Dennis Meredith—Attack of the Food Zombies

Advance copy: Backstories on books by NASW members

Attack of the Food Zombies

ATTACK OF THE FOOD ZOMBIES
Dennis Meredith, October 31, 2024, eBook, $4.99
Glyphus, LLC
eBook ISBN-13: 978-1939118264

Meredith reports:

As an author, I’ve found that fiction can be a compelling way to memorably convey real science. The idea for Attack of the Food Zombies arose from my exploration of the health impacts of ultra-processed foods, those with an ingredient list that reads like a chemical catalog. They contain large amounts of flavorings and other additives, sugar, salt, and fat. The resulting product is both addictive and unhealthy and it’s linked to obesity, heart disease, gastrointestinal diseases, and cancer.

As I see it, the manufacturers of these foods are in essence drug dealers, as dangerous as those who peddle heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl.

Dennis Meredith

To fictionally dramatize the dangers of the massive industry of food additives and manufactured foods, I had rogue neuropharmacologist Edwin Kane invent a chemical that renders any food irresistible, even addictive. The chemical, which I named gustatene, drives people to ravenous craving.

Kane is pursued for his gustatene formula by drug dealers, ruthless food industrialists, and vegan terrorists, called Veganites. Seeking to stop Kane and the villains are a by-the-book FBI agent, an eccentric FDA scientist, and a world-renowned chef.

To their horror, they discover that Kane has created an especially potent version, GX, which threatens to become pervasive in the global environment, creating a worldwide epidemic of ravenous “food zombies.” Dubbed the Unfed, they’ll literally eat your lunch!

I found that self-publishing an eBook through Kindle Direct Publishing was an inexpensive way to have my story see the light of day. I also found that the gig service Fiverr offered quality cover design and eBook formatting services at extraordinarily low prices. I paid about $80 for the cover design and $100 for eBook formatting. I was absolutely stunned that I could create a dramatic, professional-quality cover image at essentially no cost using the AI image generator Midjourney.

These services and tools are having a truly revolutionary impact by enabling authors to reach their audiences efficiently. Readers can see the result because I’m making the eBook available free on Amazon from October 30 to November 1, dropping the $4.99 price to $0.00 for those three days.

Contact Info:

Dennis Meredith: dennis@glyphus.com, http://www.DennisMeredith.com
Book: Attack of the Food Zombies

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Advance Copy

The path from idea to book may take myriad routes. The Advance Copy column, started in 2000 by NASW volunteer book editor Lynne Lamberg, features NASW authors telling the stories behind their books. Authors are asked to report how they got their idea, honed it into a proposal, found an agent and a publisher, funded and conducted their research, and organized their writing process. They also are asked to share what they wish they’d known when they started or would do differently next time, and what advice they can offer aspiring authors. Lamberg edits the authors’ answers to produce the Advance Copy reports.

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