By TRICIA HILL
As zombies become more popular fictional characters around the world, they are becoming more apparent in our books, movies and television shows. Boscobel writer Jon Stagman recently joined other zombie fans as he had his first short story, “Jennifer and the Zombies,” published in the e-book “Zombie Addiction.”
“Zombie Addiction” can be found on Amazon.com as an e-book for $2.99. All proceeds made from the book will be donated to charity. The book was released on Halloween 2013 and is filled with short stories on all things zombie, published by C.M. Wright. There are a total of 11 authors, including Stagman. C.M. Wright’s hope is to eventually release a paperback copy of the book.
“I never really got into zombies until I started talking to people on Facebook and watching the television show “The Walking Dead,” Stagman said.
Stagman worked on “Jennifer and the Zombies” for about a month before he found C.M. Wright on Facebook. When Stagman sent his first copy of “Jennifer and the Zombies” to C.M. Wright, it was rejected due to errors. Stagman then made changes to the story and had a friend edit it before he sent it back to C.M. Wright. The story was then accepted and added to “Zombie Addiction.”
Stagman’s story is the second story found in the book. It is dedicated to his mother Donna, sister Vicki, girlfriend Jennifer and late father Ray. Jennifer is the protaganist in the story, along with her boyfriend and her mother, who are in search of other survivors in their community.
In the story Jennifer is a web designer based in Cleveland who can never imagine leaving. However, according to the first chapter, she may have no choice.
“If the day’s news headlines are true, her life may never be the same again,” Stagman writes. “Reports of an unknown disease seems to be spreading and resulting in people turning into zombies, zombies that are taking over the planet with their brain-eating, flesh-consuming, stiff-walking way of life.”
Stagman left the short story open ended so he could potentially write a sequel to the story if he wanted.
“I figured I would give it a try and submitted it to C.M. Wright,” Stagman said. “I wanted to go through the process of being published.”
The Machine Chronicles
Stagman began writing when he was a senior attending Boscobel High School, where he graduated in 1997. During high school Stagman enjoyed things involving superheroes and collecting baseball cards.
For the past year Stagman has been working on a superhero series called “Machine Chronicles.” The series is about a former baseball player who becomes a superhero. Stagman’s hope is to have the first hard copy out for purchase by May 2014.
“My goal is for the end of May,” Stagman said. “Sometimes I set a date and something comes up delaying the process.”
Stagman will not be working with a professional publisher for his book. He plans to do the publishing himself using a program on createspace.com.
“I was pleased with having my short story published and it gave me learning experience to help with the publishing of my series,” Stagman said.
Outside of his writing, Stagman works at Boscobel’s local Piggly Wiggly store. He continues to work on stories and hopes to make his dream of becoming a published author a reality.
Stagman invites people to check out his Facebook pages, “Author John Stagman” and “The Machine Chronicles.”
