Wet Work: The Definitive Edition
Page 27
Obviously, the answer is yes, I discovered I did want to write my version of a zombie apocalypse, but it took a couple of weeks of painful soul-searching to come to that realization. Once the decision was made, work on a detailed outline began in earnest. As tough as that experience was, with hindsight, it seemed the easiest part of the process. After the concept was sold to Berkley on the strength of a 16-page outline within two months of finishing said outline, my biggest challenge was to prove I could actually write an 80-90,000 word novel. The last thing on my mind was how the book would be received after it was published, or the thought that it might actually be nominated for a Bram Stoker award by the Horror Writer’s Association, or optioned as a movie, or any of the other incidents which subsequently occurred.
I have written about the process of writing Wet Work (a version, A Protracted Pregnancy: Or Remembering Writing That First Novel, can be found at my official Web site: www.philipnutman.com, so I won’t dig over old ground here, but for the record, here are some details about the book I’ve never revealed before.
• The events depicted in the novel originally took place in 1987 at the height of the Reagan-Thatcher years, culminating with Ronald Reagan and George Bush, Sr. both as zombies in the Oval Office (as those sequences now stand, yes, that’s Bush Sr. with Dan Quayle as the retarded vice president; originally, the sequences were seen through Bush’s eyes as vice president with Reagan having lost his memory, seemingly suffering from a form of Alzheimer’s searching the White House for Bonzo, the chimp he co-starred with in the 1951 film comedy, Bedtime For Bonzo. Since the scene slid from political satire into farce, I had already decided it needed a rewrite and the date change immediately solved that. However, it seemed inconceivable to me at that time that the Democrats would win the next election and Bush Sr. wouldn’t serve a second term in office.)
• The Spiral subplot which kicks off the book and introduces Corvino was originally longer and more detailed in regard as to how covert ops are mounted and executed.
• These sequences were inspired by actual situations involving the main Colombian cocaine cartels, the CIA, and rumored black ops incidents, but this was cut back and watered down after the book was reset in 1995.
• These changes constitute the major deletions between the first and second drafts, otherwise the plot and major sequences of the novel directly follow the outline I delivered to Lori Perkins in mid-December 1989.
• I researched the book for two months, and wrote the outline in ten days—ten days in which I lived, breathed, slept and dreamed the plot and barely left my flat.
• Four publishing houses were interested in the book, but Berkley won out for two reasons: first, they made an actual offer; and second, they wanted few changes to the story. Specifically, they requested I cut back on the espionage elements and increase the plague material. In fact, at one point it was suggested the title be changed to The Lazarus Plague. They also emphasized they wanted me to make the book violent and explicit.
• On that note, while working on the second draft, I actually censored myself and reduced the violence and gore, which prompted a worried outburst from my editors who begged me to put back all the nasty stuff, like Retek’s severed penis (I mention this to squash the rumors that an even more explicit version of the novel ever existed; sorry, there was nothing written of any consequence that didn’t make it into the finished manuscript).
• The only sequence in the outline which never made it into the novel was a chapter in which Nick and a bunch of cops fight the living dead in the Washington subway tunnels. Much as I was in love with the idea and really wanted to write it, the sequence threw off the novel’s structure and pacing and ultimately served no narrative function.
As far as the text of the version you hold in your hands is concerned, this is now the definitive version of the book.
When Dave Hinchberger expressed an interest in republishing the novel (after several years of fruitless discussions and negotiations with other publishers), I stressed part of my desire to see the book come back into print was to correct errors which had crept into the original Berkley/Jove edition. Despite the eagle eyes of my wife, writer Anya Martin, who has the visual acuity of a Terminator when it comes to proofreading, my own (not so good) proofing, and the hard work of my Berkley editors, a gremlin invaded the process and shit happened (aside from a couple of factual errors I made and never spotted). Preparing the manuscript for publication by the Overlook Connection Press took far longer than anticipated, and I sincerely thank Dave for his patience in awaiting its delivery.
To produce this definitive edition, I returned to the original manuscript, which I had not read in thirteen years, and painstakingly went through the book word by word, line by line, paragraph by paragraph. I have replaced two sentences that Berkley somehow “lost” between the final proofread and typesetting, and made some minor changes—word choices, nothing that alters plot or character.
Whether you are a first time reader or a long-term fan of the book, I hope this definitive edition brings you as much pleasure as it has for me in dusting off the cobwebs to bring you the “director’s cut” of a first novel, the success of which continues to surprise its author.
Philip Nutman
Atlanta, Georgia
October 13, 2004