A Bit of Zombie History - Zombies #TWD #TheWalkingDead

My books, while romance, almost always also deal with a ghost--the spirit of a being who has passed away, yet can appear or communicate in ways similar to a living person.  In essence, an incorporeal (without a physical body) version of the undead.  But in fiction and legend, there are also many examples of physical manifestations of the undead: vampires, mummies, wights, and of course, zombies.

These zombies want a piece of Rick Grimes
The Walking Dead

I'm a fan of all things paranormal, and I've been watching The Walking Dead since the very first episode aired on October 31, 2010 - Halloween.  Fans of the show (or the comic series, on which the show is based) know the zombies on TWD are referred to as "walkers".  There are also zombie-like creatures on another show I love, Game of Thrones.  This show is of course based on the amazing novels in the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin.  In Westeros, beyond the Wall, a zombie-like race known as wights wait to attack those with warm blood.  The wights are dead humans or animals who have been raised back up by the Others, an inhuman race also lurking beyond the Wall.  The Others, or White Walkers, are ancient humanoid beings associated with cold whose only weakness appears to be dragonglass.

Wights in ASOIAF can be easily
recognized by their bright blue eyes
Game of Thrones

The fictional (hopefully!) nature of zombies allows an author to decide how these already-dead creatures can be destroyed.  In TWD, the walkers' reanimated brains must receive another fatal blow.  It takes fire to stop a wight in ASOIAF. 

The book credited
with introducing
"zombi" into US speech

This fictional nature also allows for various interpretations of what a zombie is, but the general definition is a reanimated corpse with an appetite for human flesh.  In Haitian folklore, the reanimation is due to some type of magic, such as witchcraft.  During the U.S. Occupation of Haiti (1915-1934), more people became aware of the idea of zombies after apparent case histories emerged.  The journalist, explorer, occultist, and cannibal William Seabrook traveled through Haiti in the late 1920s, and he recorded a sensationalistic version of his experiences involving Haitian Vodue (Voodoo).  The book, The Magic Island, was published in 1929 and is credited by Time Magazine with the introduction of the word "zombi" to Western culture. 



One of the most famous zombie movies, Night of the Living Dead (1968), did not even use the term zombie at all.  The reanimated corpses were referred to as "ghouls" in the screenplay.  One of the writers of this cult classic, George A. Romero, admits basing the screenplay on the novel I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson (a great book and a recent movie as well!)  In I Am Legend, the infected beings lurking around the last human's house are referred to as vampires, not zombies.  But the general idea of a battle for human survival in an apocalyptic scenario has become very popular, which brings us back to The Walking Dead.  This group of survivors struggles daily not just to stay alive, but to maintain their humanity after society has crumbled.

There are too many novels and films featuring zombies to discuss here, but I hope you enjoyed a little history on the undead.  If you'd like to try some undead suspense in the form of a spooky ghost story (mixed with steamy romance!), download a copy of GULL HARBOR or SILVER LAKE.  The characters face a haunted house, not a zombie apocalypse, but the plot twists, dangerous secrets, and chilling messages from desperate spirits should make your pulse pound a little faster!     

Hooked on #GameofThrones - Kathryn Knight

I read all five books in the A Song of Ice and Fire series in 2012, and when I did my round up of favorite books of the year, they were on top of the list.  High fantasy is not my usual go-to genre, but a friend recommended the series, and at that point the television show had already premiered.  I didn't watch--I don't even have that channel--but I figured all the buzz had to mean something.



When I started the first book, A Game of Thrones, I was almost ready to give up after the first few chapters.  The writing was incredible, but the many characters, their relationships, houses, and siguls were confusing, to say the least.  Throw in the fact that each character has about 5 different names, and things get overwhelming fast.  I wish I'd had the sense to check the back of the book, because I later discovered handy "cheat sheets", with characters, nicknames, and relationships arranged by house. 

Before I gave up, I reminded myself that I'm a fairly smart person (despite my failure to find the charts in the back), and if so many others could figure all this stuff out, so could I.  And I did.  It took a lot of paging back at first to connect each character to multiple nicknames, but it also made everything more colorful and realistic--the characters were starting to come off the page.  "The Kingslayer" reveals so much more about Jaime Lannister than just his birth name alone; the same can be said about Tyrion Lannister's unkind nickname "The Imp".  "Arya Underfoot" really sets the tone for what that character represents, and where her journey will lead.

The world building in the books is incredible as well.  I truly felt as though I could picture each land, village, castle, keep, and ocean.  Descriptions of The Wall made me shiver.  King's Landing felt dirty and desperate beneath the shadow of The Red Keep.  The Iron Islands stood by the merciless sea, bleak and damp.

I didn't feel like I needed to watch the shows, because I could see the characters and settings so clearly in my head.  Besides, I knew exactly what was going to happen--and some of it was so brutal, I wasn't sure I needed a visual to compete the picture.  The biggest factor, though, was the fact that we don't have HBO.

But then my brother-in-law gave us the season 1 DVDs as a gift, and I was incredibly impressed.  The casting could not have been closer to what I imagined, the costumes and settings were brilliant, and the writers and actors truly captured the essence of the first novel.  Most importantly, to me at least, the show stayed true to the events in the book.  And even though I knew what was coming, I still felt the suspense, laughed at the clever dialog, and enjoyed the breathtaking views of the lands in my head.



Shae looking down over King's Landing

After my husband and I had watched the first season, though, we were stuck--no HBO, and no season 2 DVDs available yet.  While I felt like I was missing out, I told myself eventually I could go back and watch the entire show with no painful wait between seasons.

Then, my teenage son broke his leg.  He had emergency surgery and could not go to school for over a week.  He was laid up on the couch, and since he's unfortunately not the reader my other son is, he spent most of his time watching TV.  I tried to keep him company, but eventually I thought I might scream if I saw one more silly, raunchy sitcom.

So I pulled out the DVDs.  Yes, I know, some scenes are fairly graphic in terms of sex.  But I'm not a mom who pretends sex doesn't exist--after all, I'm a romance writer.  A few scenes were a little uncomfortable to watch together, but I also knew which scenes could be fast-forwarded through without losing necessary information.

My son loved it.  We were both hooked, and even after he could return to school, it became our "thing" to do together.  Which is fun, because other than watching this and The Walking Dead, there aren't many activities we can't wait to do together.  I ordered season 2.  We finished that.  I ordered season 3, which we just started watching.

Last night, around 8:00 pm, my son came to me and suggested we get HBO.  "Why?" I asked.  "We just started season 3.  It's season 4 that's premiering tonight."

"We're going to want to watch season 4 right away.  We're not going to want to wait until the DVDs come out.  We could record the episodes so we have them."

I opened my mouth to argue that the last thing we needed was more television channels, but I realized he was right.  At 8:30, I was on the phone, holding for a Comcast customer service rep.  At 8:45, we were going over pricing plans.  Somehow, we were able to get all the premium channels for not much more than we already pay, for one year anyway.  By 8:59, HBO was no longer a blue screen with access denied.  That fantastic music began to play, and I had to set up the recording and turn it off.  For now.

I imagine we'll be caught up soon, and then Sunday night will become our night, and we can watch with the rest of the world.  And I'm so glad, because after last week's The Walking Dead finale, I felt a little sad--we wouldn't have our show together for another seven months or so.  Now we have this.  Unless the show catches up to the fifth book before the sixth one is finished.  I know a series like this can't be rushed, but I hope George R.R Martin is making progress on The Winds of Winter.  What a book release day that will be!

Redeemable Characters and TWD - Kathryn Knight

As a fan of all things paranormal, The Walking Dead has been a must-watch show for me since its inception.  Most television shows fail to keep my attention for the long term, but the combination of the interesting characters and the post-apocalyptic world in TWD has kept me watching.  In the final episodes of Season 3, we lost several main characters.  The recent character deaths of Merle and Andrea got me thinking about character redemption.  Neither of these characters were well-liked by viewers.  They both made horrible decisions and embodied many flaws.  Not surprisingly, I didn't feel much concern for either of their welfare for most of the show.  I was surprised when I actually cared about one of their deaths.  And it was the death of the "worse" character.

Actor Michael Rooker
plays Merle Dixon

Merle Dixon had a horrible childhood: his mother died in a fire, and his father subjected both Merle and his younger brother Daryl to neglect and severe abuse.  Merle tried to help raise Daryl when he wasn't spending time in juvie, but when the show opens, it's obvious the events of Merle's life have turned him into a hot-headed, cruel, and aggressive man.  He puts the group at risk, uses racial slurs, and gets into a physical altercation with another group member. 


When we see him again in Season 3, he's been taken in by the enemy band of survivors.  He does more horrible things, although now he's acting at the behest of the evil "Governor".  In his defense, however, it appears evident to me as a viewer that this group has "accepted" Merle and allowed him somewhat of a leadership role.  He's trying to be an important part of the Woodbury community, and he has no love for the original group that left him stranded and defenseless on a rooftop.

But when Daryl sticks by Merle when he's barred from re-joining the original group, Merle starts to go through a slight change.  Eventually he feels enough love for his little brother Daryl to try one more time to be accepted by the people Daryl has come to care about.  Merle begins making amends to the people he has hurt and strives to be useful.

In his final episode, Merle has been selected to deliver Michonne back to the Governor, to be presumably tortured and killed by him.  But at the last minute, he has a change of heart.  He sets his prisoner free and devises a plan to instead ambush the Governor's group.  Merle sacrifices himself, dying at the hands of the Governor, but saved Michonne and delivered a devastating blow to the Woodbury forces.  I was shocked at how sad I was at Merle's death--I felt he had been redeemed.

Andrea, on the other hand, had a happy family life by all accounts before the Zombie Apocalypse.  She does have to watch her sister die, and consequently must kill her when she reanimates as a zombie.  During Season 2, Andrea tries to become more of a soldier and zombie-killer.  But when she is separated from the group, it is the stranger Michonne who finds her, saves her, and protects her for 8 months.  Andrea repays this kindness by turning her back on Michonne the minute she's offered a warm bed in Woodbury and an opportunity to romance the Governor.  Despite all evidence to the contrary, Andrea continues to believe the Governor to be a sane and good person.



Laurie Holden as Andrea

From there on in, Andrea makes bad decision after bad decision.  She knows from personal experience that her original band of survivors was comprised of kind, fair, and honest people as a whole...but she instead believes the lies the Governor tells her.  Even once her eyes are finally opened, she never uses her newly-acquired survival skills to take action against the Governor, which allows him to continue to kill innocent people.  This scenario plays out several times, even after Andrea starts to understand how psychotic the Governor is.  And in the end, the Governor turns on Andrea and sets her death in motion. 

Andrea died bravely by her own hand, as she knew she would come back as a zombie if she didn't.  She spared her friends that at least.  But I wasn't remotely sad to see her die--I had stopped caring about her character long ago.

Of course there are a number of things at play other than the character arc in the script: the acting of both the character in question and the supporting cast, the viewer's preferences, etc.  But I'm impressed with how the writers were able to garner concern and admiration for Merle in his last episode, from me and the other fans of the show I chat with.  As I writer myself, I'm trying to analyze the moments I began to change my mind about him, as well as the moments I began to stop caring at all about Andrea.

Because romance novels have happy endings by definition, I don't kill off many characters.  But they are often in danger, and I want readers to care about their safety and pull for their survival.  Realistic characters need flaws, but readers and viewers want to see characters learn from mistakes and grow throughout the story.  Merle did this, and redeemed himself in the end, in my opinion.  Andrea repeated the same mistakes over and over again, learned nothing, and I was ultimately glad to see her go. 

A character's redemption is a powerful thing.  Viewers are passionate about Merle's brother's character Daryl, so much so I've heard people threaten to stop watching if anything should happen to him.  I admit I love him too, and he's featured in my related "Bad Boys with Good Hearts" blog post (my most popular post to date!).  Characters that inspire this kind of loyalty are exactly the type writers should strive to create.  I've had several readers ask me to continue Max and Claire's story in a sequel to Gull Harbor.  I'm so thrilled people enjoyed their romance and adventure, and perhaps someday I'll come back to them.  Right now, I have 2 WIPs that need my attention. 

On the other hand, I will have a free hour on Sunday nights for the next 6 months until The Walking Dead returns...