Strange Things…
Before visiting Japan (which has become a much longer visit thanks to Covid-19!), I was not aware of the strange world of the Japanese conbini. Conbini (sometimes spelled and pronounced ‘kombini’ or ‘konbini’ or ‘conveni’) is Japanese slang for convenience store. Conbinis are fast, frequent, friendly, clean, and full of wacky goodness (by my American standards, anyway).
Three major companies dominate the market: 7-11, Lawson’s, and Family Mart, but there are other local brands and even some Circle Ks (I think that means Bill & Ted can teleport in and out of Japan via the telephone booths – need to fact check that).
Conbinis stay open 24 hours 7 days a week, competing on snack food selection, coffee, and fried chicken. I’ve tried the chicken at the big three. It tastes like someone who cared about flavor made chicken McNuggets.
In addition, per the image above, most conbinis offer important day-to-day shopping needs including a wide selection of handkerchiefs and hand towels (these are a subject for another day) as well as fresh undies and dress shirts for those salarymen putting in hours too long to make it home.
Besides starting Welcome to the Zombie Mill with a scene in an American conbini, what could this possibly have to do with Sid Singleton and zombies?
We are making the whole Singleton series more convenient for everyone. That’s right, L&W publishing is putting it all together in a new box set that will include an exclusive Singleton story unavailable anywhere else.
To thank you newsletter subscribers for your support and to give the book a bit of a jump start, I will be offering the whole Kindle box set for 99 cents for the first 24 hours of its release on Amazon. I won’t be promoting this discount anywhere else, so this is an exclusive.
Look for announcements leading up to and on the release date to make sure you have a chance to grab the set and/or gift it to a friend.
Yours in undead infection affection,
Al-not-bert Aykler
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