Here I am, slipping and sliding on the ice outside.
The mercury has dropped below 0 during the time of me writing this.
My hands in my hoodie pockets balled into fists so tight you could see the whites of my knuckles.
If I was squeezing any tighter I’m sure the flesh would’ve torn as I hobbled along outside.
I’ve been listening to some weird podcasts about parasites and fungus that take over their hosts.
I remember seeing a video online not so long ago of some zombie fungus that highjacks a snail and turns them into a psychedelic zombie looking vessel.
So here I am. Outside and freezing my ass off and thinking that my next short story needs to be something zombie related.
I guess I’m gonna go re-watch and re-read some classic zombie trope series/books I’ll share them in here too.
Yes I’m a zombie nerd.
You can talk to me about zombies and apocalypses all day and it’ll hold my attention.
Honestly though I’m just taking advice from one of my all time favourite ad men Victor O. Schwab. which I’m applying to the stories I write.
This is what he said:
“1. Read…the comics, newspaper, and magazine features, stories and books which have the largest popular following. Also read the truly great books which bring ordinary people to life before your eyes and make you understand them.
- See…the smash-hit movies, television shows, and plays whose entertainment values attract millions of people.
- Listen…to those particular radio programs which hold the interest of countless people week after week.
- Talk…with taxi drivers, laborers, newsboys, clerks, and others who do not inhabit the more rarefied social and economic heights.
- Study…the appeals and the copy of the mail order advertisements which continue to repeat their mass-market messages, because they aren’t repeated unless they pay in direct, checkable results.
Schwab, Victor O.. How To Write A Good Advertisement: A Short Course In Copywriting (p. 59). Golden Springs Publishing. Kindle Edition.”
I take a lot of the things I’ve learnt in advertising and apply it to my fiction writing and you should too.
Anywho…
Here’s what’s going to keep me out of trouble this weekend:
TV series
The Walking Dead
Z Nation
Black Summer
Kingdom (Korean series)
All of Us Are Dead (Korean series)
Black Summer is so underrated I would 100% recommend you binge that if you like zombie stuff.
Books/Novels
The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks
Cell by Stephen King
Feed by Mira Grant
Rot & Ruin series by Jonathan Maberry
Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
Zone One by Colson Whitehead
Well. This email is getting longer than it needs to be right now.
Stephen Walker
P.S. Don’t forget to check/save https://stphnwlkr.com/ I’ll be adding loads of other cool stuff there for your own reading/listening pleasure.
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Stephen Walker
Unit 146317
PO Box 7169
Poole
BH15 9EL
United Kingdom