Wellington, David

PERSONAL:

Born in Pittsburgh, PA; married. Education: Pennsylvania State University, M.F.A.

ADDRESSES:

Home—New York, NY. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer. United Nations, New York, NY, librarian.

WRITINGS:

Thirteen Bullets, Three Rivers Press (New York, NY), 2007.

ZOMBIE TRILOGY

Monster Island: A Zombie Novel, Thunder's Mouth Press (New York, NY), 2006.

Monster Nation: A Zombie Novel, Thunder's Mouth Press (New York, NY), 2006.

Monster Planet: A Zombie Novel, Thunder's Mouth Press (New York, NY), 2007.

Contributor to anthologies, including The Undead: Zombie Anthology, Permuted Press, 2005.

SIDELIGHTS:

David Wellington was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where George Romero shot his classic zombie films, including Night of the Living Dead. Wellington has created his own zombie trilogy, beginning with Monster Island: A Zombie Novel, which was first published serially and posted on a blog before being published by Thunder's Mouth Press. His upcoming novel Frostbite is also being posted on a blog before print publication.

Monster Island is set in Manhattan, where Wellington lives, and is the island of the title. The city has been overrun by animated corpses. When a contingent from Africa who are seeking medicine arrives in town, they unexpectedly find themselves in the midst of gory zombie fighting. Luckily, the group consists of DeKalb, a former United Nations weapons inspector, and soldiers who are all well-armed teenage girls. The situ- ation worsens when a New York doctor-turned-zombie named Gary Fleck learns that by oxygenating his body he can retain his mental faculties, overcoming the lack of oxygen that normally destroys zombie brains. With this extra power, he then becomes the most dangerous zombie of them all. Booklist contributor Regina Schroeder described this debut as "a fantastic zombie novel." A Publishers Weekly reviewer wrote that this novel contains "provocative thoughts about the purpose of life and death underlaid with some ultradark humor." In reviewing the first book of the trilogy for SciFi.com, Paul Witcover wrote: "Wellington's idea of how to make a smart zombie is truly inspired, as is his notion of zombie mummies. Zombie mummies. It's a stroke of genius. These may be the most noticeable of Wellington's innovations, but they are far from the only ones.… Wellington is a damn good writer."

Monster Nation: A Zombie Novel concerns Nilla, a California zombie woman who, like Gary, has learned the secret to retaining her mental capabilities. As the story progresses, Nilla also becomes aware of possessing psychic powers, including a special golden energy that enables the zombies to bear their miserable state of being undead. Witcover wrote that, like its predecessor, Monster Nation "retains all the addictive and propulsive narrative energy of serial publication at its best."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 15, 2006, Regina Schroeder, review of Monster Island: A Zombie Novel, p. 36.

Library Journal, May 15, 2006, Jackie Cassada, review of Monster Island, p. 92.

Publishers Weekly, March 13, 2006, review of Monster Island, p. 47.

ONLINE

Bookgasm,http://www.bookgasm.com/ (November 1, 2006), interview with Wellington.

David Wellington Home Page,http://www.brokentype.com/davidwellington (November 16, 2006).

SciFi.com,http://www.scifi.com/ (May 17, 2006), Paul Witcover, review of Monster Island; (September 27, 2006), Paul Witcover, review of Monster Nation: A Zombie Novel.