Author: EE Isherwood

Moved about 3000 words over the last few days. 2000 this afternoon. I’m really excited that the story is revealing new pieces of the mystery of the zombie plague in ways I never imagined when I sketched the book’s outline. So many nooks and crannies to explore.

When the zombies come, will there be any authority/government left at all in cities well outside the normal channels of government? St. Louis is well outside the pull of Washington D.C., for instance. Would the Feds–if they were still around–have any influence in St. Louis once half the population was eating the other? What would be the point?

Right away other entities would fill in the void. People have to eat. Drink. Stick together for protection. Those needs don’t just disappear, though I feel it would be impossible on any scale beyond a neighborhood or very small community. There would be too many people sick and zombie-fied to contain them if authorities tried to control too large an area. But there would be pockets of control. This portion of the book I’m exploring one such pocket.

Thanks for reading.

I did about 5000 words today. I’ve been adding text, editing, and splicing other parts of the book, which has changed some of the numbers. That’s why there are more than 5000 words since my last post. Things are moving along nicely though.

The last few days have been filled with distraction and downtime for the weekend. Too much time on the hands of a writer can be dangerous.

You may think writing a fourth book would be routine for me. I’ve wrote three books already, so what’s the big deal? Right? Then I read an old blog post over on fellow writer Sarah Noffke’s blog. It has to do with the creative beast inside us.

And I was worried. I was absolutely terrified that whatever had happened to me was going to stop. That the writing monster would vacate my system suddenly. That I’d be abandoned halfway through this book with no creative inspiration.

This was exactly how I was feeling! What if writing three books was a fluke? A lucky series of events put me in the right spot at the right time, and the creative energy zapped for that exact frame of time necessary to make those books. Sounds insane when you write it down.

Sarah sums up her own struggle with this.

But I know now that the stories that come through me are a part of something that I’ve allowed, not something that’s suddenly happened to me.

I think that feels right.

Being unemployed, and writing, feels wrong in so many ways. “This is not what a proper person does.” That’s my irrational mind speaking. “You are going to run out of ideas, then where will you be?” Irrational, again. “You can’t make a living by writing.” Irra– OK, there may be some truth to that, at least in the short term. But I have to keep believing that writing isn’t something that’s suddenly happened to me. I’ve been crafting stories since I played Dungeons and Dragons 30 years ago. It’s in my blood. And it always will be.

That’s all I’ve got for tonight. Tomorrow I plan to reach for the 50k word barrier. Then I’ll feel the pressure go down for book the fourth…

I only managed to get 1000 words logged before I ran out of juice tonight. I’ve spent most of the day working on a revision of book 1 for Createspace as well as lining up promotion of book 1 this week. I tell you, even though it doesn’t pay like a full-time job, writing IS a full time job.

Today’s brief topic concerns geography. Once the zombie apocalypse comes, I wonder what happens to all the barges lining the Mississippi and Ohio rivers and the smaller rivers connected to them. Will shipping stop, or continue until the bitter end? Will towns and cities use the utilitarian barges to dump their dead and get them out of their sight in a hurry? In book 1 Liam saw just such a barge – laden with the undead that some thoughtless city north of St. Louis sent down. Maybe that town had no choice? Hmm, might be a story there.

I’m having fun learning about Cairo, IL, but its time to be moving on. Heading up the river. No paddles allowed as we head into zombie territory!

EE

I do my best not to work too much on the weekends. I try to keep that as family time. But I do like to make progress every day, so I sat down after everyone was asleep to “sneak in” 2500 words.

After my time spent exploring Cairo, IL, I feel like I left a lot on the table in terms of fleshing out the effects of the apocalypse on the town. In real life the place could probably be described as “depressed” or something less negative like “time passed it by.” Several trips over the years I saw construction crews breaking apart old factories. At one time, a hundred years ago, it was a bustling town along the rivers. Now…well, bustling is the opposite of what it’s become.

But that doesn’t mean it is down and out. Imagine occupying a prime piece of real estate when the balloon goes up. The beat down little town might just become the most important place in the entire region. I think that’s a pretty cool fate for Cairo. I mean, make the best of a bad situation, right?

But my story can’t dwell there for too long. Perhaps I’ll return later.

For now, it’s time for bed.

EE.

I managed to hammer out about 3,000 words today. I also added in some text that I removed earlier, so my word total jumped to about 33,000.

I’ve spent a lot of time today exploring the world of Cairo, IL, as it might appear after the zombies have been unleashed upon the world. The place has a water treatment plant inside the flood levees. It has access to the two biggest rivers in America. The only thing it doesn’t have on site, as best I can tell from Google Maps and my own ramblings through there, is a power plant. However, there is–I think– a power generating station across the river in nearby Kentucky.

Power is always a big key. It reminds me of Lucifer’s Hammer. A big part of the third act of that book concerned power. If you haven’t read it, please consider it. It is a masterpiece of end-of-world literature, and as a developing writer myself I can appreciate how far I have to go to build a world as rich and detailed as that one. Coincidentally, that book also has a small mention of Boy Scouts. My own books rely heavily on the Boy Scouts as one of the pillars of civilization that survives even in the chaos of the Zombie Apocalypse. I truly believe that if you got any random group of Boy Scout families together they would have better odds of survival than the general population. I know there was a recent movie about Boy Scouts and zombies, though I have yet to catch up to it.

That’s all for this update. I’m pleased where this is going.

EE

I had a good streak today. I wrote about 4000 words, giving me a grand total of 28k for book 4. The great thing about being a writer is that while I sit here with an outline of where I want the story to go, sometimes the characters tell me I’m wrong. Today a lady came out of a crowd of people and sent Liam and Victoria on a different course for this chapter than I had penciled in for them (always use pencil).

Also, I did some research into where the military would fortify themselves here in the Midwest. We have so many large rivers, it seemed natural they would use one of them, or two of them, as a secure border against the zombies. Sure some might find their way down the river, but as a rule zombies don’t walk out of the water en masse to attack the living. OK, yes, I know. It happened in the Land of the Dead. That movie broke the rule.

Cairo Illinois sits on a narrow peninsula at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. I’ve been through there many times, though I was never on the lookout to use it as a location in a book. And yet, it is a great place to hole up.

It is mostly secure from 3 sides (it has two rickety bridges on the south side that I don’t count). On the north side it has a huge floodwall gate you have to pass through as you enter or exit the town. It would make a formidable barrier for the zombies.

But…there’s always a but. It’s hard to think of a book where any fortress was 100% secure, forever. They always fall in the end. Don’t they?

And, thank you to my readers! I have 19 pre-orders for book 4. I’m driven to give it my all in writing this. There are already 19 people who trust me enough to deliver a great book. How incredible is that?

EE

Writing three books has been, without a doubt, the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I worked on my project consistently for six months, pretty much all day long during work weeks. I’m unemployed, but I take the weekends off for my sanity.

However, the response to my trilogy has been incredible. Lots of people are enjoying the first book and then going right into the second, even though I didn’t write book 1 with any real cliffhanger. I have over 250 pre-orders for book 3, and it releases Feb 14. To be honest I’m glad to finally have them all out there, because they have been my constant companions for months and I’m ready for new blood!

Zombie blood, that is!

The next book is going to be called Last Fight of the Valkyries. Set immediately after book 3, it follows Liam, Marty, and Victoria as they walk up the ramp into the city.

So what is book 4 about? Here’s some literature:

The escape is over. The race to save civilization begins.

Liam and Victoria take a deep breath in a new home after their non-stop battles of escape and rescue in the city of St. Louis. Grandma Marty, exhausted beyond words, finally reaches a place she can rest and recuperate. Cairo, Illinois is the fortified refuge they’ve been hoping for.

But Liam pledged he would document the destruction of the world. He’s inspired to write a tell-all book. It would be his way of recording for the history books who was responsible for creating the zombies and unleashing them upon mankind. To do that, he needs to go back outside the wire of safety.

Liam and Victoria head upriver to the one place they know holds clues to the zombie plague: a deep, dark pit mine. Their plans are complicated by a young woman Liam rescued on his final flight from St. Louis. She wants to accompany them on the journey north. At first she appears harmless, but as they reach the mine, and find who and what’s inside, her loyalties become more and more suspect.

Grandma, unsure of her own mental state, believes she’s seen the strange girl before. In her dreams.

Last Fight of the Valkyries is book 4 in the Sirens of the Zombie Apocalypse universe, created by E.E. Isherwood.