Review and Author Interview - The Undead Road by David Powers King

Nothing brings the family together like a zombie apocalypse …

Fifteen-year-old Jeremy Barnes would rather watch a zombie movie than shoot a real one, but he has no choice if his family wants to survive the end of the world. Their plan? Drive across the infected United States to a cabin in the Colorado Rockies without a scratch, but their trip takes a complicated detour in the middle of Nebraska when they find Kaylynn, a girl who can handle a baseball bat better than Jeremy can hold a .45 Berretta. And when they stumble into a sanctuary, Jeremy soon learns that Kaylynn is stronger than she looks—a deadly secret lies inside her.

After the radio picks up a distress call from Kansas City about a possible cure, Jeremy’s parents go with a team to investigate. They never return. The only way to find their parents is for Jeremy and his sister Jewel to rely on a dangerous girl who might just turn on them at any moment.

Today's the last day you can get it on sale for $.99!

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MY REVIEW

King has done it again. This was the first book I read for 2016, and it was a good choice. While The Undead Road is a very different story from Woven which he coauthored with Michael Jensen (and I loved), it's still an engaging tale nonetheless. While it's a tad bit graphic (it IS a Zombie Apocalypse story after all), it's full of dark humor.

I found the characters engaging and fun. There's some tough stuff that happens--again, no surprise--and some wins and losses for the characters. This is the first in a series, but the story arc for this book is complete. I'm really looking forward to reading the next one.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

1.  How old were you when you realized Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny probably never actually knew one another in real life?

Wait, they've never met each other? I thought there was some kind of holiday character convention, in July in Florida. You just turned my world upside down, Donna. 

*Hangs head in shame*

 2. Who was your favorite character to write in The Undead Road, My Zombie Summer? Why?

That would be Jewel, the main character's little sister. I was the youngest in my family and often entertained the idea of having a little sister, so I wrote Jewel in as an alternate universe version of myself. Jewel is the glue and is well worth her weight in, well ... jewels. 

Jewel was a treat of a character. She was tough and an awesome shot, but she was also a little girl and fragile in other ways.

3. What is the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you?

That time as an early teen when I got busted by mall security for switching sale signs in the lingerie section of a department store. My mom never took me clothes shopping after that. 

Ha! I burst out laughing when I read that. I can so see you doing something like this. Just wait for your own kids' antics ...

4. What was your inspiration for The Undead Road, My Zombie Summer and what comes next in the series?

When I was about 15, my family went on a huge road trip to the Midwest and I visited many of the locations found inside The Undead Road. I also had zombies on the brain and would imagine entering each town being filled with zombies and pretending that my family was trying to escape them. After watching the first episode of The Walking Dead, my memory of that trip and the presentation of that show created a perfect brainstorm and off to work I went.

In Part Two of My Zombie Summer, the story picks up where it left off. Jeremy's family will undergo a new set of challenges and make new alliances while Jeremy deals with an unexpected change. Imagine Children of the Corn with zombies.

I can't wait!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Powers King was born in beautiful downtown Burbank, California where his love for film inspired him to be a writer. He is the co-author of the YA fantasy novel WOVEN, published by Scholastic. An avid fan of science fiction and fantasy, David also has a soft spot for zombies and the paranormal. He currently lives deep in the mountain West with his wife and three children.

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A to Z - Humor

Today's post draws on my notes from a class the awesome Sarah Eden taught last fall at the UVU Book Academy. Sarah's always got great humor in her books, and she's just as funny in person.

Why should you include humor?

• Well, for one thing, it makes the characters likeable. 
• Another is comic relief. I remember thinking as my family was watching The Two Towers film about how dark it was. If it hadn't been for Gimli, it would have been an exhausting experience.
• It's a great way to sneak in an emotional experience.
• Like every emotional response, humor must be earned.

So, what makes things funny?

•  Incongruity - something out of place or inappropriate to the situation
• The unexpected - misdirection or surprise (Jack Sparrow--the pirate we never saw coming--is a prime example)
• Familiarity - the reader can relate to what is said or done. This is something stand up comics use a lot.

Now you can have all those things and still bomb because it's all about the context. You need to know your audience and genre. Some things will appeal to certain ages, or to people who have lived through a certain era, or it can appeal to a stage in life or a common experience.

When I was young, there was a joke we used to love to tell.

Question: What's bigger than Winnie's Pooh?

Answer: Gomer's Pyle

I know. This seriously dates me. Many you won't get that joke at all, unless you've ever seen the old reruns of the TV show Gomer Pyle, which was a spin off of the old Andy Griffith Show.

So, play off your strengths and don't try something you're not good at. Don't force it.

Following is a sample of incongruity, where classical pianist Victor Borgia does the unexpected.



Do you have much humor in your writing? What's one of your more favorite funny scenes in a book?

For a Laugh

Humor. It's all around us if we take the time to notice it.



Did you hear or see anything funny today?

Just for Fun

Since I've been so focused on writing since the start of NaNoWriMo (I hit 14,214 words last night, by the way--according to NaNo stats if I keep going at this rate I could hit the 50,000 word mark my November 17th).

Last night I attended my first write-in. It was held at this cute little place called The Chocolate. It's an old home that's been converted into a restaurant. I only knew about it because I attended a book launch there a couple of weeks ago. Holy cow. The place was packed! Since it used to be a home, it's full of lots of small rooms with small, intimate tables.

It was kind of distracting trying to write because real life was going on all around us. Seriously! It was hilarious listening to these young couples who'd come to this dessert cafe. One of the discussions going on next to us made me think about Melanie Jacobson's book Not My Type. The main character gets roped into doing an online series about dating. She's got a snarky, witty edge and many of her dates are disasters. I'll have to ask Melanie where she got her ideas. The Chocolate would have been a great resource.

This morning I needed and wanted something to make me laugh. Someone on Friday suggested that I should go to Google and type in the word askew (no quotes)

Go ahead. Do it yourself.

Did you smile?

Now type in do a barrel roll (no quotes--or words in parentheses).

So do it.

Are you dizzy?

That got me thinking. Dangerous on an early Sunday morning. But I decided to check out what other quirky things those folks at Google have been up to.

Google's Top 10 Hidden Treasures

Google Earth: Top ten fun things to do
I love #3's second option.

Anyway, it's time to get back to work. The general municipal election is Tuesday, so it's going to be a crazy, crazy week. Tuesday I'll be in the office at 6 a.m. and if things go well will be home before midnight.

I used to just ask that people vote (our primary turn out was 7.5%--that means in a city with over 50,000 registered voters, fewer than 4,000 people decided who got to move on to the general election).

It's amazing to me, however, the number of people who vote but do so uninformed. No candidate will ever represent your views on every issue, but do a little research and make sure you're at least on the same continent on issues that mean a lot to you.

Local elections are where the rubber meets the road, by the way. You have the greatest chance at making a difference in those.

Fine. I'll get off my soapbox.

What about you? Do you vote? Or does the ugliness that's so much a part of the national news taint even your local elections?

Grammar Humor

In preparation for tomorrow's Grammar Friday post, I submit a little humor:

A linguistics professor was lecturing to his class one day.

"In English," he said, "A double negative forms a positive. In some languages, though, such as Russian, a double negative is still a negative. However, there is no language wherein a double positive can form a negative."

A voice from the back of the room piped up, "Yeah, right."

(I would love to credit this but it was something I collected a bazillion years ago from an email that was making the rounds.)