For the third in my series of Apocalypse Weird Q&As, I’m talking to Chris Pourteau, author of The Serenity Strain. I’ve read several of Chris’ books, including his Pennsylvania fan fiction, Gettysburg and Susquehanna and he’s an excellent writer. I’m really looking forward to reading The Serenity Strain. Hi Chris, welcome to the site. Tell us a little bit about your Apocalypse Weird book, The Serenity Strain. Well, it’s a contemporary dystopian horror novel set in Houston, Texas. Basically, three huge hurricanes hit the city, causing massive damage. Remember Hurricane Katrina and the chaotic breakdown of society in the weeks after? Ramp that up on steroids! Before the hurricanes hit, a university researcher who’s trying out a new gene therapy to help control impulsivity—the root of problems like ADHD, addictions, and some violent crime—is weeks into his Phase 1 trial with his test subjects. Nicknamed the Serenity Six (named after the virus that’s introducing the therapy to rewrite their genetic makeup), the test subjects are murderers, the worst of the worst. (The thinking is, if it can modify their behavior, Serenity can help millions of people.) The therapy starts to go wrong (of course! It’s the Apocalypse!) just as the storms wreak havoc across Houston, … Read More
Apocalypse Weird Q&A: Nick Cole
I remember very clearly when and where I first discovered Nick Cole’s writing. It was a Summer’s day a couple of years ago, and I was sitting in a park in Vancouver, looking for a book to read on my Kindle. I spotted Nick Cole’s The Old Man and the Wasteland and it sounded like a good way spend the afternoon. I was hooked right from the start, read it in one sitting and loved it. More recently, I read Soda Pop Soldier and just couldn’t put it down. Now, I’m reading his second Apocalypse Weird title – The Dark Knight, the sequel to The Red King, and it’s another great book. So, I was very pleased when Nick graciously agreed to answer a few questions about The Dark Knight and the Apocalypse Weird project Hi Nick, welcome to the site. Tell us a little bit about your latest Apocalypse Weird book, The Dark Knight. Basically it picks up where the Apocalypse Weird: The Red King left off. We find the survivors building a castle, and by that we mean fortifying their townhome condominium complex into a modern medieval structure! Holiday and Frank are struggling for control of the group and Ash rescues a special needs adults whose … Read More
Apocalypse Weird Q&A: Michael Bunker
Today is the big day for Apocalypse Weird with five new books hitting the shelves: Texocalypse Now by Michael Bunker and Nick Cole The Dark Knight by Nick Cole (the sequel to The Red King) Reversal by Jennifer Ellis The Serenity Strain by Chris Pourteau Immunity by E.E. Giorgi I posted my thoughts on the project on Saturday, but I thought I’d also try something new to commemorate the event. So, I’ve lined up a series of Q&As with the authors of the five launch titles, and I’ll be posting one each day this week. First up is Michael Bunker, co-author of Texocalypse Now. Hi Michael, welcome to the blog. What can you tell us about the premise of Texocalypse Now and the Digger series? The overall premise is that in a Central and West Texas gone Mad Max, the apocalypse has left a vast, mostly deserted swath of Texas a dangerous place to be. Some small towns survive… for awhile… boarded up and on the defense. Precious Metal Pirates, biker gangs, and hordes of feral humans made crazy for protein by a diet pill they relied on prior to the collapse, criss-cross the basin looking to murder, salvage, or just consume anything that is left. In … Read More
Apocalypse Weird Trailer
Today marks the big launch of Apocalypse Weird – the shared world project from Michael Bunker, Nick Cole, Rob McClellan, Tim Grahl and a whole host of great authors. To celebrate, they’ve launched a new trailer for the series. There’s also a Facebook launch event this afternoon (times are in PST) 2:00-3:00 PM: Chris Pourteau & Lesley Smith3:00-4:00 PM: Nick Cole & Forbes West4:00-5:00 PM: Hank Garner & Eric Tozzi5:00-6:00 PM: Kim Wells 6:00-7:00 PM: E. E. Giorgi & Kevin G. Summers7:00-8:00 PM: Michael Bunker & Stefan Bolz8:00-9:00 PM: Jennifer Ellis & Chris Pourteau You can read my thoughts on Apocalypse Weird and why I think it’s a game changer right here. And I’m doing something that I’ve never tried on this blog before – author Q&As. I’ve lined up a mini-interview with each of the Apocalypse Weird authors, starting with mighty Michael Bunker. Michael’s Q&A will go up later today, with the rest following over the course of this week. I hope you’ll drop by and take a look. Get a FREE copy of my short story, Only Friends by subscribing to my newsletter. [Apocalypse Weird Trailer by Philip Harris first appeared on Solitary Mindset on 23rd February 2015]
The Apocalypse is Coming and it’s Weird
Something interesting is happening next week. Or to be more precise, five interesting things are happening and they combine, like some literary Transformer, to create something very interesting – Apocalypse Weird is coming. Apocalypse Weird is a shared world project featuring a series of novels, each with their own post-apocalyptic scenarios – everything from diet pill zombies to giant squid to gojira. But there’s an underlying mythos that ties all of the books together. Over time, more and more will be revealed about the various players in the world of Apocalypse Weird until, eventually, the whole thing comes together in what will presumably be a cataclysmic finale of epic proportions. The first Apocalypse Weird book, The Red King by Nick Cole, was released in November of last year as a taster but the big launch is on Monday, 23rd February, when five more books hit the streets: Texocalypse Now by Michael Bunker and Nick Cole The Dark Knight by Nick Cole (the sequel to The Red King) Reversal by Jennifer Ellis The Serenity Strain by Chris Pourteau Immunity by E.E. Giorgi Each book is part of an ongoing series, and there are more titles coming beyond these initial five including books by some of the best indie and traditional writers out there … Read More