Surge (126 page)

Margherita St. John:
mother of Olivia; stay at home mom, until the death of her husband, then she worked as a debt collector; was rejected from St. John family for her
‘impure’
blood line; loving mother, and cancer victim; was a volunteer for Gene K; terminated while in quarantine

Rachel Von Tuten:
girl Jared wanted to ask to prom, fought Herbert over her

Will:
one of the survivors Jared brought to the condo that he didn’t know was infected; disposed of by John

Georgina Wilkinson:
cheerleader that Jared lost his virginity to freshman year of high school

I’d like to start by thanking anyone who took the chance to read this book. It’s my first attempt at a novel, and it was written through a hard time, so it was a tool that helped me cope. Earlier this year, I learned about my mom having breast cancer, and as anyone in my shoes would be, I was scared for her. Scared that I would lose my best friend, and pissed that I would be losing yet another person I love. Thankfully, it was caught early on, so she’s been through the treatments and is in remission as of right now.

For those of you who might be interested, I’m a twenty-two year old mutt, aka Irish/Italian/French mix, and I’m currently in school. My major is in psychology with a minor in Biology, so that’s how I came up with the premise of this novel. I didn’t want it to be strictly a ‘zombie’ novel. I wanted there to be a realistic quality to it, and I wanted my ‘monsters’ to be something other than the moaning undead. That’s how I came up with the wheezers. And what’s scarier than an experiment gone bad? Or a man of nightmares?

The characters in my story are fictional, but many were inspired by life experiences and people that I’ve met along the way. Olivia’s character was partially influenced by my own experiences, from being cursed with a small stature and obnoxiously large chest, to her tendency toward male friends. Jared’s foul mouth, the old firecracker known as Melly, and Olivia’s chameleon personality; they each hold a piece that’s dear to me, and I hope that they were able to identify with you on some level.

I included a timeline and map to give you an idea of how far the characters travelled, or to help explain when different things happened. Also, there’s a character list, because I know that there a lot of characters; and I personally hate reading a novel and not remembering a certain person’s name. It will also come in handy if you plan on continuing the series.

If you enjoyed this novel, there’s more to come. If not, I apologize for making you flip through so many pages. Two books from Olivia’s point of view are in the works, and hopefully the second installment in the series will be soon after, fingers crossed. So if you liked the first of this series, these tie in and let you get a peek inside Olivia’s head. The first of Olivia’s,
Submerge
, will be a prequel to the entire series; detailing the events leading up the wheezer invasion, her time with Cole, and her introduction to the crew from the compound. The second,
Emerge
, will be Olivia’s side of
Surge
. It will answer some questions that you might have had, and fill in gaps where Jared wasn’t present. They’re almost half-way done, so they should be coming up soon, pending no unexpected punches are thrown my way.

That’s it for now, so thanks again for giving my book a chance, and I’d love to hear your feedback; regardless if it’s just to curse me out. Hopefully not, but I’m a big girl and can handle a little bit of criticism. Like this much ( ), just kidding, but seriously I’d love to know what you thought of it.