Catching an internet meme with the End of the World and Mythos apocalypse – UTOC Public Safety Notice

A Yellow Dawn kind of Morning

Interesting morning.  Checked my blog traffic stats and saw a 700+ spike from last night and another 700+ so far this morning.  Everything feeding off this article I posted back in March 2012.

davidjrodger.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/post-apocalyptic-wallpaper-utoc-public-safety-notice-from-early-days-of-yellow-dawn-infection-warning/

Then I had a text from Ben Chapman, the artist I commissioned to create the poster for my RPG, Yellow Dawn – The Age of Hastur, way back in 2008. I wanted a poster to help catch eyeballs at a gaming / writer convention I was attending.  Ben did an excellent job. You can see it behind the Stormtrooper. Made a good T-shirt, too.

Follow Ben Chapman on Twitter (The Sprezz)

David J Rodger and a new Imperial Fan

Yellow Dawn is basically the shared universe of my fiction novels twisted through an apocalyptic event; the result of machinations of the Cthulhu Mythos. You’ve got a new wilderness, like the badlands of Mad Max; infestations of non-human species and Great Old Ones taking a hold now that the majority of Earth has been left dead… or to the undead. Things that have been mistakenly described as zombies by survivors. And you’ve got survivors, living out in high-tech luxury within the Living Cities or slithering around in poverty and squalor (think D&D adventurers ripe for setting off on their first desperate adventure), forced to rely on crude weapons and old technology, scavenging in the ruins of a former glory or braving the mind-warping horror of the Dead Cities

Ben was super excited because he’d found the image trending on Imgur, with a lot of comments bubbling up on Reddit.  He sent me the links.

http://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/1cxxgc/if_you_discover_a_dead_body/

and

http://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/x385g/welcome_to_the_end/

It’s pleasing, flattering even, but more so it’s really interesting and rather exciting to see an idea take off on its own; other people, other minds taking it and doing their stuff with it. (Although a credit to Ben and myself is always appreciated).  A couple of very cool examples of this are below:

UTOC Safety Notice – Copyright David J Rodger – Image taken by Oli Mortimer

Image source: Oli Mortimer, visit his website here.

.

Photo by Boothy – click for full size

Image Source: Boothy, view his photographic work here

.

Available in paperback or Kindle

Paperback : from LULU & kindle: US ($), UK (£), DE (Euro)

DOG EAT DOG { novel } takes place in the near future, after the Earth has been devastated by a viral pathogen unleashed when a corporate cargo hauler crashed into the atmosphere; breaking up as a fireball across the sky, it showered Southern Europe and North Africa with a deadly rain of infected debris. Ten years later, over seventy percent of the human population is dead and only a handful of cities survive intact. So called ‘Living Cities’. The vast majority of human habitation is abandoned to the undying creatures left mutated through a brutal twist in the infection. Greed and corruption are left hovering over this bleak and brutalized domain and a cosmic horror is now free to infiltrate the remote abandoned corners of the Earth. Above this, the orbital colonies spin within artificial gravity wells, impartial observers, unaffected by the shocking events below. Within this mix the lives of two survivors collide: a renegade intelligence agent and a cold-blooded master of violence, shaping events with their virulent hunger for money and desire to carve their name onto this new world.

.

Make your own sign

You can download a good res copy of the sign here.

.

See more posts like this – click

---

David J Rodger – DATA

.

.

.

In the wind-blasted landscape of Arizona, people are taking shelter in the Cthulhu Mythos

British Sci-Fi & Dark Fantasy Author David J Rodger is evolving H.P.Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos through his novels and roleplaying game.

I received a google alert about my RPG Yellow Dawn- The Age of Hastur and associated novel Dog Eat Dog getting a mention.  I checked out the link and was super-pleased by what I found. A blogger from Arizona, in the US  with some positive things to say.  So I’m sharing it here: spreading good words.

Here’s the first few lines from the blog / review by Walking Widdershins and a link to read full article.

YELLOW DAWN

There’s nothing that can compare to the excitement of getting packages in the mail, for me at least! Even if you know what’s in them it doesn’t lessen the excitement of unpacking them.

The long awaited supplies for brewing a batch of stout to be ready for next month finally came in today and *drumroll* a new Role-Playing Game book! Fresh off the presses, the newly updated Yellow Dawn – The Age of Hastur 2.5 by David J Rodger.

Yellow Dawn is set in a post-apocalyptic near future with a landscape fueled by the machinations of its denizens, Cyberpunk technology, and a threat looming beyond the stars to wreak its havoc upon mankind. Fans of cosmic horror and Cthulhu Mythos will appreciate what this universe has to offer to its readers and players.

Dog Eat Dog, the first novel set in this universe, is a wonderfully immersive introduction that sweeps you into the action and gritty intrigue at a rapid-pace and doesn’t let you go.

.

Read full article

.

See more posts like this – click

---

David J Rodger – DATA

Cover of Dog Eat Dog, a sci-fi and dark fantasy novel set in the post-apocalyptic world of Yellow Dawn gets used in a French textbook

Quite flattering to get approached by the French publisher Didier, who are planning to release an English language textbook called “Password Terminale” in April 2012.   They’re going to reproduce the cover of my novel Dog Eat Dog in a chapter entitled “Tech-less world”.  The novel is a political crime thriller (science-fiction and dark fantasy) set in the post apocalyptic world of   Yellow Dawn  – The Age of Hastur and is, ahem, available in paperback from LULU or Amazon Kindle format in US, UK and France.

Nice to be noticed!

And particularly pleasing for me as I actually planned the novel whilst spending time in the South of France and the story has scenes taking place outside Montpellier, a post-apocalyptic Marseille and within the medieval walls of the incredible crusader town Aigues-Mortes.

:o)

Available in paperback or Amazon Kindle format

.

Relevant Link:

• Double-Whammy on Sci-Fi Savings: free ground shipping today or 30% off RRP tomorrow

See more posts like this – click

---

David J Rodger – DATA

Electro Origins: M.E. by Gary Numan, music for a post-apocalyptic generation

Electro Origins: M.E. by Gary Numan, music for a post-apocalyptic generation

This track came onto my MP3 player via random yesterday. I’d just parked up in a lonely and remote car port on the edge of this ancient Roman spa town, Bath – a cold morning with mist hanging in the air like veils of eerie atmosphere.  Perfect setting for an awesome track.  This is electro from 1979!  Blissfully dystopian lyrics.  The last machine intelligence – alive and alone.  So if you’re into post-apocalyptic gaming or fiction, I’d highly recommend this as mood music.

Enjoy!

See more posts like this – click

---

David J Rodger – DATA

Dead Island Trailer (cert 18) – zombie survival video game – trailer has cool cinematic storyboard

A new trailer for zombie survival video game, Dead Island. Developed by Techland and published by Deep Silver. It is an open-ended game, centered on the challenge of survival on a zombie-infested island. The game uses a first-person perspective with RPG elements. However, the developers are claiming that the game will be far beyond a typical first-person shooter experience, mainly due to a bigger emphasis on melee combat, role-playing elements and a clear focus on story-telling.

Gameplay will feature a sandbox style gameplay on a tropical island. A zombie style story are massively influenced by George A Romero’s movies, melee combat involving the ability to pick up almost anything and use it as a weapon, and will have multiple playable characters. Multiplayer will include 4 Player drop in/out Co-Op.

It will be released for PC, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3.

Dead Island Trailer Theme by Savalas:
Giles Lamb – Composer
Kahl Henderson – Sound Design
Tom Griffiths – Sound Design

Visit the Facebook page for the song.

- From YouTube channel for The Steel Stallion

You might also enjoy this…

Dog Eat Dog: science fiction & dark fantasy, by David J Rodger

Zombies of Hastur in a Cthulhu Mythos post-apocalypse.

Information about the book:

Dog Eat Dog { novel } Dog Eat Dog takes place in the near future, after the Earth has been devastated by a viral pathogen unleashed when a corporate cargo hauler crashed into the atmosphere; breaking up as a fireball across the sky, it showered Southern Europe and North Africa with a deadly rain of infected debris. Ten years later, over seventy percent of the human population is dead and only a handful of cities survive intact. So called ‘Living Cities’. The vast majority of human habitation is abandoned to the undying creatures left mutated through a brutal twist in the infection. Greed and corruption are left hovering over this bleak and brutalized domain and a cosmic horror is now free to infiltrate the remote abandoned corners of the Earth. Above this, the orbital colonies spin within artificial gravity wells, impartial observers, unaffected by the shocking events below. Within this mix the lives of two survivors collide: a renegade intelligence agent and a cold-blooded master of violence, shaping events with their virulent hunger for money and desire to carve their name onto this new world. This is the first novel to be set within the world of Yellow Dawn.

.

BUY DOG EAT DOG TODAY

.

Other Comments & Feedback

“My copy of Dog Eat Dog arrived today. I sat down just to flick through it; next time I looked up I was 84 pages in! Utterly gripping, your best work yet.”

This is really, really good stuff.  I’d go as far to say it’s the best Sci Fi horror I’ve read in ten years.  I can’t think of anything that beats it in terms of action, the innovative ideas per page quota is off the chain, the characters are deep and real.  Drobna is the best anti-hero in the genre.  A total bad ass, he makes Mad Max look like Stephen Fry.

At one point when I got off the subway I had to sit on the horrid wooden seats to continue reading, despite being on my way to work….

Letters

• From New York
• From Germany
• From New York #2 and end of the book
• H.P. Lovecraft would be proud of you

---

More David J Rodger? God Seed ¦ Dante’s Fool ¦ Iron Man Project ¦ Edge ¦ Yellow Dawn RPG

Zombies of Hastur in a Cthulhu Mythos post-apocalypse

Zombies of Hastur in a Cthulhu Mythos post-apocalypse: short trailer video for Dog Eat Dog, science fiction & dark fantasy by David J Rodger

---

More David J Rodger? God Seed ¦ Dante’s Fool ¦ Iron Man Project ¦ Edge ¦ Yellow Dawn RPG

Echoes of New York, goodbye 2010, hello Hayling Island, Orbis Tertius

¦ dialling in from the Sky Bunker ¦

17:29 GMT, Friday 7th Jan 2011.  Buzzing on coffee and reeling a little in the heady swirl of everything that seems to be happening at once.  A month ago I was in New York City… out at the Ear bar on Spring Street for an evening rendezvous with my publicist, who spent an hour raving about my last novel Dog Eat Dog like a man possessed… perhaps infected by the memetic virus of He Who Must Not Be Named seeping out through Yellow Dawn into our current reality?  It was a night that turned into a furious drinking session. A bar tab of over $100 and me sleeping rough in Port Authority at fuck-knows-o’clock because I couldn’t get back to New Jersey. It was a night to remember.

So here I sit… gazing at two totems of that trip. A SMILEY face bouncing ball that sparkles and shimmers with electronic lights any time you strike it, and a funky metal robot.  Shift focus and my gaze dials out through solid walls, across the landscape of a country that has raised and shaped me, to an uncertain horizon. I feel the warm, sweet smelling currents of big changes tugging at my subconscious.  Something is out there.  Something significant.

So 2010 is gone… as is the decade of the Noughties.  Hello 2011 and the Teenies.  And I feel strangely younger and more in tune with life that I did when I turned 30 and crashed into 2001 with a shit load of bad vibes (Glasgow freak out; kidnapped in Budapest; personality shift).

2010 saw me wraping up the intense grieving process of watching my mum starve to death at the end of 2009.  Part of this was helped by a rapid succession of visits to my new favourite place: Hayling Island. A spit of land hanging off the south coast of England, lying in the Solent with a view of the Isle of White.  My good friend Pete has a house there that is within spitting distance of the ocean.  Several miles of pebble beach that is often deserted.  Open skies and the crash and rumble of waves coming in, followed by the hiss of surf raking small stones back and forth.  It was the first long-distance trip for me in my Rocket.  And a place where I could be alone with my thoughts… make and eat fantastic feasts with Pete… and spend hours with my laptop working on Dog Eat Dog. Hayling Island was nearly lost forever this year (or Pete’s house) but events have twisted and folded back into a sane shape and he’s keeping the place.

February saw me in Dubai… like being in Tatooine from Star Wars… and a chance for me to open the throttles on a twin engine speed boat and gun it around the Gulf of Arabia one afternoon. Now that was cool.

The end of Spring saw me and my sister sifting through the possessions of our parents, splitting, sharing, and disposing… and then dealing with the radical pyschological impact and emotional grenade of seeing the house you’ve known most of your life, the house you grew up in, the house you’ve called “Home” forever… just empty and void of life.

Then I finish Dog Eag Dog – 9 months of hard slog, and the very next day, instead of starting the review and edit stage I start writing another novel.  3 months later I finish a science fiction and dark fantasy story set in Bristol, Uk, called “Living in Flames”  Living in Flames defines a catastrophic legacy from the early phase of the Carthew family, a corporate family stretching back to the days of the East India Trading Company and the slave-trading of the late 1700′s, a family that appears in the non-horror novel Iron Man Project, and in the epic campaign for Yellow Dawn called Shadows of the Quantinex (where I reveal “what caused Yellow Dawn to happen”).

It only takes 3 months to finish Living In Flames – I think I nearly melted the keyboard of my laptop with fingers blurring.  Just in time to celebrate turning 40.  I went to California, flew into San Fran to spend some time with a good childhood friend then hired a convertible Mustang and did a fucking incredible road trip: the Carmel, the Big Sur, San Simeon & Hearst Castle, Body Ghost Town; camping in Yosemite; Lake Tahoe; wine touring in Napa and Sonoma; tracking down the lighthouse from John Carpenter’s The FOG (1980); and miles and miles of blissful road.  Back from California I just had time to complete the review & edit of Dog Eat Dog and get it launched before I was back in the US, this time East Coast and New York City for an amazing week that I’ll remember for ever.

Christmas. The first one without being able to go “home”.  I celebrated Christmas Eve as per the traditions of our family’s Norwegian roots, with Jo and the loveable man-bag, Kelvin, aka Sharky Bones McCoy.  Between us we created a fantastic and memorable evening.  I missed mum, dad and the house… but phone calls with my sister in London kept it all good.

My company closes between Christmas and New Year – and rather wonderfully, they don’t deduct the days from our annual leave entitlement.  Bonus. So I spent a chunk of days alone, living up here in the Sky Bunker or power-napping with my da Vinci method (polyphasic sleep routine) and churned out three short stories.

House of Heavenly Light
The Tained Moor
Arnos Vale

And relaunched the spooky childrens story – kind of Cthulhu Mythos for kids – called Cloudy Head.

Since then I’ve heard a rumour that The Tainted Moor’s been enjoyed by a new rising-star screenwriter in Hollywood (kudos, doesn’t mean Hollywood are going to be banging down my door to secure an option on Yellow Dawn but it does  put a very pleased smile on my face that my work’s being enjoyed at that level), and the day after releasing Arnos Vale I got an email from… Arnos Vale. They have a shop there and are interested in selling copies of the story.  I wrinkled my nose a bit thinking, “hmmm a story about monsters eating people getting lost in a graveyard, not really suitable material… ” Or maybe it’s perfect material?  I don’t know. I’m still kind of getting over the fact there’s a shop in a cemetary.  What do they sell?  Pimp your headstone?  Cool though.

And extra bonus, I’ve recently discovered that SFX (Earth’s greatest sci-fi and fantasy magazine) have plugged Dog Eat Dog.  Meanwhile I’m working with a talented film-editor here in Bristol to create a short viral video to promote Yellow Dawn, and have just agreed with a film-maker from London to do some 30 second to 3 minute shorts about me and my writing, again, with a view to getting something a little surreal and hopefully avent-garde out there with my name and brand all over it.

So lots going on.

First day of 2011 I went to Hayling Island. Did a long walk along a deserted pebble beach.  Great to be there.

So the weekend is here. I’ve just been scribbling out an idea for another Yellow Dawn-inspired short story… working title The Sickly Moon.  Also got a new novel idea forming… and working on a stack of small articles to increase awareness of the shared world my fiction sits within.

Oh yeah.

Orbis Tertius

*dark smile*

Djr

Letters: Dog Eat Dog feedback – the end of the book and launchpad for what’s next

This is an email exchange with a compatriot in New York whose opinions I rely upon and trust.  He’s talking about reaching the end of Dog Eat Dog and this becomes a brief discussion about what’s next in regards to a sequel.    I’ve XXX out potential spoilers.

>From: xxxxxx@hotmail.com
>To: clovenfeet@hotmail.com
>Subject: RE: …
>Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2010 16:34:41 +0000
>
>Hi David,
>
>I finished the book.  The last section was amazing, really ramped up and already ramped up ramping.
>
>At one point when I got off the subway I had to sit on the horrid wooden seats to continue reading, despite being on my way to work….
>
>The ending was extremely satisfying.  The XXX – I’m glad it was XXXXX and you didn’t cop out or fall into silliness.  For a moment I thought it may have been the XXXXXXX  but the “items” where more mysterious and open to interpretation.
>
>
>I was starting to like the XXXXXX once I knew they were aware of the Evil (XXXXX/Entity). I felt they were on side.  Their use of child soldiers was horrid (but totally in keeping with the DED atmosphere of pure desperation and animal fight for survival). Be interesting to see how the XXXXXX war pans out.
>
>Great stuff m’man.
>
>
>Floyd.

---

From: clovenfeet@hotmail.com
To: xxxxxx@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: …
Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2010 17:06:30 +0000

Well… there you have it. You’ve reached the end of DED and you’ve given it a positive endorsement. I really wasn’t certain how the whole XXXXXX would be received.  I had a niggling sense it was too out of left field, etc. The usual self-doubts but if you like it, then I’m happy and know it works.  *beams a smile*

TXXXXXX, yeah, they’re a hard bunch of MFkers, but there’s an inner core – much like within E-FIB, who know the secrets of things.  Removing the blight of creatures like XXXXXX fits into their purity-of-race ideology.  It also makes them prime candidates for recruitment / collaboration with FABIAN – Flesh & Blood Lobby Immediate Action Now.  And this will feature in the next instalment, where the civil war expands across that part of the landscape.  Next time we get together it would be fun / interesting to thrash out some of the fuzzy ideas I have forming for the next book.

Adam Kyle (God Seed) will be making a return. :o)  Via XXXXXXX.

Sending you best wishes

David

---

>From: xxxxxxxx@hotmail.com
>To: clovenfeet@hotmail.com
>Subject: RE: …
>Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2010 17:23:49 +0000

>The XXXXX thing was spot on, it’s not the mega monster, [but is] creepier, weirder than that.  It’s fecking clever too…..where else are they?  Big monsters are great but this thing really made the skin tingle.

>Would love to talk ideas with you for the next book – you kidding it would be an honor.

>In an ideal world  – a long weekend in the catskills, fires, whiskey….story telling.

>Floyd

So there you have it. Positive words and a long weekend of creative brainstorming (and whisky) for me to look forward to. :o)

.

See more on my official website – click

New York New York: infection, feedback and new ideas

¦ dialling in from workstation ¦

Wednesday Dec 15th, 2010, @ 13:06 GMT.  My head is swirling. A combination of man-flu, lingering grasp of jetlag and a sense that my world is evolving… shuddering free of long held foundations.  Sunday saw me return from a week in New York.  A place I’ve known through various phases of my life, through various incarnations of who-I-am, since coming here on my own in 1998.  Here’s some pics and words to give you a flavour of the trip:

Sunrise through freezing fog as I'm blasting towards London Heathrow.

It was like a positive omen.  A visceral reinforcement of the vibe I was already savouring: that new things are on the horizon, changes and opportunities, personal growth and hopefully a liberal splashing of success as Dog Eat Dog continues to attract extra-ordinary compliments, and everyone I meet seems to be genuinely impressed with what I’ve churned out, and how much I’ve produced, in the past few years.  It’s a good feeling and I want it to continue and grow.

Me walking through the bright lights and urban canyons of Manhattan - pounding pavement with tunes in my ears

Jo and I went straight from JFK via long taxi ride into Manhattan and then a van ride through Lincoln tunnel to New Jersey and Ramona’s place.

The last time I was here was December 2007. I’d just started working at the Company after 2 and a half years of writing and living on savings. Yellow Dawn hadn’t been released, and Shadows of the Quantinex was just a bunch of complex scribbled notes (which I spent most of the trip unravelling). EDGE hadn’t been written and Dog Eat Dog was still a bunch of notes written out in the South of France in summer 2006 and summer 2007. And my mum was still alive. In fact, she was in preparation for really living her life after dad had died – booking a big trip to South America, and just going for it. We didn’t know about the cancers yet.

Being at Ramona’s apartment is a treat. This is somewhere I’ve known in my life and associated with trips to New York since 1999. It’s comfortable and comforting being there. Hot shower. Views of the Manhattan skyline (across the Hudson river) from her windows. We eat pizza, sup the blueberry vodka I brought with me, and catch up until late into the night.

Sharky Bones McCoy was supposed to be here already, along with Jules Ms Scarlet. But a freak wild-cat strike by Spanish air-traffic controllers on Friday caused Kelvin to be stranded in Spain and miss his original flight from London to NYC. He spent several tense days trying to find funds and means to book a new flight direct from Madrid. Hopefully those wankers who walked out without warning will find themselves held personally accountable for ruining the plans of some many thousands of people. Kelvin was lucky- finding a gruelling flight that will take him via Frankfurt. So many others will not have been so lucky. Jules was rear-rammed in a car crash a few weeks ago, the impact reigniting the terrible brain swelling and pains she’s suffered since taking a nasty fall from a horse several years earlier – it effectively prevents her from flying.

Sharky Bones McCoy & OJ riding the gypsy van from NJ to Manhattan

Kelvin finally makes it to New York. We meet him at Newark and he sinks into the comfortable fold.  The above picture is typical of the journey we made every day from Ramona’s pad in New Jersey into the City.

Typically, we grabbed some breakfast together, then I peeled off to go do my thing.  Walking 9 or 12 miles is standard for me now.  First day I walked down to the Village listening to tunes, and found a cafe. I was grinning from ear to ear. Radiating good vibes and feeling very much like I was in an excellent groove. I found a window bench seat, parked up, perched up, pulled out my stack of notepads and working notes and got on with… stuff.

I was without laptop, so working on the new contents structure for Yellow Dawn  and writing notes for  the expanded background section I’m planning.  What was refreshing, going through the rulebook, was how much it stands up to scrutiny.  People have been telling me this since I first published a list of what I considered bugs and need-for-improvement, but it was good to finally have the time to just read through it myself and feel confident about Yellow Dawn as it stands.

I also started to map out a new, and hopefully very short story, which aims to expand the concept of the zombie infection (in Yellow Dawn) and …the influence of Hastur through it.  It’s got a working title of “House of Heavenly Light” and I’m hoping to write it during the Christmas break.

Several bodies switch in and out of the seats next to me…a blur of human motion whilst I’ve got my brain buried in my books. 2nd cup of coffee I look up and chill out, then get talking to Laura G who’s appeared next to me. She’s running a business that is the next step on from Life Coaching. I was impressed and ran through her website in development and shared some knowledge. She admitted that her current copy was dire and needed serious work: would I want to help her out? She’d pay me. I was tempted but knowing how much work I’ve got to get through on my own turf, I declined. I did brainstorm a new strap line for her business though. She might use it. She might not. Definitely one of life’s interesting characters.

Later I reconnect with Jo and Kelvin, share some time before I bail back out for a rendezvous with my publicist at the Ear bar, on Spring Street.

Mr Hayes at the Ear Bar, Spring Street - a den of iniquity and rather cool people

Over the past few years, this chap has gone from being a mere advocate of my work, pushing my books through his channels, to become one of my biggest fans.  Sitting there, in the low light, cramped, crowded and eclectic ambience of the Ear bar, I was stunned by the enthusiastic torrent of compliments and praise he had about Dog Eat Dog, and about the world of Yellow Dawn.

The night turned into a drinking session, sociable and chatty we rapidly began to explore the tables around us in this tightly packed space.

I turned to one of several people who had arrived at a table beside me – and who had already caught my eye for being damned interesting looking – and asked them to take a pic of us holding a copy of Dog Eat Dog.  The girl who took this photo is now rapidly becoming an amazing friend. Snapping the shot, she handed me back the camera and asked “so which one of you is David J Rodger”.

And the conversation just flowed from there :o)

 

Flat Iron Building

The rest of the trip was a combination of socialising with Ramona, Jo, Kelvin and the regular crew, or me peeling off to do my own thing and meet new people.  One day  Jo and Kelvin and I headed down to find my old faithful eating house: Chat ‘N Chew. Went for the famous Mac & Cheese that I’ve been enjoying here since 2002. It did not disappoint.

Crossing the snaking giant of Tappan Zee Bridge

If you’ve read Dog Eat Dog, or ran a Yellow Dawn scenario near to the Living City of New York, you’ll know Tappan Zee bridge has a major role to play for survivors.  Ramona obligingly drove me, with Kelvin and Jo in tow, up through the dead zone to visit it.

We’re actually on the bridge at this point. It’s a three mile expanse, in a winding s-shape. And I just love it. In Yellow Dawn, and so Dog Eat Dog, it becomes a protected place within the surrouning dead zone – a place where surivors create settlements and businesses, a thriving community that crosses the boundary between the Living City of New York and the rural support zone beyond, where precious metals and digital credits can intermingle.

Crossing Tappan Zee bridge: so good to be able to blend the visual realiy with a fictional universe in my mind

View of Manhattan from Ramona's pad in New Jersey, looking out across Hudson river

My last solo trip into the City

It was my final day. I grabbed a late night van ride into Manhattan… and stayed out til past 1.a.m.

Me and the City – we really connected this trip, and this night in particular. And it’s lodged a thought in my mind for possible new directions for the future. Where do I want to be in my life?

Times Square at night - cyberpunk city in the here and now

So now I’m back in the UK, struggling to snap back into my groove as a result of a viscous hacking cough and general spaced-out state of mind.  Infection.  Man-flu, New York style, and no doubt caused by the number of late nights out that saw me walking miles in sub-zero temperatures – the hazy, freezing air, jabbing my face and lungs with every breath.  Worth it though.

Finally, here’s a little retrospective of my previous times in NYC.

1998. I met this girl as she got out of a taxi fresh from Chicago. We made a pledge - to success

1999. Empire State Building with a view of Twin Towers in distance

2000. Still big into my clubbing scene. Timo Mass played at Twilos. Bliss.

2002. Just your everyday American breakfast.

2007. Five years since last trip my whole world has changed.

More David J Rodger? Dante’s Fool ¦ Iron Man Project ¦ Edge ¦ Dog Eat Dog ¦ Yellow Dawn

Video: New York – Tappan Zee Bridge – location used in science fiction dark fantasy novel Dog Eat Dog

Tappan Zee Bridge

Tappan Zee Bridge is a location used in the Sci-Fi Dark Fantasy I published in 2010 after several years planning and one year of actual writing. Amazing to actually have a chance to go there and drive across it. Of course, in the book (placed in the post-apocalyptic setting of Yellow Dawn), the bridge has been radically modified by survivors to protect it from the Infected, and to make it somewhere people can live.

.

Tappan Zee Bridge in New York State

.

David J Rodger crossing Tappan Zee Bridge

.

ABOUT THE NOVEL

Available in paperback or Kindle

Paperback : from LULU & kindle: US ($), UK (£), DE (Euro)

DOG EAT DOG { novel } Ten years after the Earth has been devastated by a viral pathogen seventy per cent of the population is dead and only a handful of cities survive intact. The majority of urban spaces have been abandoned to the Infected, creatures that were once human.  Whilst above, the orbital colonies spin within their artificial gravity wells, helpless observers to the shocking events below.  Mikhail Drobná and Carlos Revira.  Two survivors, both hungry for money and power, and fuelled by a desire to carve their names onto this new world.  One provides services of violence and protection for powerful corporate criminals in New York; the other is a renegade intelligence agent forever running from the demons of his past. Strangers, until events conspire to bring them together. There’s a complex and deadly political power play in progress. Private armies. Corruption and murder on a massive scale.  Both men seek to seize their opportunity at whatever personal cost.  But a cosmic Evil has infiltrated the remote corners of these brutalised lands and it has its own plans. Will these men work as one to defeat it or will their bitter rivalry bring about their destruction. In the end, who will devour who?  David J Rodger delivers a novel of epic vision, character depth and nerve-popping tension.

.

.

See more posts like this – click

---

David J Rodger – DATA

Initial Reviews & Feedback: Science Fiction Fantasy, Post-Apocalyptic Horror novel – Dog Eat Dog

¦ Dialling in from Roman Spa Town, South West England ¦

26th November, 2010

So it’s approaching the first month of Dog Eat Dog being “out there”, and I’ve started to pick up feedback from people who’ve managed to blaze through it and I’m a little blown away by the intense enthusiasm the book is generating.

Some snippets I’ve received from people or found on the Interweb:

 

“I am about a third into DeD and I really like it. It is definitely my favourite.”

“Ded is an exceptionally good read: just read […] in a cage with a zombie :-o “

“Just finishing a fantastic novel by a friend, @davidjrodger, If you like #action, #scifi or #horror, you’ll love this. http://bit.ly/gi9TwS”

 

Also had a phone call from a close friend last night, a corporate management type who doesn’t mince his words and actually made me wince when he said he wanted to talk about Dog Eat Dog. I then spent 20 minutes listening to him raving about it.  So *several slow nods* this is all very good.

Meanwhile I’m still pumping away at my PR and marketing plan.  It’s been kind of fun, actually, and I’ve made contact with some really lovely folks, so thanks again for all the positive words and support through action.

The big task ahead is working on Yellow Dawn, and the project to produce a free-to-download “lite” version.  Seems that a lot of people still don’t know Yellow Dawn exists. If there’s anything you can do to help resolve this situation, I’d appreciate any and all help.

“Blog to Win A Book or RPG” is still running so if you want a chance to grab a free copy of one of my science fiction dark fantasy novels, or a post-apocalyptic RPG, just re-tweet this blog post, or drop it into your own blog – and let me know so I can add your name into the prize-draw.

LULU are offering 15% discount on all of my work (on top of the discounts I’m currently running in the build up to Christmas). Just enter STOCKING305 into the discount coupon field at checkout.  Offer ends 15th December. I’ll also be removing my discounts on this date.  So grab them now, whilst they’re this cheap! *smiles*

That’s it.
The temperature is hovering around zero degrees (C) here, but the sun is out – creating a very beautiful day.

Djr

New Fiction: Dog Eat Dog – my first copy arrived today – whoo hooo *beams a smile*

The postie just came to my desk and delivered a package 9 inches by 6 inches.  I ripped it open.  Contains the first copy of Dog Eat Dog. Looks great.  Lovely to flick through the pages.  See my work in my hands.  From digital to physical reality.  Also a significant moment considering the trauma of the realspace events that occurred in my life during the writing of this beast.  But this is a celebratory moment.  So swing a smile in my direction.  If you’re interested in the book, press release here.

New Release: Dog Eat Dog is born. Science fiction & fantasy thriller with zombies and a Cthulhu Mythos sting in the tail

¦ dialling in from the Sky Bunker ¦

07:37 GMT, Thursday 4th November. Sat at my desk, a churning mix of blue sky and ragged dark clouds are throwing stormy light in through the glass canopy behind me.  Life support is blowing warm air across my bare legs; I’m wrapped in the woolly embrace of Starsky and have a big mug of strong tea beside me.  Clan of Xymox is playing by choice, on vinyl, conjuring memories of a life and a world 21 years and 320 miles distant.

I’m enjoying a moment of relative quiet and calm. I’ve got a potentially tough few days ahead of me.

Yesterday, 3rd November, I published my fifth novel, Dog Eat Dog is born.  A new release in science fiction & fantasy.  Very much a soft launch.  New fiction: a story set within the post-apocalyptic world of Yellow Dawn.  There are zombies although within the story, the term is seen as a misnomer generated by popular media of survivors.  And, as with much of my writing, there’s a far reaching influence of some Cthulhu Mythos nasty: a Great-Old-One and Servitor Race combination I created  for the Yellow Dawn world. I’ve not seen a copy of the book yet so I’m trusting it’s a-okay.  Should get to see it next week. Meanwhile, press release here

So that’s all good.

But, I’m approaching anniversary of my mum dying, or rather, of watching the final days of my mum starving to death.  I’ve been fending off memories that have been bubbling up over the past few days, shoving them back down with a mental force of will, but I reckon very soon it’s going to hit me full force. Pretty grim. And a horrible reminder of the massive gap that has been created in my life by her absence.

I’m also starting to read the blog entries I made during the whole experience this time last year.  Part of the process, I guess. Rememberance.

I’m flying to Newcastle tonight.  Part of me is saying, WTF! Why are you going?  There’s a family home of 30+ years with the guts, heart and soul ripped out of it. An empty vessel that’s just going to be a freezing and haunting remdinder of everything that’s now gone. Hmm.

There are friends there.  Good friends.  So that’s why I’m going.

And to build and burn a bonfire with Pete, next door.  Those who know me will know why, and know the story.

So Dog Eat Dog is done and dusted.  Lots of marketing ahead which I’ve started and am enjoying; actually reaching out to people, to humans, and saying “hello” rather than being tucked away inside this room at the top of a house with a lofty view of a city and rolling hills.

I’m going to delay launching Living In Flames, the novel I wrote between July and September this year.

It means I’ll soon be able to turn my attention back to Yellow Dawn. I’ve been scouring RPG forums and blogs looking for critiques on the game, to help me build up a  bug list of things I need to improve. Found a fantastic one by Mornwraith on RPGNet yesterday. I’m hoping to approach some people on UK Roleplayers and my long time favourite Yog-Sothoth dot com.  I’m also looking for people to support my vision and carry it forward, out into the blogosphere and the wider web beyond.  So busy months ahead. It you’re into Yellow Dawn and want to monitor progress with the next stage, then bookmark this link, and please feel free to participate.

Talking of zombies. I went to Bristol’s Zombie Walk last weekend. The Dead Will Rise. Bloody excellent. I think there was about 3,000 zombies turned up. Pics and videos (including a great one of zombies dancing to a zombie rock band playing Ghostbusters theme) on this link here.

Braiinnsssss

Finally, I’m giving away some of my work at the end of the month. If you want to grab a chance to win, follow this link.

That’s it.

Djr

Close to the edit (end of) – Dog Eat Dog – up to Ch 46

Only three more to go and I’m done. Well, just the small issue of not having a jacket design finished yet *peers over at Vega$* but hopefully that should come together this weekend.  This book’s a big deal for me. Covers a very intense personal period and is the first to occur in the world of Yellow Dawn.  As ever, preview available here.

Dog Eat Dog, review and edit phase continues, up to Chapter 37 (of 49)

Yay, back into the groove and pushing through the typos and structural fixes.  I know it’s my book, so I’m bound to be bias, but I’m really loving reading it and getting to spend time with the characters again. Old friends, soon to be set on their journey.  You can read a sample of Dog Eat Dog here.

Apprehension looming

¦ dialling in from workstation ¦

08:17 GMT, Monday 2^nd August.  Tis a beautiful early morning here in Bath.  The sun has an almost autumnal hue to it today; the hazy pale yellow.  It reminds me how much I love the shifting of the seasons.  I’m already looking forward to cold bright sunny days, clean blue skies above, the early morning mist hugging surrounding hills… and the privilege I enjoy to be able to work and walk around this ancient Roman city of Bath (2,000 years old).   And yet, to be live in Bristol, avoiding the negatives that living in a place like Bath carries with it (too small, weird vibe, strange energy).

I was writing a note to a friend today and this part ties into the looming apprehension I’ve been feeling past couple of days:   “I’m heading up to Newcastle next weekend.  I’ve not been there for about 6 weeks or so and since my last visit the house has been stripped bare and redecorated. So it’s going to be strange going there.  There’s apparently no furniture anywhere in the house now, apart from a sofa bed in the living room; no beds, no nothing.  My mum’s ashes are still there.  Still need to work out a way of getting them scattered at sea between England and Norway (her final wish).  I’ll be arriving late at night.  So hopefully I accept the transformation as I walk in, and don’t freak out to be faced with a cold empty house and a whole night of sleeplessness and night-demons.  Part of me is dreading it.  Part of me is looking forward to seeing the place back to basics again, kind of seeing the house go full circle and reconnecting with my vivid memories of the place in 1980, when we moved in, and I was 9 years old.”

It’s going to be a weekend where I say goodbye. Goodbye to Newcastle, goodbye to the house I’ve always referred to as “Home” for 30 years.  Nostalgia will rule those days.  Me, drifting around the Dene with Art of Noise on headphones, I expect.  Standing up in my old bedroom  gazing out at the forest pressing close against the back garden, listening to early Gary Numan , and Chris & Cosey, sound-scapes that shaped my youthful mind and certainly influenced my current writing.  It’ll also be a chance for me to hog some café tables and blast on with Living in Flames, and continue the review / edit of Dog Eat Dog.

Dog Eat Dog, review and edit, now up to Chapter 24

Only 25 more to go now.  Should be ready to launch in September. :o)

Living in Flames, finished chapter 17. Dog Eat Dog review and edit continues.

Just finished Chapter 17 for Living in Flames, reached 27,000 words. Word count is coming in around half of what Dog Eat Dog was… tighter writing, quicker scenes, and I just want it finished.  I’m feeling a lot more relaxed now that I’ve finished re-mapping out the plot. I have a structure that’s been challenged and now works. I can settle back into a steady pace, one chapter at a time.

Dog Eat Dog – what a bloody excellent book. Sorry, I know I wrote it, but damn it’s good. Yesterday I was reading through a Dead City run. Tension was high.  I had to re-read a whole chunk and actually proof it properly because I’d just sped through on adrenaline first time round.

Dog Eat Dog, review and edit phase, partway through ch21 (of 49)

Getting there!

Got to stop and looking around once and a while

So I’m doing my best to put the brakes on.

Rather than diving out of bed when I woke, driving into town to kick start my brain with a coffee and pain-au-chocolat, I had a lie-in.

Bloody lovely, although I can feel the monster-slave-driver in my mind seething and resenting the fact I’m not writing. Bizarre, eh? Am I not in control of my own creative needs?  When did they gain control of me?

I’m sat in the Sky Bunker, listening to King Swamp on vinyl, tapping out these words before I uncouple myself from the wool comfort of my faithful Starsky cardigan, get dressed, and head into town. Living In Flames plot mapping (bastard thing) and Dog Eat Dog review and editing.  Downstairs I’ve prepared a slow cooker feast that’ll be ready in three hours.  Boston Baked Beans.  Hmm.  I’ll drop a note about those later.