by Jay Wilburn
Javan Bonds has created an amazing apocalyptic survival tale with the books of his Still Alive series. The stories and characters are bombastic and over the top. The action is break-neck and for the five books so far, it hardly pauses long enough for you to take a breath. Creative settings and unusual modes of survival mark the storylines of his books.
Bonds is sort of the direct answer to the question, what comes next for the Zombie Genre? The reason he writes and the reason he started his career is directly connected to the current slate of popular zombie authors. Among his influences, he credits authors like Mark Tufo, Bobby Adair, John O’Brien and Shawn Chesser. Movies like Zombieland and World War Z informed the aesthetic of his books. Bonds then, becomes that next step. He took all of these influences, reworked them through his unique perspective on still being alive, and turned them up in his own work. Many readers respond to this next step in the evolution of the genre. Just like Bonds, Mark Tufo has, in the past, credited Armand Rosamilia with mentoring him at the beginning of his writing career. Likewise, Rosamilia credits his zombie writing to the influence of Brian Keene. And it all goes back to Romero in one fashion or another. This is quite a legacy, leading readers into Bonds’s work.
Javan Bonds is full of life and determination through all the challenges which face him in writing, publishing, and meeting fans. He interacts on social media despite challenges with his eyesight. With physical challenges, he still attended conventions and met fans. He was diagnosed at the age of eleven with Friedreich’s Ataxia (FA), (a progressively degenerative neuromuscular disease under the umbrella of the Muscular Dystrophy Association). Bonds became wheelchair bound in 1999, but that was only the beginning of his setbacks. His sight began to diminish in 2010 to the point he is now legally blind and his hearing began failing to the point he now can’t hear individual voices in a noisy room. In spite of all of this, he continues to work tirelessly seven days a week on his writing.
Bonds never letting his disability rule him as he has lived, loved, and laughed often. Reading and writing have long provided Bonds with both pleasure and a creative outlet. He began blogging at a very young age and has written articles and letters for the local newspaper. In 2010, he discovered a passion for writing novels and with the help of Nuance’s Dragon Naturally Speaking, he continues to write every day. This is the same software Brian Keene has used since his accident which resulted in his severe burns. We’re glad we have a way to get their stories as readers.
In late 2015, at only 28 years old, Bonds was told he may have only a short time left due to the ravages of FA on his heart. After learning this, he has been hard at work to complete his other novels and have them finished before his time in this world runs out. We are thankful to still have him with us on this tour and hope to enjoy his writing for much longer.
I hope I have made the case for Javan Bonds. Check out his Still Alive series now.
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