People seem to be drawn to the humor in INFECTED. As such, I was asked to create a list of the funniest zombie novels by a new book discovery site called Shepherd.
So, I did.
You can check out my list, why I chose each book, and browse the site itself, here:
https://shepherd.com/best-books/drop-dead-hilarious-zombie-books
What do YOU think?
I mean, I know you think my book is the funniest on this list, but other than that.
What else do you think?
Of course, this list is incredibly subjective, but these are the books that resonated with me in 2021. What were your favorite reads (or listens) of the year?
The Island of Dr Moreau by KJ Shadmand
The first book on this list comes from a teacher who grew up as a fan of interactive fiction and gamebooks. He blended his love of classic literature and branching path narratives to create this impressive first gamebook in what the author intends to be a series of reimagined classics focusing on the works of HG Wells.
Dracula: Curse of the Vampire by Jonathan Green
This modern master also took inspiration from the classics to create a momentous accomplishment. Unlike the last entrant, Jonathan Green has been entrenched in the world of gamebooks for decades, and brings that expertise to bear in this impressive tome. Greatly expanding upon Bram Stokers mythos while gamifying the story and creating several playable narratives in one.
Captive by MC & Manuro
Published by Van Ryder Games, this is part of a series of interactive graphic novels. The navigation system is ingenious, and is so visually based, it’s no wonder it has been translated into several languages (it was originally written in French). I played this book with my wife and we made the choices together. Great fun.
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
While plotting and researching HAUNTED, I read and listened to myriad haunted house stories, but one stood out among the rest–a forerunner and standard-bear of this medium, and well deserving of its reputation. Part horror, part psychological drama, you’ll likely see inspiration pulled from Hill House should you choose to enter the Tansky House in HAUNTED.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Like most of the audio-listening world, I fell in love with Andy Weir’s The Martian narrated by R.C. Bray. I’m pleased to have partnered with this award-winning narrator for my new version of INFECTED and I’m also happy that Andy Weir has returned to survival space drama. I didn’t quite connect with Artemis as much as I’d have liked, but with Ray Porter narrating, it feels like Mark Watney is back in this new book.
The Believing Brain by Michael Shermer
Another book I listened to while deeply immersed in ghost stories; I found Shermer’s insight into why we as humans believe what we believe incredibly useful. I’d add Carl Sagan’s The Demon Haunted World as an honorable mention in this category of books that highlight how thinking skeptically is actually a learned behavior, while being quick to believe comes naturally.
Instadeath Survivors Support Group with Brian Hazzard
From neonate gamebook fan to expert interviewer, Brian Hazzard used the past year to dive deeply into the world of interactive fiction. He blends author interviews with playthroughs of branching-path books to bring a compelling podcast into this growing community. Yours truly is featured in an interview and it was a pleasure.
And that’s my list for 2021! But speaking of books… there’s still time to get signed and shipped Click Your Poison books before Christmas if you missed my Holiday Sign & Ship announcement. If you’re reading this blog post prior to December 20th, reach out to me and we’ll make it happen!
As always, thanks for reading. Let me know in the comments if you have any books that you fell in love with this year. Until next time, I remain…
Your author,
Signed books for Christmas! Or any holiday. Or birthday. Or no special occasion; just because you want to buy something for that special someone (who could be you!).
It has now been over two years since my last in-person book signing, and I miss you guys. But — that means my garden shed is overfull with paperbacks ready to be signed and shipped directly to your doorstep! This is my first major signing event since releasing SPIED, and likely your first chance to pick it up with personalized graffiti on the inside cover. Want me to scribble an encrypted message for you?
Shipping rates have gone up in recent years, so here’s the new deal: $25 flat rate for a signed book anywhere in the US. Shipping can be combined on any order above four books. Once you go above four titles, it becomes $20 per book. That means if you get five books, one is essentially free. Plus, if you do happen to order the whole series, I’m going to throw in a little something extra…
Shipping rates are fairly obscene elsewhere in the world right now, but if you’re not put off by the thought that you might pay more for shipping than for the books themselves, feel free to contact me for an international quote.
What’s more, I still have some first editions of PATHOGENS, so if you act fast, you can choose your cover art. Or, if you’re a super collector like me, you can get both:
The only book I *can’t* offer to sign and ship to you is the new 10th Anniversary Deluxe Hardcover Edition of INFECTED. Unfortunately, hardback books are more expensive to produce, and I can’t get author copies the same way as paperbacks. But I do want to remind you that you can get it off Amazon, because (signed or not), this would make an amazing holiday gift.
That’s it for now. Want some signed books? Reach out to me on my contact page and we’ll make it happen.
Merry happy,
First, a quick point of order. It has come to my attention that in the new 10th Anniversary illustrated hardcover edition of INFECTED, the first choice on page 2 should go to 176. The paperback and Kindle edition are unaffected. This was an error in the code from formatting the manuscript to the new hardcover page count, but I’m told by my formatting team that this was the only error. Here is the replacement page:
With that out of the way, it’s time to talk briefly about author intent. I’m not normally someone who responds to reviews of my work. I generally assume that everyone is entitled to their opinion, and not all readers will synch up with an author’s point of view. However, I recently heard some comments that implied I had an issue with different body types based on depictions in the zombie path, and I wanted to address that.
INFECTED has been criticized for being too macho/militaristic by some readers, but also for not rewarding hardened lone wolf survivalists enough by others. I believe readers often bring their own perspective into a book; which is especially true in collaborative fiction like a branching path book. If you want a calloused, uncaring character, you’ll find a path for that. If you want to work as a team and see the best in others, you’ll find something for that as well.
Reader critiques are valid, however I want to emphasize that I did intend some of these elements as satire. After looking deeply into the genre with my research, I played off a lot of tropes that zombie stories are known for. One thing I found consistently across zombie fiction was that the apocalypse can bring out the worst in us. Summed up as: “terrible people making terrible choices.” We are the true monsters in some of these stories. Yet it’s not all bad. We can also find unlikely heroes in our midst.
On the large, societal scale, zombie stories started as a metaphor for rampant consumerism, and I took that one step further by adding a critique of unregulated capitalism. The concept in INFECTED is that a beauty product starts the apocalypse (after corporate greed speaks louder than a scientist who wants to do more research). When “you” become a zombie in the story, you start to embody these societal woes, to include some of our hang-ups on beauty. But I don’t want to paint these sections as something they’re not. The gross-out factor was intentional. It’s not pretty to become a zombie.
I don’t think that needs to carry over into real life. I have no problem with “different” people. I’m different. You’re different. Our differences make the world worth surviving. Of course, authorial intent does not always carry over into reader interpretation and a lot has changed in the ten years since I’ve written this book, to include me growing as a person and improving as a writer.
Part of this came to the forefront when the book was featured as a playthrough on the Instadeath Survivor Support Group podcast. You can listen to that episode now (and I recommend checking out all of this excellent podcast).
After I listened to his playthrough, I asked if I could record an introduction. Here’s what I added for the podcast:
Hi, Survivors. Author James Schannep here. Brian let me listen to an early version of this episode, and we thought it might be best to record a disclaimer up front. What you’re about to listen to contains gore, violence, body horror and gross-out humor, sometimes at the expense of living people. The zombie genre has a long history as satire, and in INFECTED a beauty product starts the apocalypse. The hungering zombies are a dark reflection of our society, to include some of our hang-ups on body image. I don’t want to spoil the episode for you, so I’ve written a blog post with my full thoughts which you can find at jamesschannep.com/blog or take a look into the show notes where Brian has included a direct link to the post. My books don’t have a “one true path” and part of the fun in collaborative storytelling is that your character can be as noble or ignoble as you choose to make them. I hope you have as much fun listening to Andrew’s choices as he did making them. Enjoy the show.
What do YOU think? Have you read INFECTED? Did you listen to the episode? What did it mean to you?
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
This blog was started some ten or so years ago when I embarked on my journey to be a professional writer. Now, I’m celebrating that milestone by releasing a special 10th Anniversary Illustrated Collector’s Edition Hardcover of INFECTED. Join me in celebrating this momentous occasion!
10th Anniversary Hardcover Edition
All new content, available for the first time, including:
Additionally, included are a book club discussion guide, and suggestions for how to play with friends.
3 Unique Storylines. Over 50 Possible Endings. Just one question… Will YOU Survive the Zombie Apocalypse?
What are you waiting for? Get your special edition of INFECTED today!
SPIED has been available for two weeks.
Have YOU started your new career as a secret agent?
As part of the fun, I have two contests running right now. In case you missed the original announcements — here is your reminder!
Passphase: “Sharing is Caring.”
This contest is running over on social media and is all about spreading the word. Want to see your name in print in a future book? Well, if you’re someone who resides in the book of faces or chirps like a bird, head over to Facebook or Twitter and join in the fun!
Code word: “Deep-cover”
I had these beautiful lapel pins made (or backpack pins or cushion pins or…) and I want to give them to you! This month is also my birthday, and I’m giving a gift to my loyal fans. The video below illustrates how you get one of your own (while also showing off Click Your Poison book covers throughout the years), but here’s the short version:
There are secret references to each Click Your Poison book lurking within the pages of SPIED. Your mission is to discover this intel: characters, places, events referenced. If you can find any of the references (to INFECTED, MURDERED, SUPERPOWERED, PATHOGENS, or MAROONED) during the month of February — I will send you a pin as your reward.
Well? What are you waiting for?
If you haven’t gotten SPIED yet, now’s the time!
You have two weeks to complete your mission.
Up front: No big news, AKA, nothing newly published for you to flip or click through from me at the moment.
I’ve been long overdue checking in with my audience, so I thought I’d let you know what’s up with me. What’s up with you? Let me know in the comments.
My family has been very fortunate in the time of a pandemic. We’re all healthy. And my daughter is practically bouncing off the walls during social isolation, so writing has been difficult. My garage is full of books from author events that never happened, but they’ll be there waiting when we’re all ready to meet up again.
We’re also preparing to move (again). We left England last summer for Alabama so my wife could attend a professional school. This summer, her work is relocating us to California. It’s an exciting, albeit stressful time.
I’ve made some progress on SPIED, though I had hoped to be finished by now. I’ve also rewritten a coming-of-age novel that I’m hoping to reach a wider audience by getting it traditionally published. That manuscript is with an agent right now. Fingers crossed!
I’m also trying to find a future where narrator R.C. Bray brings my Click Your Poison books to you via some form of audio app.
I’ve also been lightly courted with the idea of an interactive movie.
Trying not to get too excited over here; these are all big maybes years down the line!
In addition to writing SPIED, I’m planning another two CYP books — one with an exciting crossover universe of traditional novels.
Once I get settled in California, I hope to get these fingers flashing across my keyboard more often.
Stay tuned!
PS – Since I don’t have anything for you to read, an author acquaintance of mine has volunteered a sale for you zombie-lovers:
Releases May 26!!
The time is finally upon us, everyone has been asking what happened to Catherine Briggs and on May 26th you will have you answer! Catherine is taking her undead battle to the streets of New Orleans as she searches for her family and hunts down a serial killer only known as The Devil of Bourdon Street. You thought your 2020 was bad, wait until you step into the Promise Land!
Planet Dead 1 & 2 are on sale for .99 cents for the rest of the month. Pick them up while you can and be sure to pre-order Planet Dead 3
Planet Dead 1:
https://books2read.com/u/4NZGk6
Planet Dead 2:
https://books2read.com/u/38EYyw
Planet Dead 3:
https://books2read.com/u/mdzy2y
What do YOU think? Leave a comment below to join in the conversation.
Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to share and subscribe!
No, not “Cover Charges” — none of those are required to read this blog post. Do people still read blogs in 2020? I know it’s been a looooooong time since I’ve blogged regularly (sorry about that), but now that we’re under quarantine seems like a good time to start back up again.
I hope you’re all well and staying safe. I’m having a fun time juggling a one-year-old, passing her back and forth to my wife (who is also now working from home). Other than that, social distancing comes easy to a writer.
Onto the post!
Three new covers, coming right up.
The more astute of you may have noticed that PATHOGENS has a new cover.
First, let me say that there’s a lot I like about the original cover. The detail work is stunning. That rat is amazing. The layers in the image are rich and deep. I also enjoy the throwback to Salvador Dali.
But, ultimately, I needed to change the cover for two reasons. First, I felt like the cover wasn’t closely related to INFECTED enough — and since these are “equels” (not sequels or prequels, but occur simultaneously), I wanted them better linked.
See how they’re a better fit now? And of course the original Dali photo for reference.
Additionally, PATHOGENS sales were the worst of the (at the time) four books. Since I’ve updated the cover, sales have gone up. What do you think? Which do you prefer?
Right now, I’m in the process of updating the cover for MURDERED.
The impetus for this change was not in my control, actually. I started running Amazon Ads this year, and MURDERED was flagged for “excessive gore.” After a few back and forths with the customer service team, they clarified that the blood and (possible) corpse in the foreground was the issue — either change the cover, or lose advertising rights.
I decided to use this as an opportunity to “fix” a few issues I had with the cover. Or, I suppose, to apply lessons I’d learned over the years. First, was to get rid of the body. Okay, done. Now we have the gun atop the crate with the “pick me up” note featured at the start of the story.
Second, was to increase the size of the title. I asked the original artist to repeat the title on the police ticker tape, but in hindsight I shouldn’t have done. Additionally, the police tape was too muted — and after I added the CYP logo, didn’t fit the color scheme.
I added further police tape for my author name, adjusted the size and location of the images, and cropped out a “CYP” lamp, which was redundant given the logo.
What do you think? Which do you like better?
A new cover for a new book.
What do you think? The cover for SPIED (still a work in progress, sorry), was “leaked” in late 2019 (by me, on Facebook& Instagram).
I’m a bit behind schedule on my Click Your Poison releases, but I’ll chalk that up to:
I’m very proud of #3 (and #2, obviously. #1 I’m actually pretty sad about), and I’m trying to take this novel to a traditional publisher to find a bigger audience. But of course, this takes time. So, please bear with me, stay patient, and more interactive goodies will come your way soon. I’m still working on SPIED — and others!
What do YOU think? Leave a comment below to join in the conversation.
Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to share and subscribe!
Merry December! You’ve survived Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but what about Author Tuesday? You know, the not-at-all made up day where you buy books! Still need something for Secret Santa? Or maybe it’s time for a little something, something for yourself.
Well, it’s time for my annual Sign & Ship™. I only do this once a year, so if you want a signed book or five, let me know! Just drop me a line on my contact page, and we’ll sort everything out.
If you act quickly, I can get you personalized, autographed books prior to December 25th. And I’m more than happy to wish your loved ones a Happy Holiday of your choice, or even a happy birthday if you’re the gift-giving sort of prepper who plans ahead.
In keeping with the holiday spirit, it’ll only cost you $20 for a brand new book, signed and shipped. Interested? Let me know on my contact page. Merry Happy!
Yesterday, I announced my annual Sign & Ship deal (including my new release, MAROONED), so today I wanted to list some other books that are worth picking up this holiday season.
This is not a critical, scholarly approach to what was released in 2018. These are my favorite reads of the last year, nothing more and nothing less. I usually read 1-2 books per month, and listen to another on audio. These titles are the ones that really stood out.
Here they are, in no particular order:
Be Prepared by by Gary Greenberg & Jeannie Hayden. Yep, big life change happening this year — I’m going to be a dad in 2019. This book uses humor and wit to help inform a father-to-be while combating thoughts of “What am I doing?! I’m not ready for this!” and replacing those fears with something that’s starting to resemble confidence.
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang. The paperback I found had been rechristened Arrival after the titular story was turned into a Hollywood movie, and I didn’t quite realize what I was picking up when I decided to check this short story collection out. But I’m glad I did. It’s an eclectic bit of storytelling, but each story makes you think about the world in a different way, which is the acme of storytelling, IMO.
The Serpent’s Fang by Ryan Mullaney. Ryan is another self-published writer I discovered through online writer communities. This book is the start to a Tomb Raider-esque series about a female treasure hunter and makes for a fast-paced light read. If you like “popcorn fiction” maybe give it a go.
Steam Highwayman by Martin Noutch. I met Martin when he was still working on his debut gamebook (Interactive Fiction is a small community), and I’ve had the pleasure of watching the start to his publishing career unfold. This book leans heavily on the “game” side when compared to my own series, but if you like rolling dice and keeping stats with pencil and paper, then I’d suggest grabbing a copy. Immersive story and expansive worldbuilding make for many, many hours of play.
Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell, Jr. This novella is the basis for the movie The Thing and was a treat to listen to for someone who has written both prose and screenplays. I had a vision in my head from the film, which made it fun to experience in reverse as the original 1938 story. Quite visionary and ahead of its time for early 20th century sci-fi.
That’s it! What about you? Read anything good this year? Any book recommendations for me? Let me know in the comments below, and don’t forget to check out my annual Sign & Ship deal before it disappears for another year!
Author James Schannep 