The Ambulance Ride from Hell part 6

Author’s note: This is a short story excerpt set in the Zombie Apocalypse Call Center Universe. Each week I’ll write another part of the story on here. If you enjoy, check out the Zombie Apocalypse Call Center series and my free story, The Zombie Apocalypse Convenience Store

You can read part 1 , part 2, part 3, part 4 and part 5 of the story here.

The man shrieks and tries to get Dan off of him, but Dan keeps him pinned down and bites him a couple more times.

“Ambulance 2901 what is going on?” the dispatcher impatiently asks.

“I found my partner and he is for certain infected. He’s just bitten a citizen and I believe the infection is passed that way. I’m going to try and restrain my partner and find the original patient, as well as get the new one to the hospital. I could use some help out here.”

“Negative ambulance 2901. We’re getting overwhelmed with calls. Get those people back here, so we can get you out there to other spots.”

Shit, what is going on? I go to open the driver side down door, when suddenly I’m grabbed from behind.

“Unnnggrrryyy,” Jenny moans at me.

She tries to pull me back at her, so she can bite me, but I lunge for the door and open it, tumbling out of her grip to the ground.

Dan looks up from his victim and growls at me. He’s become a total animal. I don’t recognize anything about him anymore.

“Unnngrrry!” Jenny shrieks.

I scramble away from the ambulance. What am I going to do? If she or Dan bites me I’ll get infected and end up like them. I don’t want that.

Jenny surges out of the ambulance and stalks toward me. Dan gets up from his victim and joins her, the two of them hunting me like I’m in Jurassic Park.

The people in the cars around me are locking their doors and trying to drive away from the scene before they get attacked. There’s no one who’s going to be a hero today. Dan shrieks at the moving cars and turns away to run after one, but Jenny isn’t distracted. She sees her next meal right in front of her.

I push myself up so I’m standing and right then Jenny runs at me. I wait for her and when she gets close, I kick her in the belly. She grunts, but then comes at me again. A normal person would be wheezing from where I hit her, but that kick only got her to pause.

She grabs one of my arms and pulls it toward her, I let her pull me, and then loosen my arm muscles and slip my arm out of her grip, while bringing my elbow from my other arm around to smack her on her shoulder. She spits some mucus in response, which I manage to dance away from. At this point I’m assuming any fluid she ejects is going to potentially infect me with whatever she’s got.

I’ve got to restrain her somehow, but I don’t know if I can. The sedatives didn’t work that well. It’s like her adrenaline is supercharged. If I can’t find a way to restrain I’m either going to have to run for it, or take her down. It’s not what I want to do, but I’ve got to do something.

Jenny rushes at me again and tries to grab me. There’s no strategy to her attack. She’s just trying to bite me. I duck out of her way and look around. There’s nothing nearby I can use to restrain her. She’s going to keep coming at me and at some point she’s going to wear me down and then bite me, unless I do stop her now.

Jenny whips around and runs at me and this time, when she comes close, I avoid her grasping hands, and I punch her in the throat, as hard as I can. Her eyes widen with and pain and she sinks to her knees, clutching at her throat and gasping for breath. I feel a surge of shame at what I’ve done. I’m supposed to preserve life, not destroy it, but here I am standing over the gasping, dying infected person.

She weakly tries to grab me, but I easily evade and watch as she sputters and gasps. After a few moments she stops moving. I gingerly step toward her and nudge her with my foot, but there’s no response. I shudder for a moment and then grab myself. I don’t have time to breakdown. I’ve got stop Dan and check on the man he bit.

I step away from Jenny’s corpse and go to check on the man. He’s still on the ground, motionless and I see why. Dan ripped his throat with his teeth. I don’t know whether to feel horrified or relieved that the man is dead. At least he’s not infected, but he’s dead and there’s nothing I can do for him.

I look around for Dan and find him on top of car, smashing his way through the front glass to try and reach a terrified family. They can’t move their car, because it’s wedged between the other cars and we’ve now got a huge accident, because people panicked and drove through the intersection and slammed into each other, and the original accident while trying to escape Dan.

“Dan, what the fuck are you doing?” I yell.

I don’t expect my yell to stop him, but he hears me and immediately bounds off the car toward me. His face and hands are bloody and he looks deranged, his hair going all over the place.

“Huuunnggggrrry!”

“Yeah I get that, but you’ve already had your human snack for the day. It’s time to stop. If there’s any part of you that recognizes me, you’ve got to stop so I can get you help,” I plead.

For a moment, Dan pauses and just looks at me. Is there some part of him still in there?

Then his eyes narrow and whatever was there is gone. All that’s left is an infected cannibal that wants to eat me alive. Dan shrieks and rushes at me. I stand my ground, trying to keep calm, but knowing if I get bit I’ll either be dead or turn into something like him.

His hands grab at me. I manage to grab his right hand in my left hand, but his left hand grabs my hair and yanks hard. I gasp in surprise and pain and then punch him hard in the belly. The punch doesn’t phase him. I try to pull away from him and feel my hair ripped from head. I cry out in pain and Dan lunges at me again, trying to pull me toward him for that fatal embrace.

I fall backwards to the ground and pull Dan toward me, and then use my legs to launch him up and over my body. I then bring my legs back and do a quick flip so I’m back on my feet. I quickly turn around and see him getting up from the ground. I touch my head where it aches and I don’t feel as much hair.

“Bitch, you’re going down,” I mutter.

I run toward Dan, who comes at me with arms flailing. I duck under his arms and sweep kick him, which causes me to fall flat on his face. I quickly pivot and him to ground with my knee on the middle of his back. He tries to push up, but my weight keeps him down.

“I’m sorry partner for what I’m about to do,” I say.

I chop my hand on the back of his neck, once, twice, and then three times, until I hear the crack of his vertebrae. Dan suddenly stops moving, except for his head. I’ve paralyzed him and now I can take him to the hospital.

I get up off of Dan and wearily walk over to the ambulance. I pull out the stretcher and wheel it toward him.

“I hated paralyzing you, but it was that or kill you,” I pant. “We got to figure out what’s going on and Jenny and the man you bit are dead, so I guess you’re it. And I hope if there’s a cure, you’ll forgive me, but it was either me or you, partner.”

“Hunnnggrrrry,” Dan moans.

I flip him around and get him on the stretcher and restrain him just in case. He can still bite and the last thing I want is to become like him. I wheel him back to the ambulance and up the ramp and then I haul myself into the driver side door. For a moment, I debate getting Jenny and the man and putting them in the ambulance, but they’re both dead now.

“Ambulance 2901 to dispatch. I need to you send out a biohazard team to the intersection of Watley and Fourth. Over,” I say into the com.

“Ambulance 2901 get back here immediately. We need you and your partner on the ground,” The dispatcher tersely says.

“Coming in dispatch, but please make sure to call in a biohazard team. There are two dead infected people here and we need to contain this situation.”

“Understood. We’ll send a team out immediately Get back here, quick. There’s more hot spots happening. We may be experiencing a pandemic.”

“Excuse me. What did you say dispatch?” I ask incredulously.

“We may have a pandemic and we need you and your partner. Get back here ASAP!”

“Will do, over.” I say.

I put the ambulance into drive and then navigate around the other vehicles. I hope this isn’t the beginning of a pandemic, but if it is I’ll do my part to help contain it.

The Ambulance Ride from Hell Part 5

Picture used with permission

“Dan, I don’t know what’s going on with you, but you’re not taking a bite out of me,” I tell him with an even tone.

He looks at me for a moment and then shakes his head and says, “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I feel so hungry,”

“I know buddy. We’re almost there. Just hang tight,” I say.

I’m getting really worried. Dan’s clearly infected by what Jenny’s got. He’s getting worse and worse. How long will it be before he loses complete control?

“Shit,” I swear as I hit the brakes. We’ve just hit a traffic jam. There’s been an accident, with three cars piled into each other, and even though I have my sirens on, nobody is trying to pull to the side, like they normally would.

“Whaatt’s goinnng on?” Dan asks. Jenny shrieks.

“Uhh, hang tight Dan. I’ll be right back,” I distractedly say.

I put the ambulance in park and hop out the driver’s side door. I walk down to the next car and knock on the window. The man gives me an irritated look, but sees my uniform and rolls his window down.

“What do you want?” He defensively asks.

“I want to know why you aren’t moving to the side of the road for me, giving that my siren’s sounding,” I tartly reply.

The man sighs and says, “I can hear the damn siren. But the gridlock here isn’t making it easy lady, so cool that siren down and just wait like the rest of us.”

“Sir, you are aware that obstructing an ambulance is a crime, correct?” I ask.

“Yeah, but I can’t do anything about the rest of the people.”

“Just pull your car to the side of the road. I have people in critical condition.”

The man gives me a cross look and turns the ignition on in his car and then pulls his car to the side of the rad. The people after him see what he’s doing and start pulling their cars to the side. I shake my head and then head back to the ambulance. I open the driver side door and haul myself into the driver’s seat. I look into the back of the ambulance. Dan and Jenny are both gone.

“Shit,” I say.

I grab the com and push the button.

“Dispatch, this is ambulance 2901. We have a situation,” I say.

“Report,” The dispatcher barks back.

“Dispatch, I was transporting an infected patient and my partner who got bitten by said patient. I got stopped at a traffic jam and started directing traffic to get out of the way. When I came back to my ambulance, both the infected patient and my partner are gone.”

“Ambulance 2901, was this the zombie call we sent you on?”

I hear a tapping on the driver door. I look out and see the man I was talking with earlier. He looks annoyed and holds up his wrist and points to it.

“Uh, correct dispatch,” I say.

“They’re probably pulling one on you. That whole situation seems like a hoax.”

Tap, tap, tap.

I wave the man away.

“Negative dispatch, this is not a hoax. I repeat this is not a hoax. The patient was infected with something and she infected my partner.”

Tap, tap, tap.

I roll down the window.

“What?” I tersely ask.

“You made me move my car, but you’re not driving. Get a move on.”

“I’m busy reporting on a situation to my dispatch. Now go back to your car.”

“No! I’m not going back to my car until you turn that damn siren off and apologize for making me move my car. And I want your badge number, so I can report you.”

“Sir, I have an emergency situation with two infected patients who are no longer in this ambulance and could be infecting other people because I had to get out of the ambulance and ask you to move your car. The only one doing any reporting here is me. Now shut up, get back in your damn car and sit tight.”

The man looks taken aback and then shuts his mouth. He starts to walk back to his car, when Dan tackles him from behind and then bites him on the arm.

Author’s note: This is a short story excerpt set in the Zombie Apocalypse Call Center Universe. Each week I’ll write another part of the story on here. If you enjoy, check out the Zombie Apocalypse Call Center series and my free story, The Zombie Apocalypse Convenience Store

You can read part 1 , part 2, part 3, and part 4 of of the story here.

The Ambulance Ride from Hell part 4

We get Jenny to the ambulance and she starts shrieking. I wince at her loud cries and look around. There are people coming out of their homes, looking at us with a combination of concern and what the fuck.

“Leet’s get her in to the ambulance and then I need to eaat,” Dan says.

I look at him, worried. He’s sweating like a pig and I can see some mucus coming from his nose.

I hurriedly open the door to the ambulance and get the ramp down. Dan gets behind the stretcher and pushes it up the ramp.

“Shouldn’t we be doing that together?” I ask.

“I jussst wannnt to get out of heeree.”

“I think we need to get you looked at partner. I’ll drive.”

Dan just nods and sits down beside Jenny, who’s still shrieking her head off.

“Can you give her another sedative?” I ask.

“Suurre.”

I secure the ramp and close the back door. I’m walking to the driver side door of the ambulance when a middle aged white woman accosts.

“What’s going on? What are you doing with Jenny?”

“I’m taking her to hospital, Ma’am. Now I need to go. This is an emergency.”

“What happened to her?”

“That’s none of your business, Ma’am. Now I need to leave.”

I open to the door to the ambulance and get in and shut the door on her.

“Fucking bitch,” I mutter to myself. Entitled white women like her think it’s their prerogative to interrogate me no matter what I’m doing, because of the color of my skin. I switch on the ambulance siren and then look over my shoulder at Dan, who’s quietly rocking back and forth. Jenny is still shrieking.

“Did you give her a sedative, partner?”

“Yuhhh,”

“Ok. Well, let’s get you both looked at.”

I start the ambulance and do a three point turn so I can get back to the main road. The people have cleared off the street and watch as we leave. I turn right on the main road and put the pedal to the metal.

“Can we stop somewhere to get something to eat?” Dan asks. “I’m sooo hungry.”

“Buddy, we’ll get you hooked up with food when we get to the hospital. It’ll be hospital food, but you can pig out to your heart’s content. I gotta get you both back there.”

“I can’t waaiiiittt. I’m so unnnggrrrry.”

Dan abruptly leans down and bites Jenny, who shrieks in surprise and pain.

“What the fuck, Dan? What are you doing?”

Dan leans back up and makes a face and spits out the flesh he just bit.

“She tastes weird. Wonder what you taste like,” he says and eyes me like I’m a prize steak.

Author’s note: This is a short story excerpt set in the Zombie Apocalypse Call Center Universe. Each week I’ll write another part of the story on here. If you enjoy, check out the Zombie Apocalypse Call Center series and my free story, The Zombie Apocalypse Convenience Store

You can read part 1 and part 2 and part 3 of of this story here.

The Moral Dilemma of Zombies

I discuss the moral dilemma of zombies and what happens when you have a character confront that dilemma face on in their own struggle to survive.

Get the Zombie Apocalpyse Convenience Store: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/y9dt88zj2c

The different types of zombies in the Zombie Apocalypse Call Center

I share why I didn't just opt for the usual zombie in the Zombie Apocalypse Call Center series and share the types of zombies that are in the series.

Read the Zombie Apocalypse Convenience Store: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/y9dt88zj2c

The Ambulance Ride from Hell part 3

I rush to the ambulance, open the back door and hop in and star scrounging around for the first aid kit and some sedatives. I don’t know if Jenny has rabies or something else but I want to take any chances that she’ll attack me again. For that matter, I got to worry that my partner will have whatever she has. I grab some disinfectant and add it to first aid kit. I put all of it on the stretcher and then wheel the stretcher to the house.

I carry the first aid kit and the sedatives into the house. Dan is sitting on the floor clutching his bleeding arm, looking glassy eyed from the shock.

“Dan, you with me?” I ask.

He shakes his head and says, “Yeah. I’m just feeling off.”

“Getting bit will do that to you,” I wryly respond.

Dan chuckles, which I take as a good sign.

“I want you to apply this disinfectant to your arm. I’m going to put a couple sedatives in Jenny and then I’ll help you wrap your arm. Then you and I will get her on to the stretcher and get both of you back to the ambulance, ok?”

“”S-sure,” Dan says.

I hand him the disinfectant and then pull the sedatives out. I cautiously walk up to Jenny. She still looks like she’s out. I’d check her pulse, but I don’t want to take a chance of getting bitten, just in case she’s faking. I get the first sedative ready, and plunge it into her leg. She briefly stirs, which tells me she’s alive. I debate whether to stick her with a second sedative. It could be risky, but she was so adrenalined before that I don’t want to take a chance of not giving her enough. I put the second sedative in her and then turn to Dan.

He’s smeared the disinfectant on the bite wound, but it looks ugly.

“Let me wrap it for you,” I say.

“P-pleease,” He slurs.

I look at him concerned. I know him and he’s not normally like this. I start wrapping his arm and he looks at my hands as I work with an anxious gaze.

“Dan, are you with me?”

“I-I’m feeelinnngggg weeirddd.”

“Are you able to help me get Jenny on the stretcher?”

“I-I think so.”

“Go over to her legs and then I’ll go to her shoulders. We’ll get her on the blanket and then move her onto the stretcher.”

We roll her on to the blanket.

“Lift her now,” I instruct.”

We lift her, carefully, using the blanket and get her on the stretcher. I start securing her arms and legs with straps on the stretcher that can hold down a 350 pound man who’s on drugs. I know because I’ve had to do to that before, and I figure even with whatever is in her system, this will work.

We start wheeling her out her and she stirs.

“What the fuck?” I swear.

Normally the sedatives I pumped into her should have her knocked out for a few hours, but she’s already waking back up. Whatever she’s on is something wicked.

Author’s note: This is a short story excerpt set in the Zombie Apocalypse Call Center Universe. Each week I’ll write another part of the story on here. If you enjoy, check out the Zombie Apocalypse Call Center series and my free story, The Zombie Apocalypse Convenience Store

You can read part 1 and part 2 of of this story here.

Rebels of the Zombie Apocalypse Call Center is now Available

Rebels of the zombie apocalypse call center is now available.

Sam’s got a lead on the cure for the zombie virus.

But to get the cure, Sam has to do something that doesn’t come easily to him. He’s got to follow orders from Garret, a no-nonsense, by the book commander who isn’t impressed with Sam’s customer support skills or his lack of discipline. But can Sam and Garret work together, when Sam does anything but follow the rules?

To find the cure, Garret and Sam need to infiltrate a Zombii Co. factory, but the factory contains more secrets than just the cure. It contains Zombii Co’s other experiments with zombies and an insane manager willing to do anything it takes to keep those secrets where they belong, including infecting everyone in the factory with the zombie virus.

When Sam’s mission goes sideways, he has to fight his way through acid spitting zombies and super zombies while working with Garret to keep his unit alive, and keeping all of them uninfected.

If Sam doesn’t get his act together, he could lose his friends.

Worse…

He could lose the cure that can save the world from the zombie apocalypse

The Ambulance Ride from Hell part 2

I’ve pulled the stretcher part of the way, but I can hear the panic in Dan’s voice. I hurriedly lower the stretcher to the street and slam the doors shut. The last thing I want are kids getting some free painkillers from our emergency stash.

“Tonya, where are you. I need you here now!”

I run to the open front door and hurry past the kitchen to the living room, where Dan is trying to restrain a white woman, who I’m going to guess is Jenny. She has her teeth bared. Black mucus is pour out of nostrils and Dan is struggling to keep her hands off of him.

“What happened?” I pant.

“She just launched herself at me, as soon I walked in the living room. Didn’t say a word or anything. She keeps trying to bite me.”

“I wish you told me to bring a sedative.”

“I was panicking. I still am. Now, can you help?” Dan testily asks.

“Sure.”

I walk over to Jenny and she suddenly tries to lunge toward me.

“No you don’t,” Dan grunts out as he pulls on her arms.

Jenny abruptly pulls one of her arms, bringing his arm right by her mouth. Then she chomps down on as hard as she can.

Dan shrieks in pain and lets her arms go. Jenny rips her mouth away, taking some flesh and blood with her, and then pushes Dan away, and rounds on me.

There’s a vase beside me. I grab it and as she lunges at me, I hit her across the face. The vase smacks into her and she gutterly howls and backs up a step. I do a sweep kick and knock her legs out from her and she crashes to the ground.

I start to go toward Dan, but Jenny pushes herself up to her feet.

“Impossible,” I mutter. An ordinary person would be knocked out, but Jenny keeps taking the hits and ticking.

“Unngrrryyy,” Jenny growls at me, and then swings one of her arms at me.

I block her arm with my forearm, and when she follows up with her other arm, I move to the side and then grab and throw her. I send her careening into a wall and thankfully, this time, she doesn’t get up, just laying there motionlessly. I’ll check her in a moment.

“Dan, are you ok?”

“I-I, no, I’m not ok. She bit part of my forearm. I think I can see my bone.”

Shit. I feel nauseated, but I don’t have time for that. I’ve got two patients now.

“Sit tight. I’ll be back with some first aid.”

Author’s note: This is a short story excerpt set in the Zombie Apocalypse Call Center Universe. Each week I’ll write another part of the story on here. If you enjoy, check out the Zombie Apocalypse Call Center series and my free story, The Zombie Apocalypse Convenience Store

You can read part 1 of this story here.

Zombie Apocalypses and Humor

I talk about the zombie apocalypse and why I take a humorous angle with it.

Get my free story The Zombie Apocalypse Convenience Store: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/y9dt88zj2c

Pre-order Rebels of the Zombie Apocalypse Convenience Store: https://books2read.com/u/barz5x

The Ambulance Ride from Hell part 1

The Ambulance Ride from Hell Day 1

“Ambulance 2901, report in! I’ve got a pickup for you,” The dispatcher crackles through the com on my ride. I think its Esther. It sounds like her, albeit a bit more irritated than usual. I glance over at Dan, who’s eating his sandwich and he shrugs. I’m driving the ambulance. I take one hand off the wheel and grab the com and push the button.

“Ambulance 2901 reporting in, Dispatcher. What do you have for us?”

“Ambulance 2901, an address is being downloaded to your ambulance GPS now. Its low priority, but you need to pick up Jenny Sawyer, who’s apparently been bitten by a zombie.

“Say again, Dispatcher?” I ask incredulously.

“You heard it right. We got a call from the Zombii Co. call center, of all places, telling us that one of their customers has gotten bitten by a zombie. I’m sending you guys to check it out. I think it’s a prank call and I’ve already let them know what’ll happen if it is, but we still need someone to check it out and you’re the closest guys we’ve got, so I need you to check out the address and see if Jenny Sawyer has been bitten and then evaluate and bring her in if you need to.”

“Roger Dispatcher. Over and out!”

I put the com back on its stand and check the GPS. I’ll need to turn in half a mile. Since this is low priority, I keep the sirens and lights off.

“Oh jeez, Tonya, can you believe their sending us to check on if someone got bit by zombie? There’s no such things as zombies,” Dan says.

“Yeah, it’s crazy, but then again we live in a world where there’s a zombie apocalypse call center. My neighbors are actually on their silver plan, if you can believe it,” I reply.

Dan rolls his eyes and says, “It takes all types, doesn’t it?”

“Indeed it does.”

We reach the point where we need to turn, and I turn the ambulance left onto a narrow suburban road. The house we’re looking for is to the right, about a quarter of mile in. I can see it, and it looks like the front door has been left open. All the other houses look normal, an idyllic scene of suburbia. I see a couple kids on the street laying and I wonder how someone could call in that they got bitten by a zombie.

I park the ambulance on the side of the road and Dan hops out with a medkit in hand and heads to the open door. I turn the ambulance off and go to the back door and open it and get the stretcher ready, just in case we need to either restrain the person or if they actually medical assistance.

“Tonya, get in here!” Dan yells.

To be continued in part 2…

Author’s note: This is a short story excerpt set in the Zombie Apocalypse Call Center Universe. Each week I’ll write another part of the story on here. If you enjoy, check out the Zombie Apocalypse Call Center series and my free story, The Zombie Apocalypse Convenience Store

Rebels of the Zombie Apocalypse Call Center now available for preorder

What will you do to find a cure?

Sam’s got a lead on the cure for the zombie virus.

But to get the cure, Sam has to do something that doesn’t come easily to him. He’s got to follow orders from Garret, a no-nonsense, by the book commander who isn’t impressed with Sam’s customer support skills or his lack of discipline. But can Sam and Garret work together, when Sam does anything but follow the rules?

To find the cure, Garret and Sam need to infiltrate a Zombii Co. factory, but the factory contains more secrets than just the cure. It contains Zombii Co’s other experiments with zombies and an insane manager willing to do anything it takes to keep those secrets where they belong, including infecting everyone in the factory with the zombie virus.

When Sam’s mission goes sideways, he has to fight his way through acid spitting zombies and super zombies while working with Garret to keep his unit alive, and keeping all of them uninfected.

If Sam doesn’t get his act together, he could lose his friends.

Worse…

He could lose the cure that can save the world from the zombie apocalypse

What I'm doing during the corona apocalypse

The week I was releasing Secret Missions of the Zombie Apocalypse was the week where it really began to hit home in the states that the corona virus wasn’t something that could be kept at arm’s length. It was a reality that was going to hit all of us. The very next week I was allowed to work from home, by my job. I’m grateful for that, because not everyone has that luxury right now.

After work, each day, I’ve started walking in my neighborhood, since at this time we’re allowed to walk around. I keep my proper social distance from other people out and about in the neighborhood. One benefit is that I’m actually seeing more of my neighborhood than I previously had. There are some beautiful landscapes in my neighborhood and I’m enjoying walking through them.

Yet as I walk through them I can’t help but feel that I’m living in a bizarre parody of my own writing. I wrote the Zombie Apocalypse Call Center series to poke fun at my job as a call center rep, but also to poke fun at the zombie fiction genre. Yet here I am in the Corona apocalypse walking nearly empty streets. It’s kind of like I’m living my own story, without the zombies (as yet).

Nonetheless it hasn’t stopped me from writing. I’m already working on Rebels of the Zombie Apocalypse Call Center, which is the sequel to Secret Missions. I’m having fun writing it and trying to even incorporate some of the recent events into the story. Writing the sequel is keeping me busy and focused on a fun story, which is helping during this period of time.

What are you doing during the corona apocalypse to take care of yourself and keep focused?

Now available: Secret Missions of the Zombie Apocalypse Call Center

Michelle has a secret.

She’s a spy for the U.S. military and she’s been assigned the mission of shutting down Zombii Co.

To complete her mission, Michelle has infiltrated Monica’s inner circle at the zombie apocalypse call center.

But now she’s running secret missions for Monica, helping her uncover the secrets of Zombii Co: the Zombii Spray and the other zombie technology that Dmitri Eslinger is unleashing on the world with his zombie apocalypse.

What’s Monica’s real agenda?

Is she truly trying to stop the zombie apocalypse?

or is she just eager to sell the secrets of Zombii Co. to another competitor?

And then there’s Ember, Sam’s ex-girlfriend. Will she help Michelle on her mission to stop Zombii Co., or try and get revenge on her for stealing her boyfriend?

Michelle must work with a misfit team of people she doesn’t trust in order to discover the truth behind Zombii Co., all while surviving hordes of zombies.

If Michelle doesn’t uncover the truth behind the zombie apocalypse, it may never end…

Why I'll never write an endless series of books

Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash

I’m currently writing Learning How to be a Hero, which is the final book in the Learning How to be a Hero trilogy. When I decided to start writing and publishing fiction, I made a promise to myself. I promised that I would never write a never ending series of books. I made that promise because I’ve been that reader who reads a never ending series and is always waiting for the next book and wondering when the series will end. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good series of books with amazing characters and strong plots, but at some point I want closure. And I figure you, as my readers, probably want that too.

But I have a couple other reasons I’ll never writing a never ending series of books.

The first reason is that you can tell when an author gets tired of writing about the same characters and the same plot. At that point, each book that comes out isn’t a book in touch with the characters or the stories. Instead its a book that’s all about cashing in on the love of the fan and while I’ll admit I’m writing my books in part to make a living, I never want that to be the main reason I write.

When an author is no longer engaged in writing the series, something essential goes missing. For example, there was a series of books I read that I enjoyed up until about the 12th book. After that the quality of the writing and the characters were stale. It felt like the author was going through the paces, instead of actually enjoying the story he was writing. It was no surprise to me that when he finally ended the series he took a few years off from writing. He’s now writing a new trilogy and the quality of writing and the characters is much better because he wants to write the story! And he’s wisely limited himself to a trilogy, which I hope he’ll stick to.

I would never want to put readers through that experience. It’s why I’ll always end my series while I’m enjoying the writing and characters, so that I can give them and my readers the sendoff that the trilogy deserves. In the case of the Learning How to be a Hero trilogy, that means wrapping up at the end of the trilogy. I will likely write some more superhero/supervillain fiction in the future, but knowing when to end a series means knowing when to let go of the story, instead of holding onto it for dear life.

The second reason I’ll never write a never ending series is that I do have other stories I want to write and share. If I’m only ever working on the one series I’ll never get to those stories. I’ll admit I have a longer series or two in me, but I don’t want a series to get to the point where it encompasses everything I write, leaving no room for other stories. Of course, I can take a break and write other stories, but I also like the idea of giving the reader a promise: This story will end and there will be closure.

So those are my reasons and my promise to you that I will never write a never ending story. I have so many stories to share with you, but I have endings for all of them and I want to write them while I still enjoy the story!

Reading with a writer's eye: The Dragonlance Saga

Photo by Janko Ferlic from Pexels

I recently decided to start reading the Dragonlance saga again. I haven’t read it in a long time, but when I was a teenager they were some of my favorite books to read and I happened to spot some in the local book store and decided to pick them up. I’m glad I did, because they are harder to find now, but also because I was surprised at how much I enjoy reading the books again. It makes me regret selling my original copies.

However what’s really fascinating for me is that I’m reading these book with what I would call my writer’s eye. My writer’s eye is that perspective of an author, where I’m learning more about my own craft as a writer as a result of reading other writers. I don’t think you can be a good writer, if you aren’t also reading and ideally you are reading something of what you write.

As I read the Dragonlance saga again, what I appreciate is how each character is fleshed out. The authors clearly know the characters and are comfortable enough to let those characters speak through the text, while still telling the story. I like how the authors use the third person narrative to give you a glimpse of each character’s perspective and thoughts.

When you read a book with a writer’s eye, you appreciate the book, but you also ask yourself what you can learn from it. For me, it’s case of continuing to improve action scenes and providing the perspective of the character, while also letting the character speak through the text to the reader. I want my characters to be alive to my readers. When I read the Dragonlance saga, the characters come alive. They linger on long after I’ve stopped reading the text, and they are waiting for the next time I read the text.

Learning How to Be Free is now available!

Nelson escaped the superhero prison with Simon and his friends. 

Now's he part of the resistance, dedicated to bringing down the Superhero Bureau

But they want to him kill...

Nelson can't betray the superhero code that has guided him all his life. He's already feeling guilty for breaking the code once.

Now on his journey to become a true superhero, Nelson will be tested as never before by both the resistance and the Superhero Bureau and when the price is potentially his best friend's life and sanity, Nelson will have to make the hardest decision he's ever made: 

Does he choose the superhero code or Simon?

Can he avoid killing anyone else and show the resistance a better path to overthrowing the superhero bureau?

Can Nelson become the superhero that his world and his best friend needs?

You'll love this superhero's journey to discover what it takes to be a real hero against all the odds, because everyone loves the hero's journey.

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Now Available: The Zombie Apocalypse Call Center

WHO ARE YOU GOING TO CALL, TO HELP YOU SURVIVE THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE?

Sam thinks his job at the Zombie Apocalypse Call Center is a joke.

Zombies aren’t real and the customers who call in for support about their guns and conspiracy theories are crazy!

Sam knows the Zombie Apocalypse will never happen.

Until one day the Zombie Apocalypse does happen…

Now Sam and his fellow analysts have to figure out how the zombie apocalypse started and how to cure the zombies, while also keeping the customers alive and well-stocked with ammo.

On top of that Sam is juggling potential romances with two of his co-workers, Michelle and Ember. His manager Ben is micro-managing him about his call stats and customer happiness, and he has to defend the call center from invading zombies.

Will Sam discover the cause of the zombies?

Will he get his manager off his back?

Will he find love?

Will he survive the zombie apocalypse?

You’ll be kept in suspense by the dystopic action and adventure of the Zombie Apocalypse Call Center.

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The Zombie Apocalypse Call Center is now available for pre-orders

WHO ARE YOU GOING TO CALL, TO HELP YOU SURVIVE THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE?

Sam thinks his job at the Zombie Apocalypse Call Center is a joke.

Zombies aren’t real and the customers who call in for support about their guns and conspiracy theories are crazy!

Sam knows the Zombie Apocalypse will never happen.

Until one day the Zombie Apocalypse does happen…

Now Sam and his fellow analysts have to figure out how the zombie apocalypse started and how to cure the zombies, while also keeping the customers alive and well-stocked with ammo.

On top of that Sam is juggling potential romances with two of his co-workers, Michelle and Ember. His manager Ben is micro-managing him about his call stats and customer happiness, and he has to defend the call center from invading zombies.

Will Sam discover the cause of the zombies?

Will he get his manager off his back?

Will he find love?

Will he survive the zombie apocalypse?

You’ll be kept in suspense by the dystopic action and adventure of the zombie apocalypse.

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