Bergen County Dad And Daughter Wrote Zombie Book; Will Appear At Library

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — Adolescence is hard, but creativity is a way to cope. Last year, when Ridgewood-based filmmaker Dana Glazer's daughter was having a "challenging" time in school, the pair decided to combine ideas they'd had and write a book together.

Glazer, a father of three, had always wished he had a writing partner, but "just never found the right one," he said recently. He and his daughter both loved zombies.

The result is "Dawna And The Darkhearts," which the pair will present at the Ridgewood Library in an "Author meet and greet" on Saturday.

Glazer said they wrote the book during the summer of 2022. They came up with the plot and characters, then edited each other.

Glazer said, "The inspiration for the book came from, one, a mutual love for zombie movies, and two, as a way of helping my daughter to process a challenging social time she was having in fifth grade. (She's now at a new school and is in a much happier place both socially and academically!) Writing the book with Georgia was wonderful as we're very much on the same creative wavelength and we have two more books in the series planned out."

Glazer would pen a chapter and give it to Georgia, who "would rewrite the story’s first-person point of view to read like it was really coming from a 12-year-old girl," Glazer said.

As they worked together, the father/daughter relationship transformed into his "just seeing Georgia as a creative equal."

The Plot

The description for the book reads: "Twelve-year-old Dawnah Dayton never thought she would be the last hope for humanity. She usually sits alone on the buddy bench during recess, makes slime, and plays with her pet rat, named Shiloh, who, amazingly, responds to her verbal commands. When Dawnah’s father takes her on a camping trip, the last thing they expect is to be thrust into the zombie apocalypse."

Glazer said that the pair are planning two sequels, and would always be happy to land the trilogy with a mainstream publisher.

Glazer said that they still enjoy their other family activities, and now they can weave their experiences and "family bonds, friendship, love and redemption" into their stories.

Glazer grew up in Massachusetts. As an NYU graduate film student, he won a Student Academy Award, sold an original screenplay to Warner Brothers, and produced the fatherhood documentary, "The Evolution of Dad," which played at the White House.

Georgia Glazer, at age 7, submitted a story to The Story Pirates Podcast, and they adapted it into a professionally produced song. In 2020, Georgia published a children’s book called "No Pizza! No Cake!"

Find out more about their appearance in Ridgewood, on Saturday at 2 p.m., here.

You can order the book here.