Dying Days 2

by Armand Rosamilia

  "I guess. Can we go now?"

  "Sure. Keep your eyes open."

  "How many times are you going to tell me that?"

  "Until it really sinks in."

  They got back on the dune buggy and headed north again. The road was still clear ahead and behind.

  Eric picked up the pace. He wanted to talk to the others now. If a large group was in the area, he doubted they would skip over the Golden Lion and would have definitely kicked in a locked door. It didn't make sense.

  "Stop," Chris, suddenly, cried out.

  Eric pulled over onto the side of the road.

  "Back there. I thought I saw someone standing on the ramp."

  Eric turned the dune buggy around slowly. "Where?"

  Chris pointed at the Java Joint. "That coffee place. I swear, someone was just standing there as we drove past."

  "Get the shotgun."

  Eric pulled up to the bottom of the ramp and stared at the dark interior, but he saw no movement, especially from this low angle. "I'll lead. Give me the shotgun and stay a few feet behind me."

  They took slow steps up the wooden ramp, careful not to trip on debris. At the top of the ramp, they stepped onto the main deck, which wrapped around the building to their left. The front doors were open, the glass long since broken.

  Eric stepped inside and led with the shotgun. The tables and chairs had been jammed to either side. The wooden counter was still intact, but the cash register was on the ground in pieces. Two bathroom doors stood before him to the right. "Cover me."

  The men's room was empty. Eric flung open the ladies room but it was also unoccupied. Eric pointed to the counter. "Let's check out the kitchen."

  "I wish they had a cheeseburger and coffee."

  Eric smiled. "Maybe they will. Stay sharp."

  Behind the counter was a brush of sand from the broken side window. The cabinets were open and empty, and the soda cooler was a jagged mess. "I've been in here before. Months ago. It's been picked clean."

  "Then let's get out of here," Chris said.

  "Not until we check the back."

  "I have your back," Chris said.

  Eric wasn't too relieved by his words. The kid would run in a heartbeat, if there was trouble. "Ready?"

  He didn't wait for Chris to say anything before stepping into the kitchen area. It was a wreck but just as he remembered it. There were also bare footprints in the dirt and dust on the floor. Eric didn't like it, but figured a zombie had wandered in at some point recently. More than likely, it was now piled under the boardwalk.

  "Clear. Let's get out of here." Eric walked out and back into the sunshine, breathing in the clean air. At least with the demise of the human race, the pollution and noise had stopped. The air was fresh with no vehicle exhausts, cigarette smoke, and music playing. But it was lonely.

  They got back into the dune buggy and started driving away.

  "I'm almost positive I saw someone," Chris said.

  Eric nodded. Normally, he would doubt anything the kid said, and they'd walked through the Java Joint. But Eric couldn't help the feeling they were being watched.

  Follow the survivors in Dying Days 3, out now!

  DYING DAYS 3

  A History Lesson…

  The Beginnings of Dying Days 2

  December 16th 2011

  Began a Kickstarter for Dying Days 2. I noticed there were only three book projects up on their site and wanted to see if I could get donations for people to want to be in the book. Fun perks. 19 backers pledged $1,106 and some of them became ongoing characters in the entire series:

  Russ "Madman" Meyer, Tosha Shorb, Steven Brack, David Monsour, Ellen Harden, and Michael Ross…

  Others donated and got ebook and/or print copies when Dying Days 2 was released: Bill O'Toole, Carl R. Moore, Michael Wolfe, Wayne Via, Don Corcoran, Nancy Tomec, Jonathan Lambert, Erik Gustafson, Cheree Ingram, Wendy McLane, Jennifer McMorrow, Brian Philbin, and C.J. Marsicano

  It was a great experiment and I’m glad I did it before Kickstarter became almost a norm for anyone releasing books for a period only a few short years later.

  Some of the blog posts from http://armandrosamilia.com follow to take you through the journey…

  February 3rd 2012

  This week I officially began the sequel to Dying Days, which is titled Dying Days 2… I know, I know, you didn’t see that title coming. I really wanted to name it Dying Days 2: Electric Bugaloo but decided against it (people who are old like me will get the joke)…

  The first three chapters are actually finished and appeared last week in the updated print version of Dying Days

  As for the rest? I’m getting there slowly but surely… my goal is a thousand words a day this month, with a rough goal of 29,000 words to finish the first draft of the novella.

  I’ve introduced some new characters to the series as well, ones I’m quite proud of so far…

  Tosha Shorb – vixen firecracker, tough and sure of herself

  David Monsour – runs the guard duty in St. Augustine, over his head with problems besides the zombie apocalypse

  Steve ‘The Breeze’ Brack – famous race car driver, and famously arrogant

  Mike Ross – motorcycle fanatic, Steve’s biggest fan, and driver of Steve’s tour bus

  Ellen Harden – runs Scarlet’s bar but just wants to go home to her family

  There are a couple more that will be added in later (and a shitload of people that will die… it’s a zombie book, people!)

  Now, back to writing… I’m ahead of schedule but need to keep it moving…

  February 26th 2012

  I wrote the very last lines of Dying Days 2 at exactly 11:58 pm on February 25th… with exactly 2 minutes to spare in my deadline.

  Once again, I cut it to the very end, but I am happy I did. I think it’s my best work so far in my career (we’ll call it a career, I’m excited right now)… I was so worried about being behind, but I managed 27k words of this rough first draft, and my three beta readers have already begun the task of marking it up with problems.

  Today I think I’ll toy around with promotions, updating the Twitter account, pulling out a new index card for the week ahead and figuring out what the next 15 projects are going to be.

  It is such a great feeling to finish something, but I’m also sitting here feeling sad. Another group of great characters perished, and the Darlene Bobich saga is stopped once again. Will there be more? I think so.

  I guess only the readers can really tell me if it’s worth sweating another month of deadlines…

  March 8th 2012

  Just uploaded Dying Days 2, my latest extreme zombie novella, to the printer…

  What a great feeling! Even though this is my 40th book (or eBook) I’ve had published, I still get that excitement bubbling to the surface when I hit that send button and see it’s getting ready for sale.

  Of course, having a physical copy in my hands will be another thrill for me… and it never lessens.

  The print version usually takes a day or so to be finished, and then I’ll order my proof copy early next week. Once it’s in my hands and I OK it, we’ll be ready to go live.

  Expect the eBook versions on Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble and SmashWords by Monday, right in time for my Dying Days Blog Tour 2012…

  Now, I’m going to go dance around the living room in my M&M sleep-pants…

  May 17th 2012

  I’ve been very blessed over the last few weeks. My sales (especially when it comes to my Dying Days zombie series) has never been better, I had my best month in sales ever last month and I’m on pace to beat that by 20-25% this month so far… good times.

  One reason (I think) for my success was the Dying Days Blog Tour I did from mid-March thru the end of April. It generated great buzz, I had a blast doing so many interviews and guest blogs, and my sales spiked constantly.

  With my Still Dying: Select Scenes From Dying Days collection coming along and ready for a summer release, I deci
ded to do another blog tour. But, if you’ve read my blog, you’ll know that I never do anything the easy way or the safe way…

  I’d been kicking around an idea for a blog tour with another zombie author, but didn’t know how to approach it. Hell, I didn’t even know who I should pair up with.

  I wanted someone I respected, an author that had a few books out and ideally a zombie series to promote. I am friendly with quite a few zombie authors, especially since putting out the non-fiction Zombie Writing! book not too long ago. But who?

  Mark Tufo asked a question about putting a blog tour together, since the summer is generally slow. The proverbial lightbulb went off in my head. I contacted Mark, we talked, and decided to put something together.

  And here’s where my personality comes in. Once again, just finding another writer to do the tour wasn’t enough for me. I decided to think bigger, think grand.

  I invited TW Brown and Ian Woodhead, another two authors that fit the bill for what I was looking for. The original idea was for five of us to do this tour, from June 1st until the end of July. We invited a fifth but he couldn’t commit.

  Mark suggested John O’Brien and Ian suggested Dave Jeffery. I knew both of their names and knew they were good at their craft. I asked, they were both excited, and the Summer of Zombie Blog Tour was born.

  As dates are announced I’ll be posting them here, and we’ll be moving right along.

  We’ll have individual interviews, round-robin group interviews, guest blogs from each of us and group ones, and tons of giveaways of eBooks and print books.

  Stay tuned for a fun summer of zombie reading.

  The original flyers for the very first Summer of Zombie blog tour

  July 11th 2012 interview I did for Karen’s Different Corners website

  Please Welcome Armand Rosamilia!

  Hi Armand I am so happy that you dropped by to visit!

  And don’t worry, I’ve banished the dogs to the other

  room.

  Armand many people don’t like the name they were given at birth. Do you like your given name? If not, what would you rather have been named?

  I hated Armand growing up (It’s actually Armando) but love it now. My friends call me Mando. When I was in high school, Anne Rice’s Vampire Armand was quite popular and people thought it was a fake name… so many idiots were running around calling themselves Larry Lestat and crap like that.

  Do you write under your given name or a pseudonym?

  I guess just using Armand Rosamilia instead of Armando is a bit different, but everyone in my family with this name (Italian family, so every first-born male is named Armando) goes by Armand.

  Is there a routine you go through before you begin writing?

  Yes and it begins with coffee brewing. While I wait I check my e-mails, sales and whatnot. I guzzle my first cup (I usually finish two pots of coffee a day myself) and begin writing. My daily goal is 2,000 words.

  Is there anyone you admire?

  My father, who worked his ass off for the family. We weren’t very financially well-off, but he worked for 30 years in the same job, rose through the ranks, and retired at 50. Yet, we never knew we were borderline poor because my parents took care of us and made us respect everything and work for what you wanted instead of just asking for it.

  What do you like to read?

  Everything. I especially love horror fiction, but non-fiction books (music biographies and history) and steampunk, thrillers and crime fiction are right up there.

  Do you have a favorite author?

  Dean Koontz was the guy who got me into reading horror. As a young kid and into my teens I read everything he released, since my mother bought anything horror that came out.

  Does it have to be quiet when you write or do you like background noise? TV, music, etc.

  That depends on what I’m writing and the scene I’m writing. When writing a zombie attack I’ll listen to some old school Heavy Metal I grew up on, like Anthrax or Slayer. When I’m writing something ‘quieter’ or more character-driven I tend to write in silence.

  Beach or mountains? You know I’m really going to have to do a poll on this question

  I was born in New Jersey and grew up on the Jersey shore. Now I live a quick drive to the beaches in Florida, so I’ve always been close to the beach.

  What inspires you?

  Everything around me. My girlfriend, the kids, the weird people you see at WalMart in the middle of the night… as a writer, everything is a potential story and character.

  (This is too funny! I take it you get all those funny people of walmart emails too.)

  Okay Favorite snack food?

  I eat way too many snacks and junk. Sitting here writing all day and most nights, I keep eating crap and gaining weight. M&M’s are my Kryptonite.

  Doesn’t matter who we are, man, woman, child, all of us get freaked out by something. Spiders, mice, snakes, bugs, geese, etc. What freaks you out?

  Yes, lol… I am actually quite afraid of dogs, no matter how small or big. As long as they are loose and looking at me I freak out. I’m a big dude (six foot, 280 pounds, look like Kerry King from Slayer) but I will run like a little girl.

  (You’ll have to tell us in the comments, but why are you afraid of dogs?)

  What is the most unusual job you’ve ever had?

  I’ve done retail for over 20 years, mostly as a store manager, until I started writing full-time last September. The strangest was probably working at a fast food chicken place, having to cut up chickens for the fryers. It was a horrible job, I was 18, and I lasted 2 weeks.

  I read on another blog, that a writer was working on 10 novels at once. Confusing! Do you work on one or multiple novels at a time?

  I always have 3-5 stories open that I am working on. Some are farther along than others, but I try to write 2,000 words a day on something and hopefully more.

  What do you like to do when you are not writing?

  Watching the Boston red Sox, listening to Heavy Metal, and spending time with the family… although they complain I write too much…

  Hmm…Heavy metal? Favorite group?

  And last question…Do you have anything new coming out that you’d like to share with us?

  Always something coming out! The easiest way to see my latest is to go to my blog and see the links there at

  http://armandrosamilia.com/

  Thank you for the interview!

  Armand Rosamilia is a New Jersey boy currently living in sunny Florida, exactly in the area these stories take place… creepy. He writes all day (and sometimes at night), and has amassed over 70 releases to date, with many many more on the horizon.

  Want to buy all of his books so he can get fatter, sitting around in Flagler Beach, eating cinnamon raisin bagels with tuna and drinking banana bread beer?

  http://armandrosamilia.com will get you all the details. He likes tips and bags of M&M's as well…