I'll Be a Guest This Sunday on The Dorkening

This Sunday, 11 November, at 1000 AM EST I'll be interviewed live on The Dorkening podcast where we'll discuss writing and my novels, Rick Grimes' last episode and the future of The Walking Dead, and Overlord. You can catch us live on The Dorkening's Facebook page or on their YouTube feed. See you in the morning. 

An Open Letter to AMC and the Writers of The Walking Dead: Please Stop Taking Your Viewers for Granted

I never bad mouth writers in social media. It's not professional. If I don't like a story, or if I disagree with how the plot plays out or the characters behave, that is a matter of personal preference on the writer's part and should not be criticized by a colleague. I don't even give a bad review on Amazon unless the book is so grammatically unstructured and tedious to read that I feel the need to warn readers not to waste their time and money, and that has happened only twice. However, recently the writers on The Walking Dead have shown a dreadful sloppiness in their craft that I want to bitch about... er, I mean address.

Let me preface this by saying that I think The Walking Dead has some of the best writing on television. My favorite episode from a writing perspective was the mid-season finale for Season 2 ("Pretty Much Dead Already") when Shane, in  a show of bravado, opens up the barn on Hershel's farm to release the walkers and discovers that Sophia has been turned into one of the living dead. That scene is brilliantly crafted, with each character having a nuanced reason for his/her response. For example, Glenn looks to Maggie for permission to join in the killing of the barn walkers, showing that he is torn between his loyalty to his group and his love for Maggie, and Maggie grants that permission, indicating she is coming around to the hard reality of the world. It is one of the most emotional episodes from all six seasons. That brilliance has been slipping the past two years.

For me, the flawed writing began at the beginning of Season Five. When we last saw Rick at the end of Season Four, he and his people were trapped in a rail car at Terminus, and Rick issued the warning that the Termites were screwing with the wrong people. Season Five opens ("No Sanctuary") with Rick, Daryl, and Glenn (the baddest asses in the group), tied up and bent over a trough, about to Neganized for food. A good writer never makes a plot promise he can't keep. The only reason Rick and his group survived was because Carol showed up in the nick of time and had terminus look at the flowers.

Jump to the mid-season finale of Season Five ("Coda") and the death of Beth. There was nothing about the situation in the final moments of the episode that would logically lead to Beth's death. Beth was not a violent person and Dawn knew that, which was why Dawn still had her gun holstered when Beth approached. Beth's attack on Dawn, stabbing her in the shoulders with a pair of scissors, was entirely out of character. Beth would never have hurt anyone out of anger, and if she intended to kill Dawn, she knew to aim for the heart or the eyes. Rather than follow logic, the writers had Beth perform a random act of uncharacteristic violence, and suddenly Dawn 's weapon is miraculously unholstered and she reflexively shoots Beth in the head. Beth's death was poorly contrived by The Walking Dead's writers to create a highly-emotional "Holy Shit" moment to end the mid-season. They succeeded, but at the expense of good writing.

Which brings me to Season Six and the main point of my diatribe. I'm all for being creative as long as you keep the plot steady and strong, but this season the writers' attempts seem amateurish. They have allowed too many major plot flaws to seep into their scripts. If I or any other writer had done the same thing in our novels, we would be savaged on Amazon more brutally than Nicholas was by walkers, and rightfully so. Let me cite the three most glaring examples.

The I'm So Glad Everything Fell Into Place Perfectly Device. There was a lot to criticize in "Always Accountable" (S6E6), but I'm referring to the last three minutes after Dwight and Sherry steal Daryl's crossbow and motorcycle and abandon him in the woods. How fortunate for Daryl that he happened to stumble across a well-hidden gas truck that happened to be working, and that he drove his fortunate find to the nearby town where he happened to track down Abraham and Sasha on the first try (who earlier had happened to stumble across several rocket launchers), and now they're all driving back to an Alexandria invaded by walkers. Why do I have a feeling that the gas truck and rocket launchers will be critical to resolving the walker crisis in the latter half of season six?

The Build Your Own Plot Device. At the end of S6E3 ("Thank You"), Rick is trapped in a stalled RV after having gunned down members of the Wolves, and is surrounded by a horde of walkers. At the beginning of S6E5 ("Now"), Rick is running toward Alexandria with the same horde of walkers on his tail yelling for someone to open the gate. This is one of the most pivotal scenes in the plot line and an episode cliff hanger, and somehow The Waking Dead's writers left its resolution out of the script?

The Let's Break Up the Action for a Contemplative Moment Device. I admit that "Here's Not Here" (S6E4) is brilliant writing and beautifully tied together all of Morgan's loose plot points and fleshed out the character, and that this episode sets up the inevitable and awesome confrontation between Morgan and Carol. However, there was no justification for placing that episode in the middle of a multi-episode action sequence and interrupting the flow of the action when it could just as easily been placed after Rick's return to Alexandria. That's Writing 101.

Please don't get me wrong. It's easy to be a Monday morning quarterback (or, in my case, a  late Sunday night ghost writer). I'm critical of The Walking Dead writers because they are excellent at their craft and have produced some brilliant episodes in the past, and as such they should know better. These are the mistakes a first time writer would make.

What concerns me is that the lapses in writing are merely symptomatic of a much deeper criticism I have with the franchise as a whole. I've watched AMC turn The Walking Dead from a TV phenomenon and cult icon into a cash cow to be milked. In my opinion, AMC created Fear the Walking Dead in the hopes of doubling their profits/viewership, which would be acceptable if the show was of the same quality as The Walking Dead. I am not a fan of Fear the Walking Dead. I think the plot is tedious, the story line drags, and the characters are unlikable. If it was an indie film I had downloaded from Netflix, I never would have sat through it as long as I did. I also think the franchise is taking gross advantage of the fans through the Walker Stalker Conventions. Some of the prices they charge to meet the actors are outrageous. In Atlanta earlier this year, the convention was charging $250 for a photograph with the original TWD cast. At Spooky Empire in Orlando, some of the actors signing autographs were charging $25 for a selfie. What I'm afraid of is that the merchandising of The Walking Dead is taking priority over producing a consistently high quality show.

I really do hope I'm wrong and that these lapses are merely the writers being overworked (how many writers, including myself, have gone back and read one of our own books, and wondered what the Hell we were thinking putting that scene in there). In either case, I urge AMC and The Walking Dead to stop taking the fans for granted. You'll wind up butchering your cash cow, and the fans will wind up losing something very dear to us.

Upcoming Convention, Radio Appearances

Following the release of Yeitso, and the upcoming releases of The Vampire Hunters: Vampyrnomicon and "From Space It Came", I'll be attending several conventions in Georgia and Florida where I'll be signing copies of my new books as well as my previous works. The schedule of events is below:


Walker Stalker Convention at the Americasmart Building 2 in Atlanta, Georgia, 17-19 October 2014. The guest list includes numerous cast members (past and present) from The Walking Dead, Howard "Bub" Sherman from the original Day of the Dead, and more.

Spooky Empire at the Doubletree Universal Hotel in Orlando, Florida, 24-26 October 2014. The emphasis this October is on horror writers, and several dozen will be attending. Other celebrity guests include The Walking Dead alumni Michael Rooker, Lew Temple, and "The Kids of The Walking Dead"; Tara Reid of Sharknado 2 fame; and Terry Moore from the original Mighty Joe Young.


Winter Garden Wonderfest at the Bella Room Banquet Hall in Winter Garden, Florida, 30 November 2014. Hosted by Florida Geek Scene, this event be showcasing many of Florida's comic and media talent in the fantasy realm.


I'll also be making a few more guest appearances on Apocalypse Nana Radio with Jackie Druga, that is, unless I wear out my welcome. Jackie will be hosting me on on Thursday, 25 September for the "Zombie Daze" show, and again on Thursday, 23 October for the "Apocalypse Living" show.

Interesting Posts from Other Websites

For those of us who know how time consuming writing actually is, and how you are never truly "not working," you have to read Mary Novaria's My Friends Don't Think I Work Because I'm a Writer. Mary said it better than I ever could have.

Also for my fellow writers, some very sound advice from Chris Orcutt. While the title sounds abrasive--To All So-Called Authors: Stop Doing This; You Look Like Idiots--Chris is spot on in applying the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle to your writing.

During San Diego ComicCon this week, AMC released the official trailer for the fifth season of The Walking Dead. It looks like the season is going to be more kick-ass than ever. And it seems as though there will be an interesting turn of events at Terminus.

Anyone who follows my blog or Facebook page knows I'm a huge fan of Dawn of the Dead (2004), so naturally I was excited to see 12 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About Dawn of the Dead. And yes, some of these facts were new to me.

Interesting Posts From Other Websites

Novelist and screenwriter Chuck Wendig published on Terrible Minds his 25 Things You Should Know About Writing Horror. This is a must read for any horror writer, whether you're aspiring to the craft or have several works under your belt.

BuzzFeed ran an article titled 13 Places Every Horror Story Lover Needs To Visit Before They Die. I've only seen one of them--the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California. I would love to see the Door to Hell and the Torture Museum.

Noted zombie writer Kirk Allmond discusses The Ultimate Zombie Survival Tool. You might be surprised at some of the most effective weapons everyone has available to make it through the zompoc.

For those who have heard rumors about a spin-off to The Walking Dead, Dustin Rowles of UPROXX provides the lowdown from AMC, Robert Kirkman, and others here.

I'll Be Attending Walker Stalker Con in Atlanta 17-19 October

It's official. I have a vendor table at the Walker Stalker Convention being held in Atlanta, Georgia from 17-19 October 2014. The guest list is extensive, including forty past and present cast members from The Walking Dead plus many more. I'm really excited about this, and hope to see some of my old fans there and make new ones.

More Interesting Posts from Other Websites

My apologies in advance, but I'm a huge Godzilla geek, so with the release date of the new movie rapidly approaching, you will probably see more than a fair share of Godzilla postings the next few weeks.

More and more it looks like the big guy is on humanity's side and is going to be squaring off against a Rodan-like kaiju as well as a new creature called the Muto Monster. Check out this trailer and this trailer for the latest updates on the movie. And this weekend, Bloody Disgusting posted this clip showing Godzilla's first appearance (yet another reason to hate bridges). .

From the "Can They Really Be That Stupid File,"check out this excerpt from an interview with Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead, on why NBC did not get the rights to transer his graphic novel onto the small screen.