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Exploring dark alleys. Discovering new nightmares. Revisiting the masters.

Friday, October 5, 2018

Is this the end of Alaskan Undead Apocalypse? [Interview]

Finding the Whittier tunnel barred, separating the small city from the rest of Alaska and possibly from the undead infection, a flagging sense of hope is restored. Neil has led the dwindling band of survivors, including young Jules and Danny, through all the perils of this new world of the undead, including the relentless elements of the gathering winter season. Seeking sanctuary, Neil’s group is pursued by both the living and the dead, all yearning for their deaths. The survivors fled Anchorage and its streets teeming with flesh-eating zombies, narrowly escaping with their lives and now face dangers along Alaska’s Seward Highway which stretches southward to Seward, Alaska where it ends at the sea. Their options limited and their time running out, Neil and the others find themselves hoping against hope that Whittier has the answers. They must first find their own way into the city and then trust that the infection has not preceded them.

Resolution is the best book in the series...it wrapped up loose ends without winding down - even in the epilogue! It also gives readers background stories to members of the militia group, in addition to deeper connections between the survivors in Neil's group.

There are several new characters, creating some truly unexpected scenes (loved the addition of William), and a zombie horde on nearly every other page - no one ever dies the same way...Schubert is quite creative when it comes to killing his characters with the undead.

I thought it only proper to invite the author, Sean Schubert, to the Lair to discuss this series...





Q. I was certain Alaskan Undead Apocalypse would be a trilogy. Why did you decide to do a fourth book?

A. That’s a fair question. Actually, my original plan was to write a book (Infection) and that book became too big for a single episode, and so Containment was born. Finishing Containment, I realized I wasn’t done and thus Mitigation emerged. Resolution, I thought, had tied the whole series up and it was done. Again, I thought that was the case but Permuted Press asked for more. I was reluctant at first, hence the title of the most recent installment, Unwilling. However, as I delved further into that storyline, I realized how much fun I was having writing it.

The problem that I ran into was that in my books people die and killing off major characters is very difficult for me…very emotional. There is a song that I hear regularly coming out of my home or car stereo that almost makes me cry now. Unwilling is still in the pre-publishing stage but it’s been completed and submitted. I assume that’s it for the Alaskan Undead Apocalypse but…we’ll see. If Neil and crew have another story in them, then I’ll write it.

Q. Where did the idea for this series come from in the first place?

A. Aside from my fascination with zombies and the grim prospect of being eaten alive, there were two primary factors/inspirations for Infection. The first was a local story on NPR about disaster readiness and the challenges Anchorage faces. In the article, a discussion about the limited ways in which Anchorage can be evacuated. We only have one road out north and one road out south. We are hemmed in by the Cook Inlet to the west and the Chugach Mountains to the east.

The other nugget that figured into the story’s genesis was an article I read about an US Army Air Force plane crashing and disappearing somewhere in the Rocky Mountains circa 1947. Fast-forward to the late Eighties/early Nineties, a group of hikers happened upon a crash site that was slowly emerging from glacier ice. They discovered the long lost wreck. In it, the bodies of the crew were still in their seats and largely preserved by the ice. 

I matched those two stories together with my own twisted take on the world and Infection emerged.   

Q. Tell us about your writing process. For instance, how did you come up with so many different ways to kill off your characters?

A. I wish I had a writing process I could share other than to say that I write most days but I only do so when I feel like writing.  I write for pleasure and not for publication.  I like spinning tales and love language, so writing is just something I enjoy.

As for killing off characters both big and small, I feel like if I’m not entertained then a reader won’t be either. I recently read another book that always described deaths in the same or very similar fashion—“the head came apart like an overripe melon” or “the skull exploded like a watermelon struck with a hammer”. It became tedious without the variety.

Obviously, in a zombie apocalypse there will be similar themes regarding death both from the zombies as well as from the humans, but I think there are enough ways for a demise to be met that I can be creative in depicting it.

Q. In the anthology, The Will to Survive, you wrote a short story set in the AUA universe. Will you be doing anything else within the series?

A. The main character in The Spread shows up in Unwilling, the latest Alaskan Undead Apocalypse installment.  I would love to continue to write about the proliferation of the apocalypse in the Lower Forty-Eight, but that would take me away from Alaska.

The opportunity and the challenge about leaving AK for story telling is that the stories will likely be on a much grander scale without the same limitations imposed by Alaska’s geography.  It’s just a different stage.

Q. You have another novel, Fyre, also set in Alaska. Is this a horror story or something else? Is it a stand-alone or the beginning of a new series?

A. Fyre started as a standalone novel but it might develop into something more…not sure.  One of the characters caught my attention and a story might be forthcoming surrounding him but it may not be a sequel so much as just existing in the same universe.  Fyre was just a short foray into mythology.

Q. Do you plan to write anymore zombie stories in 2019?


A. Well, as I said, Unwilling is complete and should be released in early 2019.  I’m working on another untitled novel right now.  It’s horror again but not zombies. I’ve really enjoyed writing it though.

I’ve created a fictitious town in Alaska where some pretty funky stuff starts to happen.  I will likely circle back around to the Alaskan Undead Apocalypse or at least into that universe again.


Special thanks to Schubert for coming to the Lair...I will never look at Alaska the same way again.

As always,
AstraDaemon

2 comments:

  1. Thank you for the opportunity to visit and for your amazing support!

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    Replies
    1. Always a pleasure! Can't wait for the next book!

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