The Bloodless is about a small makeshift band of soldiers and weapons experts that take on the evil GoD Labratories. What was your inspiration for GoD Laboratories and how they bring about the undead?

A lot of the inspiration was drawn from big box companies of today. Some media companies basically do what they want and while there are people who object to their practices, there isn’t much that can be done to stop them because of their deep pockets that afford them virtually unlimited power and they supply services people need. GoD is like that but in a society that has seen science replace almost every deity based religion on the planet, they are practicing what people believe in. So a level of support is there for them but as with any company, they overstep their bounds and take things too far. On one hand they provide critical services to society (i.e. cures for diseases, life extending drugs, and research that benefits nearly every aspect of life) but the other hand delves into parts of the natural order that nobody has dared to explore for mostly ethical reasons.

The Bloodless did a great job in delivering action packed zombie killing fun. How did you balance the blood and gore inherent in zombie novels with character development that we see in successful franchises like The Walking Dead?

There has to be an ebb and flow to any story that is told. When I’m writing I try to think of concerts. In any good concert you go to you will notice that the music selection is varied in a way that lets the audience catch their breath. I, too, want my audience to be able to catch their breath so I try to change it up after an intense moment of combat or violence. Also, things need to be explained, motives and causes, so you can’t just have it be balls out all the time. Readers need to understand the intent behind the characters’ actions/choices, so making sure those moments are included is a big part of my writing.

Justice started out as a hard pragmatic scientist and then develops into more of a hero type. What do you think were some of the defining moments in his characters development?

Simply put: loss. Loss is a huge motivator/catalyst in anyone’s development. First he lost his wife and son, usually that is enough to drive anybody to do whatever it takes to right the wrong. Then he loses the love of his life, Crist, which he feels somewhat ashamed of but knows it to be true. But it’s also his successes. Successfully infiltrating those substations based on plans he developed helped him realize his worth. He deals with the loss in his own way but understands that its inherent with the role he has taken on. A lot of times leadership roles are thrust upon the protagonist, it’s not often you see those characters put themselves into the role, there is definitely a learning curve with Daniel but like any good scientist, he learns best from trial and error.

Zombies are a popular fiction today. How does The Bloodless stand out from the rest?

I think a lot of zombies that are popular in media these days are typically born from a virus, something that is transmitted from a bite or scratch or some type of physical contact. The Bloodless are different in the fact that the genetic structure of a person is being altered and the only thing spreading the “disease” is The Cloud. I think the only similarities that exist are the fact that the body had to be dead at some point and the mindless desire to kill. Classic zombies are driven by the need to feed on fresh human flesh, but the Bloodless have something else driving them, an outside influence rather than instinct. Also, there are two levels of “undead.” One is those who were reanimated within GoD labs, those are the people who regained the ability to talk, think, and feel and have a superhuman ability to generate. Two; are those who were born from The Cloud, these are the mindless killing machines. Both play an important role, roles that will be further explored in the upcoming installments.

I hope the series continues in other books. If so, where will the story take readers?

I am actually nearing the end of the writing phase of book 2 out of a 3 book series. At least 3 books. I am not sure if the series will extend into anything beyond 3, we’ll have to see how things progress. I can tell you that the second book aims to tie up most of the loose ends from the first book and that there will definitely be a final showdown between Daniel and Mendel, because there has to be, right? It’s hard to say anything without giving too much away but I definitely go into more detail about the backgrounds of the individuals fighting alongside Daniel Justice. There is also a brief foray into the world outside the tiny bubble around the GoD campus, which makes for an interesting contrast. However, if you want to know more, you’ll just have to read the next book which I am hoping to have out mid to late spring.

The year is 2100-something, Daniel Justice is just another geneticist working for GoD Laboratories, a big box, publicly traded biotechnology company. Then one day he proved that resurrecting the dead was not only possible, but economically viable. Back in the old days, this would have been a massive ethics debate, but in a world where religion is all but extinct, the conversation is a whole lot different.