*Ken Stark sweeps the binoculars along the break in the cinderblock wall. Jay Wilburn starts to speak, but Stark holds up a finger in both warning and threat. He ducks down and Wilburn does also. A group of men walk by. At first it is hard to tell whether they are alive or undead. Then, they laugh. Wilburn finds no joy in the sound. After a moment, Stark relaxes, but he never stops watching*
Stark: Whatever you came here to do, finish quick. I’m moving again as soon as Rosamilia’s people are gone.
Wilburn: State your name and your latest release.
Stark: Ken Stark and Stage 3: Alpha.
Wilburn: Describe the story and the unique nature of the outbreak you created.
Stark: In this sequel to Stage 3, we finally meet Sarah, and we follow her as she fights her way across a city gone mad. Her little girl is out there somewhere, and she is determined to find her, no matter what. But how much of herself is she willing to give up in order to stay alive long enough to stand a chance?
The first stage of infection is loss of sight, but as the virus eats away at the higher brain functions, the infected person enters stage 2 and becomes little more than a feral animal with a taste for human flesh. They are still mortal at that point, but if they happen to meet with an untimely death, they don’t stay dead for long. The virus resurrects the corpse, and they are now considered to be in stage 3. These new creatures are slow and awkward and still very much blind, but with the virus constantly steering them toward the nearest uninfected human, there is no way to hide from them. So with one type of zombie always at their heels and another waiting for any opportunity to tear a human to pieces, the few remaining survivors are under constant threat.
Wilburn: How does Alpha fit into the emerging Stage 3 series?
Stark: Stage 3: Alpha is the second book in the series, and it was designed to not only introduce us to Sarah, but also to show a character arc that is the flip-side of Mason’s, the main character of the first book. In Stage 3, Mason was a bad-ass right from the beginning, and had to be dragged kicking and screaming back to a kind of humanity. In Alpha, Sarah starts out as a humanitarian, but she quickly realizes that she will have to harden her heart if she is to survive.
It shows the apocalypse from a different perspective, giving us a more accurate picture of what it will take to survive in the new reality. As well, we meet a number of new characters, some of whom will be playing an important role in books to come.
Wilburn: What do you like or dislike about zombie stories you have read or seen? How does that shape what you create?
Stark: There are some great works out there by some very talented people, but I tend to get hung up on the little things that don’t make sense, even in the crazy world of zombies. A hollowed-out skeleton of a corpse still managing to growl, for instance, or a character who goes against type just to set up an action scene. The most egregious example was on a television show when a newborn baby turned into a zombie and suddenly had a full set of teeth and was able to run like an marathoner. Such things may or may not make for a fun, gruesome scene, but they are just as likely to jar a viewer or reader out of their suspension of disbelief, thereby breaking the spell.
Wilburn: What is the warning label for this book?
Stark: Harsh language and violence. May contain nuts.
Wilburn: What do you hope readers take away from this book?
Stark: Honestly, all I want anyone to get from my writing is a fun ride. This is not a series of morality tales, it is escapism, pure and simple. But there is a subtle message running through the Stage 3 series, and that is that things are never black and white. Everything we think of as good or bad or right or wrong is merely a matter of perspective. If I am hungry and the man next to me has a can of beans, it would generally be considered wrong if I hit him over the head and take his beans. But what if he acquired those beans by hitting someone else over the head? Is it okay, then? Or instead of beans, what if he has medicine that would save my dying child? Is it alright to take it? But what if he was saving it for his own child? Is it acceptable to sacrifice a stranger’s life to save a loved one? We all have a line that we think we will never cross, but it’s interesting to see where different people will place those lines and just how easily they can move.
Wilburn: Thank you for your time.
Stark: I’m heading east now. You can go any way you like except east with me. Understood?
*Wilburn nods. Stark runs out from the small building where they hid. Once Stark is out of sight, Wilburn heads east as well*
Check out the first Stage 3 book and the sequel, Stage 3 Alpha. You can also find Ken Stark at his website, Twitter, Facebook, and on Instagram.
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