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My Own Personal Zombie Week: Why do we Love Zombies?

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Rigor Amortis, an anthology of zombie romance, erotica, and horror from Absolute XPress, debuts on Friday. I’m very pleased to have a story appearing in the collection.

A good friend of mine asked me recently what attracted to me to zombies. Why did I write about them? I recoiled in horror. “I’m not attracted to them at all,” I insisted.

Frankly, zombies have never been my thing–I prefer (non-sparkly) vampires and werewolves, ghosts and unspeakable horrors from beyond. We all know how zombie stories end: we are consumed or we live to be consumed another day. Hey, just like real life.

Of course, in recent years, there’s a new breed of zombies shuffling down the block. Zombies in games like Left for Dead and films like Zombieland pursue their prey rather…vigorously.

Back to my friend’s question. Obviously my kneejerk answer isn’t fully honest. I mean, I wrote a story about a zombie stripper, so I have to find them at least a little compelling, right?

I got to thinking about society’s fascination with the undead, how these monsters mirror the angst of the culture they inhabit. You can’t get a much better encapsulation of the Victorian psyche than the modern vampire. They are pale (almost consumptive), with unearthly beauty and a disdain for the rigid social and sexual mores of the late 19th century. In the 1950s, we start to see undead who are mindless, shuffling masses, or slaves to sinister masters with nefarious plans for wholesome young Americans. The zombie mythology was already firmly established, but I can’t help wonder if fears of the “Communist Horde” didn’t influence the way zombies were portrayed back then.

21st century zombies are brutal predators. No longer content to amble up to the brain-pan for a nosh, they leap out of the shadows and devour us with flashing teeth in explosions of blood and gore. We, the ultimate consumers, are just so much chum to be eaten.

There’s always something sexy about predators in the stories we tell ourselves, isn’t there? And Power is a potent aphrodisiac. Compare the Victorian vampire versus the 21st Century Zombie. What does it say about our cultural state of mind when we invite these monsters to share the most intimate of embraces?

I’m looking forward to seeing what my fellow contributors say about that come Friday.

I’d love to hear your own thoughts in the meantime.

How Stretchy is the Future?

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The other day, I was listening to NPR’s excellent Planet Money podcast–an episode on Prohibition and whether FDR drank moonshine before being elected president and getting the 18th Amendment repealed.

It’s an amusing (and informative) show, but one of the things that struck me was the discussion on inelastic goods. These are things that people will buy no matter how high the cost rises. Some good examples are tobacco, coffee, and gasoline. Our insatiable demand for booze is one of the things that doomed Prohibition, in fact.

These are pretty classic examples, and have been more or less constant for the last century (if not much, much longer). Now I’m wondering about the next century…

What are the nearish future’s inelastic goods & services? What will we be unable to live without?

I think bandwidth is a likely contender. Whatever the internet looks like in 100 years or so, we’re going to want to get connected and stay connected. We seem to be on the road to augmented reality (virtual overlays on the real world through our glasses, iThingies, phones) and this information will only become more and more vital to our everyday living. See Jack Graham’s excellent two-part post on shareable.net for more on that.

But what else? It’s easy to believe that medical insurance (in the U.S. at least) will continue to be in high demand, despite the costs. I can imagine some life extension therapies might be high demand and high price, but I don’t see them as commonly available as something like alcohol, but you never know.

Education, perhaps?

I’m also thinking if some of the worst predictions about global warming and resource depletion come true, we’ll be seeing some pretty high prices on staple food crops–maybe even on the processed junk. People gotta eat.

What about water? Especially in the southwest, where drought conditions are already prevalent, how much would you pay for a glass of water? Would you have a choice?

A lot of question marks in this article, but it has got me thinking. Feel free to comment, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

The Joad Less Traveled (Reading: The Grapes of Wrath)

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Here I am, untold years out of high school and finally getting around to reading The Grapes of Wrath. (Sorry for the pun in the title. I just couldn’t resist.)

It’s been high on my “to read” list for quite some time, but kept dropping to the perpetual back of the line like some Jean Claude Van Damme movie on my Netflix Queue everytime something new came along. And in case you think I’m a total jerk for comparing one of the Greatest Novels Ever Written to JCVD,  I should point out that my favorite book is East of Eden. (I don’t know whether that absolves my sin or compounds it…)

I just started reading, so I don’t have a lot of well-formed opinions on the novel yet — other than as usual, Steinbeck does a wonderful job of evoking character through place. Few worlds are as vivid to me as Dust Bowl Oklahoma or Salinas, CA during the early 20th Century thanks to his masterful prose. I also appreciate the way Steinbeck warms up to a good story, and brings the reader in at the speed of a fierce summer afternoon and a down-home drawl. Which is to say — he takes his time to unfold his tales. I think it’s a style I have unconsciously emulated as I’ve explored my own worlds; though I’m aware it isn’t a popular style these days. Slow beginnings are a tough inclination to fight. 

One of the other things that appeals to me about Grapes of Wrath is the promise of another great “Road Story.” Some people love the hijinx of Capers. Others, the dark excitement of Thrillers. Or the War story. Me? I love being out on the Road.

It’s a pretty basic conceit to take characters from their literal happy places and thrust them out into the wilderness, but it’s one that resonates strongly with me. The mystery, danger, and opportunity that lurks upon the Dark Path Through the Wood promises untold excitement. The desolate road that snakes across the sun-baked desert strips the characters down to their core — purifying them for the final test as surely as any sweat-lodge or baptism.

I moved around several times when I was growing up, and each move began with an equal measure of dread and excitement. Good-bye to old friends. What would the new place be like? Who would I meet? What would I see?

Summer vacations to the relatives always involved extended car trips as well. Plenty of time to gaze out the window and wonder “who lives in that house? what’s the view like over that next mountain ridge? what’s down that dark side-road we just drove past?”

It’s a big topic, and one I’ll explore more in other blogs, and probably even more so, in my fiction. In the meantime, though, here’s a few Road Stories I’ve read and loved, and a few more I want to read. These are random samplings, and probably reveal some startling gaps in my literary education. Anyone have other suggestions?

Have Read:

The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien (the ultimate fantasy road trip, even though the quest genre doesn’t quite grab me like it used to)

Gentlemen of the Road: A Tale of Adventure, by Michael Chabon (a perfect homage to the old road/buddy genre with wonderful illustrations by Gary Gianni)

Moby Dick, By Herman Melville (Another classic. though the roads are a little wetter!)

Bridge of Birds, by Barry Hughart (the first of the wonderful chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox)

Parable of the Sower, by Octavia Butler (haunting. it hit me in the gut.)

Have Yet to Read (some obvious ones here):


The Road, by Cormac McCarthy (is that too obvious?)

On the Road, by Jack Kerouac (even more obvious)

The Stand, by Stephen King (I have a feeling I’d love this one)

The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart, by Jesse Bullington.  (newly released and sounds like it’s right up my alley)

Bonus! (one of my favorite Road Pics):

Duel, directed by Steven Spielberg (and written by Richard Matheson. I musta watched this movie a million times growing up)

Woefully incomplete lists on all counts, but the Road goes ever, ever on…

End of Summer Update

Long time, no update blog.

It’s been a busy summer, and I’ve been too preoccupied with stuff to blog much.

Facebook is one culprit. It’s too easy to post micro-updates there — and far more convenient for my lazy tastes! I also started a Twitter Feed, so I got a little overwhelmed will all the places I could say something — and didn’t know what to say. (I’ve also got a LiveJournal, but hey, I can haz moar overload?)

I also was also blogging a lot about my cocktail adventures, but I eased up on the drinkin’, so I haven’t had many recipes or stories to tell.

But for those of you who are following along at home, here’s How I spent my Summer Vacation.

1) Chicago – We spent a week in the Windy City with our friends Bryan and Sara and had a wonderful time. I think I promised to blog about our time there, and never quite managed to. As a lazy shorthand, you can at least see some of the trip here.

2) Work. The animated feature I am working on is due out March 2010, and work has gotten a lot busier as we race towards our deadline. We’re well on target though, and I’m really proud of the work we have done. I haven’t had much time off, and Herself and I have been sticking close to home, enjoying food, drink, and friends without breaking the bank. Read more about our local adventures at Herself’s blog, The Hungry Passport. (Really looking forward to aiding and abetting Herself’s ’52 Weeks’ project!)

3) House Stuff. Owning a home is never dull, and we’ve been wrestling with a number of home improvement projects. Well, that is to say, we’ve been trying to figure out which ones to do! We’ve finally settled on redoing the bathroom — and I’m sure some of that will leak it’s way onto the blog in coming months. Other than that it’s mostly been yard improvement and cleaning! Yuk!

4) Gaming. We got a Nintendo Wii, finally, and we’ve enjoyed the heck out of Wii Sports. But it’s gotten a little stale. Anyone else have some recommendations on fun party games? I’m still doing a little RPGing, but it’s mostly online now, as my core group has scattered somewhat to the four winds. Thankfully, there’s this free Java-based app called MapTool, which has enabled us to keep playing despite the distance. Certainly beats carrying heavy books & minis around!

5) Movies. (and TV). We’ve cut way back on the hours spent in front of the TV. Too many other things we’d rather do. But Netflix and Hulu have been there for us — in particular we’ve enjoyed Carnivale and True Blood. I don’t mind saying that I have a definite preference for shows that aren’t afraid to embrace fantastical talent. Carnivale is a particular gem whose time came too soon. HBO should have let this one play out. True Blood is also good, and its sense of humor keeps it fun — but it still feels like a guilty pleasure — a bag of Cheetos compared to the complex feast that was Carnivale.  Speaking of guilty pleasures, my friend Ix finally convinced us to take a look at Top Chef (Las Vegas) and we’ve been enjoying that, too!

6) The Beach. We’ve been a few times this summer but not nearly so much as we’d like. Ventura’s been “discovered” and you have to go a little farther afield to avoid crowds and score a little space from the teeming masses of L.A. We did manage to get to Oxnard and take a boat cruise out to Anacapa Island a few weeks ago. We’d hoped to escape the heat and the smoke from the terrible Station Fire — but the island was kind of a desolate piece of scrub-covered rock. Not smokey, but still hot. The best part was the boat ride — and our dolphin escort!

7). Politics. I’ve been reading way too much about the Health Care “debate” and the only conclusion I’ve really come to is that I’m sick to death of what passes for political discourse in this country. Why all the yelling, people? Both sides seem unable to get their  &$#% together to reach any meaningful resolution to the issues. Americans want reform, it seems, but are rigid in their ideological positions, and unable to see the forest for the trees. /end rant. The Ink Gorilla does not really want to discuss politics on his blog – but just couldn’t help himself this once.

8) Writing. Doing a lot of offline writing, and got myself on a schedule that allows me 1-2 hours a day. I’m loving it, and have been more productive than I ever was before. It seems I’m more of a morning person than I thought I was!

Fall is officially here, I guess, and there’s a lot to look forward to. My folks will be visiting in a few weeks, and it’s always great to visit and find fun things to do around SoCal while they are here. You can bet that it will include plenty of eatin’ and drinkin’!

Aside from that, Herself and I will be celebrating 12 years together come October! Many w00ts, all ’round.

Take care of yerselves out there.

p.s. – trying a new look for the blog. ‘Rounders’ template just isn’t doing it for me anymore!