Posts tagged ‘Walt Trizna’
On the eve of this horror holiday, I thought I would offer a zombie treat.
This story was published in the now defunct Blood, Blade, & Thruster in their Winter 2006/2007 issue. Included in this issue was an interview published with Piers Anthony. This association caused my writing career to soar. JUST KIDDING. I should have saved that for April 1st. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story, and if you have a moment during your busy life, LET ME KNOW, my ego would appreciate the response.
THE RELUCTANT ZOMBIE
As Norman stumbled through the dank Haitian swamp, he groaned, “Willard, it feels so unnatural walking around with my arms outstretched, but I can’t seem to put them down. “I have an image to uphold.”
Willard, who was shuffling along, shook his head and sighed, “Of course it’s unnatural, you’re a zombie, damn it. And your image is history.”
Norman complained, “I didn’t ask to be a zombie.” With some difficulty, he swiveled his neck and surveyed the Haitian countryside.
Norman took in the landscape surrounding him. He walked through a village. It was nothing more than a few huts of mud and straw along a dusty road. Chickens pecked in the brush along the roadside. Chickens! For some reason their presence made him uncomfortable. “I really don’t want to be a zombie,” Norman muttered. He was a forty-year-old college professor, a dark-haired trim man who always dressed well. Now he was walking around covered in grime and dressed in rags.
Willard said, “If you didn’t want to become a zombie, you shouldn’t have run over the old voodoo woman’s chickens with your jeep. Was she ever pissed? She’s also the one that converted me into a zombie, but that’s another story.”
Norman looked at Willard and could not guess what he once looked like. Willard was pale, gaunt and dressed in rags. His age made undeterminable by his zombie state.
“As soon as you angered her she began making one of her little dolls. She cackled while she worked. That is never a good sign. The doll is where your soul now resides.”
“I can’t believe this is happening to me, Willard. I came to Haiti to do research on Haitian religions. I am, or was, a respected and well-published anthropologist. Now look at me. I’m wearing rags and walking around like a…, like a …
“Zombie!” asked Willard
“Just because I ran over a few chickens?”
“Um, Norman, they looked like chickens, but they weren’t. Nothing around the voodoo woman’s house is what it appears. They were once her enemies. She changed them into chickens and you freed them from pecking for insects along the road for the rest of their lives. You ended their suffering. So naturally, in her anger, she turned you into a zombie. I am assigned to train all novice zombies. To instruct how to attack people teach them what are the best parts to eat.”
Norman made a face at this remark.
“Now what?” asked Willard?
Norman sighed, “I’m a vegetarian. But I will eat dairy.”
Willard said with disgust, “There are no vegetarian zombies. And attacking the dairy section of a store is not going to do much for the zombie image.”
Norman grumbled, “Oh, I wouldn’t want to do anything to detract from the zombie image. Give me a break.”
As the two zombies were arguing, Willard happened to glance over to the voodoo woman’s house. There she stood in the doorway. Willard could tell she was not happy.
She hobbled toward Willard and Norman, a waddling mass adorned with bones and beads. Her crown of thick dreadlocks made her appear as if some multi-legged beast was sitting on her head.
The old voodoo woman shouted at Norman, “I knew you be a trouble maker, with your fancy jeep and running over people’s property.”
Norman mumbled, “Sorry about the chickens.”
“You sorry all right. You be good and sorry real soon.”
The old woman produced her Norman doll, lifted the doll skyward, and began chanting in a low rumbling voice.
Norman’s soul returned to his body. He felt like his old self. He laughed with relief, then glance up. Willard stumbled toward him, arms raised.
“Willard old buddy, we’re friends – right?”
Willard only growled and roared.
Norman looked desperately for an escape. On either side of him, zombies with ash-gray complexions staggered in his direction. He was surrounded.
The old voodoo woman said, “Here be my ‘children’, and they be hungry.” She cackled as the circle of zombies grew smaller and smaller around Norman.
From beyond the wall of the living dead, Norman pleaded, “Please, make me a chicken!”
THE END
Those that observe ‘Mischief Night, please be kind.
Here are some links where you may purchase my work.
Melange Books
http://www.melange-books.com/authors/walttrizna/index.html
Barnes & Noble.com
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/walt-trizna?store=book&keyword=walt+trizna
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=walt+trizna
October 30, 2015 at 9:12 pm
A few days ago, after many rewrites, I finally finished my novella, Elmo’s Invention. This 16,500 word work is a prequel to my first published Elmo novella, Elmo’s Sojourn, available from Melange Books.
Completing this current novella took quite longer than it should. Life’s been rough but that’s part of the experience. But once finished, off it went to Melange Books hopefully with a happy outcome.
Not to give too much away, Elmo’s Invention is the story of a Los Alamos scientist, Elmo, who tinkers in his cellar with ‘off the wall’ ideas that no one would pay him to pursue. In the course of his tinkering, he invents the perfect prison, but that was not the result he was after.
If this stirs your interest, I’ll let you know if it is published and you interest can be satisfied.
Here are some links where you may purchase my work.
Melange Books
http://www.melange-books.com/authors/walttrizna/index.html
Barnes & Noble.com
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/walt-trizna?store=book&keyword=walt+trizna
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=walt+trizna
September 24, 2015 at 5:41 pm
9. This would make a great series – have you considered writing the next adventure?
Glad you asked this one, it’s already written. Elmo’s Invention is a prequel to Elmo’s Sojourn. In Elmo’s Invention Elmo is working at Los Alamos and here sets out to build a time machine using an old iron lung, but things do not go as planned.
This novella is longer than Elmo’s Sojourn and still needs a lot of editing, and then out it goes. I’m sure there will be other stories fermenting in my brain, but they have yet come to the surface.
10. What are you working on now?
Currently, I’m doing a great deal of editing. I have two novels written but are in need of a rewrite.
The Beast Awaits is the most complete. It deals with a monster created through stem cell research. It escapes into the Everglades and its destruction leads to enhanced global warming. How’s that for ‘hot button’ issues?
Sweet Depression is a novel which is a cross between the work of James Patterson and Robin Cook, a very sinister thriller set in a pharmaceutical company.
11. In your point of view, what is the most difficult part of the writing life?
Imagining story ideas I find to be the easiest part. The writing can be difficult and the editing is, I find, even more difficult. But the part of writing I find the most difficult is trying to get the work published. I agonize over writing query letters.
12. Do you outline your stories before you sit down to write?
For short stories, I mull over the plot before I put pen to paper. I write all my first drafts by hand. So when I begin writing the story, it’s already fully formed in my mind.
For novels I use an outline but keep it fluid. In a steno pad, for each novel, I form an outline to include scenes and dialog when the characters start talking.
13. What plans do you have for your writing going into the future?
If I can publish Sweet Depression I have plans to write at least one sequel.
I’ve also published a short story, Martian Rebirth, which I want to develop into a novel.
And of course, my brain keeps on cranking out short story ideas.
http://www.melange-books.com/authors/walttrizna/elmossojourn.html
March 14, 2014 at 7:30 pm
5. Your time machine seemed very well thought out – is it based on something in theoretical science.
The time machine is a product of my imagination.
While I was in college, there was a guy in the dorm who built a tesla coil. You could pull something like a quarter million volts to your finger, but since the amperage was low, you survived. I had to get that thing into a story.
6. How do you personally relate to your main character in your story?
I was a scientist for 34 years, but a biologist not a physicist. I love science and the opportunity it gives you to discover something new, when all the parts of a puzzle suddenly come together. I share the wonder Elmo has for science.
7. How challenging was it to build your alien landscapes and creatures?
I have a very active imagination so it was really quite easy. But the creatures changed along the way. The first creature that comes through Elmo’s machine was going to be the dominant creature on Roth, but of course that changed. Then Valmid was going to be a sinister being and that changed. Since I needed some conflict, Gylex came into being and I could just picture what it looked like.
8. What theme do you want to convey to your readers?
I think, as with most science fiction, I want to create adventure and the wonder of the unknown.
http://www.melange-books.com/authors/walttrizna/elmossojourn.html
March 12, 2014 at 7:09 pm
Here is a link for an interview I did for Melange Books.
You might learn a little more about me (lucky you) and about Elmo’s Sojourn.
Enjoy.
http://www.melange-books.com/blog/
March 3, 2014 at 8:22 pm
Yes!!! Elmo’s Sojourn is now for sale as an ebook. You can buy it for your Kindle. If you don’t have an eReader you can get a PDF copy for your computer. Give Elmo a shot and tell me what you think. Here’s a link where you can make your purchase. http://www.melange-books.com/authors/walttrizna/elmossojourn.html
February 14, 2014 at 8:08 pm
My eBook, Elmo’s Sojourn will be published by Melange Books on February 10th.
Here’s the cover.
January 26, 2014 at 8:39 pm
Many of us blog on a regular basis, or in my case, I visit on a rather irregular one. Yet how many of us pause to ponder the power attached to what we are doing? We are displaying, not only to our friends and acquaintances but to the entire world and perhaps beyond (my science fiction side is showing), our thoughts and sometimes emotions. What we consider important.
This realization crept into my brain when I used a relatively new feature provided by WordPress. It allows you to view the hits your blog has produced around the world. Granted, for me, the vast majority of views listed are countries in which only a solitary person read my blog, but that means in that remote corner of the world my voice was heard. Heady stuff. So for me, as my thoughts sail into infinity – and beyond, I will strive to make them clear, concise and worthy of your time.
November 18, 2013 at 6:19 pm
I’ve mentioned Elmo in the past. He exists as a figment of my imagination. One that I’ve grown to know over the years since he was first created. He began life as a short story, but due to his thirst for adventure, he grew into a novella, Elmo’s Sojourn. In this story he is a retired Los Alamos scientist experimenting in his cellar when he stumbles on a method of space travel through wormholes. This novella will be available as an eBook released next February by Melange Books. For those who can’t wait, Elmo’s Sojourn is already available now in an anthology, Curious Hearts, also published by Melange Books.
I decided for Elmo to have more adventures, but during his earlier years while working at Los Alamos resulting in another novella, Elmo’s Invention. In this episode he sets out to invent a time machine. His machine works, but not as he had anticipated and results in a caustic response from the public. This novella is in the editing process and will hopefully find a home.
I will continue to follow Elmo into his youth.
October 26, 2013 at 8:10 pm
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