Cover Art by Jon Hunsinger

Chasing Bedlam was a fun sequel that I started working on as soon as I finished Crossing Bedlam.  I wanted to up the action, sexiness (without adding sex scenes), and push the characters to new heights.  Still not sure how that went since most people didn’t bother with the series.

One thing I learned writing this book is that there is a big urge to make it bigger and louder than the previous one.  A series based around spectacle can’t go backwards for more than a chapter scene.  With Cassidy and Lloyd living in such a dangerous world, the idea that they would relax for very long never worked.  So, I had to come up with wilder antics for them to get into.  Disease-ridden beasts, crazy cultists, and many other dangers were crafted to make sure I kept things dialed up to max for 80% of the story.  Needless to say, it got rather exhausting, but in a good way.

This series was always a fun release for me.  With my other series, I was always holding back on the cursing and violence to get either a hard PG-13 or soft R feel.  This was a hard R rating with the only limitation being that I didn’t write any sex scenes or include graphic nudity.  These were implied or noted, but never described.  Regardless, I got a kick out of letting loose in Chasing Bedlam, especially since I no longer had an innocent survivor running with a crazy serial killer.

Cassidy and Lloyd definitely change from their initial adventure.  Lloyd was still violent and crazy, but he now had a sense of loyalty to a few characters.  After realizing that being a murderous psychopath in a world of murderous psychopaths doesn’t make him special, he toned himself down.  Still having fun and clearly an influence on Cassidy, who is colder and more ‘live in the moment’ than she was before.  I liked her evolution into a rough and cunning survivor.  It was like she shed her skin and finally came into her own, which I guess was part of her debut.  Getting out of her capable mother’s shadow and learning to survive on her own abilities definitely happened.

What is the story?  An old enemy reappears and steals Cassidy’s jeep, which she calls her baby.  This kicks off a destructive, rage-fueled chase from Texas to Miami.  Multiple obstacles turn up and they only help to make Cassidy angrier.  Lloyd is just along for the chase to kill people and because his gun-toting partner is one of two people he would consider family.  A third reason is that he would get bored and lonely without Cassidy to verbally spar with in a strange brother/sister vibe.  As you can tell, the story is fairly simple, which I think makes it easier to include big action scenes.  This way, you don’t have complicated plot getting overshadowed by the spectacle.  Chasing Bedlam is really all about escapism and action like its predecessor.

Can’t think of anything I would change since this book was all in good fun.  I mean, it was a joy to write since I got to cut loose.  So, the questions:

1. What would you go on a rampage to get back if it was stolen?
2. What is the funniest/strangest town name you have ever heard?
3. If you had to survive in a post-apocalyptic world, what would be your weapon of choice?