by Jay Wilburn
As of the the end of this tour, Armand Rosamilia participated in the zombie tours for over six years as a host or a featured author. He began with the Summer of Zombie tours and the Winter of Zombie tours have been running almost as long. With Dying Days coming to a close with book 9, it is the end of another era. He has passed the torch on the tours and now fans follow him into other genres and other work while still loving what he did with Dying Days. As he did when he started the zombie tours, he continues to do all he can to help other authors along the way. We as readers, fans, authors, and participants in the zombie genre thank him for all he has done and continues to do.
Some years he had as many as 40 or more authors on. Even with regular repeats, we are still talking about hundreds of authors that have been on at least one of the summer or winter tours thanks to what he started to help authors and readers of the genre.
A lot of great authors and great work in the genre have been promoted through these tours and hopefully we’ll be able to keep up those traditions and high standards for many years to come. That’s the thing about zombies and zombies stories: They just keep rising up and they keep on coming.
With such a long a varied list of past participants, we wanted to check back in with some of our alumni to see what they are doing now as 2017 is moving ever onward. They are still out there somewhere. Still writing. Writing what?! Some were busy with other projects, some were between releases, others were promoting books from other genre, and we missed them on the tour this year.
With that in mind, let’s take some time to check in on a few of our SOZ and WOZ alumni …
Ricky Fleet
With the release of Hellspawn – Dominion, the growing series reaches 5 volumes. The survivors of that fateful September day are now hunkering down for the winter. The castle, barracks and prison are secure from the dead. Kurt and his extended family are trying to come to terms with their losses. The dwindling food and ever-present danger of the prison are never far from their thoughts. Mike and Craig Arater plot their revenge on the castle. With an army of inmates at their disposal, the only certainty is that blood will flow like a river. Meanwhile, Eldridge and the last remnants of the British Army forge out into the undead wasteland of southern England to search for survivors.
Fleet is currently between projects while waiting for the right story to grab him. Infernal 2 is being outlined with a 2018 release in mind. Hellspawn 6 is also being plotted to up the stakes and action even further. A new mutant/sci-fi idea is germinating which will take my writing in an exciting new direction. I’m looking forward to more work from Ricky Fleet.
Check out this Spotlight On Ricky Fleet from a previous tour.
Derek Ailes
I’m currently do a complete re-write of The Undead Pool: Multiverse. The original story, even though it was funny, wasn’t as funny as the first two novels. It should be finished and released in the spring of 2018.
I have a new The Undead Pool short story in Undead Worlds: A Reanimated Writers Anthology.
Check out this post “The Era of Zombie Paradoies is Here!” by Derek Ailes from a previous tour.
Peter Welmerink
What I have out (well, very very soon to be): THE GIRL WHO RULED THE WORLD, another addition to my JOE CROSS: URBAN SALVAGE ENGINEER Series, set in my Post Post-Zompoc TRANSPORT “universe.”
He’s currently working on finishing the final three books in my Scary Tales series, which features mash-ups of classic horror monsters and fairy tale characters. If all goes well, the three final books should come out next year. In the meantime, he recently co-founded a new small press, Howling Unicorn Press, with his partner and fellow author Megan Hart. Howling Unicorn’s debut release was called “Intersections: Six Tales of Ouija Horror.” This eclectic collection features novella-length stories by Kerry Lipp, Megan Hart, Chris Marrs, Brad C. Hodson, Sèphera Girón, and Boley himself. Earlier this year, Howling Unicorn also published his first short fiction collection, entitled “Better Alive Than Dead: Thirteen Tales of Monster Horror.” It features stories about werewolves, vampires, and, of course, zombies — plus a few monster creations of his own. I’m a big fan of Boley’s writing and the unique voice and style of his storytelling. Check out the links above to see what I mean.
Check out this case for Rob E Boley from an earlier tour.
Chuck Buda serves many masters … Occult (Gushers Series), Supernatural (Son of Earp Series) and Psychological (Debt Collector Series) Horror. And don’t forget the Zombies (Zombie Lockup Series). He has contributed stories to Armand Rosamilia’s Keyport Cthulhu and Jack Wallen’s Middletown Apocalypse 3.
Mark started writing the next book in the Z-Day seriesSafe Zone Six. It should be released in May 2018. His latest novel The Day They Came Back (the sequel to The Day The Earth Cried) is currently in the editing stage and should be released in the spring.
Mark has a new short story in Undead Worlds: A Reanimated Writers Anthology
Check out this teaser from Zombie Park by Mark Cusco Ailes from an earlier tour.
Angela B Chrysler
What you have out: I have out “Zombies from Space…and Vampires,” “Dolor and Shadow,” “Fire and Lies,” and “Broken.”
What you are doing: I am currently running the Brain to Books Holiday Giveaway. Details are at https://braintobooks.com/
What you are working on: My WIP is Winter and Ash (Tales of the Drui Book #3)
Check out this teaser from Zombies from Space … and Vampires from a previous tour.
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