* The truck rolls to a stop on the coastal highway. James Dean and two other men step out. They pace out a few feet ahead to the sound of the waves. The men hold their weapons at the ready as Dean marks off towns, neighborhoods, and resorts they already searched on the map with red X’s. Jay Wilburn steps down from the truck and walks up beside him. *

Jay Wilburn: Do you think you’ll ever find him?

James Dean: One of the patrols will. He can’t hide forever and since we raided his M&M treasury, he has nothing left to buy more soldiers. He’s on his own and can only go so far before we find him.

Wilburn: Do you have time for the interview before we head out again?

Dean: Sure.

Wilburn: State your name and latest work.

Dean: James D Dean and This Dying World: Abandon All Hope.

Wilburn: Describe it to me.

Dean: Abandon All Hope is the second book the This Dying World series.  It picks up a couple weeks after the events of the first book.  The book follows Dan and his group of family and friends as they try to cope with a tragedy that has Dan on the razors edge of sanity.  All the while, they are dealing with an ever changing scourge of the undead, and the people who take advantage of the new world.

Dan Foster is the main character.  Before the world died he was generally an overall smart ass, pretty much never took anything seriously. He is a devoted family man who would do anything to protect his family, even if it means hurting himself in the process…which he does a lot.  Now the undead world has pushed him beyond the limits of his wise ass coping mechanisms, forcing him to question whether or not he is too dangerous to have around.

For the most part, my zombies are common…for lack of a better term.  Slow moving, dumb as a box of hammers, and insatiably hungry.  They are quiet when they’re hunting and their saliva contains a toxin that is 100% fatal.

However, there is an evolution that has taken place with select zombies.  They have black eyes at night allowing them to see in the dark, slightly smarter, and use other creatures to their own gain.

Wilburn: What makes your book different from others in the genre?

Dean: I wrote it … and didn’t write the others?  I try to inject humor into my books as much as I can.  Not really forcing it, but I personally have a tendency to be a bit of a smart ass, and that gets me into trouble sometimes.  So I dig into that part of me to create a character that says pretty much everything that I would like to say but can’t…you know…civility and all.

In my first book, there was a lot of humor and smartassdom from the main character.  As the book went on, things started to turn a bit more serious as everyone started to see the situation for what it really was.  Without getting into spoilers, the first book ended with a tragedy that would send anyone into a mental tailspin.  This book picks up where the first lets off.  The mood is much darker as the full reality of the world they find themselves in hits them square in the face.

Wilburn: What do you like or dislike about other zombie stories?

Dean: I’m not the biggest fan of Rambo type tough guy protagonists where everything always goes right and they simply shoot their way out of every situation with a beer in one hand and a damsel in distress slung over their shoulder.

During the ZA, your skill with a gun or weapon will definitely be tested.  But the mental toll of something like the end of the world would be enormous.  Real people would deal with depression and hopelessness.  Real people fall down and break bones and get infections.  So in my series, my main character is pretty much Joe Everyguy.  He’s not a great shot, he copes with stress by joking around and being an overall smart ass, and I take every opportunity in the world to kick his ass.  I’ve always believed that the best ZA stories revolve around normal everyday people with all their quirks and flaws.

Wilburn: What warning label would you put on the series?

Dean: Warning. Author may bite.

Wilburn: What do you want readers to take away from your book?

Dean: A desire to keep reading the series.

Wilburn: Thanks for the interview. Sorry about how all this worked out.

Dean: There’s nothing to be sorry about now. We defeated him and now we’re mopping up. We have an opportunity to put the past behind us and start new.

* The truck starts. Dean turns and sees Wilburn isn’t there. Wilburn makes a sharp U-turn and races north. The men take aim as Wilburn drives away in their vehicle. Dean uses his arm to lower their barrels. *

Dean: Don’t. It will only attract the zombies and then we’ll be running with a wrecked truck we can’t use. He’ll get his eventually.

Check out the first book in the This Dying World series and then continue on with This Dying World: Abandon All Hope.

Jay Wilburn

Jay Wilburn has a Masters Degree in Education that goes mostly unused since he quit teaching to write about zombies. Jay writes horror because he tends to find the light by facing down the darkness. His is doing well following a life saving kidney transplant. Jay is the author of Maidens of Zombie Kingdom a young adult fantasy trilogy, Lake Scatter Wood Tales adventure books for elementary and middle school readers, Vampire Christ a trilogy of political and religious satire, and The Dead Song Legend. He cowrote The Enemy Held Near, Yard Full of Bones, and The Hidden Truth with Armand Rosamilia. You can also find Jay's work in Best Horror of the Year volume 5. He is a staff writer with Dark Moon Digest, LitReactor, and the Still Water Bay series with Crystal Lake Publishing.

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