My World Building Truths

I just want to say how stoked I am to be here at Smash Attack Reads! Smash Attack Ash is such an inventive nickname, I’ve told Ash this… it grabbed me, pulled me in, and I want to know her every thought on the books she reads. I’m thrilled to be doing a guest post on her blog! Yes I know, I’m weird, and I have a thing for names.

If you’ve read Taking on the Dead, you’ll know that almost immediately. My protagonist’s name is Kansas City Sunshine Moore. There’s a guest post floating around somewhere on how I decided on the name.

I’m actually glad for the opportunity to write this post. Many people go into reading Taking on the Dead thinking it’s another continuous “fight for your life” typical zombie novel. It’s not. It’s hardly about zombies at all. I did this on purpose. I wrote it for fun. The Trilogy is about a young woman who survived alone and ventures out into the post apocalyptic world… and learns what it’s like to live again, and has real life struggles thrown at her.

My world building in The Famished Trilogy is one I did with detail, and I had a blast creating it. In a post-apocalyptic world,there are many things to think about when surviving in one. Food, water, gasoline and oil, weapons, shelter, technology, and most importantly, people.

I’m almost sure what Smash wants from this post is for me to write about the community Kan eventually finds herself in. I was chatting with a friend the other day about this… We discussed the many things that I could entertain here like: I came up with the community while tripping on several different hallucinogenic drugs. One night I got really drunk and stumbled upon an underground club, and woke up with weird flashes of the cool, otherworldly things I experienced. Anyone who has read Taking on the Dead would believe that it came out of some drunken shenanigans. I mean, I could come up with some long-winded and dull post to make me sound like the intellectual type… would you read it all? Probably not.

Although I do wish I had some awesome tale to tell… I don’t.

I’m going to be honest. I don’t know how I came up with the community. It just popped out from my own imagination. I knew I wanted it to be different and unforgettable. I knew it would have to resemble people living the best they can in a world full of zombies. I didn’t want my characters to be in “survival” mode the whole time. I wanted to delve into how people would be living and how they adapted in such a situation. Therefore, “the community” was born. The survivors that make up the community all have something to contribute, even if it isn’t needed to survive, they need it to live – to help them move forward in their everyday lives. And live they do. The community is a big stepping stone for Kan relearning how to live herself.

Some of my characters also begin in a stereotypical way, but once you get to know them, they aren’t. Just like real people. Some characters speak in a dialect I made up. For the fun of it, and to make some characters more colorful. I also wanted to drive a point that when you live with someone, or are with someone for long enough, you can easily pick up their habits. I show this with the dialect to highlight the majority collective mindset of the community. There isn’t a region or place I chose the dialect from.

Romance and sex. This aspect of my book is obviously frowned upon. I don’t know why, it’s not like it’s the focus of the book. When writing TotD, I struggled with having it as a sub-plot. I really did, but I came to the conclusion that romance and sex is abig part of human nature… are people going to stop having romantic relationships just because zombies are running around, especially four years after the fact? Hardly. I’m also rooting for Kan. She’s been alone for years. She deserves some hanky panky, but it’s not all she thinks about. She sets her mind on a goal and moves toward it.

That brings me to the main plot of the trilogy. Zombies? The “whys” and “hows” are only a sub-plotting, but the over all plot isreally how the people survive and adapt. Are you going to get your questions answered? Yes. Am I going to lead you around by your nose? No. The story follows Kan and how she interprets things. There are plenty of clues along the way. Sometimes Kan takes note, but doesn’t think much about it. Sometimes she completely misses the point. What fun would it be if you knew everything up front? There’s more to come, and I’m sure you’ll get more questions than answers before it’s all said and done. =)

Anyway, there you have it. My Famished World. Even though it just popped out, I think all the best things do. I love how it turned out. I hope you have as much fun reading as I had writing it.

I am completely on board with Annie’s take on community in a post-apocalyptic world. People need people, regardless of the situation. Annie’s community is one that will leave a look like this – o.O – on your face, no doubt, but it will also warm your heart.

Be sure to stop by tomorrow for my review of  Taking on the Dead!

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Meet Annie Walls

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook

Author of dark fantasy and sub-genres of horror. Voracious Reader and Googler. Lover of dark humor. Horror Buff. Zombie Apocalypse Enthusiast. Loyal Cracked follower. Pinterest Addict. Wife of adoring husband. Mother of a five year old Bruce Wayne. Cook. Maid. Kisser of boo-boos. Ultimate Time Waster. Perfect Procrastinator. Lolly Gagger. Trubie. Cake Decorator. Tea Drinker. Sculpey Sculptor. Girl Gamer. Perfectionist in the art of Facebook stalking. And now, God help me, a blogger. Oh yeah, and a twitter, twatter, tweeter. Well yeah, I’m one crafty bitch.

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