Interview with Joe McKinney by Eric S. Brown

TGIF, everyone, and enjoy this great interview brought to us by Eric S. Brown.

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This morning we're talking with Joe McKinney, author of the amazing novel Dead City and the brand new book, Apocalypse of the Dead.

Eric S. Brown: Having read your modern, zombie classic, Dead City, I was wondering how did your own experience in law enforcement play into the book?

Joe McKinney: Well, the main character, Eddie Hudson, is a street cop for the San Antonio Police Department. I’ve done Eddie’s job before, so nearly everything in the book that deals with police procedure comes from my firsthand knowledge. I did change a few things around, such as the location of the 911 dispatch center and the layout of police headquarters, because I couldn’t in good conscience compromise the Department’s internal security protocols, but nearly everything else is lockstep with real police work.

I also worked as a member of the SAPD’s Critical Incident Management Team, where we designed the city’s official response to a variety of natural and manmade disasters. That experience was instrumental in designing the cause of the zombie outbreak.

ESB: Tell me more about that. How did you come up with the idea for the novel?

JM: San Antonio is about one hundred and fifty miles from the Texas part of the Gulf Coast. That means we are far enough inland to avoid the destructive power of a hurricane, but close enough to serve as the main evacuation destination for all the cities along the Gulf. My job with the SAPD was to help design ways to deal with a sudden influx of a large number of evacuees. For smaller cities, such as Corpus Christi or Brownsville, where we’re only talking a hundred thousand people or so, the problem is big, but not unworkable. It’s when you’re dealing with huge cities, like Houston and its surrounding areas, and the population numbers get up into the millions, that the problem becomes dangerously unmanageable.

So, when I was looking for a cause for the outbreak, I decided to hit Houston with five major hurricanes in the span of three weeks. That would require a million or more refugees to hit San Antonio all at once. I grew up Clear Lake City, a little suburb south of Houston, and I lived through several huge hurricanes. I know firsthand how badly Houston can flood after even a minor storm, and now that I’ve had some real world training on just how fragile the infrastructure behind Houston’s oil and gas and chemical industries really is, it seemed logical to combine the two. The bodies of the dead would be floating in the soupy mix of chemicals and sea water and rotting in the hot Texas sun. The virus that causes the zombie apocalypse would rise from that. And as the infected were evacuated to nearby cities, such as San Antonio, the situation would turn into a pandemic.

ESB: What zombie authors out there do you read yourself?

JM: My single favorite zombie story is “Zora and the Zombie” by Andy Duncan, but to my knowledge, he has never written another zombie story. I also loved Dan Simmons’ “This Year’s Class Picture” and Adam Troy-Castro’s “Dead Like Me,” but again, those guys haven’t exactly flooded the market with a lot of zombie stuff. I think if I had to name a short list of writers who have done multiple zombie projects I’d list Robert Kirkman and his The Walking Dead series and Max Brooks’ World War Z stuff. Those last two do the Romero-style zombie just about perfectly.

ESB: What can you tell us about Apocalypse of the Dead? I know I for one and am really looking forward to it.

JM: Well, the main thing I guess you have to know is that it is a sequel (of sorts) to Dead City. A word about that, though. See, I really don’t enjoy the traditional series, the kind where you follow the same group of characters through multiple novels. The Lord of the Rings was cool, and I also like James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux novels, but that’s about it. For the most part, I get bored with the characters in a series midway through the second book. So when Kensington came to me and asked about the possibility of turning Dead City into a series, I said I’d do it...as long as I got to do it my way.

What I did was to look at the world I had created for Dead City. At the end of Dead City, the zombie situation has been contained in San Antonio, but only at the expense of quarantining most of the Gulf Coast. Houston is still under water. More than a million zombies were still wandering the flooded ruins. So too were hundreds of thousands of uninfected survivors. I imagined a small group of survivors, one of whom is infected and hiding it from his fellow refugees, escapes the quarantine around Houston. When they make landfall, they spread the zombie virus like a torch dragged across a field of dry grass. The next thing you know, the zombie apocalypse has gone global.

From there I follow six different groups of characters as they converge on the North Dakota Grasslands, where they have all heard stories of a preacher who is building a sanctuary to hold the zombies at bay. I won’t tell you what happens when the survivors get to the Grasslands, but I will tell you that I researched everything I could find on Jonestown to write this book.

ESB: What's your favorite zombie film?

JM: The original black and white version of Night of the Living Dead, hands down. All hail George Romero! His is the movie that got me started on zombies, and the one I keep coming back to for inspiration. After Night of the Living Dead, I’d say Shaun of the Dead. From there, listing my favorites would be difficult. The list changes with my mood.

ESB: Do you have a favorite short story that you've written?

JM: I am known for zombies, but they are actually only a small part of what I write. Of my own short stories, my favorite is a ghost story called “Blemish.” Think When Harry Met Sally, but with a ghost inspired by the folklore of Vietnam. The tale is quite popular, I’m told, with romance readers, which I guess makes it one of those stories that the writer intends to come across one way and yet everyone else seems to take another. Go figure.

ESB: What's next for you and what are you working on now?

JM: I just finished the third book in the Dead City series. That makes a total of four novels written this year, so I may take a break on novels until January. In the meantime, I’m working on a reader’s guide to the Dead City universe, which has grown to include four novellas, two stories, four novels and a screenplay. The essay I’m doing now will put all of those various stories into context, so any one interested in getting a behind the scenes peek at the series should check that out at my website, Old Major’s Dream.

ESB: And what words of wisdom would you share with upcoming writers?

JM: This is probably going to burst a few bubbles, but...you need to treat writing as a job. Yes, I know. Writing is about passion, doing what you really love. I get that. That’s why I started. In fact, I was doing this gig for free for a really long time before I ever started thinking of it as something that could pay my family’s bills. But for those of you who want to write professionally, the only way you are going to succeed is to treat writing like a job.

When you have a job, you show up to work everyday. You consistently turn out a work product that makes your bosses happy. If you agree to a deadline, you make that deadline. You represent yourself in a professional, competent manner. In other words, you get the job done. Think about writing in those terms, and you will find that others will regard you in like terms.

But there is one little secret that seems to have been forgotten in our modern age...never, ever, ever forget the power of a handwritten thank you note.

ESB: Oh and I must ask, do you read comics and if so, Marvel or DC?

JM: That’s an easy one. Marvel all the way. I’m really excited to find out what David Liss is going to do with Black Panther. I’m also hoping for something else along the Marvel Zombies line.

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Thanks again to Eric, and to Joe for the awesome interview. Whether you are a fan of zombies, Bigfoot, or just love good, fast-paced horror, be sure to check out their work!

NSP welcomes Tracy S. Morris!

This morning, NSP has the pleasure of having Tracy S. Morris, author of the urban fantasy/mystery series,Tranquility, with us. Many thanks to her for taking the time to answer a few of our questions.

NSP: Tell us your latest news.

TM: My urban fantasy mystery series, Tranquility, has just been picked up in E-Format by Baen books. You can find the series for purchase at Baen by going to http://www.webscription.net/m-9-yard-dog-press.aspx

The books are available individually for $6.00 each or bundled with the Four Redheads of the Apocalypse series through January for $20.00

You can also find the Tranquility books at their print publisher, Yard Dog Press at http://www.yarddogpress.com

NSP: When and why did you begin writing?

TM: I started writing when I was 12 years old. I was an avid reader since about five years old. My dad used to read books to put me to sleep.

One day he pointed to the page and asked me to read to him. It was slow going, but by the time I was eight, I was reading both Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass on my own. I figured if I could read both books together, which were thicker than my forearm, I could read anything.

When I was twelve, I read a book called The Ordinary Princess. I liked the book, but I thought I could write something just as good. I assumed that writing was simply recording sessions of 'let's pretend.'

So I decided that if I could make a living doing that 'when I grew up' that it sounded much better than having to get some kind of boring job like becoming an accountant.

NSP: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

TM: In high school when I started to work for my school paper, I decided at that point I was a writer. It wasn't that having a paycheck, or a writing credit from a publisher that SFWA recognized was going to make me a writer. Being a writer was something I did and something I was. I think getting paid for it makes you a wordsmith.

NSP: What books have most influenced your life most?

TM: There are so many I could point to. In Journalism, All The President's Men by Woodward and Bernstein really got me excited about Journalism.

The Darkover Novels, which were really my first exposure to what feminism was back in the mid 80's.

(I was one of only two girls born into the fourth generation on a farm of 'strong women.' I never grew up with the idea that you couldn't do anything because you were a girl. You simply did the work that had to be done, regardless of your gender. Mostly because you were the only one around to do it. My aunt ran a tractor and bailed hay because she had to. My dad learned to brush my hair and make French Toast because there wasn't anyone else. A couple of years ago, I tried to pull a Christmas tree out of the attic. It fell two stories and broke every picture frame on the wall that it fell into. When my husband came running, he surveyed the damage and said: You know, you can ask for help. I was absolutely surprised at the concept.)

Other influences -- Terry Pratchett influences me in a huge way. I love comedy and I tend to write like what I want to read. I don't want to be a Pratchett clone (although there are many worse people to ape).

But I tried writing serious fiction, and it doesn't feel as natural to me as writing comedy. Reading Pratchett helped me to find my own voice.

NSP: What book are you reading now?

TM: The stack is a mile high. I just finished Dreadnought, which is the follow up to Cherie Priest's Steampunk novel Boneshaker. I came into liking Steampunk from liking history. The Civil War especially, because I had a great history teacher. I would have overlooked the book series if not for the history angle. Her history is good, and her 'what if' conjecture is nice.

Along the same lines, I also read Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter.

Also good history woven into the fantasy. I honestly hope Steampunk as a writing genre doesn't fade anytime soon. I really love a well-told historical fantasy. And this is a nice departure from the medieval-esque fantasy novel.

NSP: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?

TM: A lot of the 'new' author sensations are usually people who have been around for a while. Every one that I pick up is new to me. I like to read a lot of small press. Because it's very different from the mass market commercial novels that all read alike. I've just finished James K. Burke's novel Home is the Hunter from Yard Dog Press. He is definitely not a new author, but I haven't know about him nearly as long as Terry Pratchett.

NSP: What are your current projects?

TM: I just finished a first draft on a novel that I want to have published as a Mass Market project. The universe is based on a short story of mine entitled "Fish Story" that appeared in the Esther Freisner anthology Strip Mauled. It is an urban fantasy locked-room mystery.

The primary character is half Lois Lane, half Indiana Jones.

While that is in the editing stages, I'm beginning to work on the third novel in the Tranquility series. It's going to be a lot of fun.

David, the doctor from the first two novels is going to have to deal with seeing his ex-fiancee again. I'm playing with a little bit of unreliable narration in this one. In his imagination, she's like Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. While to everyone else, she's like Reese Whitherspoon in Legally Blonde. When she vanishes, David isn't sure whether he is responsible or not, since he's been fantasizing about killing her from the moment that she shows up.

NSP: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

TM: I think you can probably look back on the when and how question for the answer to this.

NSP: Do you have any advice for other writers?

TM: I ask other writers this question a lot, since I run interviews with authors on Tuesdays on my own blog. Most writers seem to have the same answer. Since it's a good answer, I'll just parrot it here: Apply your rear to a chair and your fingers to the keyboard.

Seriously, almost all writers will sooner or later meet someone who will tell them "I have thought about writing." What that person is really saying is "I would be a writer, but there are so many other things that I make a priority over writing." Writers write. They go without things like television or sleep, or even a clean house in order to write. And it makes them happy to do so. If you can't say this about writing, maybe you should consider finding a different hobby. One that will give you this kind of burn.

NSP: How has your environment/upbringing colored your writing?

TM: The town that I based the Tranquility series on is my home town. It's a nicer version of my home town. One that is seen through rose colored glasses, but it's still my home town. The druggist in the town is loosely based on my grandfather's best friend, who was a druggist in this town. He is probably the character in the book who is the most based on one person. Everyone else is changed slightly.

I've had a weird life. My parents got divorced when I was five. And I spent one week with each parent from the point when I was five through my senior year of high school. At that point, I got a license and a car, and simply chose to live at my mother's house because it was most convenient.

Books sort of became a place to go when I was bored. So if I went fishing with my dad, step-mother and aunt, I brought a book. If I was sitting with my dad while he worked on a car, there was a book. If I was in my room at my mother's house with nothing to do, I retreated into a book.

NSP: What genre are you most comfortable writing?

TM: I think I like fantasy and mystery because those are the types of books that I like to read the most. Some of the earliest books that I can remember devouring are the Nancy Drew books and the Pern series.

I never liked the teen angst books (they weren't called YA when I was a teen) because they were very much driven by existential dilemmas that I never had in my own experience as a teen. I didn't have to choose between two dates for the prom, I didn't have to worry that my best friend stole my diary and passed it around school. I thought most of the books of that stripe were silly. If I was going to read silly, I would take my brand of silly with dragons in it and the fate of the world at stake.

Urban fantasy has been fun to read and write because it combines that fantasy feel with the mystery genre. Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden solves mysteries just like Nero Wolfe, but he also interacts with fey, werewolves and vampires.

NSP: Are there other genres you would like to try?

TM: I have thought it might be fun to write straight mystery or historical novels, but any time I start something like that, I usually end up throwing in some fantastic, quirky elements.

NSP: What do you see as the influences on your writing?

TM: I think I've pretty well covered that at this point.

NSP: What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?

TM: Anymore, a computer is a must. You need it for everything from word processing to social networking.

NSP: How do you develop your plots and characters? Do you use any set formula?

TM: It varies from plot to plot. For Tranquility, I outlined to help keep me on track. Bride of Tranquility and this new project were discovery writing type projects. But I already had a pretty good idea of where they were going.

NSP: What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

TM: It varies. I try to write about 1,000 words of original fiction daily.

I like to write a first draft longhand, and then type it. I've found that I refine and add to the story as I type.

NSP: What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

TM: Quirk is a good way to describe my writing. I like to write quirky, oddball characters with interesting tics. For example, the main character of this new project thinks of herself as being like some kind of weird offspring between the Clampetts (from The Beverly Hillbillies) and The Munsters.

NSP: Anything you would like to add?

TM: You can find me on the internet at http://www.tracysmorris.com

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Again, thanks to Tracy. And be sure to check out her new e-book offerings, Tranquility and Bride of Tranquility.

Remember, anyone interested in guest blogging here at NSP, just drop us a line at nspbooks@live.com

An Interview with author Gina Ranalli

Again, thanks to Eric S. Brown for bringing us another terrific interview. This time, we are honored to have Gina Ranalli join us at NSP Books.

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Gina Ranalli is the author of several novels, including Praise the Dead, House of Fallen Trees, Suicide Girls in the Afterlife, Chemical Gardens, Wall of Kiss, Mother Puncher, Sky Tongues, and Swarm of Flying Eyeballs. Her collection, 13 Thorns (with Gus Fink) won the Wonderland Book Award for Best Story Collection of 2007. Her short stories have appeared in numerous publications including Bits of the Dead, The Beast Within, Horror Library Volume 3, and Dead Science, among others.

Gina lives in Washington state where she is working on her next novel. Visit her online at www.ginaranalli.com

ESB: Wow, you have a lot of books out there. When did you start writing?
GR: I started writing as a kid. I still have the first "story" I ever wrote. It's called "Horses" and it's truly terrible. I was seven years old.

ESB: What got you into writing?
GR: Well, at first it was just a way to entertain myself. I had a lot of crazy ideas in my head and in order to get them out, I put them on paper. It was a great cure for boredom and very therapeutic. Still is.

ESB: Is there one book that's your favorite above the others?

GR: One of my own? House of Fallen Trees is definitely my favorite. I think I pulled off some genuinely creepy things with that book. I got the mood and the atmosphere right. I'm pretty proud of it.

ESB: Do you see writing as a career or a hobby for yourself?

GR: I see it as both. I like to be paid, obviously, but even if I didn't I'd be doing it anyway. Maybe not for publication, but I'd definitely still be writing, no matter what. I tend to get a little insane if I'm not working on something.

ESB: What advice would you give other writers on any level?

GR: It's a cliche, of course, but reading everything you can get your hands on is still the best advice for anyone wanting to write. Beyond that, it's pretty simple: just write. Write as much as you can as often as you can. Work harder at it than anyone else you know. Always push yourself.

ESB: Praise the Dead sounds like a truly cool concept for a Z novel. How did you come up with the idea?

GR: Thanks! So many things came together for that book. I've always wanted to do a classic good vs evil book and I also really wanted to write a book with a kids as the protagonist and antagonist. And, I'm inspired by the story of Joan-of-Arc and wanted to incorporate a little bit of that in as well. So, those things combined were the genesis of the book.

ESB: If you could hang out with any zombie writer (and yes, only a zombie writer) for an evening, who would it be?

GR: Hmm. Wow. Just one? I don't know if I can answer that. I'd like to hang out with most zombies writers, probably.

ESB: Do you think the zombie genre is still growing?

GR: It doesn't seem like it's letting up at all. I hope it continues to grow, especially if writers and film makers figure out ways to play with the genre and change it up a bit. As long as creators continue to do new things and explore the boundaries of where they can take it, I think zombies will be around for a while more. Like ghosts or any other sub-genre, as long as it's kept fresh (no pun intended) it'll do fine.

ESB: Who are your heroes in the writing world that you look at as peers and just go, if they can do this, so can I?

GR: There are way too many to mention by name. In a way, anyone who writes a good book is a hero of mine, because it's not an easy thing to do. There are thousands of terrible books, but if a writer can make me care and entertain me, I'm a happy camper. If I close a book and think the writer told a really great story, that person becomes my hero, at least for a while.

ESB: And lastly, what are you working on now?

GR: Right now I'm working on a new horror novel. I don't want to give too much of it away, but it's called Dark Surge and it should be out sometime next year from Dark Regions Press. It's simultaneously been both the hardest book I've ever worked on and the most fun. It's full of creepy-crawlies and I think people will really enjoy it.

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Make sure you pop by www.amazon.com and check out Praise the Dead along with Gina Ranalli's others works. You won't be disappointed.

New YA imprint, upcoming releases and other news from NSP Books

E-Volve Books for Young Adults

Naked Snake Press would like to announce the addition of the imprint called E-Volve Books. We will be considering speculative and fantastic fiction specifically for young adults. And we are extremely pleased to say that Derek Clendening's The Vampire Way will be the first release from the E-Volve Books line, schedule for April 2011.

The website will be going live in a couple of weeks so check here or the main NSP Books website for updates.

Authors of YA fiction, get those manuscripts ready. E-Volve Books will open to submissions on January 1, 2011. Detailed guidelines will be posted here in the coming days.

Upcoming releases from NSP Books

The "re-birth" of Naked Snake Press is really coming together! In addition to Derek Clendening's The Vampire Way in spring 2011, his novel The Between Years will be hitting the shelves in December 2010. Stay tuned for more information as the release date draws nearer.

Coming in November, we have two poetry releases. First is The Ultimate perVERSEities from Kurt Newton, followed by ChemICKal Reactions from Karen Newman.

Late November/early December brings us Martin Kier and the Dead from everyone's favorite "zombie guy" Eric S. Brown. NSP Books is very excited to have Eric on board once again.

December also brings us Poe Little Thing: In Space No One Can Hear You Scream, an anthology of horror/sci-fi flash and poetry. Everyone awaiting a response on their submission to POE should hear something by the end of next week. Apologies for the long response times--we never anticipated such a flood of terrific submissions.

Finally, the NSP Books blog is still open to anyone who would like to guest. Just send along your writing or horror-related article, promo, interview, review, etc. If you are an author or artist who would like to request an interview, email us and we will get some questions to you.

Contact me at nspbooks@live.com with questions or comments. We are currently closed to all submissions, unless requested. We will re-open to novel submissions on January 1, 2011 for the NSP Books, E-Volve Books and another themed collection (theme to be determined).