Ask the Author: Better Hero Army
Answered Questions (3)
Better Hero Army
Just today I was informed for either the fourth or fifth time that my book, Plagued, was the reason someone took up reading again. This time it was a father whose two sons were fighting over who got to read it first, both boys fans of zombies but not fans of books in general. A mother told me the same thing a few months ago about her son being eager to read Plagued after his long, dry spell of not reading anything for pleasure. And again I heard of a brother reading it after his sister recommended it, and so on. And it's not that I'm happy that they decided to read my book, but that I'm glad that they've decided to read for pleasure at all. When I someday tally the accomplishments of my life, I'll be able to write down that I made some people want to read, and in the end, that'll be a better thing than any award I might ever achieve.
Better Hero Army
February 2024 Update:
Stuck in endless production...
1. SINKHOLE, the sequel to the zombie western Nine Hours 'Till Sunrise. Picking up ten years after the first book, the deaf girl Suzanna is all grown up and looking for vengeance in the wild, wild west...
The "in-development" pile consists of....
1. A new stand-alone fantasy book series (2 in the bag, actually). Yup, I'm going back to my adolescent roots and finally dusting off one of my earliest works and giving it a second go--who am I kidding? like one-hundredth go. It will be released under my real name, though, so don't look for it here.
2. A new stand-alone sci-fi horror / thriller / suspense...I don't know how to classify it. The world as we know it will be gone in 72 hours. This is not your usual extinction event / alien invasion kind of story, either, so get ready for some grim fortunes and beautiful humanity at the edge of the apocalypse.
3. The Plagued States of America Origins, Book 2 (working title: GONE). Penelope Hope has survived her ordeal on the set of the movie Hart Throbbed, but is now stuck in the quarantined city of St. Louis as the dead rise in ever growing numbers.
4. Book 7 of the pulse-pounding, blockbuster car-thief action movie franchise DRIFT & BURN! That's right, I got skipped-over for writing books 2 through 6, but I'm back baby! They came crawling back to me to write another.
5. The Hollow Mountain Butterfly series (Girlgoyle, Wingless, Archraven, and Stonewing) may be over, but Hedika's story has just begun. I'm working on a two-book (maybe three) continuation of the series called The Warcross Chronicles that picks up about ten minutes after Stonewing ends...and it's going to be a wild ride!
6. I'm still working on another stand-alone book concept that resides in the world of super-heroes. It's an idea that I've been kicking around for a couple years now, but with other projects taking my time, it's been getting very little love. Maybe a novella.
7. Yet another stand-alone fantasy book, this one also from my juvenile imaginings of grandeur, but restructured to remove all the boring world building I did at the cost of actually telling a story!
Stuck in endless production...
1. SINKHOLE, the sequel to the zombie western Nine Hours 'Till Sunrise. Picking up ten years after the first book, the deaf girl Suzanna is all grown up and looking for vengeance in the wild, wild west...
The "in-development" pile consists of....
1. A new stand-alone fantasy book series (2 in the bag, actually). Yup, I'm going back to my adolescent roots and finally dusting off one of my earliest works and giving it a second go--who am I kidding? like one-hundredth go. It will be released under my real name, though, so don't look for it here.
2. A new stand-alone sci-fi horror / thriller / suspense...I don't know how to classify it. The world as we know it will be gone in 72 hours. This is not your usual extinction event / alien invasion kind of story, either, so get ready for some grim fortunes and beautiful humanity at the edge of the apocalypse.
3. The Plagued States of America Origins, Book 2 (working title: GONE). Penelope Hope has survived her ordeal on the set of the movie Hart Throbbed, but is now stuck in the quarantined city of St. Louis as the dead rise in ever growing numbers.
4. Book 7 of the pulse-pounding, blockbuster car-thief action movie franchise DRIFT & BURN! That's right, I got skipped-over for writing books 2 through 6, but I'm back baby! They came crawling back to me to write another.
5. The Hollow Mountain Butterfly series (Girlgoyle, Wingless, Archraven, and Stonewing) may be over, but Hedika's story has just begun. I'm working on a two-book (maybe three) continuation of the series called The Warcross Chronicles that picks up about ten minutes after Stonewing ends...and it's going to be a wild ride!
6. I'm still working on another stand-alone book concept that resides in the world of super-heroes. It's an idea that I've been kicking around for a couple years now, but with other projects taking my time, it's been getting very little love. Maybe a novella.
7. Yet another stand-alone fantasy book, this one also from my juvenile imaginings of grandeur, but restructured to remove all the boring world building I did at the cost of actually telling a story!
Better Hero Army
The entire Plagued States of America series was pretty well planned out the moment I got the idea. I always wanted to have three sanctioned zombie hunting and rehabilitation control points (Biter's Hill, Biter's Island, and Biter's Bend) plus two or three unsanctioned ones. The first three books in the series were always a progression through these places. I also wanted a finale that happened outside of these three places, so the series will be 4 books at a minimum.
The idea for the books, however, came when my mother had surgery to remove one of her salivary glands. She looked gruesome, and it inspired me to write the first book in her honor.
The idea for the books, however, came when my mother had surgery to remove one of her salivary glands. She looked gruesome, and it inspired me to write the first book in her honor.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more