The Zombie Sheriff takes NNHS

Senior Chelsea Smith can’t wait to go to Anderson’s Bookshop.

Tucked away on the local authors’ shelf is a book written by one of her favorite teachers. Smith plans to purchase English teacher Brian South’s debut novel at the nearest opportunity.

“He followed his dream and made it happen,” Smith said. “He wrote and self-published his own book. It’s really cool to see him use his passion and creativity in this way. It’s definitely inspiring.”

South self-published “The Zombie Sheriff Takes Tucson: A Love Story” last Friday, Feb. 20. Digital and print copies are now available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Anderson’s Bookshop and other vendors. He describes his novel as the “absurd, tongue-through-cheek horror/Western that tells the tall tale of the zombie sheriff as he tracks down law-breakers.”

“I wanted to write a book that I would want to read,” South said. “I tried to make it funny, and I tried to make it interesting. I took these two genres, and I threw them together.”

Four years ago, South shared the beginnings of “The Zombie Sheriff Takes Tucson: A Love Story” with his Creative Writing Club students. Overwhelmed by their support and feedback, he began a partnership with them and his coworkers at Naperville North. Their input brought him closer to making his dream a reality.

When South first started talking about his novel, his students immediately saw potential in the sheriff’s deputy, Wilson. The students stressed that they wanted this minor character to play a more significant  role. South agreed.

“In the original draft, Wilson made an early exit in the book,” South said. “But through their urging, I made him a pretty major character. He becomes the sidekick throughout the book. He’s a very interesting character who would not have been there if it had not been for my own students.”

South also turned to orchestra director Dana Green for feedback. Green read his first draft in the fall of 2013, and he has seen an additional draft and the final copy since then.

“From the very beginning, Mr. South had a really firm idea of what he wanted in the novel and what he wanted to accomplish,” Green said. “It’s a tongue-through-cheek satire of this Western-Zombie genre that he kind of invented. He already had that in his mind. The only things that I asked him about tweaking were very minute things.”

In the meantime, South built excitement over social media. He reached out to his students, family and friends by providing updates and opportunities to become involved in the publishing process. South determined the cover art for “The Zombie Sheriff Takes Tucson: A Love Story” by allowing people to vote on their favorite design.

“With the top five designs, I posted them on Facebook and I asked people what they thought,” South said. “They voted on it by liking and giving me comments. It was really helpful.”

While the cover art will entice readers, the story will captivate them. Green said that the novel is laden with surprises and endearing characters.

“It’s great how he flipped the narrative perspective to demonize the ‘slickskins,’ who are living people,” Green said. “It makes you laugh because you begin to question what you are actually thinking. You’re thinking that these people who are defending themselves from the zombies are actually the bad guys.”

According to Green, “The Zombie Sheriff Takes Tucson: A Love Story” appeals to wide range of readers.

“If you’re looking for a romantic angle, there’s a little bit of that,” Green said. “If you’re looking to laugh, you also have that. And anyone who is interested in Western, it also has that in spades.”

Now that South has published his first novel, he has no plans of stopping.

“I’ve got a couple projects that I am working on now,” South said. “The whole process of publishing this has really encouraged me to keep working, and that’s been a great thing.”