SAFE FOR NOW

If you've signed up at my website, then you know by now that Book 9 of The Infected Dead became available on Kindle Unlimited between Christmas and New Years Day.

The feedback I've gotten so far is that it's a fast read even though the print length is 418 pages. I've also heard some good things from readers about the story itself. I attempt to introduce original ideas that haven't been used, and I think I manage to do that in each book. You can only describe being stabbed, shot, eviscerated, disemboweled, or eaten so many times before readers will start skimming those parts. It's up to me to think of the other things that might also happen, and I haven't run out of ideas yet.

If you haven't had a chance to check out the new book, just click on the cover to go to the Amazon page.

I haven't given any updates in a long time, so I'd like to take a moment to bring everyone up to speed about the series. There haven't been any movie or TV contract offers yet, but I love it when a reader makes a comment about that. From time to time, a reader will write a review and say, "This would make a great TV series!" That doesn't break my heart at all, so feel free to say it if you mean it, and maybe someone (the right person) will notice.

I get a lot of mail from people who either prefer or need audiobooks. Books 1 through 6 are available now on virtually all websites that sell audiobooks, and of course you can follow the links on my site to each of them. The good news is that books 7 and 8 are currently under contract to be produced as audiobooks, and I'll be sure to let you know when they are available.

On a personal note, we've managed to stay well through the last two years. It hasn't been easy for anyone, and one question has been asked of me a few times. Is it easy to write a book about a zombie apocalypse during a pandemic? For me, the answer has been no. It's not easy to write this genre right now. I've seen some posts where the authors have said it hasn't effected their writing one way or the other. Maybe it's a form of release or catharsis for them, but for me, I have to shut out the world around me to be able to do it. Fortunately, I get into my writing so far sometimes that it becomes more of a reality than whatever is happening outside. If I succeed at burying myself in the story, then when you read it maybe you will escape too. One of the highest compliments I've gotten has been when my wife, my daughter, or my son reads the books and forgets that I wrote them. I remember my daughter laughed at something the Chief said, and she told her husband, "That sounds like something my dad would say." He just stared at her. My wife was reading Safe for Now, and she stopped me as I walked by and said, "Did you know that...?" Then she realized she was just about to quote to me something that is factual in the book. I kept walking, but I was insufferably pleased. My son has told me repeatedly that he starts off aware that the author is his father, but he forgets as he loses himself in the story. One of these days I hope to hear him do what my daughter and wife did.

A long blog post wouldn't be complete without telling you that Jules and Gizmo are still my biggest critics, but they're also good company when I write. There's something about them that makes me relax, and I lose track of where the day went. Sometimes they're the ones who make sure I stop for the day or at least get something to eat.