by Jay Wilburn

James D Dean has come on to the scene in the zombie fiction genre strong with his This Dying World series. We are featuring his second book in that series, Abandon All Hope. Based on these first two books, this series and this writer are full of promise.

He’s been writing for years. He says his first “story” was written in 3rd grade for his class. It wasn’t an assignment, but just because he wanted to do it. There’s always been something in him that wanted to write. As far as zombies, he had always been fascinated with them. His grandmother started him with horror at an early age with the classics, but Night of the Living Dead always captivated him. He never really thought about writing a zombie novel until he read World War Z and realized that zombies could exist outside of movies. He had no idea how big zombies were in literature until then.

When he first started writing, he felt very alone. Even when he would reach out to other writers, it was like approaching a celebrity that he viewed as mostly unreachable. As he got to know more writers, he started to realize that most of them go through the same things he did. We stress over plot ideas, rake ourselves over the coals far worse than any reviewer ever could, all while trying to balance a real life. It’s easy to forget some of our favorite writers are real human beings dealing with life’s bullshit the best way they can, he says. So, when he finally published for the first time, he made sure that he was always open and receptive to people who tried to reach out to him. And for him that is a big thing, since he considers himself a natural born hermit.

As for the future of his series, he has a general idea of where it is going, but his story evolves as he is writing it. He might have a direction and an idea as to what his characters should be doing, but sometimes his characters disagree with him and do whatever the hell they want. He started out with the idea of having 3 books, but now that he’s writing book 3, he can easily see it going further.

Looking toward future work, he has a few ideas on the drawing board. He has one idea that he has already written the prologue for. There is also another one he’s working on that is more of a futuristic zombie series. He has a structure for it, but he needs to work more on characters and such, he says. I have faith in James D Dean as a storyteller and look forward to these pieces.

I hope I have made the case for James D Dean. Check out This Dying World: Abandon All Hope or begin with book one now.

Jay Wilburn

Jay Wilburn has a Masters Degree in Education that goes mostly unused since he quit teaching to write about zombies. Jay writes horror because he tends to find the light by facing down the darkness. His is doing well following a life saving kidney transplant. Jay is the author of Maidens of Zombie Kingdom a young adult fantasy trilogy, Lake Scatter Wood Tales adventure books for elementary and middle school readers, Vampire Christ a trilogy of political and religious satire, and The Dead Song Legend. He cowrote The Enemy Held Near, Yard Full of Bones, and The Hidden Truth with Armand Rosamilia. You can also find Jay's work in Best Horror of the Year volume 5. He is a staff writer with Dark Moon Digest, LitReactor, and the Still Water Bay series with Crystal Lake Publishing.

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