Bats, cannibals, clowns, gargoyles, spiders and witches terrify the teens in Jim Bolone‘s latest book, Zombie Seagulls – a compilation of short stories designed for reluctant readers of all ages.
“I grew up watching The Twilight Zone, Tales from the Crypt and Night Gallery,” he said. “These are stories that I’ve been telling to my three kids and my students for a long time. I finally put them down, and Mission Point Press said they’d like to publish them.”
Bolone, who is set to retire after a 30-year career as a language arts teacher at Anthony Wayne Junior High, got into publishing in 2021. Co-writing with Dave McVeigh, they published The Dockporter, using their shared experiences in the 1980s as teenagers schlepping tourists’ luggage from the ferry at Mackinac Island to nearby hotels. That book won them the 2022 Library of Michigan Notable Book Award. That series continued with two other books: Somewhere in Crime and MISguided.
Like the Dockporter series, many of the 14 stories in Zombie Seagulls take place on Mackinac Island, and have just the right length and suspense to be shared at summer camp – or cozied up on a sofa somewhere safe.
“This is comprised of micro-fiction and flash fiction – short, condensed stories that have a heart and soul,” he said. “It’s the perfect length for reluctant readers because they’re diced up into short pieces.”
As a kid growing up in Detroit, Bolone fell in love with stories not just from those TV series of the ’60s to ’80s, but in hearing his mom share some of the stories she was reading, like Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood.
“She would bring the story to life and it made me want to read,” he said. “Having a good teacher, mom, dad or friend to be so enthusiastic about something…makes a difference in encouraging kids to read.”
In addition to reading scary books and watching spooky shows, Bolone had his own adventures, such as a midnight bike ride from Detroit to Grosse Pointe with other 13-year-olds in the 1970s.
“Here we were, seven or eight of us – no helmets or cell phones – riding six or seven miles. Thank goodness, nothing happened.”
When he was about six or seven years old, Bolone accompanied his father – a jazz musician – to get a pack of cigarettes after a curfew was imposed during the Detroit riots.
“I asked him how old he would like to be forever. He said 21. Then he said, ‘Do me a favor, don’t get any older than 13.’ He made me promise, and I’ve held true to that promise. I’ve been immature my whole life,” Bolone laughed. “I find that has carried me through in a good way. Even in days of sadness and great loss, that innocence helps you see that there will always be another morning.”
He sees that innocence in the 12- and 13-year-olds he teaches – but that wasn’t his initial career choice. It was when Bolone went back to school to become a teacher that his advisor suggested junior high.
“I almost puked in my mouth,” he admits. “But, lo and behold, here I am almost 30 years later and he was right. These kids have the energy. They still believe in Halloween and Christmas and the things that belong to kids. They want be older, but they can still play with their toys. They have a universal sense of hope and excitement. And I’m grateful for that.”
Sitting on his duct-taped chair and glancing around his classroom, Bolone points to the wall where a mockup of the cover of Zombie Seagulls hangs.
“They’re all anticipating its release,” said Bolone, adding that many of his students – as well as their parents and grandparents – have read the Dockporter series and love the portrayal of kids coming of age during misadventures.
After multiple edits and revisions with Mission Point Press, Zombie Seagulls is set for release at the end of March, and will be available at Barnes and Noble, Books a Million and several independent bookstores. This summer, he’ll do a book signing on Mackinac Island and participate in the Detroit Book Fest – an invitation-only author festival that attracts more than 60,000 guests.
“I’m not getting rich; the fun is in the writing and in meeting the people who have read your books,” he said. “And it’s nice getting feedback from the community.”
Now that he’ll be retiring at the end of the school year, Bolone has ideas for several other books and he might also team up with McVeigh for another installment in the Dockporter series.
“Right now, my focus is on getting ready to make a life change, to face the unknown. I’ll write, dream and see what’s next,” he said.
