Sunday, July 10, 2005

Zombies March On....

I can't seem to shake the zombies lately. Been reading the gruesomely fun serialized novel "Monster Island" lately by David Wellington. Wellington has found some clever new twists and angles that make the over worked sub-genre of the always hungry undead fun again. The short, tight chapters build a story that plays out like the drooling blue/green love child of Romero and King, with a little "Day of the Dead" here and a little "Stand". MI is self-published and represents to me the power and hope of the internet for creatives. There is now a real alternative to submitting your baby to the ever-dwindling pool of publishers, just set-up a blog and roll out the chapters, let the court of public opinion judge. But what about getting paid? you ask, easy, put the electronic hat out on your sidebar in the form of a PayPal donation link. That's what Wellington has done here and I gladly clicked thru and gave the man his due. I like that, the artist directly receiving payment, no middle people, no lawyers or marketing people or handlers or accounting problems. Smells like the future to me.