In my quarterly hiatus from tutoring college students in the ancient arts of grammatology, I have been working on some story ideas hoping they will flower, budding into a flesh-eating plant that devours children and annoying animals. Alas, my creative conveyor belt is low on juice, clunking along like a tired engine festered with rust and hardened grease. When I was in college, I turned to college crack (Adderall) to fill the neural gaps; I mean, fuck's sake, Phillip K. Dick used milder methamphetamines and look at the body of his work! The man exceeded Frederik Pohl and Ursula K. Le Guin in my opinion. But the drugs have run their course, I'm through with the jitters, teeth-grinding, and days of insomnia.
I've been working on one story that's currently over 20k words. I'm wary about giving details, but the fiction is based on the typical living dead scenario (cliche, I know), but I'm hoping to get this published piecemeal in a horror/sci-fi rag, assuming that the public is even interested anymore. My current influences for this are an amalgamation of giallo movies (i.e. Deodato, Fulci, Argento, D'Amato), American horror, Roger Corman, Romero (namely Dawn of the Dead), Max Brooks' Zombie Survival Guide, The Walking Dead (comic books and t.v. series), and the current economic climate in the U.S.
Any suggestions?