Welcome James to Writerly Wednesday.
Tell us a bit about yourself –
My latest novel is Ice Station Zombie, a zombie horror from Severed Press. I have two other novels from Severed Press – Blood Lust and Judgment Day: A Zombie Apocalypse, the first entry of a three-book series – and from Damnation Books I haveHell Rig and due out in September, Shadow Walker.
Amazon Link to Ice Station Zombie:
Website:
Bio:
JE Gurley is a 58-year old writer of horror and science fiction. He lives with his wife, Kim, and two cats, Elsie and Shoes, in the deserts of Arizona. When not writing, he plays guitar and keyborards for Tucson area rock and blues bands. he is a member of the Horror Writer’s Association, the Southern Arizona, Publishing Group, Baja Arizona Speculative Fiction Association and Cebtral Arizon Speculative Fiction Society.
Blurb from Ice Station Zombie:
For most of the long, cold winter, Antactica is a frozen wasteland. Now, the ice is melting and the zombies are thawing. Arctic explorers Val Marino and Elliot Anson race against time and death to reach Australia, but the Demise has preceded them and zombies stalk the streets of Adelaide and Coober Pedy.
Excerpt:
Marino looked out the window. The zombies, drawn by the sound of the turboprops, were gathering at the front of the Hercules.
“We’ll have to move them out of the way,” Anson cautioned, following Marino’s gaze.
“Why?” Marino answered. “Chop them down.”
“The props might be all right, but I’m more worried about one jamming the landing gear.”
Marino sighed. It looked like he was elected. “I’ll use the tractor again. Get them to follow me. I’ll be in a hurry, so lower the ramp when you see me headed back.”
Marino opened the door and made the two meter leap to the top of the stairs. Only one zombie paid any attention to him and it disappeared around the far side of the tractor. The others, fascinated by the spinning props, ignored him. Marino started the Kharkovchanka and drove to the front of the Hercules. He rolled down the driver’s window and yelled, as he beat on the outside of the door with the palm of his hand.
“Hey, you bastards! Follow me!” He drove away slowly, allowing the zombies to pursue him. Slowly, they moved away from the Hercules and toward the tractor. The zombie that had followed Marino to the Kharkovchanka, suddenly appeared on top of the cab, beating at the windscreen with both fists. Marino slammed his fist into the unpadded roof of the tractor. Through his side mirror, Marino saw the zombie stand. Judging that he had just enough clearance, Marino drove the tractor beneath the spinning blades. The roar of the turboprop faltered momentarily, as pieces of severed zombie plastered his windscreen and the front of the Hercules. The spinning props sent a fountain of gore across the runway, showering the confused zombies, sending them into a killing frenzy, ripping and tearing at each other.
Satisfied with his triumph, Marino drove slowly away from the Hercules, allowing the zombies to follow close behind him. When he had driven a hundred meters down the runway, he saw the rear ramp of the Hercules begin to lower. He spun the tractor in a wide arc, coming back and ploughing through the throng of zombies, scattering them like bowling pins. He headed the Kharkovchanka for the ramp, and then saw that Anson had already started raising it. The tractor bounced wildly as the treads slammed into edge of the ramp, throwing Marino from his seat. He heard the screech of tearing metal. One tread of the tractor unwound, throwing the vehicle to one side. More metal sang as the tractor gouged a deep furrow along one bulkhead. Marino fought his way back into the driver’s seat and put all his weight on the brake pedal as the first row of seats drew dangerously close. The front of the tractor gently nudged the seats and stopped. Marino breathed a sigh of relief and leaped out of the tractor. He failed to notice a lone zombie clinging to the side of the tractor. As he passed, it fell upon him, knocking him to the ground, and clawing madly at his chest. Marino pushed it away and held it off with his boot. He could feel the zombie’s claws bruising flesh. He hoped it did not rip through the double layer of outerwear.
“Drop!” Anson yelled, raising his rifle. He fired as Marino dropped his leg. The zombie went limp and fell beside him, the back of its head missing. As Marino picked himself up, Anson rolled the dead zombie off the side of the still rising ramp. It landed in a puddle of water. He glanced at the Ural unharmed, and still miraculously attached to the tractor. “Let’s go,” he said.
Interview
1. In three days, all power will go off, everywhere for a very long time. What will you include in your author survival kit?
Shotgun with ammo, Candles and matches, lots of toilet paper – essential for survival in a post-apocalyptic world of zombies.
2. Where did the idea for the work you are promoting arise?
I was watching Ice Station Zero with Rock Hudson and thought, “Hey, zombies in Antarctica would be nice.” I decided to write it from an Australian perspective using Australian terminology and stine, outback slang.
3. What do you like to read?
Science fiction, horror, of course, National Geographic and history. I’m currently reading Blood Ocean by my friend and fellow Arizonan Weston Ochse andNine Days at Appomattox about the end of the Civil War.
4. Tell us about the most exciting place you have ever visited?
I would say Aruba. It’s a beautiful island with gambling, lots of sand, cactus and wild goats – like Arizona but with azure ocean and wide beaches.
5. What is the most mundane, day to day, thing you can share about yourself?
I’m basically a hermit. My wife puts up with me in spite of this. I write a lot. Luckily, she works from home, so I mostly write while she’s working or after she’s gone to bed.
6. What scares you the most?
I used to be afraid of dying in my sleep, but now I have a C-PAP machine that keeps me breathing at night. Now, I guess it’s running out of ideas or getting Alzheimers and forgetting I just wrote that story.
7. Tell us anything but keep it G rated.
G rated? That eliminates about 90% of my life, from age 16 to age fifty. I’ve slowed down a bit now. I love playing music and I love writing. If I could do neither, I would go crazy. I write about different things just like I play different kinds of music – blues, country (some), rock and roll and now modern alternative with guys half my age in a band called Kamakaze Hounds. We do Paramour, Evanescence, Pink, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Rise Against – It keeps me on my toes. I like to live on the edge, mentally anyway. Narrow ledges in high places scare the crap out of me.
Thanks, Sally, for the opportunity. Keep up the good work.
Jim
Check out my websites at www.jamesgurley.com. or www.hellrig.com and my blogspot at www.jegurley.wordpress.com
Amazon Link to Ice Station Zombie:
Website:
Thanks James for waiting so long to be a guest.