Released Deid Bastards - the movie (well, video)

I'm having such a ball writing about the zombie hordes descending on Glasgow and how it efects a ragtag of survivors.

There's Glasgow couple Scott and Emma who might be expecting a baby. Well, it's hardly likely to be a puppy.

Would you like to be up the duff with the undead on the run?

Would be suicide bomber Doyle, who picks the 'wrang day for it.'
Geek Kenny who owns the last video store in Glasgow and perhaps the world.

Mustafa, a patriotic Scottish Asian muscle man who has a tendancy to act first and think later.
The characters are so real to me that I can see what they look like in my head. I even have an all Scottish cast lined up for the roles.

I thought you might like a peak at the video my clever partner, John made for me.

So far, I've sent the book to three publishers and one agent. Wish me luck, because the Deid Bastards deserve to be coming to a town near you.

I'm now off to buy the domain and make the t-hirts.

Deid Bastards (or my descent into madness)

Zombies in Glasgow? It has already happened.

Last night I had an epiphany, a moment when I realised what I needed to do to to get my as yet unfinished zombie book published.

Out goes my title The Waking Dead - not used to get sales off the back of the TV show The Walking Dead - although I wouldn't mind, but so called because experts dub my creatures that because they are literally dying and then waking up.

In comes Deid Bastards.

Well, what else would they call dead - deid - people who come back to life in Glasgow where the book is set?

Am I mad for the name change? Only time will tell.

I'll keep you posted on my progress, or inevitable retreat to a padded cell wearing an I-love-me-jacket with daily injections from Nurse Ratchet.

The thrill of getting it written down

At the moment, I’m completely wired; like I’ve drunk tonnes of cans of Red Bull. I’ve been working into the wee small hours on a piece of work for the past few weeks and finally it’s time to send my baby off into the world.

Before the fear begins as I wait for a response, I’m just so hyper that I’ve got it finished. Exhausted but hyper.

This would seem like a good time to have a rest, get lost in someone else’s books (reading is my favourite leisure activity), but instead I’ll get stuck into writing something else because this is the best time to write: when you’re psyched up by what you believe is work well done and haven’t had a no. Yet.

Leave the writing to a time when it feels like all you’ve been doing is getting doors slammed in your face and told you're not worthy, and it will be like trying to go the wrong way up an escalator.

Why you need to care about your characters

I currently know there's…

A naked man tied to a bed with a ball in his mouth as a femme fatale with murder in her heart struts up and down the room deciding what to do to him.

A detective who thinks he's going nuts because his pal, who's been in a catatonic state since he was stabbed multiple times by a broken bottle, has begun talking to him something which only happens when no one is around.

A woman and her boyfriend who has just got into a car with Britain's first white suicide bomber who's chosen the wrong day: the zombies have arrived.

No, there's no need to call the authorities. These people aren't real; they are characters in novels I'm writing.

Characters they may be but they have become real to me. I care about them. I care what happens to them, which means when I leave them in a precarious situation I want to see what happens to them. I want to see how they get out of the mess I put them in.

If you're starting to think your characters aren't good enough, ask yourself: do I care about them? If the answer is no then maybe it's time to rip them up and start again because if you don't care about your characters why would anyone else?

The zombies are here. Here is the proof...

They're in Glasgow now, but they could be heading to you.

This is Generation Z, World War Z.

Craving human flesh! Yikes!

Just doing some research for my book, Living Cruelty Free, which I’ve just agreed to write for Greatest Guides. This is a subject I am really passionate about, as I've been a vegetarian for 25 years. The book is scheduled for release in December 30th, 2011.

I came across a page that had ‘craving human flesh. Please help!’ written at the bottom of it.

Did I miss the zombie invasion, or what?

Bringing my characters alive

Spot the zombie

Sometimes it can be difficult to keep track of charcaters when you're writing. Where are they in a certain scene? Have you accidentally brought back someone who's meant to be dead? 

As well as writing charcater guides so I know what is happening to each character at any given time, I have a novel way of keeping track. 

I got myself some Horrified B Movie Victims and I place them in appropiate poses. Every figure represents a character in my zombie novel.

The Walking Dead

Has anyone else been watching The Walking Dead, starring Andrew Lincoln who played Egg in Thats Life as the cop who's in a coma when the Zombie virus strikes? 

Although I've been enjoying it, I have two complaints - 1. not enough Zombie action
2- I don't think Zombies would attack and eat a horse.  For once thing, its human flesh Zombies want and specifically human brains.

At least that's my opinion.

What does anyone else think?  If you haven't seen it, here's a link to the trailer on YouTube -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1v0uFms68U 

One thing the programme has done is inspire me to try my hand at my own Zombie novel.  Hope I can do this brilliant genre justice.  In the meantime, I'm having vivid Zombie dreams.