S.G. Browne

While blogging has never been my passion, I realize that it’s been nearly a month since I posted anything. And there’s a reason for that. Unfortunately, it doesn’t involve sitting on a remote tropical beach with no Internet access.

About three months ago, I was approached by my publisher to see if I was interested in writing a Christmas themed zombie novella. I thought about it for a few days, wrote up a synopsis and pitched them an idea, and a couple of weeks later they came back and said OK.

Now I’ve never written anything on spec before. My first three novels were all completed, vetted by my agent, and then sold, so selling a book before I’d written a single word of it was a new experience. And writing a 40,000 word novella in a little over two months meant any creative energy I had was channeled into writing that novella.

Thus no blog posts. And a limited amount of interaction on Facebook and Twitter. I just didn’t have the time.

The good news is, the novella is done. The title?

I Saw Zombies Eating Santa Claus: A Breathers Christmas Carol.

Yes, the novella is a sequel to Breathers and picks up a year later, about a week before Christmas, with Andy waking up in a body farm in Portland, OR, where he’s spent the last year being experimented on at a zombie research facility.

I won’t give away too much of the plot, but it involves an escape, a Santa Claus costume, a lonely nine-year-old girl named Annie who reminds Andy of his own daughter, a couple of zombie handlers, and a trio of inept zombies.

I’ll share more about the novella in a later post, but at this point it’s scheduled for release on November 13, 2012, both in print as a small hardcover and as an eBook.

Now I need to get back to edits on my next novel, BIG EGOS.

It’s that time of year again when hordes of pop culture obsessed geeks and geekettes make the pilgrimage to southern California to pay homage to their favorite superheros, science fiction icons, and comic book characters.

Yes, my friends. It’s time once again for San Diego Comic-Con.

In addition to all of the actors and celebrities and icons of popular culture who will be in San Diego over the weekend, you’ll also find an assortment of authors and writers in attendance. Including me.

I’ll be appearing on a panel Saturday and doing several signings Friday and Saturday, with my schedule and where to find me listed below.

(Note that my signings on Friday are in specific booths on the main floor while my signings on Saturday both take place in the Sails Pavilion, the main autograph area, table AA09. The second signing on Saturday is a group signing for the soon to-be-released zombie anthology 21st Century Dead, edited by Christopher Golden.)

Friday, July 13
Signing: 2:00-3:00PM (Geekscape Booth #3919)
Signing: 4:00-5:00PM (Mysterious Galaxy Booth #1119)

Saturday, July 14
Urban Fantasy Panel: 10:30-11:30am (Room 5AB)
Signing: 11:30am-12:30pm (Sails Pavilion, AA09)
21st Century Dead Signing: 3:00-4:00PM (Sails Pavilion, AA09)
(Group signing with Amber Benson, Cody Goodfellow, John Skipp, Thomas E. Sniegoski, and Daniel H. Wilson)

But wait, there’s more!

For your post Comic-Con hangover, I’ll be appearing with Amber Benson, Cody Goodfellow, and John Skipp at Dark Delicacies in Burbank for another group signing to celebrate the official release of 21st Century Dead.

Tuesday, July 17
21st Century Dead Signing: 7:00-8:00pm (Dark Delicacies, Burbank)

There will also be copies of my novels available at the Burbank signing, just in case you were wondering. Even if you weren’t, I hope to see you in San Diego or Burbank.

There’s a new zombie anthology in town, and I’ve got a short story appearing in it. Okay, it’s not in town yet. 21st Century Dead, edited by Christopher Golden, officially pubs on Tuesday, July 17. And my short story, “Reality Bites,” is the fourth entry in the collection, right after a story by Orson Scott Card.

Just to clarify, “Reality Bites” has nothing to do with Winona Ryder, Janeane Garafolo, Ethan Hawke, or Ben Stiller. Instead, it tells the story of a couple of Hollywood producers who are looking for the next big thing in zombie reality television.

As I mentioned, the anthology officially hits the shelves on July 17 and it just so happens that I’ll be in southern California doing a group signing on that day at Dark Delicacies in Burbank with Amber Benson, Cody Goodfellow, and John Skipp, who all have stories in the collection.

July 17 – Burbank, CA
7:00PM
Dark Delicacies
3512 W. Magnolia Blvd.
Burbank, CA

In addition, Amber, Cody, Skipp and I will be doing another group signing at Comic-Con the weekend before, along with Thomas E. Sniegoski and Daniel H. Wilson, on Saturday, July 14:

July 14 – San Diego, CA
3:00-4:00PM (Autograph Area, Table 09)
Comic-Con
San Diego Convention Center
111 W. Harbor Drive
San Diego, CA

I’ll also be doing a couple of other signings and appearing on a panel for Lucky Bastard during the Comic-Con weekend. If you’re attending, you can find my complete schedule of events HERE.

If not, then I hope to see you in Burbank on July 17.

For those of you who were wondering what happened to Andy after the end of Breathers, you’ll get your chance to find out in a Christmas-themed novella I’m working on that is scheduled for release this November. And while it is a sequel, my intention is to write it so that it can also stand on its own.

While I’m not going to give away any spoilers, I will say that for various reasons most of the secondary characters in the original won’t be making an appearance in the sequel. It’s possible that one or more of them could find their way into the narrative, but Andy is still the hero and this is a continuation of his story.

However, I always said that I wouldn’t write a sequel to Breathers unless I could come up with something that didn’t just regurgitate the same ideas and concepts I introduced in the original, so this one’s going to focus on some different aspects of Andy’s existence as a zombie. But I do plan to include some elements that fans of Breathers will hopefully recognize and enjoy.

The title is still being worked out, but as soon as I have a final decision, I’ll be sure to share it with you. What I can tell you is that the story takes place in Portland, OR and opens a week or so before Christmas, nearly a year after the end of Breathers, and starts out with the line:

“I wake up on the ground in darkness.”

In honor of Thanksgiving, I thought I’d share Chapter 28 from my first novel Breathers, where Andy sits down to a nice holiday meal with his mom and dad. Andy, of course, is a zombie.

If you haven’t read Breathers yet, you can check out the synopsis, an excerpt of the first chapter, and the cast of characters on my website RIGHT HERE. Just in case it’s helpful.

Either way, I hope you enjoy this Thanksgiving dinner that is anything but traditional. (Just click on the link below to read on Google Docs):

Read BREATHERS – Chapter 28

And a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!