Ex-Patriots

One of the worst sensations in the world is writing your first book. Don’t let anyone tell you anything different. In many ways it’s glorious and thrilling, but there’s always that nagging fear, the one gnawing away at the writer each night. Am I wasting my time? Will anyone ever read it? Will they like it?

As such, the second-worst feeling is when that first book wasn’t a waste of time, was read, and was liked. Because now you have to write another one and figure out some way to make that lightning strike twice. Worse yet, as Hollywood has shown us again and again, there’s no such thing as one sequel. If the first one works, you have to aim for a trilogy. Which means even bigger stakes and even more planning. Which means you’ll probably all be seeing Ex-Communication released a year or so after this book you just finished reading.

Of course, I couldn’t’ve handled all this alone. So a few deeply felt thanks must be given to…

Mary, soon to be Doctor Mao, who pointed me in all the right directions to begin my superhuman research project. Also a big thanks to my college roommate, who now goes by Doctor John Tansey, Director of the Interdisciplinary Program in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Otterbein University. John helped fine tune the project and made Doctor Sorensen’s work sound far more plausible than I ever could. Any vagueness, errors, or open fabrications are there to serve the needs of fiction and came from me, not either of them.

The U.S. Army plays a huge part in this story as well, and I know just enough about that life and career to know that I know very little about that life and career. Definitely not enough to do justice to the Army, which it so rarely gets in zombie stories. Jeff talked to me at length about the decision to join the military, as did my dad, Dennis (who spent Vietnam aboard the Will Rogers ). Staff Sergeant Lincoln Crisler—a fine author himself—helped with military call signs and communications. My stepsister, Carolyn (Master Sergeant Dade, ret., to the rest of you), spent ages teaching me about command structure, ranks, and life in the military. My best friend, Marcus, who has forgotten more about every branch of the military than I will ever learn, answered questions about weapons, vehicles, tactics, and more at all hours of the day and night. He also helped me smooth out several issues in early drafts. Again, any mistakes or exaggerations in these pages are entirely my own and not theirs.

Jacob at Permuted Press let me spend some time on a desert island with The Eerie Adventures of the Lycanthrope Robinson Crusoe before diving into this book.

Jessica, the Permuted editor for this book, caught far too many things that slipped past me, in spelling, grammar, and structure. Also a belated thanks to Matthew, who did a fantastic job editing Ex-Heroes . A discussion we had about sonic booms and the nature of Zzzap’s energy form became the talk between Barry and Sorensen.

I am indebted to Jen, Larry, and John (Surfin Dead over at Zombie Zone News.Com), who all read early drafts of this book, offered many comments and critiques, and let me know where I’d gone horribly wrong and where I’d gone somewhat right.

And a very special thanks, as always, to my lovely lady, Colleen, who listens patiently, criticizes fairly, prods gently (or not-so-gently), and has far more faith in me and my ability than I do at times.

—P.C.

Los Angeles, February 15th, 2011