Opening Night — FINISHED

Last night, I posted my weekend “to do” list, including finishing the revisions for my novel in progress, Opening Night of the Dead. I did not expect too finish that particular job before I went to bed last night. But I did. And it was fun.

I’ve talked a little about ONotD before, but I don’t think I’ve ever gone into detail about it. It was my NaNoWriMo project for 2009, and like most of my books, I needed to put it aside after finishing it before I could do the revisions. I actually took the first pass at it last summer, and I’ve spend the last two months giving it the final once-over. I’m not quite done, though, I’m going to ask a few trusted editorial type friends of mine to give it a peek, but very soon I’m going to start shopping for a home for this story.

On the off chance that you (yes, you) reading this may be in a position to help ONotD find a home in print — paper or electronic — let me tell you just a little bit of what it’s like…

• This is, as the title implies, a zombie novel. It’s also, as I hope the title implies, a bit more lighthearted than the Dawn of the Dead type universe. Closer to Shaun of the Dead in tone, although drastically different in story.
• This is, in fact, a story that takes place in my world of The Curtain, but you need not have read any of that story to understand this one. It actually takes place before any of the main Curtain stories you’ve read thus far, in YOTC+4. However, those of you who have read the Curtain stories will find familiar faces, as well as the answers to some of your questions.
• The story also connects (again, not in a “must read that to read this” sort of way) to another story of mine that some of you have read, many of you have not, and I hope to remedy that situation in the near future.
• The main setting for this story is in a working movie lot that shares property with an amusement park, shortly before Halloween. Ever wondered what would happen if a zombie started nibbling on victims in a place where half the people are already wearing monster makeup? How do you know who to shoot?
• The final draft is a hair over 71,000 words. I hoped to make it longer (for comparison, Other People’s Heroes is about 90,000), but this is what it took to tell the story. Any more would have been needless filler.
• I am quite satisfied with the outcome.