Is "Zombie Complex" related to "The Walking Dead"?

As a zombie enthusiast, I often tweet about The Walking Dead.  I am an enthusiastic fan and it is my favorite television show.  However, my novel Zombie Complex is not related to The Walking Dead franchise in any way.  My novel is not fan fiction.  It is my vision of how a zombie apocalypse might affect a neighborhood much like mine.  As I think about a zombie apocalypse, I have a vision of how it starts and how it might end.

When I compare music by Cold Play and U2 or Lady Gaga and Madonna, I definitely see similarities.  I think everyone does.  So I'm certainly not going to deny the influence of TWD.  The show sparked my interest in the entire zombie genre.  My view of what zombies can do and how they might look is heavily influenced by The Walking Dead.  I have also been influenced by the classic Romero vison of zombies, World War Z, and movies like I Am Legend.    But, I really wonder what might be going on in the minds of zombies.  I've explored this topic in my short stories "Dog Walk of the Apocalypse" and "Zombie Cage."  When a dead person comes back as a zombie, I can't help but speculate what mind be going on in their brains once the blood begins to flow and the synapses begin to fire.  As an independently published author, I can also touch on themes of diversity and globalism that are scrupulously avoided on mass market television platforms.

When it comes to The Walking Dead, I don't watch season previews and I won't read the comic books.  As a fan of the television show, I want to be surprised when I watch the show.  I avoid spoilers like the plague.  I am just as excited as any other fan.  I also like elements of Fear of the Walking Dead.  However, I am at least 30+ episodes behind on watching that show.  It was interesting to see how people in California might survive.  Growing up in the South, it is hard to see how zombies could take over our region.  It is also hard to imagine how Californians would stand a chance.  But, the fun of the zombie genre is that it allows us to explore different people and different scenarios to answer those questions and more.