David Monette functions as an author and illustrator from his home in Northern New York State. His highly detailed fantasy and science fiction artwork has appeared on many books, magazines, board games, and collectible cards. While receiving his MFA in illustration, his instructors reviewed his written work and strongly suggested that he combine his writing ability with his talent as an illustrator to chart his own path. Hence, “The Zombie Axiom” was born, a compelling, terrifying story sprinkled with amazing black and white illustrations from start to finish.
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In Northern New York State, three uncommon allies lead one of these bands in this epic struggle as they learn both the strengths and weaknesses of their enemies… and of themselves.
Pushed to their limits and holed up on a remote lake island, life has taken on a new normality. That is until winter arrives and all hell will freeze over. For it is then that the open waters of the lake, the only barrier against the unrelenting dead, will freeze. And the monsters will come. By the thousands…
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Q) What inspired you to write this story?
The thing that inspired me to write this story was a general dissatisfaction I had with the typical scenario of an ill-defined contagion causing a zombie outbreak. As a very detail-oriented person, I couldn’t get around the thought that in order for a dead thing to move around it would, in fact, have to be actually dead. In a disease scenario, this presents a host of physiological problems. To start with, the brain would have to still function to supply the body with information and tell it what to do. This means the nervous system would have to still function, which means the muscles would have to still function. All of this requires energy, energy that has to be supplied to the body in the form of food. And, you guessed it, this means that the digestive system would have to be functioning to convert that food into energy the body can use. In the end, this leads to the “dead” being not really dead, but just sick people acting crazy. Not that there’s anything wrong with that- sick people acting like rabid crazies makes for a great story. It’s just that they aren’t dead. They’re sick. And they would be subject to the same sorts of things that would kill regular people, things like starvation, dehydration, a pierced heart, etc…
So, in order to have truly dead people walking around, there would have to be some sort of extremely powerful force overriding everything else and supplying them with the energy necessary for them to do what they do. Hence, the idea for “The Zombie Axiom.”
Q) How long did it take you to write?
It took over a year to write, maybe a year and a half, but that was writing only for a couple hours a day.
Q) What is your favorite thing about writing?
That would have to be the utter enjoyment I have found getting the story from the folds of my brain and onto “paper” (or screen as the case may be) in a beautiful way.
Q) What is your least favorite thing about writing?
The least favorite? Geez, that would have to be when I spend hours trying to hammer out one paragraph. Sometimes I know what I want to say, but the words are messing around and not playing fair.
Q) If you could be any famous person for one day, who would you be and why?
Oh man. Who would I be… probably a musician, a really popular one that was playing in front of an audience of tens of thousands of people. That would be such a weird rush.
Q) What is the oldest thing in your fridge and how old is it?
Wait, I’ve gotta go check. Hold on. Okay, there’s some beer that I really don’t like that’s been in there for a few years. But c’mon, it’s beer. And I’ve got friends who will be thirsty enough to drink it if that’s all there is.
Q) What can readers expect from you in the future?
Well, I’ve written Book II of the “In the Time of the Dead Trilogy,” of which “The Zombie Axiom” is Book I, and I’m currently writing Book III. While I’m writing that book, I’m also researching material for the next book or series of books (I haven’t yet determined if there will be more than one or not) that are a sort of contemporary fantasy tale that takes place during the Prohibition era. Should be fun.
Thanks so much for the interview! It was fun.
