Book Review

As we start to transition from book 1 into book 2 All That Comes After, I thought hit would be a good time to reveal the ace up my sleeve. I believe in getting real feedback on my work in real time. So I had a very good friend read book 2 as I was writing it. 

That sounds like a “of course they’d like it” setup, I know but just stay with me. This friend isn’t afraid of telling me I’m messing up or just wrong. That’s one of the things that I respect about them actually. So I ask some questions about their reading experience with ATCA. 

Q: what’s your background as a reader? 

A: B.C. (before children), I was a voracious reader, particularly of memoirs, and I'd spend silly money on books on what seemed like a weekly basis.

A.C. (after children), the books I like reading starting being pushed aside for reading baby books and I'd read for me when I felt I had time.  That said, if I found myself with physical copies of books by my favorite author, I'd consume them in a day or less.

Q: What’s your ideal book? 

A: I will (and have) read books covering a wide range of genres -- historical studies on eugenics, memoirs about troubled relationships, fictional crime thrillers, and light fantasy.  The only one I never could get into was romance -- maybe because that's my mom's thing, lol.

Q: How critical are you of what you read?

A: I treat my books like my movies and television -- if it's a story I can follow along with and it entertains me or teaches me something without putting me to sleep, I'm down for it.  The writing and characters don't have to be perfect; sometimes the imperfections are what make the story!

 Now getting into the actual book this is where I want you to really understand this “Review” if you will. 

Q: Have you read HWR(book1)?

A: Regrettably, I have not read the first book in the HWR series.  No real excuse for not doing it, I just haven't.

I asked what they knew about the story going in. Obviously I love to talk about this story so. This was the only knowledge they had going in. “When I was getting ready to read a book in the HWR series, I knew I'd be getting into some kind of story about a zombie apocalypse.  I knew the second book picked up after firebombing had taken place and that there was a group of survivors travelling together.  I imagined it would be something like The Walking Dead.”

I say it all the time, any zombie apocalypse will hit the same notes. However this story took an unexpected turn, just how big? In their words, “What I didn't know, and what surprised me, was how relatable the characters were.  These are families who were just happy to be alive and together, and there were others who were hard asses hell bent on finding answers no matter the cost.”

I asked a few more questions about summing up this series.

A: I throw this book into the "light fantasy" column because the idea of zeeks or walking dead is still a bit out there for me, but I could totally see these scenarios playing otu with a post-nuclear society or even a post-viral epidemic world -- crazy!!

Q: Does this family we follow read as a real family?

A: I get the connection between Mark and his daughter.  She's independent, he's trying his best to leter her be herself in this messed up world, and though he isn't totally ready, he realizes he has to give up his control & protector role so she can find her way.  I wish I could understand more of the father-son dynamic, though I imagine it is totally relatable for guys with a father who's a bit detached.

Q: Were you able to see the world in your mind as you read? (This is essentially important if you didn’t read the first book)

A: The scenes were well laid out and the fights, both with the living and the zeeks, were described in graphic detail which made it easy to imagine myself in the characters' shoes.  I could feel the tension, love, frustration -- all of the emotions -- between the various cast members and, to be honest, that's what kept me wanting more.  I'm invested in and want to know what happens to each of the characters next!

Ok this may have a bit of a spoiler in it but I don’t think so. Ye be warned! 

Q: Who was your favorite character? 

A: It's easy to want to pick Mark as my favorite because he's that guy who wants everyone to be happy and safe and is willing to take a lot of crap from others just to keep the peace, but, I think Sarge is my fave.  Sarge is undeniably stubborn, a hard ass, unforgiving to a fault, and really a big jerk.  Despite how awful he sounds, he is those things because he loves hard.  He is a logical and tactical thinker, not willing to sacrifice the safety of his trusted circle by introducing unknowns without question.  He knows what it means to lose, and he accepts that death is an unpleasant inevitability -- something Mark remains naive about.

 

Wrapping up I asked what they thought about the book overall, no art now fancy cover just the writing on the page in its rawest from. What did they say?

“Overall, All That Comes After is engaging and makes for a quick read.  The journal-like structure of the book keeps the story flowing smoothly and keeps the reader from getting lost when moving from "past" to "present."  This structure also makes it super easy to start with this book and not feel like you've missed out on anything crucial from the first book.”

My efforts to get everyone I can to read what I believe in with all my heart and will take the risk of asking anyone to read, I asked what they would say to someone to pick up these books? I leave you with those words-MH

“If you're not sure you want to get started with the HWR series, my question to you is, "Why not?"  Take a break from our maddening world by imagining yourself in theirs!”

 

These Zombies may actually be for you

 

  Zombies are an age old villain and horror creature that people feel strongly about one way or another. Like them or hate them you have an opinion, and rightly so. The important thing to remember is not all cups of tea are the same. That goes for both like/dislike of zombies and the entertainment they live in... or die in..? Exist in. 

  This time around I’m going to pitch this story to those people who aren’t fans of the zombies. For starters I’ve been trying to understand where the dislike comes from. A few examples of why I’ve found, “ew they’re gross”, I don’t like gore or that kind of thing, zombies are outdated we’ve seen them alllllll! The one that surprised me the most was, “They don’t make sense, they always come from the same thing. Why do they eat brains?”

  First I’ll address the ew about zombies and how HWR handles them. You see a new look at zombies not instantly dismembered or decomposed. I don’t think that’s how it works. HWR’s virus is different (spoilers ahead) the zombies are still more human than what you’d expect at the start of the book. The first book is the very start of the outbreak. So if that’s your hang up give it a try and I think you’ll be less grossed out than you think. 

  As for the gore.. you can’t really have zombies without some zombies kills. However at no point was the intent to gross out the reader as with some zombie apocalypse media. Any time we see a kill or Zeek itself any gore that follows is done so to drive the story forward. I also believe it’s done so that it paints a picture but leaves some to the imagination so the reader can decide how detailed to see it. If that’s why you haven’t picked up your copy of HWR all I’m saying is I’m not a fan of violence for violence sake it has to have a purpose. 

   So you’ve seen every zombie apocalypse and zombie already? Not like this you haven’t. Most take the same set of rules and start there; bite>turn>bite>turn.. that is old. Patient zero is always some dumb doctor or a lab trying to stop the next big disease.. again getting old (and not just for zombies). HWR creates a world where the infection in its origin is spread like a flu. Our hero is face to face with it but as already stated the turn isn’t so instant that he can even tell it’s more than a drugged up criminal. With out giving to much away the story is more important than the zombies. The relationship between the cast is more important, imagine you had to go to the store and boom apocalypse? That’s how the others do it, not here buddy. I ask you to give it till chapter 4 “The Road Less Traveled” before you write it of as the same.

  Remember I said spoilers ahead? Well here we are skip to the next paragraph if you want. If you are of the thinking zombies don’t make sense, too unrealistic or can’t suspend your disbelief for the undead. You are the exact person who needs to read this book! I wrote this book for you, this book is more logical in its approach. The characters may have dumb in them but the story is driven by a different approach. I spent a lot of time early on asking people like you what they find hard to believe about zombies. I tried to answer what they said from a real life way not a fantasy “it’s a book I can do what I want” point of view. Spoiler if something seems to far fetched to believe it’s probably for a reason. You ever watch those crime shows and you figure out the killer ten minutes before the investigation team? The writer set that up to get you into the story and make you feel like you’re one step ahead. As for why do they eat brains? No, they don’t, flat out that’s not really a thing after the 80s. My virus is based in a very real very scary sickness that affects 520,000+ Americans. I don’t ask you to believe in a made up virus, I ask you to believe in proven Science and a little bit of intent to speed up the way that Disease shortens your life. The HWR virus at it’s very real roots actually mimic what we would understand as a zombie, almost every symptom in context mirrors that of what we understand to be what zombies are down to the walk. I can’t stress enough how you should give HWR a shot. 

  So you made it past all of that? First thank you, second the last person that could be reading this but still on the fence about snagging a copy of HWR is you. Weather things like this aren’t you thing just because they just aren’t. That’s ok I still think HWR could be for you! Yes there are zombies, yes people die, but the biggest and most important part of HWR is the family at its center. I believe how the characters are written will still speak to you in a way any other book would if not more just for the fact that you can see how important they are to each other more so feel it. With every line they grow or respond in very human ways. It’s also funny, you may not know me but trust me when I say I don’t take myself too seriously. This book has that fingerprint all over it. Smart and witty, conversations that flow like they would in your circle of friends. I think you’ll be surprised by how much you start to care about Mark and his family or Sarge and his team. 

After all that if you don’t think you want to give HWR a chance comment why and I’m sure there’s something in there for you or I can make improvements to the next two books. I hope I get the chance to entertain you- MH

What success is to me

 

  With Book 2 just around the corner I thought a lot about success means in terms of the books and my writing? 

  Way back I never thought my writing would even be what it is now, that’s already a success and it isn’t lost on me. From an unemployed, depressed, homebody to close to having released 3 books released.  

  Is success millions of dollars? Movie deals and Hollywood? Or is it doing press tours and book signings? Could it be none of that? 

  At the very least I just want my writing to reach people. The story I’ve told in the HWR series is one that is more than a zombie apocalypse. I have my thoughts about it but the thing that everyone who has read it tell me it’s about way more than zombies and they find themselves lost in the story and connected to a character. 

  To me that’s success! I want to build on that. The best thing (in my opinion) a writer can hear is that you connected to the story and a particular character. That is the biggest compliment you can give. Every time I talk to a reader about the book I ask “who’s your favorite character?” To watch them light up is the best feeling. 

  Sure would it be cool to be on the way to a movie set where they are shooting HWR? Heck yeah! However I just want people to give me and my writing a chance. To me that’s the success I want right now, if the story is good the rest will take care if itself but without people taking the chance on reading it I don’t stand a chance. 

  Pride and imagination tell you as a kid “one day I’m gonna be famous.” That may happen for some of us but I’ve always dreamed of just getting a chance to make it doing whatever I felt I was good at. -MH 

See My World

   I hope those who have been following along have learned something about the process or myself. Thank you for continuing to come back! 

   Art? Why did I decide to add art throughout the books? Why did I choose these scenes to become art? How do I pick an artist? 

   First thing I knew I wanted to do after I decided to turn my writing in to a real book was it had to have art throughout. When I was in school reading and staying focused on reading was hard. I have dyslexia and it would take longer to read and feeling different and sometimes stupid made reading a dread. I’d use a blank paper to underline the line I was reading to make it easier to keep my place in the sea of letters and words. It helped so much (I still do this when I’m having trouble). My favorite thing was books that would have pictures randomly through the book, seeing them when first thumbing through was exciting. The wondering what they meant to the story, or how they play a roll in what’s to come. I knew that I wanted to incorporate that into my book(s). 

   Why did I choose the scenes to become the art? This was probably both the easiest and hardest thing about getting this book done. As the writer I see the world as clear as one can, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I can paint that picture in words the best way possible. I know, I know I’m the writer that’s my job, but there is a fine line between too much and not enough detail. In my opinion it is my job to give you enough to build the world but leave enough room for you to use your imagination to finish it out. My hope was that if I was to read this story back I’d see the world differently than I had writing it and these pictures would create a cohesion between the writing and my imagination. The scenes that made it into art are ones that had a power to them. They had to speak to me on a deeper level where I had almost no question what I was seeing. As a reader you should hopefully have the same feeling, telling your imagination “Yes, you see the world clearly.” Reinforcing you are inside this world. 

   The last puzzle piece is getting someone who I can get to see the world the way I do. The artist has to be willing to be told how things look not take what they feel the way the world looks. I like to grab an inspiration image to help them have a starting place. Form there we work out the details, and when we both saw the same thing you end up with pictures like the hospital in HWR or the Zeek face. Those are probably my two favorite because they had that perfect balance of the important moment in the story and well executed art. That brings this story to life in a way that hopefully pulls the reader even deeper into the book. 

  BONUS! 

   A tidbit of information about this next book and artist. Jess Reese is putting in a ton of work to bring All That Comes After to life. When I was searching for an artist I didn’t connect with the other artists the way I felt would best serve the book(s) and that’s not a good way to start. I’ve known Jess for a while and that beings a trust before we ever got to the point of asking her to work on this project. Learning she had a background in art having gone to school for it, I always kept it in the back of my mind. When I first floated the idea to her I had to kind of convince her to read book one. Flash forward and she liked the story, the world and the characters, that sealed it. Asking her to show me what she could do in the style I needed I was blown away by what she was able to do with no real direction. I asked her to say something about the next book, 

  “ This series has redefined what I thought zombie books were. Through the action and zombies you will find a lot humanity. The challenges our characters face in ‘All That Comes After’ are very relatable, and it makes it hard to put the book down.” 

  I think this is probably the most interesting thing I’ve heard about the HWR series. She isn’t the first to say this and even though I set out to write my take on a zombie apocalypse I think maybe I created something more...-MH

Why a zombie virus?

 

  So we’ve talked about why I write, what got me passionate about writing, how I name and create a character, and what I hope readers get out of my writing. So why a Zombie Apocalypse?

  Was it because at the time Zombies were so in? Or maybe because I just love them so much? What about AMC’s The Walking Dead? Those may have played a part into why I considered it. In reality it was my nightmares. 

  That’s right my nightmares. Wake up, can’t go back to sleep, turn the tv on to something funny, NIGHTMARES! 

   By now you can probably tell my mind is a crazy place. We all deal with our own battles, some fight demons some fight habits. My nightmares... the ones that terrify me often revolve around a zombie outbreak. 

  

  I can feel an intense heat on my back and I know it’s coming and I can’t stop it. My sleep has a hold of me and this dream is about to pull me so deep I’m not sure if it is real or not. I have really bad dreams and often don’t sleep more than 3-5 hours a night on a regular basis. Yeah my mostly high energy self only sleeps 4 hours. Back to the dreams, back when HWR was just an idea I was having at least 3 nightmares a week always the same. My friends and/or family and I were running for our lives for the zombies. 

  In these dreams just like a zombie apocalypse I’d lose people and in super graphic ways sometimes even the smell at times. I’d lose everyone till it was just me and hundreds of zombies around me. I know what your thinking “here is my badass moment” nope I’d fight and lose every time. I could feel them grabbing me and then...

BLACKNESS....

I’d wake up. My back on fire my mind jacked. That world was so real. I’d feel bad because I thought I’d have woken up my sleeping wife. These dreams were so intense I could remember them in vivid detail the next day.

  So how does that turn into a book that doesn’t reflect my reality? What I learned after trying to figure out what my dreams meant, I have a savior complex. Rooted so deep that I didn’t even realize it, I learned that the zombies represented the problems I try and save everyone from. I had to face that I couldn’t save them, and trying to would result in getting killed myself. So I decided to do something for me to help keep me engaged in something other than my thoughts. What better way to fight dream zombies than with a group of people I create to battle them? 

  It sounds so silly but writing kind of saved my life in a time when even my dreams were out to kill me. Now here we are. So I’d say don’t keep those nightmares in, let them out and see what they really mean so you can find a way to battle them when you’re awake and rest a bit easier. -MH

Note: the picture at the top of this blog is work from the artist working on Book 2. Hope you are just as excited to see Miss Jess Reese bring the next book to life! 

Thank you

  This is the 10th blog post! So far I’ve had 150 views. That may not seem like a big number in today’s world of millions of followers and influencers... but to me that’s 150 times my words may have reached someone. For that I want to say thank you! 

  When I started this whole writing thing (what seems like a billion years ago) I set out to just write and pass the time. Never thinking people would actually see or like my work. Now that I see how it’s grown I’m trying to really take in how it feels to have your support. 

  I truly appreciate everyone of you who read this, that share or comment on posts. I don’t know if you realize just how important that is to a creator. I’ll tell you it’s such a good feeling, just sharing or liking a post is as close as a creative person gets to accepting their worth. 

  I love seeing my friends succeed and I love supporting them. I’ve been just where they are, the nerves, the doubt, the fear of failure. To overcome all of that and put yourself out there and show your craft is truly amazing. 

  Passionate people can make dreams come true but it takes help from the people around them and their support. I can’t stress that part enough. I want to show how much I care by actually showing people how much I care. To the people that do the same your friends are lucky to have you.

  I love everyone who has been there to help me or read something that I wrote, you truly make my dreams come true. My success if any is because of you. Keep it up. Thank you so much! -MH

An escape not a reflection

 

So something I’ve been thinking a lot about, is what my writing says. Is there a hidden message or some profound lessons? My answer is no, you may find one or see one. 

I feel I write something because I want to escape into a world not dive deeper into the pile of poo that is the real world. After a long day at work the last thing I want to do is write about how a character is stuck in a dead end job. Or remind myself (and readers) that the world really isn’t equal. 

One thing I do tend to do in my writing is, the women seem to be better equipped to handle the problems they face. Whether that’s a commentary on how I see things I don’t know. I do know I enjoy putting characters through real life problems but maybe not the ones you’d think. 

A big part of HWR is cancer specifically breast cancer. That is something that has affected so many that I felt any reader could feel connected with it. Now there are other real issues that pop up but they aren’t the foundation of the story. 

The world is sometimes the most awful place so I want to create a world that problems just continue based on choices. Some of my favorite stories are ones where everyone is just doing the best they can but things go from bad to worse. It’s so dramatic and captures you and holds on tight. 

Now some will say that all of this is a cop out and I don’t use my voice to talk about anything that matters. Movies like Get Out have put a spotlight on black writers. I think that those writers are necessary but so to are ones that just give you one hell of a joyride. 

I hope you enjoy what I create, I look out of my window to a world of possibilities, and I hope the bring good stories.-MH