David Monette's Blog

For those of you who don't know, I’m the author and illustrator for the “ In the Time of the Dead Trilogy. ” What holding these titles means is that I not only had the chance to write the books, but I was also able to do the covers and the interior artwork for them. For someone like me, a person who has always loved everything about books, it was kind of a dream come true. So what I’m going to show you now is the three different styles I used to do the interior work that is sprinkled through each of the books. We’ll start with the first book in the series, "The Zombie Axiom."


For all the books, I completed the illustrations digitally, using Photoshop. But as you can see in this book, I tried doing a bit of a pen and ink, crosshatching technique, where the darker values are built up with lines drawn upon lines. Like this: 
 
And this:


Now, I really like working with this technique, and I was very satisfied with the finished pieces. However, for the next book I was interested in a look that wasn’t so hard-edged. I wanted something a bit more rough and dirty-feeling. This brings me to the images in the second book in the series,   “The Warring Dead.”

Here, I discarded the pen and ink style and used a pencil technique for the shading as shown in the image below:

And this: 
  Again, I was really happy with the outcome. I had cool, rough and ready finished illustrations that were just gritty enough for the subject matter. The only problem was that they took forever to finish.

Naturally, then, this brings me to the final book in the series,   “The Eternal Undead.”

 
In this book, you’ll find images that were done with an airbrush technique. They are a lot darker, with more heavy areas of black. Like this: 

          And this:

This technique was a lot of fun. I really liked the brooding quality many of the images have, and I felt they were the perfect complement to the ending of a series. Well, make that the perfect complement to the ending of thisseries. You’ll have to read it to find out why!

7 Stock Characters to Keep Around DuringTHE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSEby David Monette
            What seven stock characters would you keep around you in order to survive a zombie apocalypse? Now that is an interesting question. As the author of the zombie trilogy, In the Time of the Dead, I’ve had to answer a ton of zombie-related questions, and I can truly say that I’ve never had such a query put to me.             Thanks, Galleywampus scribes, for your originality!            So… my first thought when I read both the question and then the list of examples I was shown was: how can I pick from this massive assortment of characters? I mean, there was everything from the Reluctant Hero (a person who doesn't seek adventure or the opportunity to do good, and often doubts his or her abilities to rise to heroism. However, circumstances result in the character's becoming a true hero) to the Girl Next Door (an average girl with wholesome conduct). Then I thought, “Wait a minute. Go through this slowly, look at it seriously. Who out of that list would you want around you if something like a zombie apocalypse were to occur?”             With that in mind, I looked through the list again. And here is what I found…            1.- The first one I would choose would be the Absent-Minded Professor character (a scientific genius). The reason I would choose such an individual would be because I think it’s smart to have really smart people around me, even absent-minded ones, and even in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, and especially when no one else can think of a way to make that flamethrower you really, really need. 2.- Keeping that in mind, I then thought, “Yeah, I’m going to need another smart guy around to keep a lid on the absent-mindedness of that first guy.” So that is why my next choice was a regular Professor, a “non-scientific genius” person, a doctor who is pretty smart and can remember that the flame thrower doesn’t need to be strapped to the user with a complicated array of belts and harnesses that serve no purpose other than look impressive, and who can also do something useful like slap a splint on my broken arm. 3.- Now, having a couple of pretty smart guys around me is great, but I’m really going to need someone, maybe a lot of someone’s, who can really kick butt. That leads me to my next four selections, starting with the Action Hero (a film hero protagonist with unrealistic resistance and fighting capabilities). Because who can’t use a guy like that to carry the flamethrower into battle with the zombies? 4.- That selection would be followed closely by a Conanesque character (a character inspired by Conan the Barbarian) and…5.- the Super Soldier! (a soldier who operates beyond human limits or abilities) both of whom would, you know, charge into the fight at the side or in front of the Action Hero, doing action hero-ey type things… wait… aren’t those the same thing? Doesn’t matter. I choose all of them.6.- And next, just to keep them in line, I would choose the Elderly Martial Arts Master who would look upon my broken arm with pity and hang back to protect me while the two fighter types charge in with the flamethrower and assorted blades and/or guns. 7.- Finally, I would chose the Hardboiled Detective (a gruff, tough and streetwise detective) because he would know the best place to hole-up and rest after we burnt through that nasty mess of zombies so that my poor arm could heal. What an awesome crew, huh? The only thing to figure out would be why the heck such an impressive array of characters would want a bloke like me around, what with my broken arm and all. Oh, yeah! They’d need someone around to witness their antics and tell the story! Whew.That was fun! If you want to pick your own 7 Stock Characters, head to this list:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stock_characters It’s where I got the titles and the descriptions for mine. Enjoy!

In case you haven't caught this before, here is my Top 10 Zombie movies:
Movies and zombies. The two in my mind have gone hand in hand since I was a teenager. My friends and I would watch them, dissect them, turn them every which way as we debated their merits and explored the feasibility of the agency the filmmakers used to begin the zombie apocalypse. And now, after I’ve written my first zombie trilogy, “In the Time of the Dead,” the question of which movies are my favorites comes up with a startling regularity. So to satisfy the curious, I’ve decided to provide a list of my top ten, ranked from my least favorite to my most favorite. And for good measure, since I am not a serious movie reviewer, I’ve thrown in some memorable moments that I recall when I saw some of them. They are… drum roll please…
10- Planet Terror I first watched this movie with my wife on our Friday “movie night.” We walked to the movie rental store downtown, picked up the flick and gave it a view. From what I recall, she was reluctant to rent it, and not impressed when it was done. I, on the other hand, enjoyed its headlong dive into the genre. Directed by Robert Rodriquez, it is by far one of the least serious, action packed, engagingly over the top zombie movie on the list. But it was so over the top, it was fun. 
 9- Dead Snow Dead Snow. The night I watched this with my buddy, Kevin, my dog threw up all over the living room rug. Unfortunately, that’s the thing I first think of when this film comes to mind. That, however, has nothing to do with how much I liked the movie! It was pretty decent from what I recall. There were some tongue in cheek references to other horror flicks, plenty of blood, a chainsaw, and Nazi zombies! How could that not make for an enjoyable night (aside from cleaning up dog vomit, that is)? 
8- Day of the Dead Just watched this again last month! I think the last time I had seen it was when I was a teenager in college. Ah… college… Ahem. Anyway, this movie is so good. Captain Rhodes, that nutty whack-job, is my favorite. In each scene he was in, I found myself waiting for his reaction to whatever was going on. But the whole movie was cool; an underground bunker, running around in caves full of zombies, gunning them down- what more could you want from a zombie flick from the 80’s?  
7- Zombieland Okay, for the next four movie choices it gets to be rather difficult for me to put them into a numbered list because I like all of them fairly equally. Take Zombieland, is it better than Shaun of the Dead? That’s a tough call. I mean, Zombieland has got Bill-frickin-Murray in it! I remember watching this movie at night, lights off in the living room, and being totally sucked into the idea of Woody Harrelson craving Twinkies. Awesome.    6- World War Z So, I know I’m gonna catch it for having World War Z all the way at number six. I can’t help it though, I just like the others so much more. I went to see this flick with my wife and a few friends (one of only two of these films that I saw in the theater! Weird but true) and a good time was had by all! Especially afterward, you know; when the quaffing of various strong beverages occurs along with a spirited discussion of the movie- which is actually one of my favorite things to do. I should go see more movies in the theater. Seriously, though, this was a decent film. The first fifteen minutes is epic! 
5- Shaun of the Dead Right up front- this is one of my favorite spoof films of all time. Maybe that’s because I don’t watch many, or maybe it’s because I enjoy zombie films and bars and think that putting the two together is classic. I don’t know. Either way, this movie is a ton of laughs and is very entertaining. The “Kill Phil” conversation is one of the most hilarious discussions in a zombie film ever. If you can’t recall it, watch it again, you’ll see what I mean.     4- 28 Days Later Once I got past the idea that the zombies in this film were not actually dead, but just sick people, I had a great time! I think knowing that they were sick people was actually better than trying to figure out the logistics of how a virus could be capable of animating dead flesh and make it walk around. Seriously, that is what I do, I think about things like that even when I’m watching a movie. It is annoying to my wife. That being said, I loved the commitment to the cause of the apocalypse. One drop, just one drop of blood or saliva, and wham! You’re one of the horde with only 28 days to “live” before starvation kills you off. If you’re going to do a virus-caused zombie apocalypse, that is the way to go! 
3- Dawn of the Dead (1978) We’re at the top three! As you may have guessed, George Romero films make up the majority of these- that means two of the three, in case you are as bad at math as I am. This one is a classic, of course. It is the sequel to Night of the Living Dead, and I’m pretty sure I watched it with my friend, Kevin, (yes, the same guy who watched Dead Snow with me and laughed as I cleaned up dog vomit) when we were in high school. I think we were at his house. No, I know we were at his house. The movie is R rated, and since my parents didn’t let me watch R rated movies until I was seventeen, I would head to Kevin’s house and we would watch R rated movies all day without telling them. The typical rebellious teenager. As I recall, I was totally sucked into this film. I’ll never forget the purge of the mall by the survivors, the rampaging biker scenes, and the “shopping” zombies. All great stuff.   
2- Dawn of the Dead (2004) Remember when I wrote that I’d catch flack for putting World War Z at number six? I will probably catch just as much for putting the remake of Dawn of the Dead before the original. I don’t care, fire the canons! This is my list, right? My reasoning behind this is purely mood. I think they are both excellent zombie films, the difference is that the remake turned me on to the idea of fast-moving zombies. I know, I know, 28 Days Later did it first, but as I wrote earlier, those critters seemed more like sick people and not true undead. Dawn of the Dead (2004) turned that on its head. It creeped me out! And I wasn’t the only one. I went to see this in the theater with a few friends and I distinctly remember the guy in front of me squealing and saying, “Get out! Get outta there!”    1- Night of the Living Dead Here we are! Number one! There is no possible way that this zombie film couldn’t be number one. It’s the first zombie movie I saw and it made a lasting impression- black and white images scrolling along, telling their story of stumbling undead terrorizing survivors in a remote farmhouse, the room I was sitting in made drowsy by afternoon sunlight, an armchair that smelled of cigars, and years and years ahead of me to watch zombie movies. When the movie was done, I was hooked.
And that’s it! Thanks for sticking it out till the end. I hope you had as much fun reading this as I had writing it.

That's right! 
I'll start sending copies of THE ZOMBIE AXIOM, Book I of the In the Time of the Dead Trilogy, to all 10 of the winners today.

As you can see from the image below, it has the original cover. That means it's a limited edition win! And, of course, it will be signed.

 Here's the link:
The Zombie Axiom Giveaway on Goodreads  

That's right! 
If you want a chance to win THE ZOMBIE AXIOM, Book I of the In the Time of the Dead Trilogy, head to Goodreads and signup for the giveaway going on there.

As you can see from the image below, it has the original cover. That means it's a limited edition win! And, of course, it will be signed.

 Here's the link:
The Zombie Axiom Giveaway on Goodreads  

                Good question. Why are they so popular? You would think that as a guy who has invested the time into writing a trilogy based on zombies, I would have a response waiting to fall from the tip of my tongue. The truth is; I kind of didn’t when I started putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard, as the case may be). But as time went on, I was asked this question more and more and I’ve finally been dragged, kicking and screaming, into thinking it over. So here it is. It should be interesting… or at least moderately amusing.                  To start with, I think there are two things involved in the modern concept of zombies that makes them so popular in our society. The first is the idea of zombies themselves, and the ancient human motivator that these monsters have always embodied since someone first dreamed them up: our fear of the unknown- which in this case, boils down to our fear of death. This fear is the driving force behind so many things in our lives that we hardly recognize its existence until we actually sit down, take stock, and be brutally honest about our motivations for doing the things we do. In the case of zombies, though, it’s pretty easy to see. They’re dead, they’ve been somehow brought back to some sort of pseudo-life, and they shamble around trying to kill living people. They’ve got everything needed to scare the crap out of us: Death- oh no! Corpses- Gross! And death- oh no! Trying to kill me- Run away! Death- oh no!Death, death, death.All of this “death” stuff is very scary for us human creatures who are so instinctively concerned with life and living. The idea, the fear titillates us. And we love to be titillated.                 The second element to the popularity of zombies comes in the form of our fascination with the apocalypse that generally accompanies their presence. Now, let’s be fair, this fascination with the apocalypse has always been present in human societies to some degree (think Ragnarok in Norse mythology, the floods in Greek, Christian, Sumerian, etc… myth stories). Our modern experience with it is therefore nothing special, but where does it come from? Well, the answer to that is based on- you guessed it- our fear of death! All of these stories, from floods to earthquakes, to a bunch of giants coming down to smash us into bloody pulps, are ways for us to categorize, make predictable, the idea of death, of our mortality, so that we’ll feel better about the whole scary business of not having coffee or beer anymore.
                Now, if you take zombies (Death- oh no!) and the apocalypse (Death in large numbers- oh no!) and combine them, why, you get a perfect storm of fear and anxiety. But never fear. These are stories. And we are all living a story, the story of our lives. In that story, we all have a main character, the person who looks back at us in the mirror. And the main character in stories usually survives any crazy scenario nature or bad screenwriters can throw at them. So, that person in the mirror will survive! Right? That one person is the hero, they’ll be the one to live while everyone else gets swarmed by- insert your apocalyptic event. That’s how we picture it, isn’t it? And there’s nothing wrong with that. It helps us get through the day and gives us something to think about while we’re on the bus to work, or while we’re at work snapping circuits together or flipping burgers or… whatever. So go ahead zombie apocalypse, give it your worst. I’m not afraid. 

Book III, THE ETERNAL UNDEAD , is Here!

You can click on the link below or on the sidebar to the right to snag one!The Eternal Undead on Amazon
That's not all, either. The Blog Tour for the book also starts today! The first stop is a spotlight where you'll find an excerpt from the book, a giveaway, and other stuff. Here's the link: T's Stuff 
Check it out!

That's right! 
The blog tour for THE ETERNAL UNDEAD starts on October 1 ! 


Don't miss it! There'll be a bunch of guest blogs and interviews... Should be fun!

Here it is! The cover for my next book, The Eternal Undead!


They thought they had escaped.
The battle for Washington DC is behind them, and the last remnants of the human race have fled from their undead enemies to a remote Caribbean island where they try to salvage what is left of humanity. But even here, the zombies have come. Led by the architect of the holocaust, an invading army wreaks havoc trying to acquire the one thing that can stop them, and the one thing a small contingent of soldiers knows they must never get.  
Join with Sasha, Terrance, Virgil, and the little girl, Max, in an all or nothing gamble as they fight down the road to either salvation or horrible defeat in the thrilling conclusion of this series.
And if you want to pre-order, you can head to Amazon! The Eternal Undead on Amazon  

That's right! 
The cover reveal for THE ETERNAL UNDEAD, the final book in the "In the Time of the Dead Trilogy," will be on the 28th of September. So head back here then and see what the new cover will be. 

In the meantime, here is the final illustration from the book that I'll be posting before the book hits the shelves on October 1. 

Enjoy!