Last week I had the pleasure of interviewing Kc Wayland and Shane Salk, the geniuses behind the zombie audio drama We’re Alive (don’t tell them I called them geniuses!) and I’m pleased to say it is up and available for your undead listening pleasure.
We chat about a little about the plot, production, the characters, and everything in between.
Whether you’re a seasoned listener, or find yourself scratching your head wondering what We’re Alive is (spoilers: It’s about horrific zombies that try to eat people), this interview has you covered. So you should listen to it. Like right now. Kthnx <3
A HUGE thank you to Billy “Beezball” Milby for assisting with the editing when my computer decided it would be an appropriate time to break out the ol’ Blue Screen of Death.
You’ve read about zombies in novels and you’ve watched zombies in films.
But have you listened to an audio drama about zombies?
My friends and fellow zombie lovers, I have a recommendation and a half for you.
We’re Alive is an extremely addicting and engaging audio drama about a group of survivors desperately attempting to survive in a city where an epidemic has turned everyday people into volatile, flesh eating zombies. Taking refuge in an apartment building in downtown Los Angeles, they must overcome their differences and function as a team in order to survive, and it’s no easy feat. See, taking even one step outside of the building’s walls is like asking for a death sentence; one never knows who, or what, is lurking behind each corner. Hell, even the apartment balconies aren’t entirely safe.
But the 14-story building is just a “safe haven” and as expected, doesn’t contain nearly enough of the necessities needed in order to survive; therefore a select few must step outside of those walls and venture into a dying city in an attempt to locate food, water, and anything else they can get their hands on.
I’ll keep it spoiler free, but you have to trust me when I say We’re Alive is not your typical run-of-the-mill zombie nightmare.
And that’s a very good thing.
But that’s just the beginning. See, I’m a sucker for well developed characters, and We’re Alive does not disappoint. Each character relative to the plot (and there’s a handful) is unique and possesses their own, distinct personality. Combine that with top-notch voice acting, and you have a SOLID group of characters.
Worth mentioning is the fantastic choice of music and sound effects that are integrated into the podcast. There is just enough detail to paint a picture of the scene you’re listening to, but it also leaves room for imagination.
Combine the plot, characters, music, sound effects and some of the creepiest zombies I’ve ever come across, and We’re Alive will be one of the most engaging and intense zombie stories you’ll ever experience. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had to stop what I was doing (ie; working) during an intense scene and just stare at an inanimate object while my brain rapidly painted a monumental picture.
So, do yourself a favor. Listen to this stuff. It’s amazing.
Hello, Zaxy readers! Kristina here. I have been gone for quite a long time, what with all the touring and toe-breaking I’ve been doing lately (no great story here, just that I broke my toe running up my stairs a few days ago. The PIZZA was here! Can you blame me?)
But anyway, now I am home. And just in time to tell you all about the best part of Novemeber: NaNoWriMo!
So the basic gist of the project is that you write a novel in a month. The goal set by the NaNoWriMo organization is 50,000 words. You can write literally anything you want, from sci-fi to romance, chick lit to fanfiction, ANYTHING.
All you do is type those little fingers off and update your word count each day on the site. Maybe find yourself some writing buddies, stock up on caffeine and sugar, and pump out that novel you’ve always said you wanted to write.
I know I’m the resident “internet meme specialist” here on zaxy.com, and while nanowrimo isn’t exactly a meme, it’s definitely the reason so many people are quiet on Facebook today. Are your view counts low on YouTube? Does there seem to be less trolls in general online? It’s because people everywhere are typing furiously, trying to get the 1,667 words needed each day to get to 50k by November 30th. Or they’re staring dejectedly at a depressingly blank word document, like I am.
In fact, the only site that’s possibly even busier than normal today is twitter, because it’s so damn easy and distracting to check the #nanowrimo hashtag. And refresh. And refresh.
Anyway, even if you’re not into writing yourself, I think it’s good to know what the rest of the Internet is up to.
Also, now’s the best excuse to get your high-pitched Stewie voice on and ask your Nano buddies, “How’s that novel you’ve been working on?”
Judging by the date (11/27/2009) this is fairly old buuut I just happened to stumble across this gem.
Dear “girl-friend”,
You know what your problem is? No? Are you sure? Because it’s so obvious that it’s practically slapping you in the face with obviousnessment. Don’t even bother turning to Oprah or Dr. Phil for this one. I got it.
The way you spelled “Xbox 360” as “X-Box 360” speaks wonders in itself.
There is no hyphen.
Maybe if you weren’t such a n00b, he’d be more into you.
I think this lady is nuts for not grabbing a baseball bat or something and whacking that dude in the head. I mean, look at her face. She’s all, “WTF are you doing zombie? I’m trying to like, relax here. Can you please move your rotting carcass somewhere else?”
Maybe this is a rare photo taken out of Raccoon City just before shit hit the fan. Or maybe a zombie just wants to catch the bus. Perhaps a blind date gone wrong?
But really, what’s going on here? I don’t feel like wracking my brain, so why don’t you tell me?
I haven’t been playing videogames as of late. Instead, I’ve managed to find an interim activity that has managed to seize my interest and hold it with a tight, unrelenting grasp.
You see, I’ve been doing this thing called “reading”, and when I find a book that really sucks me in, I can’t do anything else until I read the very last, crispy page. But I won’t read just anything; I usually limit myself to Zombie or videogame fiction. Go ahead, call me shallow.
But anyway, I just finished reading a stupendous book (I’ve always wanted to use that word in a sentence) and wanted to share it with you:
Seriously, if you’re a fan of DA:O, you MUST read this. See that part under the author’s name? It’s kind of small, but it says it was written by the lead writer of Dragon Age: Origins.
You shouldn’t need any more convincing than that, but if you’re *ahem* lazy, I believe you can purchase this on CD.
Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne serves as a prequel to DA:O and explains how Maric, King Cailan’s father, won Fereldon (and accordingly, the throne) from the Orleasian rule.
So, yeah. Read it. Then get at me. I long to have nerdy conversations about this.
Last week Britt and I got to try something AWESOME: Gamma World.
As you know, I’m the D&Der of the group. And while D&D is great, I’ve never been super into Fantasy. So when I heard I could play a D20 RPG that was a bit more up my alley (Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi?) I was all “Hells Yeah!”
Take a look at some of my experiences and clips from the game here:
When I play Tabletop RPGs, I play with my improv buddies. Which means we make it really tough on the GM. In the past I’ve played with small talking dragons, I’ve carried multiple canoes with me “just in case”, I’ve made myself shallow, diamond hungry characters whose sole goal was to find and wear a tiara… but with Gamma World, you can practically do anything. You start off rolling dice to get your character’s two origins, so it starts off pretty random, and you get to make the best of it from there. I mean, I was Zoltar (based on my origin cards of “Hypercognitive” and “Android), for Pete’s sake. But don’t think that’s where your character stops. Depending on the GM and your dice rolls, you may end up with extra abilities (or limbs) throughout the game.
If you like D&D, try Gamma World. If you don’t like D&D, try Gamma World. Seriously. It’s available for sale TODAY.
Wanna give it a go before you you shell out the bucks? Visit your local gaming store for Gamma World game day, this Saturday, October 23! You’ll get to play the same adventure we played (although we only went an hour into it… it’s a 4 hour campaign), and you’ll get some special cards ONLY available on Game Day. Can’t wait to see what they are? Feel free to decode this one!
I’m also looking at getting a game started and Livestreamed in November. More details to come, but it’ll include you getting to chat directly with the GM and influence the gameplay!
If you go to the Game Day or pick up Gamma World, let us know what kind of character you end up being! And check out Britt’s post for a POV from someone who’s never played D&D before.
While at PAX, my friend Ryan from the Game Over podcast told me his girlfriend, Emma, was considering getting a Zelda heart container tattooed on her foot.
Like every other highly intelligent person on this planet, my first thought was “PICS OR IT DIDN’T HAPPEN!!11”, but I told him if she did go through with it to send me a picture because I would love to post it on Zaxy.
A few days ago, I received a picture, thus concluding that it did in fact happen.
This is awesome.
Not gonna lie—I’ve been considering getting a “gaming” tattoo for a while now. I have a “normal” tattoo already, but as soon as I saw this it was an immediate reminder of how much I’ve wanted to get something geeky tatted on me. I’m not exactly sure what I want, so I’ll probably be in limbo for a while.
