by Jay Wilburn
Derek Ailes is the brother of author Mark Cusco Ailes, but is an established author in his own right. Derek and Mark write together on a number of crazy projects, but create a body of work separate from each other as well.
Derek says that Mark writes full-time while Derek fits his writing in where he can between a nine to five job. They bounce a lot of ideas off of each other as they create. Derek feels that when he writes alone, his work comes out of a demented mind and place. He is currently working on his first attempt at a full-length solo novel. He will be spoofing classic superhero tropes as he turns the metahuman subgenre around into a twisted, undead knot.
He says that Mark watches almost every zombie movie out there. Derek is a big fan of The Walking Dead series. He has, of course, seen Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Return of the Living Dead, and other classics of the genre. Derek tends to write his stories with humor. Derek is obsessed with superhero shows and movies. Mark tends to focus on zombies and post-apocalyptic science fiction in much of his work. Derek feels he bounces around a bit more with horror, humor, drama, and a healthy mix of zombies from time to time.
Other authors have told Derek for a long time to produce a novel, but he spent a lot of time focused on short stories. He focused on a cartoon series for a while. He had to find a story idea that appealed to him for a novel length work and that took a while. We look forward to his superhero story coming out soon.
Derek Ailes does think the novel has some potential that short stories and other media he has worked on in the past does not. He enjoys expanding the story and playing with the characters a bit more. The only limitation is the readers’ imaginations, but maybe that is true for all well-written prose. Derek has a cinematic vision when he writes and imagines his work playing out on a screen. He and his brother both have a dream of seeing their work turned into movies and television.
Derek enjoys entertaining fans and that is the ultimate goal of all his writing. He wants to be part of the escape from reality. He would like people to be so entertained that they can’t wait for the next one to come out. He is looking forward to the release of an alien invasion zombie novel that he and his brother worked on together and thinks that work will do the job for readers.
I hope I have made the case for Derek Ailes. Take the time to check out some of his work.
Check out Book 2 of the Dead Song Legend by Jay Wilburn.
Jay Wilburn lives with his wife and two sons in Conway, South Carolina near the Atlantic coast of the southern United States. He has a Masters Degree in education and he taught public school for sixteen years before becoming a full time writer. He is the author of many short stories including work in Best Horror of the Year volume 5, Zombies More Recent Dead, Shadows Over Mainstreet, and Truth or Dare. He is the author of the Dead Song Legend Dodecology and the music of the five song soundtrack recorded as if by the characters within the world of the novel The Sound May Suffer. He also wrote the novels Loose Ends and Time Eaters. He is one of the four authors behind the Hellmouth trilogy. He cowrote The Enemy Held Near with Armand Rosamilia. Jay Wilburn is a regular columnist with Dark Moon Digest. Follow his many dark thoughts on Twitter, Instagram, and Periscope as @AmongTheZombies, his Facebook author page, and at JayWilburn.com
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