Hop on the Bus for the Summer of Zombie Tour!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, seven zombie authors walk into a bar.  Once they’ve sat down, they discuss the idea of a blog tour.  Thinking the six of them have a good thing going, they eat the seventh one.

Today I’m handing the wheel off to one of those six guys, because I really don’t want to be feasted upon.  I’ll be back later in the week with updates and some other news. 

They’ve been shredding through the blogs and Todd Brown, Armand Rosamilia, Mark Tufo, John O’Brien, Ian Woodhead, and Dave Jeffery’s summer of blood stops here.  If you like your zombies mean, hungry, and scary this is the tour for you.  So buckle up, grab onto the kiddos, and hold down your lunch because your tour guide Mark Tufo is about to drive you into the dark reaches of madness and zombies.

I will see you when you return…if you return.

 

 

Summer of Zombie

Mark Tufo

 

Zombie Fallout – Readers and their author (me! – Mark Tufo)

Hi thank you for letting me have the opportunity to write a few words on your blog.

I’ve been asked this before from at least a dozen authors, what is your connection to your readers and more importantly how do you do it? I hope I don’t sound pretentious that’s not what I’m trying to convey. I think a lot of authors (not all) have an ‘I am superior to all others attitude’ and I think that comes across when they have communication with their readers, if they bother to write back at all. I’ve said it from day one and it’s just as true now as it was back then, I am a blue-collar, former military man, raised in a blue-collar, military family, I type two-fingered and I have a few stories to tell that some folks find interesting.

I am humbled and honored EVERY time a reader contacts me to let me know that they got my book(s) and are in the process of reading it or have read it. I try to respond to every one of them in turn, I’ve always felt that if someone took the time out of their busy day to contact me then it is common courtesy that I do the same. This isn’t some super marketing ploy on my part although I do see the benefit of connecting with my readers. I can’t even count how many readers have thanked me for just responding to their queries, are you kidding me? I should be sending all of them Thank You cards for buying my books.

I love the interaction I have with my readers, I’ve received tons of suggestions on where folks think the books should head and at least a few (in jest) threats to my life should any of a couple of characters be injured or die at any point in the series. BT and Henry the wonder Bullie would be at the head of that list. I consider my readers to be extended family members of the Talbot clan, they root for some characters, they cry at the demise of some and hope beyond hope that a few others meet their untimely deaths. That they have a powerful enough connection to these characters to reach out to me, means that I am doing something right. I have created a world where folks can let all else in their life take a momentary backseat as they immerse themselves in this realm and I personally cannot think of a higher honor. Time is a precious commodity and that they are spending it with me and my stories is something I do not take lightly.

I am an un-established indie writer who most folks know little to nothing about, folks could spend their hard-earned money on a million other books but that they get mine is humbling. I appreciate the time you have given me to say a few words on your blog.

Website

www.marktufo.com

 Facebook Profile

hhttp://www.facebook.com/pages/Mark-Tufo/133954330009843

 Twitter

https://twitter.com/#!/ZombieFallout

 Amazon Author Page

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_tc_2_0?rh=i%3Astripbooks%2Ck%3AMark+Tufo&keywords=Mark+Tufo&ie=UTF8&qid=1338680351&sr=8-2-ent&field-contributor_id=B002I7PJ68

 Goodreads

www.goodreads.com/author/show/2990843.Mark_Tufo

 Books

Zombie Fallout

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003A022YO/

 Zombie Fallout 2

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0045UABFA/

 Zombie Fallout The End…

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004S2L21C/

 Zombie Fallout 3.5

http://www.amazon.com/Zombie-Fallout-Hugh-Prequel-ebook/dp/B005710Q7O/

 Zombie Fallout 4 — The End has Come and Gone

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005R2NR1U/

 Zombie Fallout 5

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007FJF2GQ/

 

Indian Hill

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002HWSLVO/

 Indian Hill 2

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006TQV6PW/

 Indian Hill Conquest

http://www.amazon.com/Conquest-Indian-Michael-Adventure-ebook/dp/B0082PXS9K/

 Timothy

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006POAS2U/

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All six of us – Todd Brown, Mark Tufo, Ian Woodhead, Armand Rosamilia, John O’Brien and Dave Jeffery – hope you’ll keep following us on the Summer of Zombie blog tour, and comment as we go along.

And… one lucky commenter for each blog will receive a Free eBook or Print book from one of the authors! Simply leave a comment with your e-mail address and we’ll pick a random winner each day! Simple as that!

Special Guest Blogger…Armand Rosamilia!

Today it is my great pleasure to hand the wheel over to author, editor, and all around kick ass guy Armand Rosamilia.  He is the editor at Rymfire Books and is one hell of an author.  His newest novella, Dying Days 2 is now out and I found it a really fun read.  So my friends, I bring to you…Armand.

Dying Days Confusion

 

Armand Rosamilia

    I’m knee-deep into this Dying Days Blog Tour 2012 (less impressive than it sounds, I assure you) and had a question (or three) about the series, so I am going to answer those questions… and ask my mom to stop sending them in and leave me alone so I can write… anyway…

 Question: If Dying Days 2 is the THIRD book in the series, why isn’t it named… wait for it… Dying Days 3?

 Answer: Oh, there will be a Dying Days 3, but it will be the next one. Actually, when I wrote Dying Days there was no Darlene Bobich: Zombie Killer book on the horizon, because only a couple of short stories had been written with Darlene in them. But when I finished Dying Days I had quite a few readers that had been lucky enough to read the prequel short stories ask if I was going to eventually release them in one book. I decided to collect them, add new ones, and before I knew it I had thirteen Darlene Bobich stories bound together. The original idea was going to have it as Dying Days 0, like a comic book origin issue thing, but I decided it would be confusing.

So, I went all-out (not really) and named it Darlene Bobich: Zombie Killer, but added a preview of Dying Days at the end to maybe get you to figure out it was part of the same world and story.

 Question: Where does Highway To Hell fit into this?

 Answer: None of your business. Actually, it was written as a stand-alone novella to see if I could write something extreme and with zombies, with plenty of sex, profanity, drug use, and raping zombies. I succeeded. While the story is set in the same world, Randy, the main character doesn’t have anything to do with Darlene and Dying Days directly… although I’ll let the proverbial cat out of the bag and tell you that Randy will show up in a short story in the upcoming Still Dying: Select Scenes From Dying Days short story release.

 Question: Is Darlene Bobich based on a real person in your life?

 Answer: Yes, she’s currently tied up in the crawlspace. Actually, no. When the first short story was written, “Anything But Luck”, all I needed was a name. I got it by asking my 5,000 Facebook friends for a name of a female to use. One of my friends on there said to use her name. Yep, her name is Darlene Bobich. Simple as that.

That being said, other characters are based on real people I know: Murph (Kim’s father) and John-John (Kim’s brother). Luckily I don’t know anyone like Doug Conrad.

 Question: How many books will there be in Dying Days?

 Answer: Three or more. Actually, I have no set goal. I think the story will be done when its done, and I’ve given up trying to tell Darlene and her friends what to do and when to do it. If you saw my notes on each book and where it was supposed to end, you’d think it was a different book. And it ended up being a different book. But a better one.

I know I’ll do a Dying Days 3 at some point in 2012, and there are plans to do a few off-shoot books like Still Dying: Select Scenes From Dying Days, which will give some back-story on several characters in shorts, as well as some longer novella-length books starring characters other than Darlene but set in the same world and loosely tied to her (she might even make a cameo).

I’m treating this like an epic series, with many releases. So far readers have responded and purchased all three books, and I intend to keep giving them zombies as long as they ask for them. And as long as I have something fresh to give.

 Question: OK, but -

 Answer: No more questions.

 Armand Rosamilia

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 Want to know more about the “Dying Days” series? Want to win free eBooks and maybe print books of them? My contest is simple: e-mail me at armandrosamilia (at) gmail (dot) com with DYING DAYS in the subject line and I’ll enter you into the daily giveaway… also, post a comment here and you get another chance… follow my blog at http://armandrosamilia.com for yet another chance, and friend me on Twitter (@ArmandAuthor) and simply post DYING DAYS to me, and you’ll get another shot… nice and easy, right? If I get enough people joining in the giveaway there will be a print book given away that day!

 

“Dying Days” series information can be found here: http://armandrosamilia.com/dying-days-series/