Interview with Scott Wieczorek

Name:  Scott Wieczorek

Book Title:  Byron: A Zombie Tale (Part 1)



Author Questions

1.   How long have you been writing for?
My whole life, it seems. However, as a professional archaeologist writing is an integral part of my career, but fiction has always been my passion. My fiction writing has been on and off for about twenty-or so years, but has only become hard core now for about the past five. Byron is my first published book, but there are several more in the works.

2.   What do you think sets your work apart from others in the genre?
Byron is an uncommon zombie story. It's not about the usual slow, leg dragging walking dead, but about sentient and powerful zombies. The dead in Byron are broken into two factions: common zombies (slow, leg-draggers), and Lords (fast, intelligent, and highly dangerous Type-A killers). There is an additional category that the narrator of the story, Byron, falls into. He's not only the hero of the story, but also a zombie himself. But, you'll have to read the book to find out about that.

3.   Do you have any tips for new writers?
Keep at it and write what you love. It's a long, hard road but if you love it just keep doing it.

4.   What books do you read and do you have a recent recommendation?
I read a lot of different things from paranormal to crime, to action-adventure, to horror and even to fine literature. Reading is as much a part of our passion as writing is. I have two: Seals of Abgal, by Woelf Dietrich - a story with shape-shifters and demons, and Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree by Sam Hunt - a gunslinger-esque adventure.

5.   Where can readers find you?
My books are available on Amazon.com and Createspace, I am on Google+, Twitter, and Goodreads. My blog is at wieczorekfictblog.blogspot.com and usually has updates about the status of my most recent and ongoing projects.



Zombie Survival Questions


1.   You see a hand gun, a bat and a knife. Which do you choose as your weapon for the apocalypse?
A bat. If you see the walking dead, start swinging and bust some heads.

2.    Place of survival. Your own house, a shopping mall or The Winchester pub?
Just because I love Sean of the Dead, the Winchester Pub.

3.   You see an underground parking centre. Do you go in?
Not if I want to come back out alive and intact.

4.   You see your boss is now a zombie but is no immediate threat to you. Do you still use your last bullet on him/her?
No. Conserve the ammunition.

5.   What luxury item would you keep in the apocalypse?
My Ipod, every apocalypse deserves a good soundtrack.

6.   You're bitten, do you
A)   Shoot yourself before you turn?
B)   Ask a friend to do it?
C)   Turn and enjoy the all you can eat human buffet?

I would have to go with (C). After all, you are what you eat.

Interview with Chris Northern

Name: Chris Northern

Book Title: Evolving Environment: Dancing with Darwin



Author Questions

1. How long have you been writing for? This sentence only took a moment. :0)


2. What do you think sets your work apart from others in the genre? Ah, well, the Zombies (or Zumbi) in Evolving Environment are a consequence of something similar to the fungus that attacks an ants brain and changes it's behaviour.


3. Do you have any tips for new writers? It's not about the writing. It's about knowing people. What else, ultimately, are you writing about?


4. What books do you read and do you have a recent recommendation? I don't read much anymore, sorry.


5. Where can readers find you? Wherever I am. Not meaning to be flippant but it is my default state. The books? Anywhere.


Zombie Survival Questions


1. You see a hand gun, a bat and a knife. Which do you choose as your weapon for the apocalypse? Gun, for sure, but I guess I would be disappointed when I ran out of ammo. :0)

2. Place of survival. Your own house, a shopping mall or The Winchester pub? I think I'd go for the shopping mall these days but there have been times when the pub would have been my first choice.


3. You see an underground parking centre. Do you go in? No way at all, mate.


4. You see your boss is now a zombie but is no immediate threat to you. Do you still use your last bullet on him/her? Absolutely yes. Without a moments hesitation.

5. What luxury item would you keep in the apocalypse? My laptop and a power station. :0)


6. You're bitten, do you
A) Shoot yourself before you turn?
B) Ask a friend to do?
C) Turn and enjoy the all you can eat human buffet?

I don't think I care to examine that question, sorry. My mind is my own.

Interview with Glynn James

Name:
Glynn James

Book Titles:

Arisen, Book One - Fortress Britain
Arisen, Book Two - Mogadishu of the Dead
Arisen, Book Three - Three Parts Dead
Diary of the Displaced "The Journal of Jameson Halldon"
Diary of the Displaced "The Broken Lands"
Diary of the Displaced "The Ways"
Diary of the Displaced "The Last to Fall"
Diary of the Displaced "The Memoirs of Reginald Weldon"
Diary of the Displaced "Whispers"

Amazon.com (Arisen)

Author Questions

1.   How long have you been writing for?
Since I was eight years old after I read "I Am Legend" and decided that I thought it should end differently.
My ending including Darth Vader, Cowboys and some Aliens, and it rocked. Well, it did to an eight year old kid.
It's still probably my favourite book.

2.   What do you think sets your work apart from others in the genre?
The Arisen series is co-written. I bring the horror, Michael brings the military and the combat (well, most of the combat) and we're both very picky and careful about the writing. Also, it's special forces vs zombies...what more do you want?

3.   Do you have any tips for new writers?
- Stop picking over one book for years and years and write the next story, and then the next. In the emerging "new age" of digital publishing the key is to be prolific. A good story doesn't need to be poked at and changed a million times. Make sure it's fun to read, well written, and as typo-free as you can possibly manage.
- Pay a good proofer/editor to go over it, and then publish it and move on.
- The best thing you can do to market your books is to release another book.
- Keep your readers in mind when you write. It isn't just about writing what you love, it's about writing what you love AND what readers will love to read. That doesn't mean selling out, it just means that if you actually want to write full-time (I do) then you need to find readers, and the only way you will do that is with books that people want to read. If you suddenly find a particular book or short story you wrote is popular, selling and people are asking for more, then get off your damn arse, stop messing about and write the next part of THAT story, even if you never planned to take it further.
Any one who wants to debate this should take a look at Hugh Howey's success and why that happened.

4.   What books do you read and do you have a recent recommendation?
I listen to a lot of audio books these days, though I still read a lot as well.
Recently I read Wool, which rocks.
After many years of not reading it I finally listened to the audio books of The Dark Tower novels. A lot of my readers were saying that my Diary of the Displaced series was Kingish/Towery, so I figured I'd find out. I agree there are similarities.
I read a lot of apocalypse novels, both serial and standalones, though probably not as much as I should.
My co-author Michael Stephen Fuchs rocks. I've read all of his stuff.
Brian Keene.
Hunger Games
Anything by Roald Dahl (to read to my kids)
Currently I'm listening (another audio) to The Twelve by Justin Cronin. Awesome stuff.
That's just the recent stuff.

5.   Where can readers find you?
www.glynnjames.com

Zombie Survival Questions

1.   You see a hand gun, a bat and a knife. Which do you choose as your weapon for the apocalypse?
I'd kill the bat and cook it. Can you cook bats? Time to visit google...

2.    Place of survival. Your own house, a shopping mall or The Winchester pub?
My house. It's next to the Winchester pub.

3.   You see an underground parking centre. Do you go in?
No...Just, no.

4.   You see your boss is now a zombie but is no immediate threat to you. Do you still use your last bullet on him/her?
Not with one bullet left.

5.   What luxury item would you keep in the apocalypse?
A portable USB solar panel.

6.   You're bitten, do you
A)   Shoot yourself before you turn?
B)   Ask a friend to do it?
C)   Turn and enjoy the all you can eat human buffet?

None of the above, I'd go hunting until I dropped, but since it's a multiple choice - best answer : A

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Will be free for one day!!!!


The Lost Party (UK)

The Lost Party (US)

Interview with Michael Whetzel

Name:Michael Whetzel

Book Title: The Pied Piper of the Undead
also Bandwidth

The Pied Piper of the Undead (Amazon)


Author Questions

1.   How long have you been writing for?
I have been writing since I was very young. I began self-publishing on Jan 2012.


2.   What do you think sets your work apart from others in the genre?
I focus heavily on characters. I especially like examining the changes someone goes through before and after a world altering event i.e. alien invasion or zombie apocalypse. How different are they? Do they change their fundamental core values? Their beliefs?

3.   Do you have any tips for new writers?
Write write write and write some more. Always strive to get better. Read your peers and be aware of what everyone is doing. Always be supportive to others and grateful to those who support you.

4.   What books do you read and do you have a recent recommendation?
I love horror, sc-fi, fantasy and comics. Currently I'm reading Haruki Murakami's 1Q84. It is pretty wacky and epic. I recommend anything by him. For the horror genre, check out Joe Lansdale. One of the most underrated voices I've enjoyed.
I'm also enjoying the Morning Glories and Manhattan Projects comic books.

5.   Where can readers find you?
They can find all my books on the Amazon store. My website is www.michaelwhetzel.com. I also founded the iFiction! writing co-op with Everette Bell. We release quality short stories and serials for the Kindle.

Zombie Survival Questions


1.   You see a hand gun, a bat and a knife. Which do you choose as your weapon for the apocalypse?
A bat never runs out of bullets. Never. Ever. Plus I hit .485 my last year playing ball.

2.    Place of survival. Your own house, a shopping mall or The Winchester pub?
Winchester Pub. Good pork skins.

3.   You see an underground parking centre. Do you go in?
Hell no. Nothing ever good came out of an underground parking lot. Even before the zombie apocalypse.

4.   You see your boss is now a zombie but is no immediate threat to you. Do you still use your last bullet on him/her?
"This is for all the times you made me work on the weekends. Jerk."

5.   What luxury item would you keep in the apocalypse?
I would go nuts without a toothbrush. Or Q-tips for my ears. Or a shower.

6.   You're bitten, do you
A)   Shoot yourself before you turn?
B)   Ask a friend to do it?
C)   Turn and enjoy the all you can eat human buffet?

Eh, screw it, I'm eating everybody. :)

Interview with Cora Buhlert

Name: Cora Buhlert

Book Title: Letters from the Dark Side

Letters from the Dark Side (Amazon)

Author Questions

1.   How long have you been writing for?

I've been telling stories since forever, started writing them down in my teens and have been writing seriously since university.


2.   What do you think sets your work apart from others in the genre?
Letters from the Dark Side is a different from most other horror/dark fantasy works, because it's epistolary fiction. The format is basically that of an agony aunt page or one of those True Confessions magazines, only that the letters are all from supernatural beings. There aren't any letters by zombies, since I doubt zombies can write. But there is one by a woman who was bitten and is about to turn. Plus, the agony aunt, the evocatively named Dr. Megan Midnight, is totally clueless.


3.   Do you have any tips for new writers?

Read a lot, write a lot, set manageable goals for yourself and never give up.


4.   What books do you read and do you have a recent recommendation?

I read widely across genres with a certain preference for SF and fantasy. Alas, I'm not much of a zombie reader, but Rob Thurman's Leandros Brothers series and Caitlin Kittredge's Black London are both urban/dark fantasy tending towards horror and deserve to be much better known than they are.


5.   Where can readers find you?

At my publisher website http://pegasus-pulp.com , my personal website/blog http://corabuhlert.com. My books may be found at Amazon, Amazon UK,B&N, Kobo and iTunes.


Zombie Survival Questions


1.   You see a hand gun, a bat and a knife. Which do you choose as your weapon for the apocalypse?

I'll take the bat, since it's got more range than a knife and doesn't run out of ammunition. Plus, bats are easier to come by in my part of the world than guns. Never mind that I can't shoot. Though ideally, I'd take all three and switch according to the threat and situation.


2.    Place of survival. Your own house, a shopping mall or The Winchester pub?

For the immediate post-outbreak phase, I'd stick to my own house or maybe a neighbour's house. They sure poured a lot of concrete into the foundations of the neighbour house during the construction, so it should be reasonably safe.
For longer term survival, I'd head for the Columbus Center shopping mall in Bremerhaven, which is about seventy kilometres from where I live. Why that particular mall? Because it's a gloomy 1970s concrete monstrosity without windows that would probably survive a nuclear war and should sure keep out the zombies. And the mall stores should provide sufficient provisions for a while. It's also connected to a neighbouring mall and museum via a skyway, though we would probably have to block that off, because the other mall and museum have glass roofs and thus aren't zombie proof.
Plus, right in front of the mall, the Wilhelm Bauer, a WWII era submarine belonging to the Bremerhaven Maritime Museum, lies at anchor with direct access to the North Sea. I doubt that the museum would mind me borrowing one of their exhibits during an apocalypse and a submarine would be extremely useful to provide zombie proof travel and maybe escape to unaffected parts of the world, should there still be any.


3.   You see an underground parking centre. Do you go in?

Only if I need fuel or provisions or a replacement car or if a mob of zombies were already after me. Otherwise, I'd stay far away, cause there's no way of telling who or what may lurk inside.


4.   You see your boss is now a zombie but is no immediate threat to you. Do you still use your last bullet on him/her?

I'm self-employed, so I don't have a boss per se. As for past bosses, co-workers and customers, no, I'd keep the last bullet in reserve. I figure that unless we're dealing with semi-sentient zombies a la Isaac Marion's Warm Bodies (which are fairly rare), the zombies have no idea who they used to be and therefore no wish to escape their condition, so there would be no need to put them out of their misery. And I've never had a boss or coworker I hated so much that I wanted to bash their head in or blow their brains out.


5.   What luxury item would you keep in the apocalypse?

Probably a piece of jewellery, a necklace or bracelet.


6.   You're bitten, do you
A)   Shoot yourself before you turn?
B)   Ask a friend to do?
C)   Turn and enjoy the all you can eat human buffet?

All you can eat, baby!

Interview with Author William Van Winkle

Name: William Van Winkle

Book Title: The Followers



Author Questions

1.   How long have you been writing for?

Since I could type words on scrap paper in my folks’ basement. I knew it was what I wanted to grow up to do when I was 10. I first got paid for it at 19, and I started doing it full-time (non-fiction) in 1998, when I was 27. Great question. Now my joints ache just thinking about it. Thanks.

2.   What do you think sets your work apart from others in the genre?

That there’s so little of it?

When I became a full-time journalist, I stopped writing fiction. Fiction was difficult and full of rejection while non-fiction was a cinch. Almost literally, if you can punctuate, you can get paid in non-fiction. So having a family to support and all, I followed the easy money. It took a mid-life crisis to convince me that I probably should tend to my dreams before the zombie apocalypse arrives. Because I really have no other skills. After the apocalypse, society will favor those who can build or organize or shoot or wield a wicked roundhouse kick. I can write and make coffee. That’s it. So when the apocalypse comes, I’m totally screwed.

That’s a really evasive way of saying, “I don’t have enough work published in this genre yet to feel like I’m really that different.” See how I did that?

3.   Do you have any tips for new writers?

You’ll hear it a million times, but it’s true: butt in chair and write until you make your daily quota. I know plenty of people who want to be writers, some of them with amazing skill. But here’s the big secret: you don’t have to be amazing to succeed in writing. Truth is, you don’t even have to be that good. The one thing you must be is persistent. Anyone can write, but real writers write – and finish. And then do it again the next day.

Do not buy the lies taught in your English classes. Rules and conventions must be learned and internalized, yes. But English teachers don’t know jack about writing commercially. When’s the last time you devoured a paperback and thought, “Oh, this author’s use of symbolism just blows my mind! And that lyrical prose style? I had an accident in my pants over that metaphor!”

Can that stuff help elevate your work from good to great? Sure. But that’s just gravy or frosting or whatever high-carb foofaraw you prefer. If you want to get paid, if you want to earn a living with your writing, you must master the art of getting shit done. Period. In the end, it’s the only essential skill.

4.   What books do you read and do you have a recent recommendation?

Sad but true, over 80% of my reading now is either about how to write or it’s research for one of my current projects. What little recreational reading time I get is usually in audio form. I keep a Bluetooth earpiece in my pocket and stream audio from my phone whenever possible – getting the mail, washing dishes, driving to the store, whatever.

In this way, I chew through an insufficient but still significant number of books and, more recently, podcasts. In alphabetical order, I listen to Clarkesworld, Escape Pod, Lightspeed, Nightmare, Pseudopod, StarShip Sofa, and Writing Excuses. With just these names alone, I have far more content than I can keep up with. Yet I still try to have full-length books running on the side.

The best book I’ve read in years is Stephen King’s 11/22/63. Unbelievable. That man is the master. Hugh Howey’s Wool Omnibus actually kept me up until nearly 4:00 in the morning, which hasn’t happened since I was a teen. I keep meaning to delete Andy Weir’s The Martian off my Kindle, because it’s hard SF, which is outside of my normal genres, but it’s too damned interesting and funny to put away. I’m also a big fan of Ken Follett, Wilbur Smith, Ray Bradbury, Philip K. Dick, and James Rollins. Every so often, when I need to piss myself laughing, I throw in some Christopher Moore.

5.   Where can readers find you?

Starbucks. Or williamvw-at-gmail-dot-com. Or through my site at www.williamvanwinkle.com. But probably Starbucks.


Zombie Survival Questions

1.   You see a hand gun, a bat and a knife. Which do you choose as your weapon for the apocalypse?

If I could only pick one? The hand gun is out. You’ve only got a few rounds and a lot of zombies. Bad long-term prospects there.

The bat? Possible. A bat would be especially useful if, like in The Walking Dead, zombies always have heads with the consistency of watermelons. Bring a poncho!

But no, the knife is the only sensible choice. Assuming you can get away from the initial attack, you’ve still got the problem of basic survival. Can you cut a rope with a bat? Slice up meat with a 9mm? No. Gotta be the knife.

2.    Place of survival. Your own house, a shopping mall or The Winchester pub?

See, a writer more in touch with the masses would go for the pub, right? All hell is breaking loose! Throw back a few pints and enjoy it! But you said “survival,” and at the ripe age of 42, I know that drinking and survival aren’t always the bestest of friendsies. So no pub, sorry.

I was originally going to pick my house, but that’s out, too. There’s just too much stuff laying around to trip over. I don’t own a “gun room” or even a “gun rack.” I barely own one gun to put in a rack. Tactically, my house sucks as a survival milieu. I could hide in the attic crawlspace, but that’s not sexy, and all the fiberglass insulation up there itches like hell.

That leaves the shopping mall, which should win solely on the basis of being a lyrical metaphor about the effects of modern consumerism on society, and everybody knows that crap like that is what fine writing is all about. Really, though, the mall wins because there’s more room to run, more weapons, and more junk for making traps and hideaways. And coffee.

3.   You see an underground parking centre. Do you go in?

Only if I have the keys to a car that’s down there. Duh. Or a way to siphon off some gasoline. That could be useful.

4.   You see your boss is now a zombie but is no immediate threat to you. Do you still use your last bullet on him/her?

I’m self-employed, so the paradox of this question is giving me a headache. But if I think back to my last conventional boss, who was a psychologically abusive douchebag, I would—

No, I wouldn’t. I’d like to think that I would repaint the wall with his jellified brains, but the truth is that there just wouldn’t be much difference between the old and new versions of him. I didn’t kill him before (despite many temptations), so why start now?

5.   What luxury item would you keep in the apocalypse?

Honestly, I can’t think of any. Maybe soap? I’m a very cold turkey kind of guy. When I make up my mind to change, I get obsessive about it. Luxury items will only slow me down and increase risk. When I’m not fighting for survival, then I’ll think about luxury items.

Of course, if that were entirely true, I wouldn’t have a house full of junk while struggling to pay my bills, now would I?

6.   You're bitten. Do you
A)   Shoot yourself before you turn?
B)   Ask a friend to do?
C)   Turn and enjoy the all you can eat human buffet?

The last option is tempting. That’s what made Invasion of the Body Snatchers so compelling to me. It’s about the all-consuming social pressure to eliminate one’s individuality in the face of powerful group forces. (I still get shivers every time I watch the final seconds of the Donald Sutherland version.)  Body Snatchers is really a zombie flick, just with different cosmetic trappings.

So you’re asking: at the end, would I become a pod person? Would I crumble and conform? I hope not. I would try not to.

I wouldn’t ask a friend unless I owed that friend money. Fair is fair. Always pay your debts somehow.

That leaves the ol’ barrel in the mouth trick. I’m not a fan of the easy out, but at least with a big apocalypse going on, you don’t have to feel guilty about leaving a mess behind. It’s the in thing – everybody’s doing it.