The Time Warriors and Beyond

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

In this day and age acceptance and the freedom to be who you really are without fear of spite and ridicule should not even be an issue but as the recent former Presidency of the United States proved, that fear of being who you are is a clear and present danger.

For every step forward it feels like two steps backwards at times. My intention with Zombie Blues was to look at life in the frame that it could be over at any second so live it best you can. Cross Dresser Zombie was inspired by a taxi trip I took once in Belfast. We use black taxis in Belfast which are part and parcel of the history of the city but on this particular occasion I encountered something different.

The back of the black taxis sit five people, three in a row and two on fold down seats. I was passenger number five and there before me was a man dressed as a woman yet no one noticed. He seemed very nervous as if waiting to be mocked and ridiculed the second someone noticed. It never happened. I thought to myself how brave he was and how much it took to go out in public as the person you really are knowing you have painted a target on yourself. Our society is simply too small minded right now to let people be free without query or question. If I was in that position would I be so brave to do what that person did? Probably not.

But life is a shit when it comes to kicking you in the balls so my story would be a very clear message. Don’t be afraid to be yourself because tomorrow might ever come.

So we have Frank Malone, a hardman from Belfast who loves his drink and women but hides a secret. The image of Frank was very deliberate, big, bald, hardman who loved his mum but in secret loved to dress in women’s clothes. His alter ego was Majella but cage fighter Frank was terrified of going public. The world saw him one way, the safe way that brought a safe enough life but it was not all he was. There is an undercurrent of body awareness also as Frank doesn’t see himself as someone with a body that can wear women’s clothes without looking ridiculous. He’s hairy and bulky, not exactly what you’d expect but again this is a perception society has imprinted on us all.

On the day Frank does decide to make Majella public he is bitten. Now he is trapped in his own body dressed as he has always wanted to dress but it’s too late. Nobody will see him for who he always wanted to be because of fear of ridicule and pressure from society about how you should look have held him back.

It’s a bit of a tragic story but one that has garnered the most interest. Hopefully the themes are universal and it helps somebody somewhere make the change they always wanted to.

To read Frank’s Zombie story get your copy here today https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zombie-Blues-Owen-Quinn/dp/1717802257/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=zombie+blues+owen+quinn&qid=1613853275&sr=8-1