Why did Daniel Greene want to write a series about zombies? Which scene in The Rising is his favorite? Which character? Are zombies the only danger the survivors have to watch out for? How hard is it for him to kill his characters? How has writing this series changed his life?
What first made you want to write a series about zombies? Are there any other books you’ve written?
Well, you tend to write in genres you like to read, and I will say this, I love the zombie apocalypse genre. There are a ton of people that write about monsters and claim they aren’t writing about zombies, but we all read them because it’s basically just about zombies…at least, I do. But before I got into the zombie genre, I loved fantasy (still do), science fiction, and historical fiction. Robert Jordan, Steven Pressfield, George R.R. Martin and Bernard Cornwell are my most favorite authors.
Back to zombies. I don’t know what it is, but something about zombies has always piqued my interest, even as a young person. They are scary and menacing and most importantly they are us. At the end time, we like to imagine ourselves as being one of the few hardened survivors, and I think this is a driving factor behind writing zombie apocalypse fiction. What does the end of the world look like in our eyes? How does it happen? Who rises and who falls? Or do we all just die? But that last one is no fun.
I do have a backlist of work that is waiting to publish. Most of this would probably fall under historical thriller or historical horror. I’m not sure if those are real genres, but if you like the modern day zombie stuff, you’ll probably like those novels as well.
zombie, pixabay
Do zombies pose the most danger to survivors in this book? Or are there other monsters out there they have to watch for?
I think this depends on whom you ask. If you ask, Jarl, Andrea, or Barnes would probably say the infected/zombies are the most dangerous. If you ask Wheeler, Bonds, or Pagan, they might say people. One might say that in the apocalypse, people are the real monsters and their depravity goes so much deeper than mindless killing. But then again, 100 million people trying to kill you is a pretty real danger…or is it the sniper in the trees? (See Book 2: The Breaking) But I’ll leave that question open to interpretation.
What does it take to be a leader when the world is being overrun by zombies?
I would say the rule of three applies here: mental and physical grit, smarts, and fight.
Mental Grit: In any type of end of the world or even natural disaster situation, those that have a weak disposition or lack the mental toughness to take them through horrible situations will most likely die. I know that’s blunt, but time and time again, we find this to be the determining factor between life and death. It’s the decision mentally that we are going to make it through the pain or the fight or days without food. Unless it’s a gauntlet of infected. In that case, tenacity probably won’t matter too much; you’ll probably still die.
horde of zombies, Barksdale Air Force Base
Physical Grit: An apocalypse is going to be tough on the body. Starving. High risk of an injury related to fighting. Illness, including illnesses you now don’t think about like the flu. Everyone rests and gets their antivirals. Can you imagine doing this on the run from a pack of zombies? Or even if you were hiding out? Without meds, diseases that we overcome with care will become deadly killers once again.
Smarts/Wiliness: I also believe that street smarts, as well as overall problem-solving intelligence, will be vital to survival success. Can you think outside the box? Can you figure out how to hold up 100 million infected in the passes of the Rockies without getting yourself killed? (See Book 3: The Rising) Obviously, some of this can be trained. Military training, law enforcement training, and survival training can all give people the edge in an individual situation, as well as strategic planning for long-term survival.
Fighter: In one-way or another, everyone will become a fighter who survives the initial outbreaks. They will be forced to kill infected, and in some instances, probably other people. The more experience you have fighting before the outbreak, the higher your probability is to survive during the beginning phases of the chaos a zombie virus brings. (See Book 1: End Time)
Ideal survivalist for the zombie apocalypse? Think Odysseus. Smart/wily. Tough and smart fighter. Knows when to retreat. Has tenacity.
Rambo, wikimedia commons
Do you have a favorite character from The Rising? What about a least favorite character? Why?
I’ve always been partial to Steele. He is the most prominent point-of-view character and shares some of yours truly’s personality traits and experiences. I really want him to feel real and flawed. He is not some superstar Bond or Rambo. He has training but struggles with many of the decisions, good or bad, that he makes. As the series progresses, he is haunted by his dead friends and has survivor’s guilt. He’s made mistakes and gotten into ambushes. He hasn’t saved everyone, but he’s doing the best he can to save the people around him.
From a series perspective, he still has a lot in store for him. I believe that by the end of the series, people will see his full arc and probably reread the entire series so they can catch the subtle clues as to how he becomes what he is. I know that is kind of a cryptic answer, but it will be one worth finding out.
My favorite bad guy/least favorite character to write so far is definitely the pastor. This cat has taken the end-of-the-world gospel to a whole new level. He is not some brute like Puck in Book 2. He is cerebral, manipulative, and believes that God is instructing him to build his kingdom on earth by burning all those who stand in his path.
However, I have been working on my antagonist for Book 4…
Which scene was your favorite?
This question is tough. Kinnick, Joseph, and Steele all have monster climatic scenes in Book 3. It’s so intense, and the thing is, all those scenes are important to the overall story and series. It’s a close call between Kinnick’s stand in the passes and Steele’s last stand at Little Sable Point, but I would have to say my favorite was Steele’s scene. Without giving too much away…
Steele’s community has been beaten and battered. They tighten up their vehicular ring around their lighthouse and await the arrival of the pastor and his men. They cannot escape; there’s no more fuel. All the pastor’s army marches forth and Steele knows they are about to die…how could they possibly survive?
Some characters had to die. How hard for you was it to kill them?
It is always a struggle to kill off characters in the series. As I write them and build them into the story and create their arcs both large and small, you really begin to fall in love with them. You have a glimpse into their world and their struggles, and as a writer, you share with them as if you are there. But I like to write a good amount of realism into my stories. Not everyone walks away from a gunfight. If zombies were real, not many of us would walk away from a battle with a horde. I don’t like the reader to feel too safe that just because a character is in one novel that they will make it to the end. I have offed some of my favorite folks and it won’t end there. That is one of my most favorite and frustrating things that George R.R. Martin does, but I believe it adds so much to the story. I am not one to only watch the “good” guys have win after win. I love to pull them down into the depths of defeat, have them lose allies along the way and show that the “bad” guys win a lot too, sometimes even more than our heroes.
What kind of research did you have to do for this book?
I do a quite a bit of research for all my books. I depend on a host of subject matter experts to assist me in making the books more real. I talk to former military veterans, law enforcement, and doctors in an effort to make things as real as possible for the reader. I also do a ton of reading on topics that are pertinent to the series.
The survivors have cars that need fuel, and the motorcycle gangs have bikes that need fuel. How do you make it believable that the military that is still in operation hasn’t yet confiscated all the fuel for defense?
Fuel is a tough apocalyptic subject. In my series, the military is operating but basically only in one part of continental United States: Colorado. Even they are only in a select portion they call the Golden Triangle. The Golden Triangle is comprised of Peterson Air Force Base, Fort Carson, and Cheyenne Mountain Complex. Any units operating outside this area are really on their own or have gone rogue. The virus outbreak hit both the East Coast and the West Coast so hard and so fast that most of the military was overrun early on in the series. So what I am trying to say is that there isn’t much military left to confiscate all the fuel.
Do you already have the storylines written out for the remaining books in this series? If so, have any of them changed according to what you’ve already written?
Currently, I have the series planned for six books. I have plotted out all the novels remaining. I believe this will give the characters the page time necessary to reach their full potential. It’s a loose outline that can change depending on how the story comes out when I write it, but the major plot points are in place and shouldn’t change too much.
That said, characters that I didn’t realize were going to be main characters in the Book 1 have become main point-of-view characters by the Book 3. Other point-of-view characters have come and gone and will return or be killed as the series goes along. A couple of points of view may even have their own novellas in the works. I already have some major developments planned for the Book 4. Come Book 5, the cast of characters will have changed again, but most of your favorites will be lurking somewhere or feeding the infected. It all depends on my omnipotent mood…
How has writing this series changed your life?
End Time was my debut book. That changed my life. Writing a novel is a journey. Some liken it to a hero’s journey. It takes persistence; you have to overcome so much resistance to publish a book, self-published or otherwise. Am I good enough? Who will publish it? What if the readers hate it? What if no one buys it? And so many other doubts. . .
While every novel is it’s own little journey, as a writer, you have an overall arc. You have a band of allies and mentors that help you along the way. The cast of allies, antagonists, and mentors may change, but every novel’s journey has them. Every writer’s journey has them.
And every time you come out with a book, you pass the threshold a new person, holding new powers you didn’t know existed in you. Basically, you grow. You grow as a writer. You grow as a person. You grow in knowledge. You grow your relationships.
I remind myself of these things to help me through.
Everyone starts somewhere. Everyone has a host of experiences that have gotten them to this point. Some of those experiences may afford them the chance to write a book in a month. Others maybe will take a few years. Either way, nothing happens if you don’t get started.
Your time in equals your return. Every hour I spend writing is another hour I’ve gotten better.
Not everyone is going to like your work. They just won’t, so don’t expect it.
Keep building your body of work. It’s going to take most people more than a few tries to find success.
My advice to people just starting out. Learn the basics. Focus on mastering the plot and characters, and don’t forget about the genre you’re writing in. Read everything in the genre you want to write in. And be disciplined about writing. Do it every day. It will help.
I can’t believe how much I’ve grown as a writer. It inspires me to work even harder to keep getting better every time I sit down to write. My writer’s journey is only beginning, but those first few steps/books are your biggest. You have to learn to walk before you can run.
reading book, pixabay
Amazon Links:
End Time
The Breaking
The Rising
The End Time Saga (3 Book Series)
Recommended Articles:
How to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse – Guest Post by Daniel Greene
