Tag Archives: zombies
Season Two hits in two weeks. Click the cover to go grab Season One.
Cover by Kit Foster of KitFosterDesign.com.
Leave a comment | tags: book launch, cover art, dystopian, ebook, Kit Foster, KitFosterDesign.com, post-apocalyptic, suspense, This Plague of Days, zombie, zombie apocalypse, zombies | posted in the book, the serial, This Plague of Days
After a great cover design conference with my graphic designer, Kit Foster of KitFosterDesign.com, I was inspired to tweak a passage from Season Two of This Plague of Days.
There’s a major shift in the story and I wanted to deliver the news in a clever way. In the earlier drafts, the shift was stated a bit too baldly and too “on the nose”. Fortunately, my editor and beta readers suggested I rethink the realization to come. The answer popped into my head this afternoon when I was conspiring with Kit about the cover. What follows is a small slice from a larger hunk of beef, but I was so happy with it, I wanted to share just a little taste of a sneak peek from This Plague of Days, Season Two:
Jaimie sat up. He awoke in the forest again. Though he’d come to this place many times, this was his first arrival at night. A cold, full moon cast shadows among white birch trunks. In stark beauty, the trees stood out in the darkness, glowing like columns of white marble.
He looked up. In sunlight, a boil of hawks always soared above the forest in slow funnels, circling, watching, waiting. Past the reaching trees, he saw nothing but indifferent stars and the infinite unknown of the chasms amongst their pale fires.
“What has changed?” he called out to the forest.
“Chiroptera.”
By the rules of the Nexus, that which is named becomes real, and so a cloud of shrieking bats crossed the lamp of the moon. Leathery wings beat the air as the colony shattered the moonlight into white strobes. The bats were so large, they cast chaotic shadows on the boy’s upturned face. Jaimie’s mirror eyes reflected scalpel claws and gleaming, tearing teeth.
~ If you aren’t on board already, check out Season One here. Season Two strikes at the end of the month. Buy This Plague of Days, Season 2 for $3.99 in the first week before it rises to $4.99. The story will be released as a series of five episodes at 99 cents each on October 9.
4 Comments | tags: autism, autistic hero, book, dystopian, ebooks, horror, horror serial, Plague of Days, post-apocalyptic, robert chazz chute, Season Two of This Plague of Days, serial, zombie, zombie apocalypse, zombies | posted in apocalyptic fiction, the book, the serial, This Plague of Days
His home town, Gas City, had been so named for its once plentiful reserves of natural gas. When that dried up, it was just another small town calling itself a city and on the way to ruin. When Sutr hit, it became a ghost town.
“Ghost town” was figurative, of course. Chris believed in math, not spirits. However, alone in his bed late at night, without lights or the comfort of other people, the floors creaked. The sounds that had terrified him as a little boy scared him anew.
“Water in the pipes,” his mother had told him of the far away hammering. “Just the house settling,” she said of the sound of footsteps on old floorboards at midnight. “Raccoons in the attic,” she said of the sounds of thick, scurrying feet.
Without lights, all the little boy fears returned to the man. Unseen, nocturnal animals trekked through Gas City. When Chris gazed out his windows at night, searching, shadows danced along the edges of his perception. Were those movements tricks of the eye? A cast of moon shadows? Something alive and hungry with a mouthful of jagged teeth?
Dead neighbors’ chimes trembled and sang disjointed songs of abandonment into a careless wind. In what his long-dead mother called “the witching hours”, it was easier to believe a little less in math. Alone at night in a dead town, ghosts were easier to believe in.
After a week of insomnia giving way to a couple of hours of restless sleep, Chris abandoned his house. He filled a backpack with a few necessities and moved into the Marion County Hospital. “No use wasting time and gas on the commute,” he told Deputy Hawkins. But it was the loneliness, the unidentified sounds and the ghost parade that chased him from the little house in Gas City. Working with the Deputy gave him food, water, purpose and people to talk to who weren’t blue and gray and dead.
Leave a comment | tags: book, ebooks, Gas City, Ghost, Ghost Town, horror, horror serials, paranormal, robert chazz chute, serial, suspense, This Plague of Days, zombie, zombies | posted in apocalyptic fiction, the book, the serial, This Plague of Days
I completed the original manuscript for This Plague of Days a few years ago. Every day I headed over to the local Starbucks and typed on a little pad called a Neo. (Yes, I’m aware of the Starbucks/writing cliché and, no, I don’t care.) I finished that iteration of the manuscript at around a quarter of a million words. It’s a sprawling story with a big cast. The Stand is one of my favorite books and I guess that shows through. However, I wasn’t content with publishing models as they existed at that time. Now, between ebook distribution and the benefits of serialization, I have a book that’s gaining traction. (Check out the great reviews here, for instance.)
What’s up next for Jaimie Spencer?
Season One had a lot of character development as we delved into Jaimie Spencer’s handicaps and his powers. Everyone loves Jaimie, but we haven’t seen all he can do yet. He’s a selective mute on the autism spectrum, so it’s always significant when he chooses to speak. In Season Two, it’s still significant, but under special circumstances, he’s going to be a bit more talkative. I love writing this character!
What’s up for Shiva?
Ah, the devil in the red dress has yet to deliver her baby and she’s finding some changes in her body that aren’t explainable by pregnancy. She and Jaimie meet for the first time.
Has the British invasion finally started?
Yes. The infected invade the United States on two fronts! I’m telling you there are big surprises coming. That warning won’t help you.
What about the survivors from London?
The Brit refugees, led by Dr. Craig Sinjin-Smythe, are getting some military assistance but they’re having trouble catching up with Shiva. New cast members are added and others are lost to a bad case of Zombie Surprise.
Who are the new characters?
There’s a small assortment of military personnel, an Irish policeman I like named Desmond Walsh and a busker/street preacher named Gus. Expect a touch of romance and meet a new villain to add to the mounting dangers to the Spencers. Also, a villain from Season One reappears.
How is Season Two going to be different from Season One?
Someone on my beta reader team noticed that the pacing in Season Two has amped up. We know these characters so now there’s lots of room for more high-stakes action with people we care about. The Latin phrases and fascination with words isn’t going away, but the fallout from Sutr-X and Sutr-Z is really hitting home now. Your home.
The expected publication date for Season Two of This Plague of Days is the end of September. If you’d like a heads up when it comes out, or chances to win prizes and see advanced reading copies, click here to go to my author site for details.
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The All That Chazz podcast returns next week!
9 Comments | tags: Autism spectrum, books, dystopian, fiction, Jaimie Spencer, plague apocalypse, Season Two of This Plague of Days, Shiva, This Plague of Days, writing, zombie, zombie apocalypse, zombies | posted in apocalyptic fiction
An excerpt from todays’ revisions of Season 2 of This Plague of Days.
Jack ordered her daughter to close her eyes, too.
“No, Mom.”
“Anna! I don’t want you to wake up screaming with nightmares tonight.”
“No,” Anna said. “I’ll look. Years from now, I’ll tell my children what I saw here.” She gazed at tangled horrors as the van bumped along over a sprawl of bodies. The uncaring Sutr Virus had not done this. People had done this to other people.
Many of those murdered had no eyes now, but their gaping jaws suggested anger, fear, pain and surprise. Anna saw torn flesh. White bones rose. Skeletons emerged from their hiding places.
“If I don’t look…” Anna said, “it’s not right. Someone has to bear witness. If I don’t look, it’s like saying this doesn’t matter or it means I won’t be around later to pass it on. Someday soon, the animals will finish eating and what will be left but me and my memory? Not looking is like…”
“Giving up,” Theo said. “Yes. Look, Anna! It’s a heavy load, but someone who can tell the story should carry the memory.”
Season 2 arrives this fall. You can get Season 1 now by clicking the cover. The revisions are going well, but I’m adding a lot of new material as well. Season 2 is packed with action.
3 Comments | tags: apocalypse, dystopian, excerpt, fiction, horror, Mackinac Bridge, robert chazz chute, Season 2, sneak peek, Sutr virus, This Plague of Days, zombie, zombies | posted in apocalyptic fiction, the book, the serial, This Plague of Days
As of 2:30 pm, here’s the Amazon ranking #23 in Dystopian and #29 Post-Apocalyptic!
UPDATE:
3:30 PM: #1 in Post-Apocalyptic and #2 in Dystopian!
Push it higher on Amazon’s main list with a happy click and get Episode One free now. You’re going to love it!
is free on Amazon until midnight tomorrow night.
Do you enjoy reading:
- a book that allows you to see the world in a new way?
- apocalyptic scenaria where the fate of God and humankind are debated?
- Latin phrases and wordplay?
- international thrillers with weird and scary terrorists?
- zombies unlike what you’ve come to expect?
- tension that crawls up your spine and into your brain?
- about a sweet, innocent autistic boy who rarely speaks but has hidden talents that might save the world?
If any of that appeals to you as a horror reader, click the cover below and get on board the braingasm train.
Still not sure you want that first crunchy, salty potato chip? Then get more details here.
The Zombie Apocalypse serial is here. Get 5 episodes at 99 cents each or the whole Season for $3.99. Season Two hits the world at the end of September.
~ Robert Chazz Chute is a novelist, podcaster and former newspaper and magazine journalist. This Plague of Days is his ninth book. See all his books here.
1 Comment | tags: 28 Days Later, amazon, Amazon ranking, Autism spectrum, beach read, book, dystopian, ebook, free days, free ebook, free ebook giveaway, giveaway, horror, List of Latin phrases, Plague of Days, robert chazz chute, summer reading, World War Z, zombie, zombie apocalypse, zombies | posted in apocalyptic fiction, the book, the serial, This Plague of Days, world flu pandemic
From tonight’s revisions of This Plague of Days, Season 2:
Dayo kept the girls quiet. She’d thought it would be an impossible task, but one look out the window had been enough for the girls to retreat to their pillow fort beneath the dining room table. Mostly, they slept. They slept not to rest more, but to escape the waking terrors. When they did not sleep, Aasa and Aastha held each other’s hands and whispered quietly.
It was Sinjin-Smythe who gave them away.
Prizes for friends and allies
Today, I had a little email meeting with my graphic designer, Kit Foster of KitFosterDesign.com. As we gear up for the launch of Season Two, we have many great things in the works: t-shirts, raffles and prizes aplenty. There will even be…wait for it…free ebooks for people who help promote the serial.
Are you a book blogger looking for a review copy of This Plague of Days?
Let me know at
expartepress [AT] gmail [DOT] com
Thanks for checking out This Plague of Days by Robert Chazz Chute.
Season One is huge.
Season Two is going to blow the back doors off your barn full of zombies.
2 Comments | tags: apocalypse, autism, autistic, chazz, dystopian, fiction, free ebooks, horror, paranormal, plague, publishing, This Plague of Days, zombie, zombies | posted in the book, the serial, This Plague of Days
From today’s revisions of TPOD, Season 2:
Jaimie contented himself watching auras. The people who had arrived by car or truck were obvious. Their feet didn’t hurt. Many were bent from back pain. He surmised that at one time the refugees had tried to carry much more weight. What had once been considered necessary was now a heavy trinket, abandoned by the side of the road and soon forgotten. The Apocalypse did not tolerate nostalgia and survival living in the same dark, cramped room. Jaimie saw everyone’s skull that way.
No matter what dangers lurked in their bodies, their crown chakras were always busy trying to sort out each individual’s place in the world before their inevitable exit. He felt sorry for them. Such struggle cried out for pity. If he could speak, he’d tell them the truth of their existence. He wanted to relieve them of their heavy burdens, but there were too many and their needs were too great.
1 Comment | tags: all that chazz, apocalypse, auras, autism, Autism spectrum, dystopian, free ebook, get a free ebook, horror, plague, robert chazz chute, suspense, synaesthesia, This Plague of Days, win a free ebook, zombie, zombies | posted in apocalyptic fiction, the book, the serial, This Plague of Days
Just 99 vents for each of five episodes or grab the discount and get all of Season One for $3.99.
NEW REVIEWS!
5.0 out of 5 stars A high-brow zombie serial Max Brooks could be proud of…, July 15, 2013
This review is from: This Plague of Days Season One (The Zombie Apocalypse Serial) (Kindle Edition)
I think this storyline is brilliant. It’s not your cliched, run-of-the-mill zombie apocalypse story. It’s character driven. It’s cerebral. It’s awesome. The first episode of This Plague of Days is the perfect balance of back story, anecdotes, and the events of the present crisis. Jaime, the main character, is fantastically written and surprisingly well thought out. His diagnosis on the Autism Spectrum (formerly known as Aspergers), combined with his synthesesia (seeing emotions as color-auras) is a fresh aspect to an otherwise well-known genre. Reading on, I admit I was nervous that the remaining episodes wouldn’t pack the same punch. I was wrong, they did.
Jaime is an infuriating character to withstand during such a terrifying predicament-which is why he’s awesome. You find yourself screaming at the page for him to speak up, to warn others to what he sees. And that’s when you realize just how invested in the characters you are. And his isn’t the only well-developed character. Chute often provides glimpses into the pasts of some of the others and it’s so well-written, you forget for a moment that the world is in turmoil…but just for a moment before you’re clobbered over the head again with suspense, tension, and terror.
In the end, all the immediate conflicts were resolved in a satisfying way, not rushed, not unrealistic. There’s plenty of ground to cover next season, and the last few lines will leave you guessing and impatiently waiting for Season Two of This Plague of Days.
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!, July 15, 2013
This review is from: This Plague of Days Season One (The Zombie Apocalypse Serial) (Kindle Edition)
This Plague of Days scares me to death! I just can’t put it down; I have to see what happens next. Bring on Season Two!
4 Comments | tags: 28 Days Later, Asperger syndrome, aspergers, autism, Autism spectrum, autistic spectrum, book, dystopian, Max Brooks, plague, robert chazz chute, This Plague of Days, thriller, World War Z, zombie, zombie apocalypse, zombies | posted in apocalyptic fiction, the book, the serial, This Plague of Days
Latest excerpt from revisions of Season 2:
Mrs. Bendham called from the back of the van. “The man who warned you the epidemic was coming — ”
“Uncle Cliff, Dad’s twin brother,” Anna said.
Jack glanced in her rear-view mirror. “Cliff told us to get ready when people were still laughing at those of us who took the pandemic seriously.”
“That’s nice. Though what kind of preparation can you do against the Sutr Virus except take your vitamins, live in an aquarium and hope for the best?” asked Mrs. Bendham.
“We were better off for longer because of my brother-in-law,” Jack answered.
“Until everything was taken away.” Anna said. Jack heard something new in her daughter’s voice. That wasn’t self-pity. Anna hated the old lady.
Good, Jack thought. Self-pity drains energy. Anger pays it out.
Mrs. Bendham seemed oblivious to Anna’s anger. “Where is he now? Do you think he got out of the way of it all?”
“I hope he’s waiting for us in Maine.”
Grab This Plague of Days, Season One here.
Get all the books by Robert Chazz Chute here
(I write crime, suspense, horror, non-fiction, general tomfoolery.)
Want to hear excerpts from my crime novel, Higher Than Jesus?
Check out the All That Chazz podcast here.
Overdosing on Chazz? Learn to love me. Hear my interviews with cool people on the Cool People Podcast.
2 Comments | tags: apocalypse, drama, fiction, horror, horror serial, ITunes, literature, Maine, paranormal, plague, Podcast, post-apocalypse, robert chazz chute, serial, This Plague of Days, writing, zombies | posted in apocalyptic fiction, the book, the serial, This Plague of Days
This Plague of Days 