Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I sort of always knew I would be a writer. In elementary school, I was always the first to fill up my notebooks with ideas and random doodles, then in middle school I had a really great Language Arts (middle school for “English”) experience with a great teacher. When high school rolled around and I was the only one who liked our super strict, harsh grading English teacher, it clicked. I always had a story in the works, but my zombie novel was the one that I really felt needed to be published.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
This Just In: A Zombie Novel was inspired largely by college. I took a lot of journalism classes, became obsessed with Joseph Campbell’s hero journey, and learned how to write characters who had personality and flaws.
The funny thing is that I wasn’t a huge zombie geek when I came up with the idea. My dad and I were at a Tim Horton’s drive thru at like 7 in the morning, talking about how I’d never been big on zombies. I casually said what I would do if I ever wrote a zombie novel, then one day I started doing just that. Warm Bodies, Shaun of the Dead, and John Dies at the End were big inspirations for me.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like allowing my rats to run around on my desk while I write
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Isaac Marion
Craig DiLouie
Sam Stall
Kevin David Anderson
What are you working on now?
When I started talking to people about publishing my book, they convinced me to write a series. I have book two of the series plotted out, but now I actually have to write it.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Write down the steps in Joseph Campbell’s hero journey and use it to plot out your book. Also, don’t bother with chapter breaks until the whole thing is done
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t let people stop you from writing
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Read as much as you can
What are you reading now?
I have an incredibly packed bookshelf, but I put everything in the order I want to read it. Currently it’s The Turn of the Screw, but after that is The Babysitter.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Next is more writing. I have to flesh out the characters in my sequel and really get to know them
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Night of the Living Trekkies (I’ll never get tired of that), God is Disappointed in You (it’s never wrong to have some kind of Bible), The Magicians (hopefully I could have all 3 books), and John Dies at the End (again, series)
Author Websites and Profiles
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