A short interview with me just went live over at the website for The Living Dead 2. Here’s a sample:
Was this story a particularly challenging one to write? If so, how?
It was, yes. This is the first sequel I’ve written, and it’s hard. I have a lot more perspective now on why movie sequels are often so terrible. A sequel has to make sense and be enjoyable whether or not you’re familiar with the original story, and has to stay true to the established characters without just repeating what came before. For a long time I was stuck, since by the end of “The Skull-Faced Boy” the conflicts and agendas of the characters are all pretty much on the table, and I wasn’t sure how to maintain tension carrying things forward. My big break came when I considered creating a new main character, Park, whose agenda and relationships to the existing characters would be completely fresh. And so as not to repeat myself, I made him completely different from my original protagonist, Jack. Jack is an ordinary young man, sensitive, kind of a doormat type, whereas Park is a very, very dangerous soldier.
Leave a Reply