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[Permuted Press]

Permuted Press is proud to announce that Z.A. Recht's zombie novel The Morningstar Strain: Plague of the Dead is now available for pre-order.  Set for release December 1, 2006, Plague of the Dead tells the tale of government, military, and civilian reaction to a viral outbreak causing both fast and slow moving zombies to scour the globe.

Bonus:  All pre-orderers will be entered in a drawing for a copy of Brian Keene's apocalyptic novella Take the Long Way Home. This hardcover book was ultra-limited edition and sold out within days!

Pre-order Plague of the Dead Here:
http://www.permutedpress.com/potd.php

Read Plague of the Dead Chapter 1 Here:
http://www.permutedpress.com/extras/potdch1.pdf


Synopsis for Plague of the Dead

The end begins with a viral outbreak unlike anything mankind has ever encountered before. The infected are subject to delirium, fever, a dramatic increase in violent behavior, and a one-hundred percent mortality rate…

Death.

But it doesn't end there. The victims return from death to walk the earth.

When a massive military operation fails to contain the plague of the living dead it escalates into a global pandemic. In one fell swoop, the necessities of life become much more basic. Gone are petty everyday concerns. Gone are the amenities of civilized life.

Yet a single law of nature remains: Live, or die. Kill, or be killed.

On one side of the world, a battle-hardened General surveys the remnants of his command: a young medic, a veteran photographer, a brash Private, and dozens of refugees, all are his responsibility—all thousands of miles from home. Back in the United States, an Army Colonel discovers the darker side of Morningstar virus and begins to collaborate with a well-known journalist to leak the information to the public...

The Morningstar Saga has begun.

"Plague of the Dead is the perfect combination of viral thriller and zombie nightmare..."
--Ryan C. Thomas, author of The Summer I Died

[Kody Boye]

I just read the introduction and the first chapter, and I must say, it is very well written. I loved the way that the beginning was set up, and how the ending of the chapter was so abruptly cut off, leaving me in suspense.

But there was only one thing that bothered me.

Towards

Towards, in modern literature, is improper grammar. It would be phrased as toward, not towards. It goes the same with forward, backward, upward and downward. They have no S on the end, since it is considered improper grammar.

Other than that, I really like the first chapter. I'll have to get some money together and buy it when it comes out.

[ZombieDiva]

See, that's why I KNOW I'll need an editor, I am terrible at grammar. I write, how people really speak. But then again, isn't it true that depending on where you're from, it might be considered correct or incorrect grammar? And while we're on it, what about ebonics???

[Kody Boye]

Yeah, it does depend on where you're from, the grammar. That's why I thought that Mr. Recht might be from Canada, or a bit down south or something, dunno though. Don't hurt me, that wasn't meant to be a rude comment.

And Ebonics...Well, it all depends. Ebonics is basically what we speak. Ebonics is "bad grammar" and that's pretty much how all American's (and most of the rest of the world) speak.

[john_sunseri]

You folks are talking about fascinating stuff, here; it might be a good idea to start a new topic somewhere about grammar, spelling, usage, punctuation and style so that we can all thrash this stuff out properly...

ZombieDiva - spoken English is fluid, flexible stuff.  New Yorkers say 'on line' when I say 'in line', there are a hundred different ways to order a submarine sandwich (from hoagies to grinders to Italians, depending on what state you're in), Ebonics is an honest, if futile, way to describe a subset of English dialects methodologically, and all of this is fair game for the writer - his characters are free to drop their g's and h's (What's goin' on 'ere?) whenever they want, say 'How you be, man?', and so on, but it's dangerous NOT to know the basic rules of grammar, because many of your readers will latch onto the smallest error (like Miko) and run with it...

And I've noticed that, of all the stories I've had published, only two were edited by the folks who took 'em.  The rest of the places just threw 'em out into the world, warts and all - and there's nothing worse than looking at a story of yours in some magazine and only THEN noticing you screwed up a verb or spelled 'embarass' wrong.

(note - I know I spelled 'embarrass' wrong.  I was trying to be cute)

[Kody Boye]

but it's dangerous NOT to know the basic rules of grammar, because many of your readers will latch onto the smallest error (like Miko) and run with it...

Hehehe, I have a tendency to do that. I beta-read a book for some guy, and tore it apart with the grammar (I removed towards a lot) and the commas and such, but he was good with grammar, a few mispelled words, but I caught them. But yeah, I'm no expert at grammar, but I'm good enough to catch a mistake like towards.

[ZombieDiva]

I find the english language fascinating, and can completely understand why foreigners say it's the hardest language to learn. Why? Because of the different ways it's used and bastardized all over the US as well as in other english speaking countries.

Good point John, basic knowledge of proper grammar usage is essential, but then again, if the story is well done, and you get engrossed in the thing, often you tend to overlook the mistakes. But I really agree with how your work can be torn apart by the readers when they find even the smallest of infractions. That's why I'm planning on hiring an editor. I do worry about the little things.

I think that Z's book was well written, even in it's unedited stages. The story is perfect! 

[Z]

lol m1 gramer is just fein n00b!!1! lolwtfomg.



(I just officially lost all my professional credibility, didn't I? Oh, well. It was so worth it.)

[Kody Boye]

No, you just admited that you can speak Jibberish! The official second lnaguage of the American!

And that was the only mistake I caught, so don't feel bad. I probably have a load of mistakes in the writting I make...Hehehehe...I know I do, I'm fourteen...

[ZombieDiva]

LOL! Geekspeak is a form of ebonics for the computer savvy!

[Rotting Dead]

This book sounded so good that I pre-ordered it on the spot.

Can't wait to get it. 

[Permuted Press]

Amazon has Plague of the Dead listed as shipping Nov. 15!  If you're not interested in pre-ordering a copy from us you can snag a copy a couple weeks before the rest of the world:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0978970705/permutedpress-20

Be sure to post your glowing praise of how amazing the book is on Amazon as well.  ;-)

Jacob

[Dave Dunwoody]

Man, when I get paid it's going to be flying right back out the door - just read the excerpt, and I love the initial setting and the way the strain is introduced. Really well-written & suspenseful!