Have you ever watched one of those “After School Special” shows that used to come on in the early eighties right after school? Well, that is where my story begins.
Growing up in my household was just like one of those after-school specials. I had a violent alcoholic father who was really pissed off about having a kid around when he was ready to “get on with his life”. My father was 42 when I was born and he resented having a young child at this stage in his life. My mother didn’t take long to get wise with how to live for yourself and forget everyone else in the family. Having those two as parents made for an interesting set of bookends as authority figures or role models in my life.
From what you could possibly gather from my childhood, I didn’t make sound choices and was a little on the wild side. Throw in some alcohol and you have a perfect recipe for self-destruction. This led to a few run-ins with the law. With the last episode, I was gifted with court-appointed anger management or I could refuse and go to jail for a stretch. I chose the classes to stay out of jail but thought I would just tell the counselor what they wanted to hear and roll right through. Woo, was I wrong? One of the requirements to pass the class was to keep a journal with your thoughts; Bad, good, dark, light, serious, or humorous all your feelings had to be recorded. My journal entries started off pretty dark and were full of hate and feelings of retribution. My counselor asked me into her office one day and had me sit down. She explained that though my writing was dark, it was starting to take shape into something else. What she said next caused me to explode in laughter. “Your writing is starting to look like poetry.” After I caught my breath, I looked at her quizzically. “You are not serious?” I spoke. She nodded, explained to me what she was talking about, then patted me on my shoulder and left the room. She stopped in the doorway and said she was excited to see what else I would write and would made it a habit to always read my journal enthusiastically. I guess having someone genuinely interested in what you were doing without asking for anything in return caused my mindset to shift some. I began to want to make her proud and was committed to not let her down. I began to focus on the good things in my life and cared about what I was putting down on paper. That experience lit the fire for what was to become my writing career, although I wouldn’t see that come to fruition until decades later.
I joined the US Army because I didn’t have a lot of options at this time with the way I screwed my life up. Amazingly enough, I became an excellent soldier filled with discipline and pride. I entered combat in Desert Storm and felt a calling to help others by ridding this world of evil. I still had some slight issues with authority and thought that the military maybe a little too structured for me. I separated from the military and was immediately recruited by a paramilitary contracting company to return overseas and start back on the mission I started while in the military. Long story short, I served in this role for five or so years, with multiple engagements and too many close calls to count. One day after our second child was born, my wife put her foot down and told me I signed up to be a husband and father first, so I needed to get on Zboard with that! I separated from that line of work and eventually ended up in the world of computers, servers, fiber, and IT. That’s is where I am now.
For my first book, I wanted to write something that I was familiar with but also wanted to have fun with it. I have always loved zombies since I first saw Dawn of the Dead (the original). Zombies and the military seemed like a good combination. I mean, plenty of people had done it before successfully, so why not me? After thinking about it, I wanted to do something a little different. Not having the shamblers of old, but not the super-human zombies of World War Z either. So, as I thought about it, I was watching a National Geographic program about a race of natives in the Amazon, who have had little contact with the outside world. They were extremely ritualistic and kept their culture bathed in tradition. That gave me an idea of some of the characteristics I wanted my zombies (“infected” or “tick-tocks” as I call them in my book) to reflect. I won’t spoil the book and tell you how exactly that plays into the story (You’ll just have to read it!). Two ideas coming together were the basis for my book. There are quite a few events in the book that were based on real life. The fighting, the tactics used, the interactions between some of the characters all had a significant influence on what I wrote. There are a few of the characters who are based on real people I served with. I obviously removed the enemies and put in the infected, changed the names and locations due to counterintelligence reasons, but all were still based on truth.
There you have it, warts and all. Writing has become a sanctuary for me as my childhood home never would. As sappy as it sounds, we need that in our lives. Whether it’s that person who shows genuine interest, the career we find satisfying, or that place we go to when we write. Regardless of what that sanctuary is to you, I hope you find it. Sometimes it may take that special someone to help you find it. Always keep yourself open, but not wide open. It is good to let people in, as long as you don’t hand over the keys to just anybody.
I also have an Internet show that allows me to blow out the creative pipes as well. You can access it below.
I am a huge supporter of helping those with depression, PTSD, and domestic violence. If you are into rock music, I have a music project that supports these important causes. You can find out more here about the project: MUSIC. Also, here is a video of our song, Hollow, which addresses all those causes I mentioned above. We wrote this during the pandemic, so it is even more relatable. Hollow Video.
As for my book, you can find out about it on Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, and many more. Here is the link to Goodreads.
Website: https://gary-hickman.com/
Internet Show: https://www.facebook.com/backtwobedlam
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