I have spent most of the morning revamping "A Dream For Us" and contemplating different routes to take it, and I've finally made up my mind.
I'm going to turn it into a zombie book.
Why? Excellent question!
First, I enjoy writing about zombies. While most zombie books out there are "thrillers" in the sense that the bulk of the story is focused on survival, and includes a heavy amount of gore and firepower, I enjoy writing about zombies for different reasons. First, I simply enjoy it for the fun of it. It's exciting to write about life-and-death situations, and the possible scenarios within a zombie apocalypse are endless, if the mind is willing to tramp about such unknown territory. Second, I enjoy writing about it because of the theological and philosophical implications. Writing about a zombie apocalypse isn't just fun because of the action sequences; it's also fun thanks to the way I get to explore the evolution of theology and philosophy; it's also fun because theological and philosophical worldviews must be shattered and rebuilt. The theological and philosophical undercurrents of a zombie apocalypse are so vast that entire books have been written on the subject (one is sitting on my bedside table right now). Third, I enjoy writing about zombies because I get to explore how individuals and groups would react under pressure, disintegrating or strengthening; I get to explore the human psyche and its struggle to adapt, react, and re:adapt (kudos to Michael Scott for that one) amidst the trauma. And fourthly, I enjoy writing about a zombie apocalypse because it shatters everything we have ever known--civilization, morality, and truth are strained and even broken. In my last book, "Dwellers of the Night," I explored the theological ramifications from several different perspectives; there are the perspectives of "God Is Dead" to "God Has Caused This" to "God Is Love Amidst Pain & Suffering." Philosophical themes are explored, too: the nature of chance versus destiny; the nature of mankind, its good and its evil; the questioning of morality and the bases of it therein; the nature of love and romance; and lastly, construed throughout the entire work but brought to fantastic clarity in the last thirty pages, the nature of hope and hopelessness.
Secondly, to answer the original question, it enables me to develop the characters more fully. Character development is driven by external--and internal--circumstances. A zombie apocalypse makes it easy for this to happen. The external circumstance is the zombie apocalypse. The internal circumstance is the characters' responses to this. In my first zombie book, "36 Hours", written six years ago, I didn't understand character development. My latest zombie book, "Dwellers of the Night," is drenched with character development, primarily focused on the main character: there, the main character goes from being a loving, friendly man to a cold, calloused, bitter, heartless, and selfish creature who cares only about himself--yet underlying this cold heart is the flickering flame of a hope that refuses to extinguish, a hope that is futile and empty.
Thirdly, again to answer the original question, I have sold 37,000 copies of my previous two zombie works--"36 Hours" and "Dwellers of the Night"--and so I already have what could be called a "fan base" for the zombie genre. What's special about writing genre is that the readers of that genre tend to be loyal. While genre readers are much more critical of the genre than mainstream readers (many mainstream readers won't touch genre works, whereas many genre readers won't touch mainstream works), they will buy up all new publications or at least give them a read online to see if they're interested.
Fourthly, I can make it in a serial novel. A series of novellas--150 pages each--with twelve volumes. The entire volume would be called "The Procyon Strain", and it would cover the first twelve months of a zombie apocalypse. "Book One: A Dream For Us" will begin on July 31st and the last book, "Book Twelve: Sunset Royale" will end on July 31st of the next year. Each book will be ridiculously cheap, and I will get one to two dollars per copy sold; if readers get engrossed into the work, then they'll have no choice but to keep buying the new installments, resulting in me receiving anywhere from twelve to twenty-four dollars per entire volume sold.
And finally, a little inspiration for me:
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