I’m not sure if I’ve told this story before. How did the idea of Lazarus City come to be? It all started around 2008 in Baltimore City. My friends and I were still young enough that most of us didn’t have kids and we looked forward to steamed shrimp happy hour deals on the waterfront in Fells Point.

Zombies. Because of my wild imagination and lack of filter, I started to ask friends what they would do if zombies attacked Baltimore. We would analyze our homes to figure out who’s was more safe, and which friends would make stupid mistakes ending them early on. Some of those stories have been built into the Lazarus City series to pay homage to these fictional tales we’d spin. A lot of the names and likenesses of my group of friends are used in this books.

For example, in book one, Lazarus City, there is a moment where a dog crate is being carried around by a couple refusing to believe their infected child was dangerous. This version spawned from one of my motherly friends said she would never leave her child, even if they turned into a zombie.

The dog in the book is Jessie, and yes, my sweet Jessie girl is real. She died several years ago of old age. Rest assured, nothing bad will happen to the fictional Jessie in the story. It was fun to write about her again, and relive the time we spent together.

From finding resources, boarding up homes, the chaos in the streets, and handmade weapons, all of these ideas were born from happy hours with friends. I cherish those days. Especially now that we’re all much older and our lives have pulled us in too many directions. Most of us have left the city for different corners of Maryland, but I can still smell that sweet salty bay air, the song of sirens, pretzel dogs at two in the morning, and a cigarette with my girlfriends, who would have clearly died as early in an apocalypse as I would.