On the Beat with Todd Card at Days of the Dead

At last year's debut of Days of the Dead in Indianapolis, I met Todd Card who had just released Hell Cometh, his debut novel.  Looking back, both debuts were major successes!
Hell Cometh is a zombie novel.  It is full of gore to the extreme.  Todd openly states he doesn't pull back and I quickly learned he kept his promise.
I have talked about Hell Cometh before, but I never want to give away parts of the story.  I want readers to be drawn in, just like I was.  While it is definitely a gore-fest, I need to clearly state that there is much more to Hell Cometh than just zombie gore.
Todd developed great characters (like Dixie, Christian and more), who we get to know.  We invest our emotions in these characters as we learn more about them and see them interact.  They are not cardboard cutouts for the zombies to devour.
My point is that there is a real story here.  I think the story would stand up if the zombies were replaced by a gang of thugs (for example), but it becomes alive (pardon the pun) because of the zombies.  It is unique, different and awesome.
I also enjoyed Todd writing as some of the characters speak.  While this makes it a bit difficult to read at times (just take your time and do it, because it really adds flavor), it also adds to the uniqueness of the book.
As it is Todd's debut novel, there are probably things he will do better next time, but I can't find any real problems with the book.  As I have stated, this was my first zombie novel and I just loved it.
More important to me, I have gained a friend in Todd.  It is always fun for me to interview these interesting people at these conventions, but when one becomes a friend like Todd, it becomes a wonderful experience.  I consider myself blessed to have gotten to know Todd and I look forward to his future novels and to getting to know him better.
After you watch the interview below, you can learn more about Todd from HellCometh.com and the Todd Card Facebook page and also, be sure to follow Todd Card on twitter.
This is another example of why I love Days of the Dead.  While I did have press credentials, which helped me get some interviews, I also saw many regular fans spending as much, if not more, time with the celebrity guests.  Every time I walked by Todd's booth, I saw him entrenched in a conversation with fans.  At Days of the Dead, you get a full experience.  Check out their future shows at DaysoftheDead.net.