Stefan Petrucha Q&A and Contest for DEAD MANN WALKING

"Petrucha successfully portrays the walking dead as more than mindless, flesh-eating killing machines, thanks to careful details of zombie life, culture, and slang."

Publishers Weekly

"The amusing story line is fast-paced, which is not an easy condition for a Chak. With a zombie noir feel to the tale, readers will enjoy the escapades of Hess, private investigator."

Alternative Worlds

It's Where The Boys Are Week at Vampire Wire, and we're off to a great start with guest Stefan Petrucha here to talk about Dead Mann Walking, the debut novel in his Hessius Mann series. Stefan's publisher is also offering a copy of Dead Mann Walking in a contest! (Read to the end of the post for entry info.)

Last year, Stefan's Blood Prophecy was published and received a Starred Review from Publisher's Weekly. He's written several Young Adult novels -- from The Timetripper novels to Nancy Drew books -- but warns his new zombie detective novel is not for tweens. (Ah, forbidden fruit is the sweetest of all!)

SUMMARY:

After Hessius Mann was convicted of his wife's murder, suppressed evidence came to light and the verdict was overturned — too bad he was already executed.

Thanks to the miracles of modern science Hessius was brought back to life. Sort of. Now that he's joined the ranks of Fort Hammer's pulse-challenged population, Hessius attempts to make a “living” as a private investigator.

But when a missing persons case leads to a few zombies cut to pieces, Hessius starts thinking that someone's giving him the run-around — and it's not like he's in any condition to make a quick getaway...

I have, perhaps, on the rare occasion snarked occasionally about the undesirability of zombies at events like wedding receptions and office parties, but Stefan captured my interest with his zombie detective hero. But I'll let him tell you himself!

***************************

MARTA: Welcome to Vampire Wire, Stefan, and congratulations on the release of Dead Mann Walking! You’re switching things up from Blood Prophecy, your recent historical vampire adventure, to this zombie-themed detective novel. Can we expect a lot of rapid-fire noir dialogue?

STEFAN: The combination of the deadpan, melancholic mood of noir and the dead, well, everything, of the zombie, was what drew me here in the first place, so yes, absolutely!

So much so in fact, I’ll be tweeting a quote-a-day from the book for thirty days before and thirty days after its October 4 release. So that’s sixty days of rapid fire zombie noir. Folks can follow via @SPetrucha. A sample: “I watched him shamble off, hoping he wouldn’t go feral in Starbucks. Then again he wouldn’t be the first.”

MARTA: I am on record as questioning zombies as leading characters because, you know, their body parts are always dropping off into the guacamole bowl and they’re terrible dancers. Do you think I’m being unnecessarily harsh to reanimated corpses? Will Hessius Mann change our biases against zombie detectives?

Wicked Dead #6

STEFAN: I understand where you’re coming from. The popular version of the zombie acts like a human-sized cannibalistic virus. It’s hard to get all cozy with a disease that’s trying to kill you. Hessius and the z’s (called chakz, after charqui, or jerky, for dried meat, get it?) of Dead Mann Walking are a bit different.

Briefly, a new process to bring back the dead doesn’t quite work as expected. Once the initial rush to restore loved ones to life fades, the process is mostly used to bring back executed criminals who’ve been exonerated after the fact. Many chakz are sentient, but not up to par with the living, so they form a sort of small, downtrodden underclass. Humans are much more dangerous to the chakz than visa-versa. While some chakz might be a little too much on the ick side to actually cuddle with, if I’m doing my job, readers will feel for them. They’re like us, only dead, and in some cases, rotting.

MARTA: How many books do you have planned for this series and when will the next one be out?

STEFAN: I plan to keep writing them as long as people keep buying them. I’m currently working on the second book, tentatively titled Dead Mann Running, which I imagine will be out sometime in 2012, but it’s not actually on the schedule yet.

MARTA: You were writing paranormal, supernatural, and horror fiction long before the current trend. Any thoughts on why we’re now seeing so much interest in these genres?

STEFAN: I’ve been interested in those subjects for so long, it’s hard to notices the trends. Dark Shadows was big in the sixties. The X-files in the late nineties. More recently? Maybe reality series, such as Paranormal State or Ghost Hunters have something to do with it, along with easily accessible romances like Twilight. Then there are high profile, quality productions out there like AMC’s adaptation of The Walking Dead, reminding folks, in a big way, that zombies exist. Or maybe it’s the recession? Horror tends to be a good place to vicariously vent built up frustrations. The Universal horror films were big during the Depression, for instance.

Really, though? I dunno.

MARTA: Tell us one of your favorite genre books or shows that deserves more notice?

STEFAN: The film Let Me In and the Swedish original, Let the Right One In, had their fair share of attention, but I’m a bigger fan of the novel by Swedish writer John Ajvide Lindqvist. I love the idea of the bullied boy being befriended by the monster. The book makes the parallels between the two clearer, filling in more of Ely’s backstory. It was huge in Europe, but I don’t think it got quite the attention it deserved here.

MARTA: You also write Young Adult fiction. I had some child psychologist tell me that she thought it was harmful to kids to read dystopian novels because they’re grim and dark. Do you think the tender (and delicious) brains of our youth are being irreparably harmed by paranormal/urban fantasies?

Coming in March 2012!

STEFAN: Every kid’s different, and of course you have to take age into account, but, generally speaking, the idea that dystopian novels are somehow harmful to young adults is ridiculous. The world is grim and dark, so in that sense, reality is harmful to kids. Did 1984 or Brave New World, or Planet of the Apes actually harm young minds way back? There was likely more real harm done by the “duck and cover” fire drills at every school, of nuclear attack due to the very real Cold War. Gimme a break.

My daughters read and loved The Hunger Games, which by and large was beautifully written and contained important life lessons. Unless you plan on raising your children in Disney World, then sealing them in when they come of age, they’ll learn about the dark side of life sooner or later. Better they pick it up from a fantastic book than on a street-corner.

MARTA: Okay, finish the joke: A zombie, a vampire, and a werewolf walk into a bar...

STEFAN: … and they’re all reading Dead Mann Walking – only it’s not funny, it’s great!

MARTA: That joke gets more hilarious each time I read it. Thanks for visiting, Stefan! Where can readers find out more about you and your books?

STEFAN: My website or at any real or imaginary bookstore near you!

************************************

You can also follow Stefan on Twitter and friend him on Facebook.

CONTEST INFO: To enter the contest for Dead Mann Walking, just leave a comment for Stefan, or you can mention if you think zombies would make good detectives. I think they'd be less inclined to get misled by shady dames, but I may be wrong about that. Maybe zombies wouldn't have the superior brain power to resist a shady dame. The contest is limited to US entries, and runs through September 20. A winner will be selected by random draw.

GRATUITOUS VIDEOS OF THE DAY

Okay, in noir detective stories, there are always dangerous dames, so that's today's theme!

Brouhahas, Thingamajigs, and Whatnot

Kait Nolan guest blogs at Sidhe Vicious Reviews and has a contest for her new book, Red, a paranormal shifter novel. Sidhe reviewed this book and called it "A perfect blend of the supernatural mixed in with a modern teen love story."

KMont at Lurv a la Mode has an awesome round-up of kertuffles, brouhahas, and shenanigans in the world of genre fiction, including Aja Romano's righteous smackdown of an essay in NY Times whining that Young Adult novels are "too girly."

But the sad truth is that men aren’t encouraged to write about women, or to be interested in “whatever it is women talk about,” as Jennifer Kesler‘s exasperated film teacher put it. Reticence on men’s part to read about girls isn’t some kind of inevitable byproduct of the inferiority of “women’s stories,” whatever those are. It’s the social upbringing that boys undergo that teaches them that anything women like is inherently inferior, just as it teaches women that if they enjoy the things that men like, they may not be real women.

Honestly, you should read Aja's whole essay because it's terrific.

Melinda at Enchanted Inkpot features cover art for YA fantasy in 2011 and groups them very nicely by subgenre, such as steampunk and covers with magical glowy thingamajigs.




Suzanne Johnson, author of the upcoming Royal Street, has posted another of her amazing Reader's Choice contests at Preternatural, and includes books like Darkness Falls by Cate Tiernan and The Shattering by Karen Healey.

Be sure to stop by tomorrow for my Q&A with Stefan Petrucka and a contest for Dead Mann Walking,

GRATUITOUS VIDEOS OF THE DAY

I think I'll choose a cheerful theme and am posting new videos with love in the songs' titles.







Okay, so this doesn't have "love" in the song title. But it's so cheerful that I'm making an exception. Because I'm all magnanimous that way. Or easily distracted. One of those things.

Contest Winner and Cover Loving!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the contest for Leanna Renee Hieber's The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker. The winner of the contest is:

REINA

Congratulations, Reina! I hope you enjoy Leanna's first book in her Victorian-era Strangely Beautiful series.

Reina is a writer with a passion for historical romance and Jane Austen. You can learn more about Reina at her website. which offer sweet treats with her occasional inclusion of dessert recipes.

MACHO, MACHO MEN: Next week, I'm featuring two dude authors, their new vampire books, and have contests, too. On Wednesday, Stefan Petrucka will tell us about Dead Mann Walking, and on Friday, Jonathan Pinnock will discuss Mrs. Darcy vs. the Aliens. I suppose I'll have to buy a case of beer and order pizzas.

Anyway, I heart the guys, but despair at their cover graphics. Which is as it should be. Guys shouldn't be about the pretty. They should be about taking care of scary things like bioengineering experiments gone wrong in the garage. I'm traditional that way. I think that women should do the housewifely chores --- baking, bioengineering androids in the garage, and arranging flowers -- and men should battle the robot who goes insane because the cupcakes have the wrong color of sprinkles.

What was I saying? Oh, yeah, covers. I saw some new pretty ones for 2012 Young Adult releases, so I'm just posting them to share the cover love.

GRATUITOUS VIDEOS OF THE DAY

Since I'll be hosting dudes next week, my theme is male-ish words: guy, dude, boy, man...







I apologize for this song. It's wrong, wrong, wrong for me to post it.

New Releases & How to Fill Your Bookshelves

Congratulations to Lynda Hilburn, whose first book, The Vampire Shrink, is being re-released today in the UK. This book was published a few years back in the US, but Lynda had a chance to make revisions and get a smashing new cover with her UK edition. Kelly Armstrong called the book "a refreshingly original twist on the vampire story. Fast-paced and fun." Here's the summary:

Kismet Knight is a young psychologist with a growing clinical practice, and sheÆs always looking for something to give her the edge in her chosen career. When her new client turns out to be a Goth teenager who desperately wants to become a vampire, Kismet is inspired to become the vampire shrink, offering her services to people who believe they are undead. Kismet herself, as a scientist, knows it's hokum, but she's looking at it in a purely psychoanalytic light, already imagining the papers she's going to write on this strange subculture.

That is until she meets the leader of a vampire coven, a sexy, mysterious man who claims to be a powerful 800-year-old vampire, and she is pulled into a whirlwind of inexplicable events that start her questioning everything she once believed about the paranormal.

Best of luck with the release, Lynda! To find out more about Lynda's books, read excerpts, and watch videos, visit her author website.

Fans of Ann Aguirre's Jax series are elated at the new release of Aftermath, book 5.

During the war against murderous, flesh-eating aliens, Sirantha went AWOL and shifted grimspace beacons to keep the enemy from invading humanity’s homeworld. The cost of her actions: the destruction of modern interstellar travel—and the lives of six hundred Conglomerate soldiers.

Accused of dereliction of duty, desertion, mass murder, and high treason, Sirantha is on trial for her life. And only time will tell if she’s one of the Conglomerate’s greatest heroes—or most infamous criminals…

You can visit Ann's website to find about about all her series, including her exciting YA dystopian Razorland books.

Abigail at All Things Urban Fantasy reviews Aftermath and says:

Jax's world is as messy and political and fraught with peril as ever, but my relationship with the characters has deepened to the point where they are almost all I see anymore. Though not in an urban fantasy setting, fans will find the species and technologies in this world are written as accessibly as any magic, and the romance and action portrayed definitely fit the kick-butt heroine bill.

I've got a few contests running (and I suppose I should update my contest page). I've got a contest for the Victorian era Dracula mashup, Anno Dracula by Kim Newman, which Neil Gaiman called "glorious." He called the book glorious, not my contest. Whatever.

Today is the last day to enter my contest for Leanna Renee Hieber's wonderful, romantic and supernatural Victorian-era Gothic, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker. It's my own gently read copy. I didn't drop it in the tub or spill coffee on it.

If you're looking to add to your bookshelves, Jennifer at Reading with Tequila lists 25 Amazing Book Deals, which include Leanna's book on Kindle for only $2.99, Stacia Kane's terrific Unholy Ghosts for a mere 99 cents, and Richelle Mead's fabulous Succubus Blues for $2.99.

Just when you though heroin chic was over, there are new book covers celebrating that "I'm a junkie with fashion sense" ideal. I thought the cover of Lauren DeStefano's first novel, Wither, was wonderful and clever, with its bird-in-a-cage imagery. But I wonder if the design team for Fever really intended to glamorize drugged models in a book for young women or if they're just frickin clueless.

The terrifying white unicornesque rocking horse at the left of the image implies "clueless." The Chemical Garden series is about a world were girls die at 20 and boys inexplicably get to live to 25, so I could see a cover with a wasted girl in a hospital bed and one of those plastic cups of orange Jello by her side.

You know, I have Issues.

GRATUITOUS VIDEOS OF THE DAY

I tried to find a theme and couldn't. Maybe I'll just post some multifandom vids.