expect more than doubling the "average level of stress" ain't good.

A few recent stresses: I sold the house that I have lived in for the past fifteen years (my longest stint, I believe, in any home in my life). I bought a new home. I went through childbirth, twice. (Passing Strange just came out, and I delivered a new book to my editor. Um, ok, so maybe that isn't quite as stressful as actual childbirth). I’ve been travelling, a lot. Never been to Kansas my entire life before this year, and yet I’ll be there for my third time in five weeks when I head out for the unRequired Reading book tour. Life is weird.

The highest individual stress score I awarded myself, worth 53 points, was for one of the most gruesome sports injuries of my entire life. While no one would ever confuse me with a world class athlete, I tend to be very competitive and what I lack in natural ability I compensate with tenacity and resilience. I play hard, and I almost never ever get hurt.

Except, now I do.

I went to play basketball with a friend of mine in his local church league, hoping to burn off a little of the huge amount of stress I’d been carrying. I’m always nervous when I start playing in a new league, but I I could hang with these guys. I'd been running 3-6 miles five days a week so although I still look like a lumpy animated couch cushion I could get up and down the floor pretty well. I started out great. In the first minute of the game, I had an assist and two rebounds, one of them offensive. I got my third rebound ten seconds later, but when I came down my right knee buckled laterally and there was this awful sound,like someone ripping into a sheet of bubble wrap, and I went over.

My first thought wasn’t “ouch”—actually it didn’t hurt all that much, it just felt kind of weird—my first thought was—“that’s it, the career ending injury. I’ll never play basketball again".

This was not a pleasant thought, by any stretch of the imagination. By favorite personal recreational activities, in order, are writing, reading, listening to music, and playing basketball. And jogging is somewhere in the top ten, and considering my knee was making crinkly-cellophane sounds as I limped off the court, I thought that maybe I’d lost that one as well.

It is the old saw about not appreciating something until it is gone—I tell you, the prospect that I’d never be able to play pickup basketball again left me with a deep, deep despondency. I guess I'm getting old! How did that happen?

But here we are about six weeks later, and the air has cleared considerably (although I'd never want it to clear too much; the fact of the matter is a bit of stress is good for the ol' writin'). We’re in our new house, and the massive stress of selling/buying/moving is behind me. And the first “home improvement” project I did was set up a roll away regulation NBA hoop. Every night that I’ve been home and the sun is out (or the rain isn’t too heavy) I’m out in the driveway with the kids or by myself shooting around. I ran two miles yesterday and three today. I’m stubborn. But the knee is feeling really good.

And I'm a little more thankful every time I shoot a jump shot, regardless of whether it swishes through, clangs off the rim, or misses entirely, because, no matter how much I may want to, I won't be able to shoot them forever.

I also wanted to extend a special thank you to Kati, who took the time to write a note to tell me how my newest novel Passing Strange affected her. Kati, your note made a big impact on me as well; as a writer sometimes all you want out of your work is that it reaches a single reader. I'd just hurt the knee, and was feeling pretty sorry for myself and whah whah whah, but your note got me thinking and lifted my spirits considerably. Thank you, thank you, thank you--I really appreciate you taking the time.

Oh, and PS--I'll probably be blogging a bit more now that I've moved. That was literally a year-long project, one that I'm glad to see behind me.

And also PS--please buy PS, Passing Strange, at your earliest convenience. At fine bookstores everywhere!

Speechifying

2010-05-22T21:00:00.002-04:00

I’ll be speaking this Sunday at the Hartford Public Library during the Letters about Literature, which is open to the public. I was one of the judges this year and I had the privilege of reading some fantastic letters. Bring your zombie or trad friends and I’ll sign yer books. Not the libraries’ books, though, because you aren’t supposed to write in those.

In other thrilling news, the paperback of Kiss of Life is due to come out on May 25. Make certain that you buy a case or two, because you can never have enough Kisses. Buy one for everyone on your Facebook friend list, and post this message: “Hey…I got a special Kiss, just for you!”. They will no doubt think that you are very considerate and cool. Or possibly creepy and strange, if they are only your Facebook friend because their uncle’s niece’s cousin’s bffl likes Glee and you like Glee too. Or you met because of Farmville. Either way, I’ll sell more books and I really appreciate your business.

PS: PS will be out June 1. Pick up a case or two of those, too.

Ali Smith Interview

2010-05-12T18:48:00.006-04:00

Ali Smith shot the photos for all of my books, including the ones for Passing Strange,above(did I mention I received a couple copies of the actual book from my brilliant editor? It is even prettier in person!)--so naturally I love her and think she is awesome. I thought it would be fun to do a mini-interview with her, so here it is!

And before I forget, make sure you check out her work at her fabulous website, alismith.com. And while you are there, check out the "Making of a Bookcover" video, which features some of the beautiful GenDead cover models!

1. Why are you a photographer?

it suits the way i live and helps me make sense of the world. i've always been a visual learner and visually expressive. Plus I have strong beliefs and curiosities and care about sharing them. it's the way i have found to express myself best and tell stories. my mind sees stories in chunks rather than fluid narrative. I might as well embrace that.

2. Who/what/where inspires you?

i come from a music background- punk and all that goes along with that. I played in bands most of my teen and adult life and traveled the world with it. Punk artists- like siouxsie sioux and exene cervenka- were visually genius. the whole punk aesthetic was creative and painterly. those things still inform me. my punk and goth days definitely informed all the gen dead covers! before music, i was a ballerina. that brings an appreciation for another aesthetic. if i were a lot younger and didn't sound like a fool saying it, i'd call my aesthetic a " mash up" of a few different lifestyles I've had.

my political beliefs inspire me as do my feminist beliefs and my search for meaning.

3. What is the best thing about your what you do?

F-R-E-E-D-O-M! and the blurring of the line between work and life. i mean i work damn hard, but i love what i do. I get to make art for a living and it melts fantastically into my off hours so that it all just becomes about being creative!

4. Any advice for aspiring photographers?

If you love it, you should be doing it. If not, why bother. making a living at anything is a challenge, but nothing beats loving what you do every day.

5. Tell us about your new book

It's a photo based look at the realities of how woman live their lives as mothers.

My first book, Laws of the Bandit Queens, was released by Random House and was a celebration of women who'd influenced my career and personal goals throughout my twenties and on into my thirties. It included portraits of and "life laws" from 35 extraordinary women such as Alice Walker, Sandra Bernhard, Geraldine Ferraro, Janeane Garofalo, Pat Schroeder and Sheryl Swoopes. The idea was the construction, through these life laws, of an alternate life philosophy that made more sense to me and to the women around me, who sometimes felt out of step with or unsupported by accepted social norms.

Momma Love picks up where Bandit Queens left off. It still reveres an enthusiastic, vibrant, longing spirit in women, but it shows the ways in which that spirit is inevitably altered—sometimes frustratingly diminished, sometimes gloriously enhanced—by motherhood. Also addressed is the transformation that’s occurred between the way our own mothers experienced motherhood and what it’s like to be a mother today, illuminating the differences and some of the startling similarities as well.

Thanks, Ali!

Wish You Were Here

2010-05-09T19:08:00.003-04:00

Many years ago, I lost my mother to cancer. Among the million individual sadnesses I have about that fact (first among them: that she was never able to meet my children), one that pained me for years is something that I'd told her in her final days, namely that I was going to have a novel published in the near future. It had been my goal since I was very young to make myself into a novelist, and my mother was probably the most supportive person in my life as I worked towards achieving that goal. The week before she died, I'd entered into contract discussions with a publisher for an adult thriller I'd written entitled Skin and Bones. Immediately upon hanging up the phone after talking with my agent, I rushed into my mother's room to tell her the good news. The look of happiness that cut momentarily through her pain was one of the few pleasant memories of those days. Her expression, and her words to me as she placed her hot hand against my cheek: "That's you, Danny," she said. "That's you."

A month or so later the publisher (who, admittedly, I'd never heard of prior to my so-called book deal) went bankrupt and not long after that my then-agent and I parted ways. I never stopped writing, but for a few years I stopped submitting my work for publication. The real fun was in the writing, anyway. But I've always felt badly that one of my final assurances to my mother--that I would be fine, that I would be doing what I loved--did not come to pass. At least, it did not come to pass in the time frame or the manner in which I'd told her it would. Some years would pass before I decided to leave my cave, manuscript pages of Generation Dead in hand, and take another stab at "getting published". There were many setbacks and disappointments along the way, but I was sustained along the way both by my promise to her, and her words to me--"that's you". I got there eventually, but there were many nights where I thought that I would never make good on my promise.

Writers fall in two distinct camps generally with regards to their families and early formative experiences--they either had a happy, supportive and almost idyllic childhood, or else their family life is an endless wellspring of bitterness, horror and trauma. One or the other background seems to fuel the writing of most writers I've known. I'd definitely count myself in the former group.

Earlier this week, my brilliant and talented editor sent me a couple copies of the new Kiss of Life paperback and, finally, the soon-to-be released Passing Strange hardcover. I dedicated this one to my parents, Jeff and Elaine.

Miss you, Mom.

The Making of a Book Cover

2010-04-22T21:54:00.004-04:00

I've been very fortunate in that I've worked with absolutely brilliant people on my books. Two of those brilliant people are the photographer and the designer of thebook covers, Ali Smith and Elizabeth H. Clark, respectively.

Would you like to see a brief video on the making of the Kiss of Life and Passing Strange book covers? Of course you would! Who wouldn't? Go to the March 31 entry on Ali's blog HERE. And stay tuned, because I am hoping to get Ali to do a guest blog here at some point.

You'll notice, upon watching the video, that everyone at the shoot is gorgeous. Everyone. Models, artists, editors; all are drop-dead (har har!) gorgeous.

This may be why I have never been invited to one of the photo shoots.

I think that the fear--the altogether justifiable fear--is that I might possibly scoop one of the participants up, sling them across over my broad and hairy back, and then scamper Quasimodo-like out the window to shimmy up the side of the building. Once I reached the relative safety of the rooftop ledge where my gargoyle brethren await, I'd do nothing more harmful to my shrieking captive than read tender love sonnets and stare mournfully first at them, and then at the setting sun, with my one lazy puppy-dog eye.

Sigh.

Go watch the video!

Kiss Me Once, Kiss Me Twice, Come on Pretty Baby

2010-04-18T11:08:00.005-04:00

I'll have a story called Many Happy Returns in the above anthology, which is stacked with some of the best writers working in YA today. I'm thrilled to have my work appear alongside theirs, especially as this is only my second anthology appearance, ever. Kiss Me Deadly will be out this July.

Many Happy Returns, btw, is a Generation Dead story. You won't see Phoebe or Adam or Margi or any of the gang from the novels, but you will have the opportunity to return to their differently biotic world. And I sincerely hope that you do! It gets lonely there, sometimes!

PS: Is that an awesome cover, or what?

unRequired Reading Tour

2010-04-11T20:33:00.004-04:00

I'm hitting the road this June in support of GDIII:Passing Strange as part of Hyperion's unRequired Reading Tour along with Kristen Tracy, Brent Crawford Stacey Klemstein, Emily Franklin, Brendan Halpin, and Liz Rudnick. Dates and locations to follow, but you can become a fan of the unRequired Reading Facebook page HERE and I promise we'll get some neat-o keen content up real soon.

SUPUESTAMENTE DEAD

2010-03-24T20:11:00.005-04:00

Although my dream of traveling to Spain so I can have a starring role in Vicky Christina Barcelona 2 will most likely never happen, at least I can I can travel to Spain in spirit when Generacion Dead is released there. I think the release date is tomorrow; I was very, very tempted to hop a flight to Spain tomorrow to go poke around the bookstores to make sure they are well-stocked.

Don't know when this will come out, but I love the title:

Also, for those of you who can read Spanish, the bi-lingual, and/or the bi-lingual-curious, check out this nifty website:

SUPUESTAMENTE DEAD,

which, I think, is "Supposedly Dead". The website features, among other cool things like banners and avatars, yer pal and mine Tommy writing some blogs in Spanish (not his native tongue). I love it when my characters are far more intelligent than I am!

Frequently and Not-So-Frequently Asked Questions

2010-03-20T14:10:00.004-04:00

I was lucky enough to have an online chat with a group of teen readers at the Lake Geneva Library today, and because I don't believe in wasting anything (I love leftovers, too) I thought I'd post the transcript for the curious, the bored, the boredly curious and the curiously bored. Many thanks to The Librarian Sara (her official title) for the invite and for the moderation.

I had a great time, but I was promised cookies. Who ate all the cookies? Was it Ashleigh? Was it Lia? Lexi? Mary? Rachel? Don't all of you go blaming Jo aka JoJo, now!

Anyhow, here's the transcript:

LGPLyouth2: Hi!
WatersDan: Hello

LGPLyouth2: Thank you for coming to our book discussion of your book Generation Dead
LGPLyouth2: we have about five fangirls and one almost fanboy here to chat with you
WatersDan: Thanks for having me--I'm hoping I can learn about the book a little

WatersDan: sweet

LGPLyouth2: um, you wrote it :-)
WatersDan: oh, right, right

LGPLyouth2: rachel would like to commend you for being one of the few male romance authors. bravo
WatersDan: thank you, Rachel
WatersDan: You know Dean Koontz started out writing romances, too

LGPLyouth2: Rachel will now be looking into that very soon
WatersDan: they're hard to find--he wrote them under pen names, some of which he's never revealed!
WatersDan: but enough about Dean Koontz
LGPLyouth2: first question, from Lia (the typist/ executive fangirl #1)
WatersDan: Hi Lia
LGPLyouth2: hi!!!! what inspired the "Skeleton Crew" in book two?
WatersDan: the name, or the band itself?

LGPLyouth2: the general idea (both)
WatersDan: well, I listen to a lot of horror punk (among other things), and I listen to that type of music a lot when I'm writing.
WatersDan: And I wanted to show the zombies doing more "normal" things, especially in the arts. It is usually the arts that pushes social change, in my mind, more so than politics or law
LGPLyouth2: in my opinion art is more influential than politics or law.
LGPLyouth2: also there was a general "that's true" from everyone
WatersDan: sweet--we just solved all the world's problems! Thank you, and have a great day!
LGPLyouth2: many lols
LGPLyouth2: next question from Sara the Librarian...which came first; Zombies or social prejudice?
WatersDan: In the books, you mean? I knew that I wanted to write about social prejudice before I knew I wanted to write about zombies.
LGPLyouth2: cool
LGPLyouth2: why zombies?
WatersDan: Zombies ended up being my coping mechanism. The initial impetus for the book was a show I'd seen on violence in schools, featuring actual violence in schools. Kids were hurting other kids just so they could film it and be h"heroes" on YouTube. I had to write about that...but every time I tried to write a realistic novel the subject matter became too oppressive and my braaaaiiiin locked. I had all these theories and reasons why I thought kids would do that to each other floating around my head
LGPLyouth2: many comprehensive nods
WatersDan: and one day, the idea "if zombies really existed, they would be the most oppressed kids in the school". This led to "what is a zombie tried to take a living girl to the prom" etc.

LGPLyouth2: sweet (and one ....interesting...)
WatersDan: strangely, it let me bring a little distance and humor into a very heavy subject
LGPLyouth2: which is great, teens don't like to get too serious. humor relief is a win in this case
WatersDan: but they like to think along with being entertained. (right?) A lot of people overlook that and set the bar pretty low, imho
WatersDan: I triy to creat a discussion, rather than give a lecture. I don't pretend to have answers for everything

WatersDan: "try", that is
LGPLyouth2: so true. we are very underestimated. kudos for giving us things to think about.
LGPLyouth2: next question from Lexi (executive fangirl #2)...
WatersDan: Hi Lexi

LGPLyouth2: ok how did u come up with the characters from the book? (p.s. i made zombie t-shirts this is like one BIG deal to talk to u) oh and hi
WatersDan: It is a big deal to talk to you, as well. It sounds corny but the characters just sort of appeared when I started writing the book. Phoebe and Tommy were first; Adam actually was a composite of two characters, one who was written out of the first book, and Karen--even though she was the first one I introduced, in the very first line of the book--wasn't going to be anything but a walk-on (but I totally fell in love with her, immediately). Tak didn't exist either until I started writing.
WatersDan: one of the really nice things about the series is that new characters keep knocking on the door, asking to be let in. I feel like I've still got a lot I want to say and do in this world
LGPLyouth2: THANK GOD YOU KEPT KAREN AND TAK!!! (from Lia and Lexi) they're like the best couple!
WatersDan: They are two of the main characters in Passing Strange. Adam/Phoebe/Tommy kind of take a back seat
WatersDan: Pete's still there, being his usual jerky self
LGPLyouth2: The next question is from Mary (An avid reader, and wanna be author.) (and sorry but I haven't finished the book yet... >.>; I still love it though...) Ps. Lexi and Lia say WOOOOOOOH! and now they say awwhhhhhhhhhh....
WatersDan: Hi Mary
WatersDan: it sounds like Lia and Lexi are starting the Wave
LGPLyouth2: Anyways, my question is: how did you get into the minds of the female characters? I, myself try to write, but I find it hard to write dialouge for the guys... Also, hi. And lia and lexi are.
WatersDan: Guys' minds are pretty easy to get into ;)
LGPLyouth2: .....Well... yeah, but I start to turn them into female/gay guys... which doesn't work when trying to write straight romance...
WatersDan: That's a good question. I don't claim to be good at many things, but I am a good listener. Part of being a good listener is being able to "hear" what isn't said. I think that is probably the skill that most enables me to write in voices that are pretty far from "my" voice
LGPLyouth2: Ahhhhh... makes sense.
WatersDan: maybe your mind is telling you to write a gay romance, btw ...if the characters are really speaking to you that way it is hard to force them to do something else
WatersDan: if you want to "listen" for a male-male voice, read some series detective fiction. Robert Parker and Ed McBain are two of my favorites. Also George Pelecanos, Robert Crais, Raymond Chandler...
LGPLyouth2: Already been done... >.>; by me. Alottttt of times. I agree with the last part. Mkay. Thanks for the advice, but I'm going to stop typing. If I don't I might die by rabid fangirls.
WatersDan: I wonder what you would turn into by the light of a full moon if you were to be bitten by a rabid fangirl?
LGPLyouth2: HI, again, this is Rachel (CEO Romance fangirl...I'm the only one in this group....) [I feel so alone] Group clapping heard around the room for Rabid fangirl bite comment...
WatersDan: Instead of "Arowoooooo!" you would howl "Ohmigaaaaaaawwwwwd!
LGPLyouth2: I'm curious, did Tommy actually Love Pheobe, because htere was this whole, "Do you really care?" deal throughout most of the book...?
WatersDan: Hi again Rachel
LGPLyouth2: hello
WatersDan: That is one of those questions I will always leave up to the reader.
What do you think?
More importantly, how do we ever really know if someone really loves us for who we are, as opposed to what we are?
LGPLyouth2: rachel-no, he didn't
LGPLyouth2: ashleigh-mayyybe...
LGPLyouth2: Lia- it would never work
LGPLyouth2: Lexi- im still questionable
LGPLyouth2: Mary- hasn't gotten to that part
LGPLyouth2: Jo- should've been friends (non romantic)
LGPLyouth2: and here is ashleigh to explain her position furthur... (also Jo is a guy aka JoJo)
LGPLyouth2: HI there, :-)
WatersDan: He Jo aka JoJo
WatersDan: I mean "hey"

LGPLyouth2: Well, on the whole subject of whether or not Tommy really loved Pheobe, I said it was a maybe because there was emphasis on the fact that he said "a girl to love me" not Pheobe specifically. And Adam gave up everything for her at the end of the book. It kind of created a big conflict for the reader.
LGPLyouth2: Lia screamed and threw the book, so there was a HUGE conflict for her.
WatersDan: Hi Ashleigh. Nice insight! I hope Lia didn't create a zombie when she threw the book.

LGPLyouth2: XD many lols
LGPLyouth2: Lia- someday i shall introduce you to my friend Sal, (idk why i named him sal, just roll with it)
WatersDan: I wonder, though, do we always manage to say exactly what we want to say in a budding romance? And I'll also say this...I don't know that it is possible to really overcome our difference if we are always second-guessing each others' intentions.
LGPLyouth2: That's very true. We are only human. Second guessing shows a lack of trust, which is a big part of a strong relationship.
WatersDan: People "hang" Tommy on that line--and of course it gives Phoebe doubts--but does it really define his feelings? We aren't zombies (most of us, anyway) but do we always express ourselves appropriately? Sometimes I feel like I don't even have the language for what I want to express.
WatersDan: Then again--if I'm Phoebe--his statement doesn't exactly melt my heart!
LGPLyouth2: here's Lia. and thanks for talking to me. :-)
LGPLyouth2: i totally know what you mean abou the "language" thing. i always think there's not enough good words in the english language to describe the true workings of a person's brain.
WatersDan: there probably are--we just haven't learned 'em yet!
LGPLyouth2: like if you were to read a person's thoughts, would they be in comprehensive sentences or would you just feel it?
WatersDan: if you were telepathetic...

LGPLyouth2: many woos! and one AMEN from me, we probably haven't learned them all yet. those big dictionaries are scary. it's easier to just make up your own words "telepathetic" ?
LGPLyouth2: :-D
WatersDan: making up words and terms is fun. I'll probably have "Differently Biotic" written on my tombstone
LGPLyouth2: will you even need one? you may still be walking around
WatersDan: I like dictionaries, though. Also David Foster Wallace, whose writing taught me many words I didn't know
LGPLyouth2: medical dictionaries are fun too, did you know lycanthropy (werewolf paranoia) is a diagnosable thing???
LGPLyouth2: oh, and here's Lexi...
WatersDan: I did not know that
LGPLyouth2: lia is jumping up and down
WatersDan: If you were a mislycanthrope, would that mean you hate werewolves? or that you were an unwerewolf-like werewolf?

LGPLyouth2: and ok im typing much better less hyper ok umm why did u make Pete the way he is not that we mind but (sortof) many lols
WatersDan: well, every book needs some bad guys
LGPLyouth2: yeah so true but why so CRAZYYYYYY!
WatersDan: but I wanted one that had some type of rationale for the way he was.
WatersDan: Do you think he's crazy?
LGPLyouth2: and why does he hate/love pheobe (yeah we do)
WatersDan: so...wait. You think Pete loves Phoebe, but Tommy doesn't? Who is crazy now????
LGPLyouth2: mary-isn't it because she reminds him of julie? And I like the fact that he knows that he is crazy, and wouldn't have minded if julie had come back.
WatersDan: JNice insight, Mary...a big part of Pete's craziness (if that is what it is) is tied up in the feelings he had for Julie, and what happened (and didn't happen) to her
LGPLyouth2: lexi-well he calls her julie all the time i mean come on and he has a pet name for her mortisha scarypants really he must love her some how even if it is like i HATE but LOVE u. ]
WatersDan: he likes irritating Adam, too, which is part of it. They used to be good pals, remember?

LGPLyouth2: yep
WatersDan: And everyone leaves him...his dad...Adam...his mom, too a certain extent...Julie, forever...
WatersDan: awwww. poor Pete

LGPLyouth2: awww pity for pete.
WatersDan: I don't think most people that are evil start out as inherently evil. Who knows how Pete would have turned out if Julie had come back from the dead?
WatersDan: would he be like Faith, or like Colette's parents?
LGPLyouth2: way to leave us hanging on a cliff...:(:(:(:(:( unfortunately our splendid hour spent talking to you is up. and we must sign off now. however you can expect several facebook requests from us. :-D thank you so much for talking to us.
WatersDan: How would we react, in similar circumstances?
WatersDan: My pleasure. Hey do you mind if I copy this transcript to my blog?
LGPLyouth2: This is the Librarian Sara
LGPLyouth2: NO WAY! COPY IT COPY IT!!!
LGPLyouth2: LEXI YAY
WatersDan: Hello The Librarian Sara
WatersDan: cool. will do
LGPLyouth2: thank you for hanging with us today, i hope we can do this again sometime. perhaps when your next book comes out.
LGPLyouth2: when will that be exactly????????
LGPLyouth2: :-D :-D
WatersDan: Ummmm....June? The Spanish ed. of the first book comes out next week, tho! Generacion Dead! Beso de Vida will follow soon.
LGPLyouth2: viva la dead!!! mucho me gusta! Bye we really have to go. the evil librarians are kicking us out. not sara though she's the good one
WatersDan: Take care!

LGPLyouth2: bye bye Daniel Waters!!!

Cerebros Insípidos

2010-03-08T20:02:00.003-05:00

Dorimar from the wonderful Mientras Lees book blog was kind enough to interview me recently in anticipation of the release of Generacion Dead (for some reason, it will not be Generacion Muerta, probably because it would be really hard to untangle the script-y "Dead" and redo it as "Muerta"). Dorimar translated the interview and it appears in both Spanish and English for your viewing pleasure. The title of the blog above is one of the translated phrases in the interview, and I'm thinking of adopting it as my personal motto. What do you think?

You can view all of Dorimar's hard work HERE.

BTW, I last week I heard that the rights to the first three Generation Dead books sold in yet another country where I don't speak the language. I started a contest on my Facebook page (friend me HERE I'm so lonely!) where I offered a free copy of the U.K. edition of Kiss of Life to the first person who guessed correctly which country it was...after about forty tries, there's still no winner, so I thought I'd open up the contest here. Free copy, U.K. Kiss of Life! That lovely purple lily! Leave me a comment with your guess!

Multimedia Fun Day: Generacion Dead Trailer

2010-03-07T11:05:00.004-05:00

Some brilliant person or people made a book trailer for the impending release of Generacion Dead, and, having ascertained my boundless love for the Rosedales, used their music as the soundtrack. I think it goes together like peanut butter and chocolate!

Also found this cool trailer (and many others) created by the University of Central Florida: Generation Dead Trailer.

The book description says "Generation Dead by Suzanne Collins", though. Sigh. I assure you that I am a real person and not a pen name for Suzanne, who, as I'm sure you know, is the author of the wonderful Hunger Games series, among others.

Sometimes You Find It

2010-02-27T22:01:00.002-05:00

...and sometimes it finds you.

Writing is often a treasure hunt in which you have no map, no shovel, and in many cases, one you hadn't even realized that you had begun. And by "Writing" I mean "every moment of your life", because if you call yourself a writer (and why shouldn't you?) then pretty much anything you do intrinsically becomes a component of the writing process. Writing that statement, true as it is, makes me cringe, if only because I wouldn't want anyone to get the mistaken impression that being a writer means all you need to do is traipse around feeling poetical all the time; some of that is fine, but the main thing is you need to work. Even when you don't appear as though you are working, you must be working. I'll never forget listening to the writer Jack Ketchum talk about the difficulties of explaining to non-writers what the writing process is like. He was speaking of a girlfriend who was harping on him for not working and for just "staring at the wall". His answer? "That's writing, sometimes!" So true. Thought, experience, spacing out--all are invaluable to the inevitable act of actually getting words down on paper.

But sometimes, staring at the wall is just staring at the wall. All depends if you are working or not.

I took Starro the Conqueror beagle on a walk today, a day which was yet another thoroughly dismal gray February day in New Endland. I wore my sweatshirt with the beagle-frayed cuffs because I wanted to feel the chill, but also a hat and gloves because I didn't want it to seep into me. We were going at a pretty brisk pace and I was happy that my wife had been walking Star so much because she wasn't pulling like she did when she was a puppy.

We call Star the Sphinx sometimes because of the way she likes to perch along the back of our sectional sofa; when walking she can't resist leaping onto the many low stone walls that border the properties around town, just like a kid who can't seem to avoid rushing right towards the craggy rocks at the beach. I'm leading her along and part of the stone wall she is prancing along serves as the railing for a short bridge that spans a brook, one that runs swiftly even when not saturated with three solid days of snow, spit and rain like the surrounding countryside has been. I pause a moment and watch the brook flow, guaging it's depth. I realized that if Star were somehow to slip from both her harness and the wall itself to drop to the icy water below, that I would have virtually no chance to rescue her before the current carried her away. I'd have to leap the wall and make my way down the muddy embankment and hope that she didn't panic. Even if she could swim against the current--unlikely, given it's speed and her stubby legs, she'd have nowhere to go, as the sides of the brook were stone walls a good foot higher than the water, making it like a miniature canal. Far downstream--it was hard to tell through the underbrush, it looked like there might be a footbridge, but I didn't think it would stop her. I think she'd go right under it, and be lost.

This is what I'm thinking as I watch the dark water. I realize that Star has stopped her pacing to look at the water too, and then she turns back to me and for a moment we seem to sharing a common mind.

"I'd go after you," my half of the mind thought.

"I know you would," she thought in return, and went back to staring at the water, her floppy beagle ears brushing the lip of the stone wall.

Then the smell of wood smoke mixed with the peaty aromas of wet earth and mossy stone already in my nostrils triggered childhood memories that shimmered just beyond the reach of my consciousness. Other details of the present swirled into thosememories; the feel of cooling sweat on the back of my warm neck, the sound of the water below, the precise quality of gray light light that muted further the winter colors around me.

I hadn't gone looking for that moment, but there it was.

I inhaled until my lungs were full, held it, and then released, slowly. This is my signal to myself that I am alive, made of flesh, and not a character in a story.

Then I called my dog and we continued on our way.

Passing Strange, U.K.

2010-02-10T16:55:00.004-05:00

and also

A Song For While I'm Away

2010-02-09T20:12:00.003-05:00

Wow--it has been awhile since I've been here, hasn't it? Look how dusty the place is. Disgraceful. And shocking.

Busy, busy, busy. No excuses for this level of neglect, but...still. I haven't been entirely idle in the gap between this blog and last. I did another round of edits with my incredibly talented editor on Passing Strange. I wrote my first ever Generation Dead short story (well, unless you count Tommy's entire blog), which will be published in an anthology before too long (more on that later), AND I also finished another novel with the working title of Shiny Happy People. I'll let you know up front that this book is 100% zombie-free and is not part of the Generation Dead series.

And you know what?

I really, really like it. I think you will, too.

And books! We've got some books coming out this year, too. Check these release dates out:

March 25 Generacion Dead The first book I've written that I can't read!

May 4 Kiss of Life paperback, which includes a ultra-exclusive sneak peak of Passing Strange!

June 1 Passing Strange U.S. edition, which includes the ultra-exclusive entire text of Passing Strange! Wow!

July 8 Passing Strange U.K. edition, which includes the entire text of the book with bonus alternate spellings! With a special variant cover! The image of which I will post if anyone wants to see it!

Whew, that's a lot going on. I also tried to get Disney to do a special three-in-one gwp (gift-with-purchase) edition of the three books, but it didn't fly. I had suggested that the GWP be a wheel of fine aged cheese, but they politely thanked me for my idea and went to the next item on the agenda. Cheese doesn't really have anything to do with the books(I decided to cut out a scene where Takayuki and Skip Slydell discover that the secret of the zombies' return from death is linked to a particular brand of smoked Gouda found only in little roadside shops in upstate Vermont, for various reasons): I just like cheese.

Phoebe's Phavorite

2009-12-16T22:36:00.004-05:00

DON'T FORGET! LIVE CHAT WITH ME AND ALL YOU ZOMBIE KIDS Tomorrow-- THURSDAY, 8 EST at The HAUNTED HOUSE

In Generation Dead I mentioned a number of bands that Phoebe and Margi like to listen to--some of the bands were fictional, some weren't. The Rosedales--whose picture is hanging in Phoebe's locker, are thankfully one of the non-fictional bands. I say thankfully, because if the Rosedales didn't exist, I'd want to invent them--but the invention would never be as good as the real thing. They have a brand new album entitled Once Upon a Season . I've just finished listening to it a second time through and it is, hands down, my favorite album of 2009. And I got a lot of good stuff this year. If I had my way, the Rosedales would be doing the soundtrack for a Generation Dead movie, that's how much I like the Rosedales (of course, if I had my way, there would be a Generation Dead movie already in production).

I'm not going to do a typical track-by-track dissection of the album, I'm just going to urge you to use those iTunes and Amazon gift cards you'll be getting in your stockings this year on the new album. Give "Cold, Cold Heart" or "Nightgown" or "Never Coming Home" a listen if you are skeptical. Heck, give any of them a listen.

Off-the-cuff descriptions I've read typically lump them in with "horror-punk" or "horror-rock"; I first became aware of them from hearing a track on a horrorpunk compilation. "Horrorpunk", typically, is an industry term for "Misfits copy-band". Understand that I love Misfits copy bands--but the horrorpunk label applied to the Rosedales does them a real disservice, because they have a sound that is all their own. Clean, layered vocal harmonies, atmospheric arrangements, haunting lyrics, music that alternates between driving rock (mostly) and a few lush, quiet acoustic moments that are as breathtaking as they are unexpected, as in "Meet You There". And the thing is, your breath has already been taken away by the epic scope and relentless pace of the earlier numbers.

Okay, I admit it. I'm a total fan. But listen for yourself. Here's a video from one of their songs from their earlier release, Raise Your Spirits:

A ten-spot will cover the album download, and leave you a little change left. You can apply it towards the two new Misfits songs that came out last month, if you. Or if your richie aunt gave you the mega-sized download card, get the Rosedales 'Raise Your Spirits as well (less than twenty bucks for the two!); I promise you won't regret it.

A Few Notes About The Willing Suspension of Disbelief

2009-12-14T19:51:00.008-05:00

DON'T FORGET! LIVE CHAT WITH ME AND ALL YOU ZOMBIE KIDS THURSDAY, 8 EST at The HAUNTED HOUSE

I don't really like to give writing advice. I love to write about writing; I love to discuss my process and the experiences I have while writing, but I shy away from giving advice, because I don't really think I'm at the point where my advice on writing is valid (I'm a little more free with writing business advice. It isn't that I lack confidence as a writer; it is more that I'm still in a mode of self-discovery and not one where I believe I have real wisdom to impart. I write and I can usually tell where it works, but that doesn't mean I can tell you how to figure out what will work for you. The following blog isn't writing advice, really, but more the sharing of a flash of insight that may or may not help you if you are interested in writing stories.

And it is all true!

I came home the other day and the rest of my family was out, hopefully tracking down the seventy-three items on my Christmas list (I've been nice, not naughty). I filled up a cup with ice and my favorite caffeine-laden soft drink, walked into the living room and picked up the new Stephen King novel (lifting with my legs and not my back) and sat down for what I hoped would be at least fifteen minutes of reading bliss. I saw an envelope addressed to my son on the coffee table, a folded letter beside it. I read the letter and then began to dance around the room, hooting and whooping wildly, so much so that Starro the Conqueror (my beagle) joined in on the festivities.

This is the letter:

I read the letter the second time, and then ran to the computer to scan it in as a jpeg and then email it to a friend of mine. This was going to be the best Christmas ever! Seats on the floor, the week before Christmas! Kevin Garnett! Paul Pierce! 'Sheed! Rajon flippin' Rondo! With the money I saved on the tickets, I was going to buy official Celtics gear for all!

Then I read the letter a little more closely.

I started to think that it was a little odd that the company sponsoring the ticket giveaway wasn't mentioned. I mean, sure, Cormac had purchased a "western cap gun" (yeah, I know. Shame on me for allowing him to have toy weaponry. With explosives, no less. Shoot me), but it seemed odd that the makers of "western cap gun" weren't given any credit. You'd think after selling a 100,000,000 units (that's a lot of western cap guns) they would be a little more on the ball. Of course, the letterhead looked a little strange, and I was surprised they didn't have the NBA logo or any trademarks beyond the big leprechaun. And the signatures did look a little similar in places, but I figured that was probably because they had two or three college interns forge them all.

And then I noticed the phone number only had seven digits.

Visions of high-fiving Ray Allen after getting fouled on a three pointer (and maybe,just maybe, being called from the bench to take his place if he was injured)faded instantly from my mind. Someone was a scam artist. Someone had taken the time to pull a diabolical scam, an insidious prank. Someone had broken the heart of a little boy just before Christmas (my son's, too, I guess). I sent an angry email of retraction to my friend, along with a solemn oath to find whoever it was that hoodwinked my son. And when I found them, I vowed, i would make them pay.

As I sat there fuming, I thought of just how the insidious document had sucked me into it's web of deceit. Someone must have known what a huge basketball fan I was, of the Celtics in particular, and must have assumed (rightly) that my son would by proxy be a fan as well.

My family came home a half hour or so later (a half hour that I could have spent reading pages 11,045-11,082 in the Stephen King book). I met them in the kitchen. clutching the letter.

"Did you see this?" I said, brandishing the letter.

"Did you like it?" Kayleigh, my daughter said, a little warily. "I made it to play a trick on Cormac."

"I wasn't fooled," Cormac, world-weary, said. "It looks so fake."

After I picked my jaw up off the linoleum, I told them about my emotional roller coaster ride of the past hour, and then we all laughed until tears were coming out of our eyes. "Daddy is so stupid!" One of them said. Or maybe that was me.

Daddy may be stupid, but he likes to learn from his experiences. Looking again at her clever forgery, I tried to figure out how I was duped so easily. How had I willingly suspended my disbelief for so obvious a piece of fakery? A letter signed by the whole team? A western cap gun? What was I thinking?

Two key elements must exist for the WSOD to occur.

1. Establishing a reason for the reader to be willing to suspend his/her disbelief is critical.
Front row tickets for four? For my favorite team? Check. I was more than willing

2. There must be some element of plausibility for the reader to latch on to.
Here's the thing--as (retrospectively) silly as the idea of the Celtics giving up front row seats because of a partnership with a cap gun company is, the other part of the premise--my son winning some out-of-the-blue prize, is entirely believable to me. His winning is plausible because his history of winning every possible school and church basket raffle is well documented (I may have even blogged about it). He is the kid that will catch the t-shirt fired from the t-shirt cannon at the local minor league baseball game. he is the kid that will be selected out of the crowd of five hundred to help the magician with his trick. He wins us free pizzas, nights of fun at the bowling alley, and all sorts of promotional sportswear, so the idea of him winning, by itself, was not outside of the realm of the possible. And I have to admit, the "western cap gun" thing struck a certain chord in me, some nostalgic yearning for the days of yore where there were kids' radio promotions and secret decoder rings to be found in cereal boxes. I didn't get to live in those times, but I heard they existed, and they sound pretty cool.

So, writers, think on these elements if you are looking to have readers work with you. Getting your reader to voluntarily turn off the old nonsense detector is key if you are writing about fantastical things like wizards, front row tickets to the Celtics or,um, zombies. And it would be helpful if you could find an audience as willing to believe as my daughter found in me.

Interactivity and Live Chat

2009-12-13T13:00:00.003-05:00

I'll be doing a online live chat-y type thing over at the Haunted House this Thursday at 8:00 EST. The wonderful and talented Raschel will be moderating, so be sure and log on and ask me all sorts of potentially embarrassing questions. Not too many people know where the Haunted House is, but you can get directions HERE.

Also, my super-talented friend from Wales, who goes by many aliases but I know her as Yazzie, is looking for volunteers that she can zombify for a Generation Dead photo project she is doing. You can contact Yazzie directly to be zombified at neko-kyuuketsuki at hotmail.com. Yazzie did my author zombification!

Other cool things abounding on the Internet:

An interview with me as conducted by writer and editor Alethea Kontis, HERE. Alethea also has a beautiful new website and you can check it out at aletheakontis.com

I read a lot. Such activity is encouraged at one of my favorite book blogs, The Book Smugglers. They invited me to partake in the feast of Smugglivus to discuss some of my favorite books of the past year and I did. You can check it out HERE. Next up, the Airing of Grievances!

Multimedia Fun Day Part Two

2009-12-05T19:29:00.004-05:00

The Kiss of Life book tour took me to the World Fantasy Convention in beautiful San Jose this past Halloween weekend. Among some of the highlights: meeting new friends for breakfast (Hi Lita and George!), sneaking off to go tour the Winchester Mystery House with my friend and sometimes mentor F. Paul Wilson, and buying too many books in the dealer room.

But I also was given the opportunity to participate in some of the programming, including two panels. The first of these panels was recorded and the audio is up at what has long been one of my favorite websites,which is Rick Kleffel's The Agony Column, which to my mind is just about the best website covering speculative fiction out there, and has a huge archive of interviews and podcasts with many of my favorite authors in the field.

At WFC, I had the privilege of being on the "Invention vs. Tradition" panel alongside John Kessel, Richard Lupoff, Beth Meacham and Delia Sherman.

Here's a link to an article with a downloadable audio file of the entire panel discussion. You can find it at the bottom of the 11-20-09 article, just before the article on S.G. Browne's Breathers. I met S.G. (Scott) at the convention, and he is truly a rock star and a great guy.

Among the brilliant things that my illustrious co-panelists' say, you
will get to hear me hold forth on:

* why I would like to buy Stephenie Meyer lunch

* the profound impact the remake of 13 Ghosts has had on my life and work

* what I think of as my favorite zombie novels

* the thrilling origin story of how I became a YA author

* just what parents' think about me trying to corrupt their impressionable children

Put it on your iPod today!

Sheffield Rocks!

2009-12-03T20:19:00.002-05:00

Look what I got in the mail today, all the way from the U.K.:

An actual Sheffield Children's Book Award! Generation Dead was named "Highly Commended" in the Longer Novels category!

I'm touched and honored, Sheffield! Thank you!

Passing Strange

2009-11-28T16:15:00.004-05:00

Once again designed by the brilliant and talented Elizabeth H. Clark!

Coming next June! Pre-order at will!

Still More Pretty Pictures!

2009-11-26T00:04:00.004-05:00

This one is yet another from Evilwarlordgu, the incredible artist whose "Wall of the Dead" art was posted here a few weeks ago. This was the envelope--the envelope!--that Evilwarlordgu sent the original of that piece and a few others. I now have the originals framed and in my office.

The envelope! Incredible!

Thank you, Evilwarlordgu!

PS--speaking of PS, I'll be posting the cover of PS, or Passing Strange, this weekend plus some other stuff! Stay tuned!

Generación de Muertos?

2009-11-22T09:49:00.003-05:00

I received word the other day that my agent has sold Spanish language rights for the first three Generation Dead novels, thus fulfilling one of my top writing goals: to have written a book that I myself cannot read. So i have been having fun with Google translator just to get a little flavor of what the book may contain--i apologize if the translations are inaccurate--I've plugged in different pieces of text into the translator at different times and gotten very odd results. I'd been sent a Portuguese language review of GD which seemed to be positive, and a Romanian review of my work which appeared to call for my house to be blasted from the earth and the ground salted afterwards so that nothing may ever grow there again.

But I can't wait to see the books translated, and maybe I'll even be able to teach myself a little spanish by reading up on the adventures of the bióticos de manera diferente (differently biotic). Maybe I won't be able to figure anything out until El Beso De la Vida or Pasando Extraño come out, who knows?

Oh and hey I was sent the prototype of the cover for Passing Strange...does anyone want to see it?

Still More Pretty Pictures

2009-11-14T10:18:00.002-05:00

Thank you, Paige, for your beautiful portrait of Phoebe!

Kill the Wabbit

2009-11-11T19:17:00.004-05:00

The other day a friend of mine (I'm reconsidering his status, BTW) gleefully forwarded a link to a secluded corner of the Internet. Now granted, I love secluded corners of the Internet and visit them often. But he reason he found this one so amusing was because it was a message board thread actually calling for my death!

Har har har! Ho Ho Ho! High hilarity ensues!

As far as I could interpret this call for violence against me, it appeared that the thread mavens were upset over my portrayal of "zombies" as anything other than shambling brain-eaters. It was hard to tell exactly, because no one on the thread seemed to have read either of my books. But the general idea was that zombies were for shooting and not anything else.

Anyway, it wasn't the first time that I've heard people call for my utter annihilation, and I'm sure it won't be the last (especially as my children grow older and begin wanting things like cell phones, drivers' licenses, and dates). But it did get me thinking: if I was taken out by some Zombie Purist fanatic, would I come back as a zombie? I know I'm a little past my teen years and all, but maybe I'd get a special dispensation for writing the books?

All I know is that if I do return as a zombie, I hope I do so as the brain eating kind. Although it might be pretty hard to scrounge a meal in certain secluded corners of the Internet.

More Pretty Pictures

2009-11-08T11:33:00.005-05:00

I have a lot to write about--namely the thrilling October Kiss of Life tour and some other cool stuff--but frankly, I'm exhausted. So here's some pretty pictures, courtesy of Stephanie:

Karen:

Tak:

Tommy:

Thanks, Stephanie!

Multimedia Fun Day--Cool Pics and Podcast Interview!

2009-10-21T21:54:00.010-04:00

First, some cool pictures sent in by Stephanie:

Colette:

Melissa:

Evan:

Thanks, Stephanie! I'll post more from Stephanie later--she did just about the whole cast of the books! I wanted to post these first, though, because these characters don't get as much "press" as the others.

Also, this is kind of cool--my first podcast interview! Conducted by the lovely and talented Jackie of Jackieonair.com and also the Free Beer and Hot Wings Show on the radio in Michigan. The show will also be on Podomatic and on iTunes! Sweet! WARNING: TOTAL GENERATION DEAD SPOILER IN THE INTERVIEW! But you also get a tiny sneak peak on Passing Strange--which is actually available for pre-order on Amazon! Yay!

If I figured out how to do it correctly, you should see a little audio player gadget thingy on the right.

Kiss on Tour

2009-10-07T19:55:00.002-04:00

Yes, Kiss is on tour. I actually saw them a few nights ago, with Buckcherry as an opening band (love Buckcherry). Kiss can still bring it--Paul has had two hip replacement surgeries and still dances in platform heels.

Kiss is also on tour, as in Kiss of Life. I'll be at the Davis-Kidd bookstore in Memphis at 6:00 this Friday, and then I'll be in Nashville at the Southern Festival of Books on Sunday. Check out the full program HERE.

Hope to see you there!

The Wall of the Dead

2009-09-27T18:52:00.004-04:00

Nothing in this world compares to writing and being read.

But experiencing artwork based on something that you've written comes awfully darn close.

Many, many thanks to Evilwarlordgu (is that your real name?) for this incredible piece from one of my personal favorite scenes in Generation Dead. The amount of detail that you put in the Wall pictures is stunning--illustrating many of the photos and scenes mentioned in the book, as well as a whole host of others--you really took my breath away!

But, um, not in a Tommy permanent sort of way. Thankfully. Click on the above image to be able to experience all the fine detail.

Love, love, love Phoebe Phan Art. I've been given permission by a few artists to post some more, but please feel free to send me stuff directly at WatersDan at aol dot com.

The Connecticut Author Trail

2009-09-18T20:22:00.007-04:00

When I was first got the invitation to be a part of the Connecticut Author Trail, I misread the email and thought it said "Connecticut Author Trial". I was actually pretty psyched, because I thought that Generation Dead had finally been banned by a library or a school. There's few better ways to ensure that your book remains in print forever than to get banned by some institution of higher learning.

Alas, GD was not banned, but instead I got to be a part of the equally cool Connecticut Author Trail. From the CT Author Trail website:

"The Connecticut Authors Trail consists of a consortium of Libraries in Eastern Connecticut who love our local authors and continue to be amazed at the variety of genres and diverse styles of writing among the authors who live in or are associated with the Nutmeg State. Beginning July 16th, 2009 until September 24th, 2009, we will be inviting local authors to showcase their books and share their stories."

Well, I was invited to be one of those local authors, and I spoke at the small but mighty Janet Carlson Calvert library last month to a congenial crowd of about thirty people and had a blast.

The 2009 Trail ends on Sept. 24 at 6:30 at the Mohegan Sun Casino, when a number of the CAT authors will be participating in an event/signing/tasting--yes, a tasting. The final two CAT authors, Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough are chefs promoting their current new cook book Cooking Know-How and and apparently are making snacks.

The full program runs from 6:30-10:00 and I plan on being there for the whole time. Better come early though because I tend to massacre buffets.

DFW

2009-09-12T12:05:00.002-04:00

A year ago today, a hero of mine took his own life. I wrote about it, inadequately,Here and Here.

Celebrate your life today.

For Amy O. and Her Son

2009-09-07T12:29:00.004-04:00

A special "Back to School" Greeting from Puddin' Tater Jones!

Here's ole P.T.J. heading out to recess after another delicious meal in the school cafeteria!

Is every one as psyched as he is for another school year? I know I am!

I Declare....Rocktober

2009-08-30T17:48:00.003-04:00

Kiss on tour!

Yes, folks, Kiss is on tour again. I noticed that for $995 you can get a VIP package that includes a meet and greet with Kiss at the Mohegan Sun Casino in beautiful downtown Uncasville (I actually saw Kiss in Uncasville a few years ago, and they provided me one of my all-time favorite concert moments when Paul Stanley yelled "Hello! Are you ready to rock...Uncasville?" Classic! At least he didn't try that "I heard that Uncasville audiences were the loudest audiences..." nonsense!). Of course, you won't meet Peter or Ace unless they are at the bar.

But actually I was talking about the Fall leg of the Kiss of Life Tour: Check out all of these fine events and establishments I get to visit:

Oct. 9 Davis Kidd Booksellers, Memphis Tennessee
Oct. 11 Southern Festival of Books, Nashville Tennessee
Oct. 17 Cornerstone Bookstore, Salem Massachusetts
Oct. 24 Austin Teen Book Festival, Austin, Texas
Oct. 29-31 World Fantasy Convention, San Jose, California

Unlike Gene and Paul and the other guys, I have elected to waive my usual $995 VIP package meet and greet fees! And no extra charge for my signature, which I will gladly place on any book that I've written! I also draw little zombies that look more like sloppy Rorschach blots but I try really hard!

However, I do not have Buckcherry as an opening act, either. I must warn you that the Kiss of Life tour is a "without makeup" tour, so if you were hoping to see "classic" Kiss of Life you might be disappointed. I will, however, be singing "Strutter","King of the Nighttime World", and "I Was Made For Loving You", all while wearing 7 inch leather platform heels.

Disclaimer: There will also be no actual kissing on the Kiss of Life tour. Sorry!

Phoebe Phan Art

2009-08-24T23:30:00.002-04:00

Today's artwork courtesy of my daughter! Yay!

World's Lousiest Comics

2009-08-11T21:39:00.002-04:00

It probably comes as no surprise that I'm a great fan of comic books. A geek, if you will. I think I probably mentioned at some point how waiting for each issue of Watchmen to come out and then reading them was literally a life-changing experience for me. I used to horde my lunch money (sorry, Mom)so I'd have more money to buy comics. I bought comics right up until having a family impoverished me so much that I couldn't even afford to keep up my complete run of The Avengers.

Kidding! I'm kidding! Sort of. The comic book line was one of the first to be eliminated from the family budget, but at the time it was an easy decision because most of the comics that were out then...in my opinion...stunk. Reeked. Were awful. This happens to me every five years or so, where I read a comic that send me in such a rage that I literally quit reading comics for months or years at a time.

As my kids grew older, though, I wanted to share with them the joys of comic reading, and my son really caught the fever. I'd make frequent trips to the basement to get him stacks and stacks from "the vault". He likes the superhero books mostly, like I did when I was his age.

His interest got me buying new comics again, something I've been doing for a few years now. And initially, the old thrill was there, and I started dreaming once again of doing comic book scripts (comic moguls, take note). My artist friend Matt Smith and I keep threatening to collaborate on a graphic novel, something that I would love, love to do. All these thoughts and experiences, and the look on my son's face when we read the new issue of JSA conspired to make comics fun again.

But last week I read a comic book so stupid, so insipid, so morally vacuous my tiny little world is put in a tailspin yet again. Every so often a comic comes along that seems (again, just my opinion) to exist solely to insult the intelligence and taste of what is typically a very loyal readership. The comic was so bad that it made me angry, and worse, it made me sad. The comic was just plain disrespectful, to readers, to characters, to story.

I feel old today. I think I'll wish that comic book to the cornfield.

Frequently Asked Questions

2009-08-01T21:06:00.004-04:00

I'd like to address a few frequently asked questions, not because I don't want your emails, but because I'm sure you get tired of waiting around for me to answer them!

1. Will there be a third book in the Generation Dead series?

Yes! There will be a third book in the Generation Dead series (and a fourth and a fifth, if I have my way). The third book will be called Passing Strange. I'm working hard on it as we speak to try and get it in shape for a May release, and as usual I'm making things far harder on myself than usual. But I love the story and I hope you will, too. I don't like to show my cards early, but I will tell you that a different character takes center stage for this one...

My lovely and talented editor told me they did the cover shoot last week!

2. I think Generation Dead would make an awesome movie. Why don't you make a movie of it?

First, I totally agree that Generation Dead would make an awesome movie. But that piece of things is out of my hands. I just write the books; I don't make movies, audios, downloadable editions, dramatic stagings, or merchandise. The film rights to both books are still available, so if any of you have deep Hollywood connections, make sure you let them know and get that ball rolling. And for those of you who have sent me pictures requesting a part as Phoebe, Karen or Margi, I promise I will email you as soon as I hear about casting calls. Good luck!

3. Will you be doing any signings in(my town)?

No, unless you live in Memphis, Nashville, Austin, San Jose, or visit the Calvert Library here in CT! Yes, Disney-Hyperion is kind enough to be sending me on a Fall book tour, where I'll be in Nashville at the Southern Festival of Books, The Austin Teen Book Festival, and the World Fantasy Convention! And something TBD in Memphis, I'll keep you posted. How sweet is that? I'll have a busy, busy October and hopefully will be meeting many of you.

4. Is your Facebook Avatar really you?

No, it is actually a customized action figure. But the resemblance is striking!

5. Were you a goth in high school? I can't say I was straight up goth, although one of my favorite albums at the time was the Damned's Phantasmagoria, which is cited by many as being one of the main albums that started the movement. I had all the rare Bauhaus singles, too.

But I think instead that I was an almost perfect blend of the five personality types from The Breakfast Club. Well, I was more Basket Case than Princess, and more brain than jock, and not much of a criminal although I did sport fingerless gloves and a trenchcoat and listened to Slayer. Maybe it was more 30%, 10%, 25%, 20%, 25%. Although I really didn't do anything princess-y, except I was a little spoiled.

Ah, heck with it. I was a goth.

French Kiss

2009-07-14T18:29:00.005-04:00

Ok, my sabbatical is over. Actually I fled the country (under a cloud of suspicion, as usual), making my first excursion abroad as classier people than me might say. This year is a round number birthday year for my wife and I and so a trip to France with the kids was our gift to ourselves.

We had an unbelievably spectacular time.

One personal highlight (you know, after all the museums and great artwork, incredible churches and architecture, stunning views and the Eiffel Tower, etc.) was going into the WH Smith's in Paris on the Rue de Rivoli and finding the U.K. Kiss of Life on display. It is a very pretty and flowery cover and looks like this:

Internet Sabbatical

2009-06-28T19:35:00.004-04:00

I'll be taking a sabbatical from the internet (not a sabbatical on the internet, that would just be weird) for a couple weeks beginning on Tuesday. As I very painstakingly moderate all of the posts, none will appear until I get back no matter how many times you try. Sorry!

But if you are surfing and looking for things to do, you can check out Joe Frawley's music, which I referred to in my last blog. You can take the zombie quiz at GenDead.com. You can go buy some beautiful comic book art from my good friend Matthew Dow Smith at his blog matthewdowsmithoriginalart. A surfeit of wonders, that Internet.

See you later!

Phoebe's Playlist Part II

2009-06-20T19:25:00.005-04:00

A few blogs ago I linked to my guest spot on Largeheartedboy.com, where I was able to write about some of the music that I listened to when I wrote Generation Dead, music that coincidentally would likely be on Phoebe's iPod. Pretty much everything in that column is uptempo, loud music. So what does Phoebe like to listen to when she's in a quiet, reflective mood? When she's pensive, thoughtful, or relaxing? (Phoebe, for the record, never "chillaxes", btw. Well, yes, she listens to that loud stuff when relaxing, but she also has moments that create a more soothing aural space. The three This Mortal Coil albums help create that space, especially the unbelievably good Filigree and Shadow, and there's an album called Space Age Freakout by Glide (Will Sergeant of Echo and the Bunnymen) that we quite like. During the editing of Kiss of Life I was introduced to a recording artist by the name of Joe Frawley, and he's recently released a CD with called Emperor of Daffodils with an ensemble that I (and thus, Phoebe) have fallen in love with.

Joe's solo work defies easy description, drawing from a number of genres and styles, usually incorporating "found sounds" to create amazing sound collages. This is music that takes you places; often to places you've likely never been.

Here's what Joe has to say about the inspiration for the album:

Artist's Statement
I came across this You Tube video- and apparently there are others like it- of a young woman doing her makeup, talking about which eyeshadows she likes, how she puts on lipstick, etc. And then people would comment back saying "you're so pretty", "that shade looks good on you". It occurred to me that a web cam functions something like a magic mirror to some people, as in: "Who's the fairest of them all?" And it wasn't just one video, she had dozens of them. A lot of the samples you hear on this project come directly from that source. This was the initial fascination, which then lead to further explorations of the idea, from slightly different angles, including the male perspective. I have always found it fascinating, for example, to watch a woman put on makeup. It's a whole world I know nothing about, and have no place in- the world of feminine beauty rituals. This is what lead to the idea of an Emperor of Daffodils (that is of narcissists- the flower in French, narcisse, is named after the mythic figure). I imagined it as a fantasy for a man to have dominion over an empire of self-loving beautiful women, a fantasy which could easily turn dark, as you can imagine. This CD has been the most strictly programmatic work I have made, and I found working within the limits of the concept to be creatively liberating. I am encouraged by the results of this recording and hope to do more collaborative work in the future. –JF

Definitely something Phoebe would want to check out. You can check it out and listen to excerpts of the music at Joe's site joefrawleymusic.info. Eight bucks gets you the new limited edition CD--only fifty made! And I have one of them, so you might need to hurry!

Introducing...Puddin' Tater Jones

2009-06-16T10:46:00.005-04:00

We received over 100 suggestions, but my kids have decreed that Puddin' Tater Jones is our zombies' name. Many thanks to thedarkone443 for the suggestion. Send me an email, thedarkone443, and I'll send you the UK edition of Generation Dead!

One of the suggestions was George, after the "old school" zombie introduced in Kiss of Life. We couldn't use George because the kids named this guy George years ago:

"Dad, we're going to ride our scooters!""Okay, put George out.""Dad, we're going to play basketball!""Okay, put George out." We live on a...heh-heh...dead end, and sometimes cars zip in and out at fearsome speeds, but the sight of that faithful protector, George, usually encourages folks to slow down.

I wonder if the sight of Puddin Tater Jones will encourage them to speed up?

Life Continually Provides New Metaphors

2009-06-15T15:38:00.002-04:00

Or would that be, like, similes?

Awhile ago I wrote a blog about how no one ran in the same direction I did at the park, evidence of me living clockwise in a counter-clockwise world. Well, after a brief hiatus from running, I was back at the park this weekend, and this time there were a pair of joggers running the same route I was--and they passed me like I was standing still!

There's a lesson there too, I think.

Phoebe's Playlist

2009-06-10T10:45:00.003-04:00

I'm sometimes asked via posts to my blog or at book events to talk about what I like to listen to (or, even more often, what Phoebe and Margi like to listen to) when I'm writing. My usual answer--"almost anything"--may seem like a cowardly dodge, but considering that there are currently 33,422 songs on my iPod, I assure you it is a true statement.

That said, I tend to have certain things on in a heavier rotation during certain projects. I'm listening to a lot of Miles Davis and Flying Saucer Attack for something I'm working on now, for example. GD and KOL were written while under the influence of a number of specific songs and albums, and I got the chance to write about a few of them for the wonderful blog LARGEHEARTED BOY, which, in addition to reviews and news about music and literature, also has two great sections, "Book Notes" and "Note Books", featuring authors writing about songs, and songwriters writing about books, respectively.

Click the link to read about what I listened to at the start of writing the GD series--I guarantee that both Phoebe and Margi have these songs on their iPods!--but budget your time, because you are going to want to click around and read what all of the other great writers and musicians have to say about the works that inspired them.

Three Cheers for Necromancy

2009-06-09T15:18:00.005-04:00

Necromancy Never Pays, that is, one of my favorite literature blogs. I first came across the blog when I was obsessively googling myself (insecure egomaniac that I am) in the months that followed the publication of Generation Dead. Jeanne wrote an essay/review of the book entitled Fiction and Lies. I've been a fan of Jeanne's commentary ever since. I think I'd even enjoy her blog if she slammed my books, she's so interesting.

Okay, that's a lie. The enjoying it if she slammed me part, not the part about her being interesting. I'd probably start sniveling and have to jog an extra mile the way I always do when someone sends me a lousy review (I really don't google myself anymore!). But check out Fiction and Lies; she doesn't let me completely off the hook but then again she accurately nails so much of what I was trying to do I don't mind.

She's also written a review of Kiss of Life that you can find by clicking the first link above, but don't stop there--click around and discover some of the best writing on writings available out on the blogosphere.

Supercool Art of the Day

2009-06-08T18:52:00.006-04:00

This was sent to me by Trad Chik, and I love it! I think that she has captured essential elements of each character's personality, don't you?

Name that zombie! A week from today the judging will take place!

And This Concludes The Tour...For Now

2009-06-07T19:02:00.003-04:00

The final stop on the Spring Kiss of Life Tour was in one of my favorite towns, Salem, Massachusetts. I had an excellent time at the excellent Cornerstone Bookshop. A personal highlight was meeting Michelle, a librarian who writes Tempting Persephone, one of my favorite book blogs. Michelle, although she didn't realize it, was very dear to my heart because A). she wrote one of the first, and kindest, reviews of Generation Dead to hit the web and B). she picked on an intricacy within the book that few before or since have commented on, and as I am a shameless egomaniac that really meant a lot to me. Turns out that she is as cool as her blog, which is to say very, very cool indeed.

And she's giving away a signed copy of Generation Dead at her blog now, if you know anyone that wants one! Read about it HERE

Speaking of contests, Zombie Waters is still without an official name...post your suggestion to the blog for your chance to win the U.K. edition of Generation Dead!

Despite having been to Salem about 72 times in my life, I'd never visited the House of the Seven Gables, which is odd because the book that bears its name is one of my favorites, as is the author of the book, Nathaniel Hawthorne. Well worth the trip if you find yourself in Salem and are looking for something a little less witchy to do.

There's still some witchy connection there, though. Nathaniel changes his name from "Hathorne" to "Hawthorne", because he wanted to dissociate from certain relatives, especially John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials, as he was ashamed of his family's role in the trials.

You know who else was involved with the Salem Witch Trials? A minister by the name of Increase Mather. His son Cotton Mather, also a minister, had influence on the trials as well.

Wouldn't it be weird if Reverend Nathan Mathers also changed his name, adding the "S", to distance himself from his illustrious ancestors? Hmmm.

Zombie Name Contest?

2009-05-30T23:01:00.003-04:00

Thanks to all of you who have sent in entries! My kids are having a blast with this!

I have to tell you that I was very close to cancelling the contest in favor of naming the zombie Kanye. As in Kanye West. Mainly because of this delicious quote:

"Sometimes people write novels and they just be so wordy and so self-absorbed," West said. "I am not a fan of books. I would never want a book's autograph. I am a proud non-reader of books."

That just sounds like the comment of someone who is in search of braiiiinns. But I realized that I'd be doing a disservice to my new buddy if I named him Kanye, so hopefully one of you will provide a better name.

And hopefully, booksellers around the world will read Kanye's quote and recognize it for what it is, a call for illiteracy, a celebration of anti-intellectualism, and lose his books in the backroom.