I found two treasures: a hatchet minus its sheath, leaning against the rotting wall, and an old paperback copy of The Hobbit, wearing a thin sweater of filth.
Pretending I was He-Man was fun, taking the hatchet and swinging it into the trunk of the peach tree in our backyard, knowing that if I was caught, I'd be in a high heap of trouble. My adventures with the blade only lasted a few minutes. Though it wasn't because I was scared of getting in trouble. I'd been in trouble before, plenty, and I'd be in trouble again. But I couldn't stop thinking about the magic, trolls, dragons and elves waiting for me.
I tore through The Hobbit, understanding maybe half. I was used to this level of comprehension; it was a lot like listening to my parents argue. I read the book several times until finally setting it down two years later, where it lay untouched for two decades until I first heard that the director of Heavenly Creatures was adapting The Lord of the Rings.
I was eight the year I discovered Stephen King and became a different sort of reader.
My mom was an avid reader before I was born. That changed soon, though. Maybe it was the constant wiping of my ass which stripped her of the energy to tear through pages by the thousands as she once had, but she still saw herself as the reader she once was, or imagined a return to the good old days, so she bought the books to fit the image.
Though few were read, I believe in the early days, she never missed a single Stephen King. She started with Carrie and kept right on going.
I was around seven, laying on the floor in my sleeping bag beside my sister the first time I remember hearing the name Stephen King. Our parents were on the couch, our father flipping channels. Channel surfing was still new and therefore fun for the whole family. My father paused on a macabre scene of a woman, swimming in blood, being chased down a stairwell by another woman, obviously older.
"Why is that lady chasing her?" I said, more curious than frightened. I could feel my sister's discomfort beside me.
"Probably because she forgot to clean her room," my dad said. My mom suggested he change the channel, which he did immediately, but not before defensively saying to my mom, "You're the one who likes Stephen King."
"Was that Carrie?" I asked, pointing to the TV. My mom said yes. I have no idea how I knew.
I did know this Stephen King books were scary and exciting. And after seeing seven seconds of Carrie, I also knew they probably had buckets of blood, which for all the swords and warfare, was something The Hobbit was seriously lacking.
I read The Talisman, fresh from the bestseller rack, still in hardcover about a month after my mom did. I took it from her room, transported it to mine, then twisted the landscape of my mind and imagination forever.
It took a couple of decades, plus a few major life changes before I realized I was a writer, but many seeds were planted in between the pages of my first stack of Stephen King books. Like The Hobbit, I rarely understood everything the first time through, but I never minded the return visits.
My parents had a small business, right around the corner from a Walden Books. Best babysitter I ever had. I devoured everything I could, hours swallowed hours and days ate weeks. That bookstore wasn't only the best babysitter I ever had, it was also my best teacher. It's where I read Twain and McMurtry, but it was also where I feasted on an endless supply of comic books and Blanche Knott's Truly Tasteless Jokes books. I was eleven when I read Anne Rice's Exit to Eden, which was a far more vivid lesson in sex than I'd ever get in school. My homework was often ignored, but by '88, I'd read everything Stephen King had ever written, with the exception of Danse Macabre, which I admit I've still not gotten to.
I grew up and was soon engrossed in film, preferring the bite-sized two hour adventures. I traded King for Tarantino and PT Anderson. The common thread was the same: well-told stories I couldn't break away from, with characters and dialogue that kept me smiling.
Most recently I've fallen in love with the golden age of television and the serialized delight from shows such as LOST, Dexter, The Walking Dead, and The Sopranos. Great characters, open loops, and impossibly awesome cliffhangers.
These are the seeds which eventually sprouted Yesterday's Gone.
I expected my lifetime diet of books, movies, and TV would coalesce to help me tell a well-told story. After all, I'd been doing it as a ghostwriter for years. I love telling stories and knew Dave and I could write an exciting-to-read, impossible-to-put-down adventure.
What I didn't expect was the magic.
I started writing Yesterday's Gone expecting the first season to be fun, and maybe a little trashy. Though Dave and I wanted to deliver the highest quality experience we possibly could, part of what I loved most about his idea for the post-apocalyptic setting, was that I was confident we could write it fast and furiously (I'm a big believer that the faster you write, the more natural your voice, but that's a different author's note).
I was picturing the grind house experiences of the 70's, a trashy movie in a trashy theater that left you wanting more. I expected to enjoy writing the season, releasing it to an audience, then moving onto the next one. However, I didn't expect to fall in love with the story, or the characters.
I love everything about Yesterday's Gone, and after more than three million words written in the last three years, it's my favorite thing I've ever done.
And I never saw Boricio coming.
I can't wait for Season Two.
Thank YOU for reading. I'm looking forward to you and I having many more adventures together.
Sean Platt.
DARK CROSSINGS: Short stories. Killer Endings.
From the creators of the groundbreaking post-apocalyptic series Yesterday's Gone, and the vampire thriller Available Darkness, comes six unforgettable short stories, daring you to experience the darkness of their worlds.
Available as single stories or in the full collection, Dark Crossings is a collection best enjoyed with the lights on.
PULL THE TRIGGER - Ellie's husband owes money to some powerful people. The only way she can save his life is to do one "simple" job - retrieve a mysterious box and kill the courier. But can Ellie pull the trigger? Nothing is at it seems in this pulse-pounding mysterious thriller.
CHRIS WAKES UP - You know those zombie stories where survivors must make their way through a world plagued by walking dead? This is a tale from a zombie's perspective, as Chris wakes up infected, alone, and hungry. As he struggles to hold onto his humanity, he finds himself the unlikely protector of a young girl seeking safety. Can he protect her from others? Can he protect her from himself?
RESPERO DINNER - In the not-too-distant future, Xavier is the guest of honor at an exclusive dinner. It's a night filled with friends, family, and regrets. Respero Dinner is a thought provoking tale of love, loss, and the choices we make in life.
THE VISITOR - Blind and dying, writer Mary Fletcher is waiting out her final days in a nursing home. Unlike most of the other residents, Mary refuses to dwell on the past -until a mysterious visitor shows up. A visitor who sounds exactly like the love of her life who she believed to be dead. Who is he? What does he want?
DINER FADED - Zach hops into his car and hits the open road, angry and eager to put a couple of states between he and his girlfriend. Zach pulls into a diner, hungry and with a gas tank on fumes. He gets more than he ordered and something he may never escape.
THE WATCHER - Since the death of his young daughter, Frank Grimm's life has completely unravelled. Barely connected with his wife, he now sits in his home office, watching his neighbors live their lives. And when nobody's looking, he sometimes breaks into their homes. There's only one house on his street he hasn't broken into. And in that house, one day, he sees someone in the window, watching him.
AVAILABLE DARKNESS.
THE DARKNESS HAS AWOKEN.
FBI Special Agent Caleb Baldwin is on the hunt for a serial killer who has left a trail of burned bodies. One of those victims his wife. As he gets closer to finding the killer, he falls deeper into an elaborate conspiracy.
A man wakes buried alive with no memory of who or what he is. In his pocket, a note: "Avoid the sunlight and don't touch anybody." Now he is being hunted by the FBI while trying to remember his monstrous past. He must control the darkness within before it consumes him and the child whose life he must protect.
11-year-old Abigail was dying slowly each day as the prisoner of a sick man. Until she is saved by the most unlikely of heroes a vampire with a deadly touch. He is her only hope, and she may hold the key to unlocking the memories of his hidden past.
Past, present, fate, and future are on a collision course as the hours of AVAILABLE DARKNESS are ticking away and a force greater than anything the world has ever seen threatens humanity.
Available Darkness is the first book in an epic journey that reinvents vampire mythology with a fast paced, character-driven thriller that blends action, mystery, fantasy, and horror in an addictive, tragically romantic story.
AVAILABLE NOW in print and for the Amazon Kindle, in convenient instant download eBook version.
Visit http://AvailableDarknessBook.com for more information and to get sneak peeks at the next exciting book in the Available Darkness trilogy.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS.
Sean Platt is author of the books Four Seasons, Penny to a Million, Writing Online, and co-wrote Available Darkness and the Yesterday's Gone series.
In addition to being a regular contributor for Copyblogger.com, the Web's premier content marketing site, Sean has written copy for some of the largest writing and lifestyle blogs on the Web.
A new breed of publisher, Sean writes and publishes nonfiction and fiction in several genres ranging from children's books to horror. Sean is a co-founder of the publishing imprint Collective Inkwell Media.
He is available for speaking events aimed at writers, publishers, and creative entrepreneurs, as well as for individual consultation.
Sean is living the writer's dream in Ohio with his wife and two children.
Connect with Sean at:.
http://ghostwriterdad.com.
http://twitter.com/seanplatt.
http://facebook.com/ghostwriterdad.
http://collectiveinkwell.com.
David W. Wright is a former newspaper reporter and cartoonist. He is co-author of Available Darkness and the Yesterday's Gone series. He is also working on an illustrated children's book for preschoolers.
He writes about self-publishing at:.
http://CollectiveInkwell.com.