Rock Zombie – COVER REVEAL!

“Tonight, Matthew, I’m going to be… Kurt Cobain!”

Robbie Neville’s big break on Stars in Their Eyes was supposed to launch him into rock stardom.

Instead, it launched him into the afterlife.

Rob is dead. But his body didn’t get the memo.

Now he’s spending Saturday night trying to stop his reanimated corpse from kickstarting a zombie apocalypse… which is really hard to do when you’re a ghost.

With enough ’90s nostalgia to make you dig out your old mixtapes, follow Rob (both of them) as he faces down hungry zombies, scared scallies, horny barmaids, and the ultimate question:

Can you still become a rock star when you’re dead?

I’ve had this cover art for over two years. It was created by the exceptional Laura of @Hello_Moon_Creative, a tattoo artist based in Redcar. The idea of keeping this story as ‘local’ as possible really resonated with me, and so I didn’t hesitate to reach out to Laura for a commission. I think you’ll agree, she did an exceptional job. It is well worth checking out her Instagram for more of her work, but be warned, she loves a bit a spice in her art (oh, and an obsession with Lord of the Rings that might even rival my own!)

In one of my very first emails with Laura, I wrote something that was true then and remains true today… it is a dream come true for someone to create art based on something I wrote. I gave Laura a very brief overview of the story and… that was it… the rest was her.

The typesetting, font design, and slightly hidden silhouette of a rock star (in Rob’s hair on the right hand side) was me and my dodgy Photoshop ‘skills’.

Pre-orders are available now…

https://books2read.com/Rockzombie

However, Amazon is doing it’s usual thing here in Australia and jacking up the price. It should be fine everywhere else and I’m looking into alternatives. But for now, the ebook is definitely reasonably priced and your friendly neighbourhood bookshop should be able to order in the paperback… or the library.

Cheers folks!

Cover Reveal – Tomorrow

Hi folks,

Tomorrow is Friday 13th, and the day I’ll finally be showing the full cover of Rock Zombie. The art was designed by the exceptional Laura of @Hello_Moon_Creative. She’s a tattoo artist based in Redcar and an absolute legend. More about her tomorrow. The rest of it was put together by me and about a thousand YouTube Photoshop tutorial videos.

So, I’ll be revealing the cover and the blurb of Rock Zombie, along with the release date.

I’d love it if as many people as possible could be involved please. If you’re a bookstagrammer, a TikToker, a podcaster, reviewer, blogger, tinker, tailor, soldier, spy… or anything to do with the book world really (or you just want to play) please use the form link below to sign up (I don’t think it’s too late… I’ll just check the lists for any newbies and send you the details). Thanks so much.

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Please share with anyone you think might be interested… Rock Zombie is a bad-taste, comedy/horror about ghosts, zombies, sex, drugs, and rock n roll.

Cheers!

Parklife – setting a story in your home town

Many of Stephen King’s books are based in Maine, the state in which he was born, and the small town setting works really well to give the reader a visualisation of the story. If you can picture yourself in the midst of the action, then it’s all the more effective. I’ve gone for that with Rock Zombie. But, probably, a little less subtle.

The events of my upcoming comedy/horror ghost/zombie book take place in the town I grew up in… Redcar, on the north east coast of England. The streets are real, the places are real, but the people aren’t. I have to be very clear about this at the outset. In fact, at the very front of the novel you’ll come across this Author’s Note:

This novel is set in a real town… my hometown of Redcar on the northeast
coast of England. All of the pubs, clubs, parks, squares, streets, shops and
side-alleys described are very real places and many still exist today (or they
did in the ‘90s when this story is set). In fact, you could quite easily walk the
route the characters take and stop in for a drink, a dance, a play, or something
to eat along the way (if you do, please take photos and tag me in them, that
would be excellent!)
Despite the real locations, the characters are all entirely fictitious. Every
teenager, barman, waitress, copper, soldier, drinker, dancer, raver, bell-ringer,
priest, butcher, baker, candlestick maker, zombie, and ghost is a product of
my overactive imagination. Any resemblance to real people, living or dead, is
purely coincidental.
This silly story is a bit of a love letter to the ‘90s and, as such, it contains
references to many TV shows, movies, characters, bands, and songs from the
era. Every chapter is the title of a song, but no lyrics or quotes are reproduced
anywhere in this novel, except for those that are in the public domain.

The inherent problem of setting stories in real places (which most of mine are) is the risk that a character might appear to be based on someone real. If I have a scene in a pub, for example, and the pub is real, but I make the landlord a bit of wanker, I have to be really clear that, ‘this is not based on the actual landlord of that pub.‘ I even have a similar statement on the copyright page… not that the landlord might be a wanker, but that, if he is, it’s purely a coincidence.

It’s a fine line to walk but one that I think is worth it, as it adds an essence of realism to the stories, and, let’s be honest, a story about a ghost and zombie probably could do with a little added realism.

There will be parts of this story that Redcar locals might read and go, Oh, yeah, that’s familiar, but if I’ve done my job properly, that should be the case for everyone.

This Friday – yes, Friday the 13th! – I’ll reveal the cover and the blurb! If you’d like to be involved in the cover reveal there’s a sign-up form on my social media stuff.

Cheers folks,

Cover Reveal – Sign-Up

Hi folks,

On Friday 13th, I’ll be revealing the cover and the blurb of Rock Zombie, along with the release date. I’d love it if as many people as possible could be involved please. If you’re a bookstagrammer, a TikToker, a podcaster, reviewer, blogger, tinker, tailor, soldier, spy… or anything to do with the book world really (or you just want to play) please use the form below to sign up.

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If the form doesn’t work, here is the link…

https://forms.gle/dCZjf2qwjrJFDeVB6

Please share with anyone you think might be interested… Rock Zombie is a bad-taste, comedy/horror about ghosts, zombies, sex, drugs, and rock n roll.

Cheers!

So, what’s happening?

I’m self-publishing my ’90s comedy/horror novel… Rock Zombie!

Over the last week, I have posted a number of different bits and bobs over social media… a few songs on TikTok, Reels, and Instagram/Facebook stories, plus some seemingly random posts about characters, and a couple of quotes… and then this… a 90s-themed MySpace page, which I have to say, I’m particularly proud of. Man, the internet was awesome back then!

Rock Zombie has had quite the history. I created the very first file for it on September 1st, 2021, and I have absolutely no idea when I finished writing, but it was signed by a publisher not long after The Book and the Blade was signed by Parliament House Press (I was buzzing! And you better believe I was waiting for the ‘third bus’ to come along as well!) But things don’t always go according to plan in the publishing world. The first publisher that signed Rock Zombie went bust, as did the second, but then another came along a few days later and I thought that’s it, that’s my third bus! Sadly, after nearly two years of development, that didn’t work out either.

Then came a strange period where I hunted publishers who might be interested but they had really specific word counts… the original Rock Zombie was 70k words… but there are also 60k, 50k, and 40k word versions because I did whatever I could to try and make it work. Again, it wasn’t to be. It got attention, and it got good feedback, but no-one was willing to take the plunge…

So, I am.

I’ve spent the better part of this year putting all the little bits and pieces of my zombie back together… and now I’m ready to unleash him on the world.

Over the course of the coming weeks, there will be plenty more ads, snippets, teasers, and call-outs for cover reveals, ARC readers, release day fun, and launch party shenanigans. I’m going all out with this one (I even have a spreadsheet! Laa-dee-daa!)

Watch this space, folks! There’ll soon be zombies and ghosts in it!

Easter eggs and clues and things…

Strange things are afoot at the Circle K!

Or, more accurately, I’m up to something. If you see a little red-headed blue fella anywhere on my website, he’s worth a poke. If you do happen to give him a nudge, you’ll find yourself magically transported back in time (or to another page, but what is life without a little whimsy?)

Here you’ll find something that looks a bit like this…

It should be familiar to people of a certain generation and a quick look around this faux-MySpace page will drop one or two more clues for upcoming shenanigans.

For the next [insert length of time] I will be making daily TikTok, Reels, and videos on Stories, plus Instagram posts, Facebook posts and the occasional blog post here.

Some of you already know what I’m up to (because you’re involved in one way or another) and I hope you enjoy the ride.

For everyone else,

Come as you are!

Cheers folks,

Rock Zombie (or One Night in Redcar with the Dead)

This is the story that happens when you think sod it, let’s write the daftest thing we can think of and tie it in to all our teenage memories. Rock Zombie is a novel about a young lad drinking at the Beach Park on Redcar seafront… he dies… he comes back as a ghost… but his body also reanimates as a zombie. The spirit of Robbie Neville then spends the rest of the night trying to stop his body from eating everyone and causing a zombie outbreak in the streets, pubs and clubs of the author’s hometown. Cast your mind back to your first real night out (in the 90s no less) – only instead of navigating the social labyrinth of short skirts, Kickers shoes and tracksuit-clad scallies, you’re dealing with an unstoppable wave of the walking dead.

Okay, I guess they are kind of the same thing.

Rock Zombie was probably the most fun I have had writing a book. Many of my stories are littered with subtle (and not so subtle) references to pop culture and music but this one wears them all on its ragged, teeth-marked sleeve. In fact, there are so many references I had to do a number of edits because it simply wasn’t possible to get copyright permission to use all the song lyrics. Each chapter of Rock Zombie is the title of a classic tune from the 90s (here’s the playlist). Robbie Neville is, after all, a wannabe rock star who models his look on those of a certain well-known grunge icon. In fact, when we meet him, he is riding the wave of his new-found, small-town celebrity status after appearing on ITV’s Stars in Their Eyes.

Tonight, Matthew. I’m going to be… Kurt Cobain!

For those of you who aren’t British or have no memory of the 90s, Stars in Their Eyes was like the pre-cursor to Britain’s Got Talent, Ex-Factor and The Voice. It was basically a karaoke dress-up show where people splashed on a bit of make-up, revealed themselves via a smoky stage, and sang one song… before returning to their lives never to be seen again.

But it’s amazing what a person can get away with when they’ve been on TV… even in the 90s… even if they’re now a zombie.

So, yeah. This daft little book found a publisher and is due for release pretty soon. I figured I’d write this short post as an introduction because the honest truth is, I don’t really know what is happening. I received an email before Christmas saying the date was set for the end of January but as I haven’t read anything, seen anything, or signed anything I’m not entirely sure what is going on. In my short experience though I can say that the publishing world is full of these little foibles and so I’m just going to wait and see. Hell, if it doesn’t happen I’ll try again and if it still doesn’t happen there’s always the Reindeer Games route of self-publishing. But with only a few weeks to go I figured I should at least try something in the way of advertising.

So watch this space… there’s rock zombies in it!

(maybe)

I have news!

What a crazy end to the year it has been! My first novel, THE BOOK AND THE BLADE, was originally slated for release in September of this year but of course that didn’t happen for a myriad of reasons. The new publication date is the 28th February, 2023, which bizarrely means my “debut” novel will in fact be my third!

That’s right, due to the self-publication of my ridiculous christmas horror novel – REINDEER GAMES – and the news I just received that ROCK ZOMBIE will be published at the end of January 2023, it turns out I’ll have three books out in the wild before I turn 41!

I know what you’re thinking, Oh bugger! That’s too much Al in such a short space of time! Well, now you know how my poor wife and kids feel! 🤣

In all honesty though, I’m chuffed to bits. I never thought Reindeer Games would get much traction (and by big boy standards, it hasn’t) but I was really stoked when it sold over 100 copies. Right now, that number is slowly creeping towards 150. So, thank you to everyone who downloaded and read it!

The Book and the Blade is the story I’ve had in my head for over 20 years and I can’t wait for you to read it. The basic premise is a guy gets drunk and sees ghosts but he’s so drunk he doesn’t know they’re ghosts. There’s obviously a lot more to it but that’s the start 🤣 It is being published by the wonderful people at Parliament House Press in the US and is part of a four book series.

And Rock Zombie is a story about a young man who dies and comes back as a ghost AND a zombie. That’s right, his body reanimates and his ghost has to follow it around trying to stop it from eating people. This one has a killer soundtrack as it’s set in the 90s. In fact, each chapter is the title of a famous song from the time. Here’s the playlist…

There is a mock-up book cover but the real deal has yet to be finalised. Rock Zombie is being published in the UK by Britain’s Next Bestseller who are based in my hometown of Redcar where the story is set, which is wonderfully serendipitous. I’m kind of hoping there’ll be time to arrange a book cover design by the amazing Hello Moon Creative, who is a tattoo artist from Redcar. Keeping it local! (But available everywhere!)

So that’s it, exciting times ahead but of course the year is not over yet. There are a couple of days left where REINDEER GAMES is still available to download for free! That offer runs out at 7pm on Christmas Day if you’re in the AEST zone… 8am Christmas Day in GMT… and 1159pm on Christmas Eve for PST. The link above will take you to the right page (I hope).

Thanks everyone for reading this and reading my silly bollocks. It’s really fun to write such nonsense and send it out into the world. Thank you all and Merry Christmas!

Smile like you mean it

I’m broke, but I’m happy. I’m poor, but I’m kind. I’m not short, but I’m not particularly healthy either. For a few weeks now I’ve been living on a prayer and trying my hardest to keep the faith as I am not ready to go down in a blaze of glory just yet. I ain’t got a fever, or a permanent disease but it’s gonna take more than my doctor to prescribe a remedy… which is why I’ve been struggling to be a regular working class man. I had two weeks off work (though it was no summer holiday) while I got my head checked (and various other bits and bobs… remember kids, just because it feels good, doesn’t make it right) but so far, I have no answers. Hells bells, I even told the witch doctor, but I still haven’t found what I’m looking for. All my life I’ve been healthy but these days it feels a little like I’m on a long road to ruin, but you know what, I’m a paperback writer! As my wife says, I always make something from nothing and I’m happy to report that I’m already on the mend. For a while now, though, I haven’t been able to do anything. I can’t dance, I can’t talk. The only thing about me is the way that I walk. I think it’s been one week since you looked at me. Ain’t that a kick in the head! But I’m nothing if not Mr Brightside. I rested up, asked the doctor to give me the news, and got by with a little help from my friends.

I went back to the old 9 to 5… and I feel fine.

Then it all changed… again.

Imagine!

Somebody told me all these things that I’d done – specifically, the zombie book I wrote – was no good. Because, Mr Writer, you can’t legally reproduce song lyrics! Honestly, it was like a kiss with a fist! That book is FULL of lyrics. So much so, I might as well try to rewrite the stars. It’s not as though it’s a simple book about a girl or anything. It’s a full on zombie-ghost-hybrid novel and each chapter is the title of a song. Each one can stand on its own two feet and be so vain as to think that song is about it, because it is!

(that was a stretch wasn’t it)

I’m gutted.

Disturbed even.

A true heartbreaker. You were gonna go far, kid!

But the show must go on! Rock and roll dreams come through and I thrive under pressure. Now that I feel fine, it looks like I’ve got a lot of editing to do. Don’t stop me now!

There is the argument, of course, that instead of going through changes, what I got could be a real firestarter, but I don’t want to be caught by the fuzz. Because here’s the thing, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not after you.

So, how do you edit a full novel completely embedded with song lyrics in order to take all those song lyrics out and not fall foul of the copyright gods and yet still maintain the essence of the story while writing a sarcastic, song-lyric-laden blog post in the car in the pouring rain while waiting for your daughter to finish her drama class?

A kind of magic!

I just wish I had a Pina Colada.

Thanks for reading… how many references did you pick up?

Zombies, ghosts and nunchucks. What shenaniganary is this?!

Yes, that’s a word (maybe)

A short post here, ladies and gents… I wrote a daft zombie story set in the 90s. A kid dies and comes back as a ghost while his body reanimates as a zombie. He then spends the night trying to summon his inner Patrick Swayze in order to stop the damn thing eating all his loved ones and kickstarting the zombie apocalypse. Erm, in Redcar. My hometown. S

So, yeah. Really high-brow stuff.

But someone wants to publish it! 🤣

I got the official letter today. So watch this space for zombies, ghosts and erm… nunchucks.