Congratulations on your FOUR book deal with Berkley!!
Early today while I reviewing blogs and whatnot George let out a giddy girlie scream of delight. Now I'm used to him making comments over my shoulder as I go about my various activities online through out the day, but this was something different. Plus he normally only has snarky things to say about badly knit items, people who can't use Google to save their lives or the hordes of stupid humans who irritate the crap monkeys out of him. It's hard being a forward thinking Zombie in these crazy times. heh.
Yet when his shriek of delight nearly burst my eardrums I too had to take a closer look to see what had ignited him so.
First I noticed in Walter's post of yesterday that he had acquired out of the blue a FOUR book deal with Berkley. *Happy Otter Dance*
Finally! The honey and I have been waiting eons and eons for more of his books to get published. Well at least since 2005, which in Ottertime is wayyyyyyy too long to wait.
You'll notice in the photo that George is hugging two copies of Xombies. Yeah... so the honey found the book at the bookstore and thought it looked good. He'd never heard of Walter Greatshell before but given our love of Zombies decided to give it a try. When he started reading the book he was overcome with excitement and had to tell me all about it. He left out the bits that would have spoiled the twists and turns for me but gave me just enough that I was left impatiently waiting my turn to read it.
Once The Honey had finished reading the book he looked up the Author to see what else he had written. Sadly there wasn't anything else published at that time AND you couldn't get another copy of it anywhere. o.0 Frightening indeed!
This made The Honey extra protective of the one copy of Xombies we had in our possession.
There were RULES to reading the book. We could't take it with us during travels, especially any kind of air travel. (Just the thought of loosing this in some crappy airport or a hotel makes my skin crawl!) We could not read it while soaking in the bathtub. (granted this rule was aimed at me, even though I've never dropped a book in the bathtub ever. *sigh*) We also couldn't read it outside on very windy days. (It's Reno, the wind can rip the pages or even whole books from your hands without any notice.)
One day I was doing a random search through Amazon to see if anything new had been published by Walter Greatshell when they had some "alternative seller" copies of Xombies for sale. I snatched up one pristine copy along with the book The Undead: Flesh Feast (Zombie Anthology) featuring a forward by Walter Greatshell. I wrapped them both up and gave them to my honey. It was one of the best Birthday gifts I have ever given him. :D
Naturally he loved it, but questioned if perhaps we shouldn't just go ahead and get another copy, ya know just in case something happened to the two we now have. *L*
With two copies I still haven't risked breaking any of the rules. It is THE BEST Zombie / Apocalypse book EVER!
It's not just the compelling storyline that makes this book so memorable, but the actual writing skill. I know, a rarity these days for certain. But damn-it these books are wonderfully written with stylish turns of phrase that make you stop and think... and if you're a dork like me, think what a great quote that would make. *L*
The second best Zombie / Apocalypse book ever would be Stephen King's Cell. Great book, but still second best.
So you can see how excited George was at seeing his favorite Zombie Author finally getting the publishing love he deserves. :D
But that wasn't all!
At the end of Walter's post he mentions how he would like to Hug My George! *L* Priceless!
George being all dramatic, as anyone named after the Great Zombie Film Legend George A. Romero can expected to be, then insisted we take a special photo to post on the blog today.
Xombie George!
Now of course we have before us the long task of waiting for the books to come out. o.0
Chances are I'll knit a lot of socks before then. Maybe even some lace. *L*
Hell if I'm real lucky I'll finish the five pairs I have going right now. :P
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!
That George has got quite the little fan club going, doesn't he. :D
I'm so glad your friend got a book deal. With all the crap stuff that's printed, it's nice to know that someone with talent has a deal, too.
xo
Posted by: Cookie | February 26, 2009 at 01:43 PM
Hurray for Walter! Isn't it great when favorite authors are able to produce more stuff for us to read?!? Love George's scarf, too. :D
I have two copies of a special cookbook, just in case. I'm not likely to read it in the tub, though.
Posted by: Angie | February 27, 2009 at 02:06 PM
Hi Otter!
Just wanted to let you know my sequel to Xombies is finally out. It's called Xombies: Apocalypticon, and I'd love to send you (and George) a signed copy as a gift, since you've been so great. Just let me know where to send it, and I'll have it to you right away.
Thanks again for the support--and for your awesome website! Best--Walter Greatshell
Posted by: Walter Greatshell | March 01, 2010 at 02:21 PM