Hello future zombie survivors!

I hope you’re all remembering to take care of yourselves. In a zombie apocalypse, that could save your life. In the spirit of that advice, our question for this week comes from Noah:

If your spouse becomes infected, do you kill them before they die, after death, or after re-animation?

This is a complicated question and one that brings up a very important issue that involves couples communication in the apocalypse. You will encounter too many horrifying experiences to count once the zombie virus is let loose on our poor, unsuspecting society and it’s very important to be prepared for those contingencies. And I don’t mean the obvious preparations of loading the shotguns and filling the car with gas and learning how to do a high kick to a zombie temple… I’m talking about having “the talks” with your spouse.

Just like before the apocalypse, when you should have had talks about parenting plans, the handling of money and your future goals for your job and life, once the zombies attack you need to talk about the “What Ifs” of the outbreak. What if you’re separated? What if you run out of ammo and the other person might die trying to get to you? And what if one of you is bitten? That way you don’t have to make decisions in the heat of a moment. You’ll already know the answer.

And what should the answer be? Well, there are advantages and disadvantages to each option. If you kill them before they “Die” then you’re going to have to look them right in the eye and that is so awkward even in the best of situations. If you wait until after “death” but before the change than you risk the emotional overload keeping you from doing what you need to do. I mean, fitting “blow the head of the corpse of your spouse off” into the stages of grief is really hard. And if you wait until the change, then they might get a hold of your leg and gnaw it off and then you’re both screwed (though you’re together, so there’s the upside).

In the end, think hard, have the conversation and then stick with whatever you decide.

Have a post-zombie-apocalypse relationship question to “Ask Dr. Jesse?” Post here, on facebook or @jessepet at Twitter and I’ll throw you in the queue.

Well, as many of you know, if a few weeks I’ll be heading over to my old stomping groups (and Dave and Sarah’s stomping grounds) of Seattle. I’m really excited! If you live there, you can buy tickets and see the information at http://www.zombcon.com I’d love to meet some of you! So if you see me, come say hi. I hardly bite (except when the virus kicks in or when asked very nicely).

If you will be there, here are the activities I’ll most definitely be participating in:

Friday, October 29:

8pm @ Neumos – Prom Night of the Living Dead — My husband and I will both be attending this! And I’m hoping we’ll be appropriately attired. The question is do I dress as a prommed out zombie slayer or as a zombie?

Saturday, October 30:

11am @ ZomBcon — Panel: Zombies are People, Too — Although I don’t agree so I’m guessing I’ll be counterpoint on this panel. LOL

1pm @ ZomBcon — Booksigning — Come get your own signed copy of MARRIED WITH ZOMBIES.

Sunday, October 31:

1pm @ ZomBcon — Panel: Zombies and Why We Love Them (sneak peek on my answer: Cause they’re awesome).

I’ll also be floating around, getting my zombie fix and hopefully meeting YOU!

Soooo, any of you going?

Okay, so I’m a geek. Geeklicious. Geekitude is my game. And part of my geekiness is that I LOVE “Mythbusters”. Actually, even as I’m writing this blog, I’m watching a new Mythbusters episode (“Hair of the Dog”). And it got me thinking.. in a post apocalyptic world, shows like these would be really helpful.

SO… what zombie myths would you like to see Jaime and Adam test?

Millie asks:

If my mother-in-law is infected and has to be decapitated, should my husband do the deed or should I? (and does it matter that Mrs. X and I were never on very good terms and I’d probably enjoy whacking her?)

If there’s anything that zombie movies and books have taught us, it’s that the zombie apocalypse could happen at any time. Right now, outside your window, the beginnings of infection could have started to take hole and within twenty-four hours or even less, you’ll be firing off shots at the zombie horde from a second story perch in a burned out hotel.

Not to scare you or anything, but are you ready? I mean REALLY ready? Well, my husband sent me a link recently to a handy dandy product that might help get you closer. Check out “Killer Targets“.

Because it never hurts to be prepared.

If you won the photo contest and haven’t heard back from me, apparently the stupid zombies got to my stupid brain when I wrote the email address. It SHOULD be zombiegirl@jessepetersen.net (as opposed to .com). SORRY! Try to email me again with your address.

I’ve been out of town recently and so I’m a little behind on my “to do” list, including this blog, so I thought today I’d write up a little bit about my writing process. I know some of you are aspiring authors or authors yourselves and this might interest you.

So I write “head down”, which is basically a way of saying I don’t edit during the first draft writing process. I’m also a plotter, although for MARRIED WITH ZOMBIES I did not plot at all. I just wrote, which was very interesting. But I was also originally just writing a story to please and entertain myself. The other two books in the “Living With the Dead” series, I have plotted out (the second one, FLIP THIS ZOMBIE, quite extensively).

But right at this moment I’m in the first revision stages of the final “Living With the Dead” book, EAT SLAY LOVE. I tend to go through several revision stages. The first is once the book is totally done. I go through chapter-by-chapter and I make changes. I have the book printed out, I take notes on the pages and I input my edits as I finish each chapter revision. That’s the place I’m at now. Once that’s done I’ll read through the entire book out loud (which is a great trick if you are an author, you will catch many things that your eye corrects when reading in your head) and make any other little changes I need to make.

After that the book goes to my editor at Orbit. If she has anything else she’d like to see strengthened or changed, she’ll send me her suggestions and I go through the book again with those in mind. And probably read it out loud again, especially if the changes are more extensive and require re-writing of scenes.

The biggest trick I can offer to you as a writer is to look at revision as a set of small steps. Thinking about revising an entire book is overwhelming. But revising once chapter isn’t. So take it in chunks, take your time and try to enjoy the story you’ve crafted!