Meet John Corry, author of The Zombie Ritual A Second Coming. John has been writing narrative philosophy-novels for several years, but The Zombie Ritual is his first self-published book. The book chronicles the "not so ordinary life" of Chuck Zelmer. When a zombie outbreak puts a teenage dance party to a violent end, lovestruck metalhead Chuck Zelmer finds himself in a bloody and academically philosophic chase through the halls of the Bed and Breakfast where the party took place. Read John's interview below to learn about his inspiration and motivation for writing narrative philosophy.
How long have you been writing? I’ve been writing my whole life, but novels for about seven years. Before that, it was mostly movie/sitcom scripts, comic books, long and drawn out video game treatments and illustrations, and music (music and lyrics), as my plan following high school was to become a drug addicted musical genius who died at age twenty-seven after having just made the ‘absolute best record ever made in any genre’. It was a flawed plan.
What is your most recent literary/artistic project? Recently, I’ve been working on progressing my blog (r(E)volutionized), writing comedy-themed political articles on recent events and movie/music/book reviews for it, and trying to market it as much as possible. I’ve also been working on starting a podcast of the same name. In the meantime, I’ve been working when I can on a science fiction/dystopian political thriller featuring a multi-verse of ‘realities’ in which different political histories (and presidents) contribute to Mind, with a big emphasis on science (specifically: time), and, especially, conspiracy theory (with a decent amount of David Bowie and Carl Jung references relevant to the story as well).
What inspires you to write? Mostly reading/watching other people’s work. Researching current political events also gets the juices flowing quite well. It’s an interesting time to be alive.
Who’s your favorite author and why? My favorite fiction author would likely have to be Stephen King, because I’ve been reading him for forever, and I still get a ton out his style, sense of plot development, and his sheer story ideas; though I also like Ayn Rand a lot, if for any reason because of the way she seamlessly integrates her philosophical ideas into well-crafted, well-executed, and entertaining stories.
As far as nonfiction goes, I’ve loved Alan Watts, Plato, and Friedrich Nietzsche for a long time. I’ve lately been very into Carl Jung and Hannah Arendt. Please keep in mind that I personally don’t think that there is such a thing as anyone fully agreeing with anyone else. I gauge nonfiction as far as how much it makes me think/look at things in new ways, in juxtaposition with their overall entertainment value.
What advice can you give to other authors or writers? Follow, before anything, what your heart tells you, but don’t expect anything out of it, because if you’re expecting something out of it, then you’re not really following what your heart is telling you. Your heart has no expectations; its specific application, of its primary function (feeling/loving), inherently voids them (or at least as regards itself). Write because you love it and don’t let other people tell you what to do, only how to do what you want to do.
Where can readers go to find out more information about your work? I have a blog called r(E)volutionzed (revolution is evolution) at https://revolutionized.world, which I run with the help of several other people (so: not all the memes, ideas, or articles necessarily represent what I believe (and in many cases, it’s quite the opposite)). My first novella, The Zombie Ritual_A Second Coming (A Narrative Intro to Plato’s Forms) is for sale there, as well as on amazon and createspace. I’m also on twitter @RevolutionizedW, instagram/revolutionizedw, tumblr/revolutionizedw, medium/revolutionizedw, and facebook/revolutionizedw.
If anyone has any interest for any reason, they can also email me personally at john@revolutionized.world