New review

I came across a new review for the second Vampire Apocalypse book today from Dark Scribe Magazine - here's a taster:

"...these vampires are very much different from others in literary horror...Vampires ruling Main Street is certainly a frightening prospect, but it (Descent into Chaos) is also a refreshing change of pace from the typical living undead tome. The societal changes add a touch of science fiction to this horror novel...the lack of romanticism adds to its appeal. The novel offers an intriguing overall plot, with plenty of action and a concept that is far from ordinary."

"Payback"

‘Payback’ is a short story that first appeared in the horror anthology, The Blackest Death II, published by Black Death Books in 2006. The anthology is now out of print. This is actually the first piece of mine to be published so, I thought I would put it up at my website (look for it in the "extras" page) for anyone who enjoys an atmospheric horror story.

A serial killer takes a train ride but his past comes back to haunt him...

What I'm at...

Between the doom and gloom (weather as well as recession) over here, I've spent the first few months of the year up to my tonsils at work but writing wise, there has been a few things happening that have brought a little ray of sunshine to brighten my day.

First up, my first book has been under option for film and contracts have recently been exchanged to extend this for another two years. This project has changed a lot (and that's putting it mildly) since it was first optioned in 2007. For starters, there is a far bigger project in development in terms of personel, budget etc. than what was first envisioned two years ago. I've seen a couple of versions of the script and all looks great so far. Sorry to sound vague but this is awash with agents, producers, lawyers so at this stage, until it's officially announced, I'm bound to silence! What I can say is that my new contract gives me first option to write the movie tie-in book which, I'm very excited about. Also,the location for filming that is being talked about at this stage, means I won't have too to go to the other side of the world to visit the set. I'm holding my breath and keeping my fingers and toes crossed that this keeps moving forward....

With regard to my three new releases due later this year: The first edit of The Estuary (Permuted Press) is done and dusted but I'm waiting to see if the Boss is happy or if more editing is required. It's a similar story with The HMS Swift Chronicles coming from Ghostwriter Publications this year. I've seen concept art for both covers and can't wait to see the final result. And, I just found out that The HMS Swift is getting a Steve Crisp cover - I'm stoked at this, I can tell you! The third Vampire Apocalypse book, Fallout, is not due out until nearer the end of the year so the editing/cover art process hasn't started just yet. I also have a short story coming out (June) in an anthology, Buried Tales, set in the Pinebox, Tx universe (12 to Midnight) - The Evil Within.

I'm delighted to see that the release of Descent into Chaos has brought about a renewed interest in the first Vampire Apocalypse book in the series and most sales are now of both books at the same time. It would certainly seem that bringing out the sequel introduced a bunch of new readers to the series.

I've two other horror/dark fantasy novels is various stages of submission so it's very much a wait and see game at this stage. I'm also, very slowly, slogging away at my latest book. This is an action/thriller and there's not a vampire or zombie in sight. It's a real challenge for me writing in the 'real' world, so to speak. A lot of the story is set in places as far apart as Beruit and Washington and the present day happenings are the result of the political and social scenes in the 1960's and 70's. So the research is absolutely painstaking! At each writing session, I write approximately a third of what I would normally write when writing horror. The plan was to have this complete by the early summer - I'm nowhere near achieving that...

Convention wise, I had a blast at Phoenix Con in Dublin in March and at this stage, I'm on for Games Fest in the UK in October. Oh, and I'm a paid-up attending member for The World Horror Convention in Brighton in 2010...

Until next time...
Derek

ZOMBOLOGY now available at Amazon

From THE LIBRARY OF THE LIVING DEAD press, ZOMBOLOGY is now available to purchase at Amazon

The fantastic Dr. Pus has put together a great line-up for the first anthology from LOTLD and a story of mine, It's Your Turn, is in it.

Note: this story first appeared in Chimera World #2.

Dave Moody (author of HATER) praises THE ESTUARY

UK scribe Dave Moody took time out of his busy schedule to read my forthcoming release from Permuted Press. Dave is the author of the recently released HATER, now available in both the US and the UK and the book is in production with producer Guillermo del Toro and Juan Antonio Bayona (The Orphanage)is signed to direct. Here's what he had to say:

“Gunn’s ‘The Estuary’ feels like a head-on collision between John Carpenter’s ‘The Fog’ and Romero’s ‘Night of the Living Dead’; claustrophobic settings, a mysterious outbreak of infection and a group of survivors plagued by hordes of ravenous, flesh-eating zombies. Almost fifteen thousand men, women and children turned into flesh eating zombies by a long-forgotten Nazi chemical weapon… sound like your thing?

An idyllic Irish coastal town; a small, close-knit community; a cast of everyday people going about their fairly unremarkable, ordinary lives… it sounds too good to last – and it is. With the help of a buried Nazi secret and several thousand undead townsfolk, Gunn drags his cast to hell and makes them fight for their survival.
Trapped within a quarantine zone with the military on one side and hordes of flesh-eating ghouls on the other, escape is no longer an option. Just surviving is all that matters now…”