S.G. Browne

Breather(br‘́́thər) n. 1 one who breathes; a human being; a living person   2 someone who has civil and constitutional rights   3 a tasty, midnight snack

When I first came up with the title Breathers, I was in a bed and breakfast in Hanalei Bay, Kauai, recovering from the fact that I’m a caucasian man who neglected to apply a strong enough sunscreen.  This was in October of 2003, two years after I’d written the short story “A Zombie’s Lament,” upon which the novel is based.

At first I wasn’t sure the title would work for the novel.  After all, Breathers is a dark comedy about zombies, not the humans who abuse and subjugate them.  Except for the Breathers who work at the SPCA.  But that’s for another blog…

Problem was, I fell in love with the title.  And although I tried to come up with alternate titles that might work, I couldn’t bring myself to lose it.  So I had to make sure the content of the novel supported the title.  Still, my publisher wanted to add a reading line so that potential readers would know it was a novel about zombies, so we settled on the title of the original story it was based upon.  Which was kind of cool.

Officially, the first draft of the first chapter of Breathers was written on October 3, 2003.  I only know that because I have the journal entry for it.  But that chapter isn’t the first chapter.  It ended up becoming the second chapter.  The opening to the novel originally went:

My name is Andy and I’m a survivor.  At least that’s what I’m supposed to say and think and believe.  But I can’t say it, I don’t think it, and the only thing I believe is that this is worse than anything I could have ever imagined.

I finished the first draft of Breathers in February 2006.  The long lag between start and finish was due in part to my personal life and to the fact that I’m a binge writer.  I don’t write every day.  Which is heresy among a lot of writers.  I used to write every day.  From 1990-2001.  Two hours every morning before work and whatever I could get in at night.  But binge writing works better for me now.

I didn’t start out to write a novel that had any sort of social commentary.  I’ve just always loved zombies and wanted to give them a voice, show what undeath was like from their perspective.  I wanted to create a zombie the reader could sympathize and empathize with, so that if he eventually gave in to his instincts, the reader would still be on his side.

Plus I always wondered if it was necrophilia if you were both dead.

82.

That’s the number of agents who passed on Breathers in one way or another before Michelle Brower of Wendy Sherman Associates said “Yes.”  Which was a good thing, because had I hit the century mark in rejections, I was going to need some serious therapy.

This was back in November of 2007, 15 months after I’d sent out the first queries for Breathers.  12 years after I’d submitted my first novel.  18 years after I’d written my first short story when I was living down in Los Angeles and working 60 hours a week doing post-production work for Disney.

It’s a bit of a paradox, really.  When I wrote my first short story titled “The Club” back in 1990, I never thought it would take so long to reach this point.  And yet everything seems to have happened so quickly.

Two months after offering me representation, Michelle had an offer on the table from Broadway Books.  A little over a year later, my book is being published and the film rights are being sold.  Surreal.  Bizarre.  Wonderful.  Pick an adjective.  Any adjective.  Then insert HERE____________________.

Although I can’t say I had a clear cut idea of what I hoped for in an agent, Michelle is everything I could have wanted.  The simple fact that she believed in me when so many others didn’t was enough.  But I can’t imagine finding anyone better to guide me into the publishing world than Michelle.

Okay, put away the hankies and the tissues.  I’m just saying that my agent is a rockstar.

Next entry:  B is for Breathers.  (Big surprise.)

Okay, I realize I said I was going to start writing Breathers from A to Z two months ago, but number one, I realized the timing was off. And number two, I’m a lazy blogger.

Part of that has to do with the fact that I’m just not comfortable sharing personal information. Politics. Religious beliefs. How many bowel movements I have each day. Not really something I want to talk about.

I prefer to stick with the whole writing thing. The occasional flash fiction. Perspectives from Andy. Maybe some insight into what happens when I sit down at the keyboard.

So since I’ve had several interviews and a number of future fans already wondering how I came up with the idea of Breathers and what it was like writing as a zombie and how long it took me to find an agent, I thought I’d start a running blog, twenty-six entries, going over the process of Breathers from A to Z.

Now, similar to Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk, this isn’t going to be the type of blog that goes “And then. And then. And then…” It’s going to jump around a bit depending on the letter and how much caffeine I’ve consumed on any particular day. And on those days when I want to sleep in, I’ll have Andy fill in for me to add the zombie’s point of view on the whole process.

So starting on Tuesday, I’ll post the first entry, A is for AGENT. Because really, I wouldn’t be writing this without her.