Days with the Undead: Book One blog tour

"Our hope is that we will be safe tonight and many more nights to come. Some of you out there - those untouched by the reality that we are living first hand - might think this is a joke, a prank or some sick and twisted hoax. I can certainly attest that it is not. What’s happening is real and this is our record of it. I do hope that my frantic typing isn’t garbled and that I don’t repeat myself too often. PLEASE forgive me if I do. My intent is only to give the world a glimpse into our survival until the very last possible moment.

I hope this communication finds you in a safe place where the Undead have yet to proliferate. Pray for Us. Pray for life. Just pray… Please."

If you're anything like me, that excerpt just quickened your heartbeat.  Lucky for you, and me, there's more where that came from.

Days with the Undead: Book One has a wonderfully eerie premise:

It’s a journal of survival.

Five people set out to escape the Undead who have risen too close to home. Join the emotional and physical struggle as they began on the third day after the awakening of Brooks VanReit, as they are recorded from the point of view of Julie, a former pathologist and part-time survivalist.

Each entry is geared toward helping those who want to help themselves and maybe give a few that don’t a swift kick in the ass. Join our group of survivors on their journey through these Days with the Undead.

I tend toward the "scaredy cat" side of the playground, so I couldn't help wondering, as my heart tripped over itself, how does an author write a horror novel?  Is it, dare I say, easy?  Please grab a glass of lemonade, or sprinkle some holy water around you if need be (though I'm not sure if that works for zombies), and join me as I am honored to have Days with the Undead author, Julianne Snow, address this question.  Take it away, Julianne.

I want to thank Angela for allowing me the opportunity to introduce myself to her readers. My name is Julianne Snow and I am a science fiction and horror writer who is trying to get the word out about my book Days with the Undead: Book One. One of the most difficult things about writing in the genres that I do is this:

How Easy Is It To Write Unease?

To write? Or not to write? That really isn’t a question for me. I have to write. It’s a feeling that consumes me. There are times when I should be sleeping or catching up with friends… Where can you find me instead? Either furiously typing on my computer or at my desk, scribing out a story longhand.

There have been some stories that end up being tedious to get out. You start off with a great idea, only to have it disintegrate as you lay the words down.

Others come together so beautifully that you sit back and wonder where a particular phrase came from. Sometimes you are just able to hit the emotions and imagery on the head and it reads exactly how you saw it happening in your head.

There is an interesting facet of writing that deserves some consideration - how does an author write stellar horror without scaring themselves? How do they evoke the reactions of fear and unease without falling victim to their own words?

I’d bet there are authors out there writing in the genre that would maintain they are immune to their own words. I can’t help but wonder if that is a good thing - how can you hope to scare, to evoke feeling, if you cannot even scare yourself?

It’s a benchmark that I strive to attain each and every time that I craft a story. I know that I’ve hit the mark when I can sit back and let the shudder course through my body. Emotion is a universal concept; we all feel. Injecting your writing with emotion is the best way, in my experience as both a writer and as a reader, to engage your audience.

As I was writing my first book, Days with the Undead: Book One, there were times when I genuinely had to sit back and take a break. The living dead are some of the most sinister monsters that anyone can imagine - if you look into their slack faces, what stares back at you?

A reflection of humanity in its afterlife.

Add to that the situations that are just as likely to arise in a rolling Apocalypse as in any other. In some cases, it’s the element of surprise that gets you; and in others, the gentle, sustained build of tension and fright that makes it hard to swallow.

If I were being honest, I want all of my readers to feel the same emotions that I do as I write. I want the tense moments to quicken your desire to devour my words. I want each page turned to make you pause for that moment, if only just to catch your breath before the next scene. When you are finished reading a scene in its entirety, I want it to stick with you for long moments after; to take up residence in your psyche and for you to mention it at the oddest moment in unrelated conversation. I want to take the things that you think are unimaginable in the horror realm and creep you out to the utmost level. Those are the emotions that I want you to feel, but I don’t want to simply do it in the most graphic way. Simplicity and subtlety are the tools that I prefer to use. That, and just a little touch of poignant creepiness. When you read my words, I want you to feel uneasy, the same way that I did while writing it.

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I just had a shudder run through me reading that last line.  Talk about emotional engagement!  Thank you so very much.

Now, where can you get your copy of Days with the Undead: Book One?

Days with the Undead

It is available in print format at CreateSpace and Amazon.

Or digital format: Amazon US

Amazon UK

Amazon DE

Amazon FR

Amazon ES

Amazon IT

Here's a bit more about the Author - Julianne Snow

It was while watching Romero's Night of the Living Dead at the tender age of 6 that solidified Julianne’s respect of the Undead. Since that day, she has been preparing herself for the (inevitable) Zombie Apocalypse. While classically trained in all of the ways to defend herself, she took up writing in order to process the desire she now covets; to bestow a second and final death upon the Undead.

As the only girl growing up in a family with four children in the Canadian countryside, Julianne needed some form of escape. Her choice was the imaginations of others which only fostered the vibrancy of her own. The horror and forensic/crime thriller genres top her list of favourites, but she can never turn down a good science fiction, fantasy or mystery read.

Julianne appears in the anthology Women of the Living Dead with a story entitled The Living Dead at Penderghast Manor. Look for her short stories in future anthologies. Days with the Undead: Book One is her first full-length book, the basis of which can be found in her popular web serial of the same name.

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Feel free to use the comments to say "Hello", 'Howdy" or "Fracking A that scared the dirt out of me."  Okay, so maybe I'm the one who'd say that last one :-)