It all started with the chicken gyro incident in New Mexico, when an innocent child ventured too close and was blinded in one eye by a stream of tzatziki sauce. In the ensuing court case, a liquid propulsion engineer recreated the stream under controlled conditions where it was used to kill a test pigeon three feet from the jury stand. The scientist was burned in effigy by PETA, and the judge ordered the jury to disregard what they had seen, but it was too late – the damage had been done.
Any law enforcement official may now stop me at any time within the borders of New Mexico and compel me to produce a state-approved feed bag. While I am no longer allowed inside Greek diners or restaurants, I must wear the feed bag when I enter any other eating establishment, even if it is to only use the bathroom (I found that out the hard way). Failure to do so can result in up to three days in jail, and potentially the confiscation of the illegally ingested meal through a forcibly administered dose of ipecac syrup.
It doesn’t seem fair. Don’t they think that girl’s screams haunt my nightmares to this day? Isn’t it punishment enough to know that the shard of cucumber that dislodged her cornea was delivered by my own negligence? Some might even question why I even continue to eat in New Mexico, especially since I live in Massachusetts, but it’s about a little thing called freedom.
Don’t even get me started about the shrimp vindaloo fiasco in Vegas…
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Posted in Writing.
By James Knapp
– February 22, 2010
This news is a bit late in coming but Jessica Strider reviewed State of Decay the other day over at Sci-Fi Fan Letter, and Jessica totally got what I was going for, and that made me happy. On a related note, I think I have gotten more alerts and links from Sci-Fi Fan Letter than anywhere else on the tubes except maybe John Scalzi’s Whatever feature. Jessica also did an email interview with me on her site which marks the first I have done.
Posted in State of Decay, Writing.
By James Knapp
– February 19, 2010
I suppose it might seem a little corny but I had to visit the local Barnes & Noble to find my book. I just had to *see* it. When I got there, I found it in the Science Fiction section, but also in the ‘New Paperbacks’ section. I snuck a snapshot of it there:
Now, I realize this has everything to do with our last names, but it was a huge thrill for me to see my book sitting on the shelf right next to a Nancy Kress novel. I am a longtime fan of Kress, and I’ve bought many of her books over the years. She’s one of my influences, so to be wading into the pond in which she swims really struck me.
I was by myself, and it was a slow day at the bookstore…no one knew who I was and the few people who saw me take the picture looked like they wondered what the hell I was doing, but it was one of the coolest moments I’ve had since this whole thing got started.
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Posted in State of Decay, Writing.
Tagged with nancy kress, science fiction, state of decay, Writing.
By James Knapp
– February 7, 2010
Posted in Writing.
By James Knapp
– February 2, 2010
I’ve never met TheSciFiChick but I may have to declare her my new BFF after this amazing review:
State of Decay, by James Knapp
Nico Wachalowski is a FBI agent investigating a conspiracy where zombie-like revivors are being programmed to murder. Revivors are reanimated corpses, typically used in battle. An old flame, an alcoholic psychic, and a tough cage fighter all become involved in Wachalowski’s investigation. With their help, he must uncover his dangerous plot before all the evidence is erased.
The story is told from each of the four main characters’ point of view, in first person. At first, these complex characters seem random, but it isn’t long before their paths connect in different ways. Knapp has created a strange and eerie world where quality of life is determined by whether or not you serve in the military or donate your body to become a revivor after death – how much you are willing to give of yourself to the government to live a comfortable life.
This impressive debut incorporates a futuristic technology, fantasy, zombie-like creatures, mystery, danger, and intrigue. It’s a dark and gritty, complex story, full of intense excitement and suspense. With the creepy feeling of zombie horror, this fantastic mystery thriller will satisfy any genre fan.
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Her site is loaded with all kinds of great stuff for Science Fiction junkies. Don’t forget to check out her art gallery while you’re there…
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Posted in State of Decay, Writing.
Tagged with review, state of decay, Writing.
By James Knapp
– January 24, 2010
Or, in this case, get reviewed – Library Journal had some very nice things to say about STATE OF DECAY:
For those who don’t know, the red star is a sort of ’seal of approval’ so getting it was a real bonus. I’m glad to have gotten a review like that, especially from them, but I still find I’m getting more nervous (and more excited) the closer to the official release date I get. This is in part I think because of the book, and partly because I tend to drink my weight in coffee every day (no easy feat, but we all must make sacrifices) I’ve been through this before when my non-fiction book came out back in 1999, but this will be the first time I’ve offered up something so close to my heart for public consumption. It will have to sink or swim on its own merits now, but it seems to be getting off to a good start. All in all I feel confident – but nervous.
It’s a good nervous, though. As I put the finishing touches on Book Three, I’m trying to savor the excitement of this. I hope many more will follow, but I will never have another debut novel.
More to come.
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Posted in Writing.
By James Knapp
– January 14, 2010
I really don’t know what to say about Robert – after his amazing rendition of a revivor (see previous post), he offered to do another, and came up with this rendition of Nico Wachalowski, the lead character from STATE OF DECAY. His art (as you can plainly see) is just fantastic, and there is a ton more of it to be found at his website. Robert – thanks so much!
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Posted in State of Decay, Writing.
Tagged with art, robert elrod, state of decay, Writing.
By James Knapp
– December 7, 2009
Robert Elrod is a talented artist I met on Facebook who agreed to help me out with art for the STATE OF DECAY promotional site (coming soon). He emailed me this today, his rendition of a black market revivor. I think it speaks for itself…you should check out his other works too, it’s great stuff!
Posted in Writing.
By James Knapp
– November 6, 2009
Ok, it looks like I was somewhat wrong in my last post – the check which arrived was actually for the D&A (Delivery and Acceptance) of STATE OF DECAY, not THE SILENT ARMY as I had first thought. Although SoD has been all the way through page proofs and will be on the shelves in six months it has already been ‘accepted’, but not, it seems, technically considered accepted accepted until recently. I found this out when I emailed my agent asking if the D&A for TSA had somehow come before the D&A for SoD…he referred back to the letter he sent with the check, where it clearly stated what the check was actually for (we quaintly refer to this phenomenon in the tech world as ‘RTFM’). It was then that I clenched one fist and silently vowed that before the sun set on this year, I would finally learn to read.
At any rate – I believe I can safely assume my editor has not yet read THE SILENT ARMY so scratch that. She did ask to see some short stories though, which was a pleasant surprise. I assume this to be in response to my query about getting short stories posted on Amazon gratis (aka ‘fer free’) as a means of developing some street cred prior to launch. Also, she let me know that some ARCs for SoD are in the mail, so my suspicions were correct about the ARC thing. I’m looking forward to seeing the ARCs. As the publication date draws closer I find myself tentatively sniffing around the web looking for mention of the book, and am excited to actually find several.
I am including a link for purchase on this site.
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Posted in State of Decay, Writing.
By James Knapp
– October 29, 2009
this is not me, btw
Well, the page proofs for STATE OF DECAY are in and it seems all went well. The process for that was fairly simple: I received a package in the mail that contained the book printed out on paper (two book pages to one sheet) and then read through it looking for typos etc. When I found one, I made a note in the margin. Then I converted the corrected pages to .pdf format and emailed them back. There were very few errors (an extra hyphen here, a period that should have been a comma there) and I was even allowed to sneak in two or three very small changes that I was afraid they might beat me for (changing text is strongly discouraged at this phase – in fact if you do too much and cause over 10% of the book to need resetting, you’ll actually get charged for it) but they didn’t.
Not long afterward, I got word from my agent Jack Byrne that Book Two (THE SILENT ARMY, or whatever the final title ends up being) has been officially accepted and the advance check is en route. So, I have gleaned from this that my editor Jessica Wade has read the ms at this point and deemed it somewhere between acceptable and awesome. I think if I lived in New York I would bring Jessica a Cinnabon now and again and get the low down on these things but since I don’t I have to resort to email and the occasional Tweet. Unfortunately, I have a difficult time understanding Twitter I think and therefore I really, really suck at it.
So – STATE OF DECAY is in the pipe. THE SILENT ARMY is gearing up for edits probably in the next couple months, and I’m closing in on a final of ELEMENT ZERO. It’s strange but as much work as this has been and as much work as it will continue to be, I’m already getting the sense I will miss these characters. I might have to write a side story or two…what happens to the characters between book 1 and 2, that sort of thing. We shall see.
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Posted in State of Decay, The Silent Army, Writing.
Tagged with science fiction, state of decay, Writing.
By James Knapp
– October 20, 2009
