Romance, Zombies, and Not-Quite Leading Ladies.

Hi, I'm Meredith Russell, and RJ’s invited me over for National Zombie Day to talk about a few of my favourite things from writing Dead Things and its sequel, Dead Fall.

Romance: what’s not romantic about a blood-soaked setting? Whether as reader or writer, I want nothing more than a happy ending for the story's leads. Of course, I expect our heroes to come up against a few obstacles along the way, it makes the relationship they're embarking on just that little bit sweeter. I like to see characters come together and overcome physical, mental or emotional struggles and finally find some peace and happiness – preferably in each other’s arms.

Zombies: not the first thing you think of for a romance novel, I know, but it's a genre I completely adore, and what's more hindering to a love story and potentially mood-killing than a bunch of zombies stalking our characters?

I'm not sure what it is about zombies that have me going gaga over them. I remember as a teenager playing Resident Evil 2 (Leon, yum!) and turning down the lights and upping the volume and my heart racing as I crept around the levels hoping nothing was lurking around the corner waiting to take a bite. It was damn creepy, but thank god for the healing herbs!

I have watched so many zombie movies, some I thought were brilliant (Dawn of the Dead, either version), some hilarious (Shaun of the Dead anyone?), some thoughtful (Colin – a low budget film told from Colin the zombies POV) and some just weird (Zombie Strippers – I totally watched it LOL). I've also enjoyed the evolution of the zombie in movies, some mixed with vampires – Stakeland did this excellently – some a little more human – the 28 Days/Weeks movies are my particular favourites plus they gave us scarier and quick moving zombiesque creatures. So yeah, I just really enjoy zombie stories.

Female Characters: though I am a writer of m/m romance, I have to say I adore creating a world for my characters to live in and therefore I need to populate that world with, hopefully, other interesting characters. I am of the generation growing up with Scully, Buffy, Seven of Nine, Sydney Bristow, Ripley and many more of who I consider strong female characters. What does that mean to me? Yes, most of them could kick your ass, but they also have the intelligence, and emotional vulnerability to make them 3 dimensional characters and equal to any other character. With Dead Things I hope I have added some interesting characters, two of which are women, both strong in their own and different ways.

Dead Things (Book 1)

Devin thought fighting a war in Afghanistan had shown him the worst kind of horrors.

It turned out he was wrong.

A deadly virus has infected the world population, leaving only a few survivors and creating monsters. Devin is part of a group who have found refuge in a secure place. He risks his life daily to scavenge the cities and highways for food and supplies.

On one fateful venture, Devin finds a man with the potential to change the dark future of blood and heartbreak into one of hope and second chances.

Available now: https://books2read.com/u/mvqX0V

Connect with Meredith

Website: meredithrussell.co.uk

Facebook: facebook.com/meredithrussellauthor

Twitter: MeredithRAuthor

Instagram: miss_meredith_r