BAD MOON RISING

BAD MOON RISING

Only four months and counting...

BAD MOON RISING, the final book of the Pine Deep Trilogy (which began with 2006’s GHOST ROAD BLUES and continued with 2007’s DEAD MAN’S SONG) will be released everywhere on May 8.

I’m getting pretty excited about the release of BAD MOON RISING, and for a number of reasons. First, the book has one hell of a lot of action in it. The growing threat discussed in the first two books explodes in the third and the second half of that book is basically one big, rolling battle between the dwindling forces of good and the swelling forces of evil. The dead rise to attack the world of the living with a Red Wave of murder. I had sooooo much fun writing that book.

The book also has a fun twist in that I’ve written a lot of real-world people into the book. I tapped a number of good folks in the horror industry and asked if I could write them into the story. Since the book deals with a massive Halloween celebration (during which very bad things happen) I wanted to have some fun with blurring the lines between reality and fantasy. So... I contacted a bunch of friends in the horror biz and asked if I could write them into the book. They all agreed, so in BAD MOON RISING you can expect to meet TOM SAVINI (make-effects wizard), STEPHEN SUSCO (screenwriter for the Grudge flicks), JAMES GUNN (screenwriter of the new Dawn of the Dead), BRINKE STEVENS (scream queen), DEBBIE ROCHON (scream queen), KEN FOREE (star of the original Dawn of the Dead), JIM O’REAR (stuntman and haunted attraction consultant), and JOE BOB BRIGGS (drive-in movie critic and actor). Also making a brief appearance is MEM SHANNON (one of my all-time favorite Bluesmen!).

And these folks aren’t just doing walk-ons. They actually get into the action. Question is...will they make it out of Pine Deep alive?

This is going to be fun!

Jonathan Maberry
www.jonathanmaberry.com

Hanging Out with the Ghosts in My Head

For the last few years I’ve been living in a different reality with folks that don’t really exist. And I kind of miss them. I’m getting separation anxiety.

After nearly thirty years as a writer of nonfiction articles and books I broke into fiction with my 2006 novel GHOST ROAD BLUES, the first of a trilogy of supernatural thrillers set in the fictional town of Pine Deep, Pennsylvania. (And yes, for those of you who have asked...Pine Deep is based on New Hope, PA). The trilogy continued with DEAD MAN’S SONG (released from Pinnacle Books in July) and will conclude with BAD MOON RISING in May 2008.

The thing is...all three books are written, the story is told and I’ve moved on. I’m now writing bio-terrorism thrillers for St. Martin’s Press. And though I’m loving the new book and the new cast of characters I miss that group of people I got to know in Pine Deep. You see, to me the characters are the most important part of any story. If I don’t bond with the characters (whether good or vile) I don’t become invested in the book. That’s as true for me as a writer as it is as a reader, and I felt that Malcolm Crow, Val Guthrie, Mike Sweeney, Terry Wolfe, Willard Fowler Newton, Jonatha Corbiel, Frank Ferro, Vince LaMastra and Dr. Saul Weinstock were real people. I cared about them...even the ones I eventually kill off as the series unfolds.

Recently Michaela Hamilton, my editor at Pinnacle, sent me the copy edit manuscript of Bad Moon Rising to review and make some changes. It was the first time I’d read the book since I’d wrapped it up many moons ago, and revisiting the creepy ol’ town of Pine Deep and spending time with the characters again was strangely moving. It was fun, and sad (‘cause I really do kill a bunch of them off and then have to leave all of them again.

Who knows, maybe like a guest who doesn’t want to leave a party I’ll pretend I’ve forgotten my car keys and use it as an excuse to revisit Pine Deep. One of these days.