3. A photo that makes you happy. 6/13/2005: a surprise visit from Dan.
So, this novel started as an idea I’d had back in ’04 based on my experiences as a product sample photographer (my title was “Web Marketing Manager” or some such) at Alco Industries in Cranbury, New Jersey. The idea was that after thousands of mundane and ordinary housewares samples (candle holders, picture frames, flatware, etc.) the main character receives a sample that is somehow otherworldly, somehow transformative, which leads him on a quest to find its maker, to find out the meaning behind this object. Apparently, at times, I’d had real good ideas about where this would go (China?) and how it would all work out, but they must have been forgotten, because….
So, it seemed like it was just turning into a straight up memoir (boring) until I realized I’d been writing a lot about my perception of many of the people I’d met in New Jersey as aliens. And then, somehow, I thought, “Wouldn’t it be great if there was a zombie apocalypse during all this? Forget the beautiful sample. Let’s just have mass chaos and destruction.”
I know, I know. It’s obviously influenced by the series premier of The Walking Dead and the glut of other zombie-related fiction/film/TV that we’re seeing every day. It’s been done. But, I’m cool with that.
And today’s picture is appropriate — Dan and Karen were two of the very few non-alien people I met in NJ. For my 30th birthday, Dan and Karen flew to Chicago and hung out for the weekend. And Dan (cleverly disguised with a different name) will feature prominently in the story.