On this episode of Write About Now with Jonathan Small, I visit best-selling author, Max Brooks, in his secret writing and research bunker. He takes me for a fascinating tour through his museum-like laboratory, filled with antique weapons, books, and maps. Max loves to immerse himself in the culture and technology of his characters, and this where he wrote his best-sellers World War Z, The Zombie Survival Guide, and most recently Minecraft: The Island. 

Later, we take a trip to a San Fernando Valley shooting range to test out Civil War-era firearms for his latest project—a comic book series called A More Perfect Union. It's an alternative history that imagines a 19th-century army, led by General Lee, taking on an invasion of gigantic alien insects.  What follows is a candid, informative, frightening, and extremelly dorky day with a good friend.