he would do anything to fit in - Zombie-saurus Rex by Mark Souza

Rex’s fiercely protective mother strong arms the yet another small town school district into accepting her son by threatening a lawsuit. At Plain View High, Rex falls for fiery goth girl, Ariella Klopenstein, the daughter of the Police Chief. While Rex struggles to fit in, Ariella would do anything to be different, anything not to wind up stuck in Plain View.

Description:

Seventeen-year-old zombie Rex Morton would do anything to fit in at his new school and hold onto his first love. 

Rex’s fiercely protective mother strong arms the yet another small town school district into accepting her son by threatening a lawsuit. At Plain View High, Rex falls for fiery goth girl, Ariella Klopenstein, the daughter of the Police Chief. While Rex struggles to fit in, Ariella would do anything to be different, anything not to wind up stuck in Plain View. 

As the Z-virus spreads west and the country panics, Rex and Ariella must find a way to overcome Rex’s mother who wants to break them apart and flee town, a school principal who wants Rex expelled, Ariella’s father, the Police Chief, who thinks Rex is dangerous, and a government zombie round-up aimed at solving the zombie problem once and for all.

GUEST POST

"The challenges of creating a "new" zombie type"

It was no accident that I created a new zombie type for my novel Zombie-saurus Rex. The heart of the story deals with stereotypes and prejudice. Has there been a stereotype so rigid as that imposed on zombies? Almost all the zombies I’ve seen onscreen or read about were mindless, malevolent monsters, a dismal stereotype that seems locked in stone. The only question seemed to be whether they are fast or slow – really? It was about time someone shook that up a bit. 

But then, I’m not the first. Four years ago, Isaac Marion introduced us to “R” in his novel, Warm Bodies, a zombie boy and protagonist in a story that was a combination Romeo and Juliette and Pinocchio. “R” eats a young man’s brain and experiences his victim’s memories. As a result, he falls in love with his victim’s girlfriend Julie. His newfound emotions stir something dormant within him and he eventually becomes a real boy again.

And this year, the CW network is debuting iZombie featuring a female, zombie, doctor, who like “R,” can recall memories from the brains she eats. She becomes a coroner and uses this ability to help the police solve crimes.

In the case of Zombie-saurus Rex, the classic zombie stereotype works to my advantage, because it’s what everyone he encounters expects of Rex. But that’s not who he is at all. I wanted a hero for my story that had to overcome strong prejudice. Who better than a zombie? People are not all the same no matter what group you lump them into. So I made Rex a smart, polite, articulate and funny zombie.

Rex embodies one aspect of classic zombies in that he is a catalyst, and the story isn’t as much about him being a zombie as it is about how we, humanity, react to him. His being a zombie brings out the best and worst in people. Rex is a mirror, or maybe it would be more accurate to say he’s an amplifier.

I also wanted Zombie-saurus Rex to provide social commentary in some small way; that we are all individuals, and you can’t accurately judge who we are merely by the way we look. Rex isn’t a monster just because his skin is gray. Like most people he only becomes a monster when pushed into a corner and deprived of basic necessities. In Rex’s case, when he’s hungry. And despite all that, I wanted the story to be uplifting and fun, and it is. But I’ll let readers be the judge of that.

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About the author:
Author Mark Souza has always been a storyteller, whether explaining who filched the ice cream, or what happened to the cat’s tail. He learned most of life’s lessons from the business end of a wooden spoon, and the rest from public schools spanning the breadth of North America, all of which were overjoyed to be rid of him. He became an author of short stories and novels in the horror, mystery, thriller, and young adult genres later in life, after time and a desk job had softened his edges, transforming him into the round, doughy shape Big-&-Not-So-Tall shops crave.

Mark was the proud recipient of the 2013 Indie Reader Award for Best Science Fiction for his debut novel Robyn’s Egg.

He now resides in Western Washington with his wife (also an author), two daughters, and their dog of questionable heritage, Tater. Visit his website. There you’ll find a multitude of ways to make contact. Mark enjoys cordial correspondence and will write back. He’s always on the lookout for that next victim reader.

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