S.G. Browne

Amanda Ashby is another YA author, having jumped into the world of zombies in 2009 with Zombie Queen of Newbury High, a playful romantic novel about a high school senior who unintentionally turns her classmates into zombies. Who knew all of these high schools were meccas for the living dead?

Although I have not had the pleasure of meeting Amanda in person, I’ve known her through e-mail and Twitter for more than a year. I hope one day to have the chance to buy her a cup of coffee. Or maybe some braaaaains.

Tell us about your first zombie experience. How did you lose your undead virginity?
Do we count Evil Dead as a zombie movie? I can never tell with these things but that was probably the first one I ever saw. Mind you, I was more concerned about the tree than anything else. Anyway, I went to see it with a group of friends at the drive-in back in the eighties! Does that date me?

What’s your favorite zombie film?
Shaun of the Dead closely followed by Fido and 28 Days Later.

It’s the zombie apocalypse. Do you use a gun, a machete, or a Louisville slugger?
Less known fact about zombies is that they really hate water so obviously I would go for my son’s turbo charged water gun (okay, and the machete because lets face it, purple and orange colored water guns don’t really look so tough).

If you were a zombie, who would you eat first?
Good question and considering that my motto is: you are what you eat, I think I would probably be ridiculously selective about what flesh passed my dainty little jaws, since no one wants to turn into a fat truck driver who has a builder’s bum. Or for that matter a school teacher with badly dyed hair. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I think I’ll have to be a vegan zombie. I can do that, right?

What’s the first thing you ever had published?
You Had Me at Halo which was about a dead girl who got kicked out of heaven and sent back to earth in someone else’s body, in order to sort out her issues. Only problem is that they guy who owned the body hadn’t exactly vacated the premises so they are forced to do a bit of body sharing and soul searching all at the same time!

Who’s your favorite author?
Ack – this is an evil question. I seriously have so many favorite authors but Jane Austen is probably at the top of the list (and no, I haven’t read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies yet but it’s on the list!)

What’s your favorite book?
Again an evil question and one that I refuse to partake in so the best I can do is narrow it down to my top five:

The Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula Le Guin
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Arabella by Georgette Heyer
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Magician by Raymond E. Feist

Name your favorite guilty pleasure.
I save guilt for boring things like feeding my kids too many chicken nuggets and not enough broccoli but when it comes to my own pleasure I’m pretty guilt-free. Which is probably lucky because I do spend a lot of time watching television and DVDs!!!!!! Right now I’m making my husband re-watch every episode of Friends and Buffy with me!

Other than your favorite author/book, name something that inspires your writing.
Movies and television. I have no desire to write them myself but I get endlessly inspired by watching them.

If you had a theme song that played when you walked into a room, what would it be?
Obviously that would be “Eye of the Tiger!”

Shameless self-promotion bonus question: What’s coming up next?
Fairy Bad Day is out in Spring 2011 and is about a teenage girl whose plans to follow in her mom’s illustrious footsteps as a dragon slayer are thrown into disarray when she suddenly begins to see fairies. Invisible, killer fairies…

Amanda Ashby is the author of You Had Me At Halo and Zombie Queen of Newbury High.

You can visit her at www.amandaashby.com and on Twitter at twitter.com/amandaashby.

Dan Waters is the author of Generation Dead and Generation Dead: Kiss of Life, a Young Adult series about “living impaired” teenagers trying to co-exist among the living. It’s tough enough trying to fit into high school when you’re not popular, but when you’re a zombie, it makes getting a prom date that much more of a challenge.

I met Dan this past October at the World Fantasy Convention in San Jose over Halloween weekend. He was kind enough to take some time out of his busy holiday schedule to sit down and answer some questions about zombies and other non-living impaired subjects.

Tell us about your first zombie experience. How did you lose your undead virginity?
I’m thinking that it was probably viewing some vengeful muck-encrusted shambler from an E.C. comic reprint like Tales From the Crypt. All of the writers whose work I enjoyed at the time would wax rhapsodic about the old E.C. days in interviews, and their kid protagonists would always be reading and hoarding E.C. comics, hiding them from their parents, older brothers, and “the Man”, etc. The legends made me very zombie curious. I had to get some of those brain rotting texts.

I always liked this one, with the girl mourning the death of her poor boyfriend, Ralph, wishing he’d come back to her.

Be careful what you wish for, especially if it is for dead boyfriends or more wishes. Those wishes never turn out well. Play it safe and wish for a decent sandwich.

What’s your favorite zombie film?
Zombie Nightmare, starring my good friend Thor. I’m partial to the MST3K version.

It’s the zombie apocalypse. Do you use a gun, a machete, or a Louisville slugger?
Well, Thor was seen wielding a Louisville Slugger in Zombie Nightmare and Thor is never wrong. He doesn’t use it to crush the skulls of the undead, preferring to employ it in more mundane tasks, such as actually playing baseball. Going 4 for 5 with three runs batted in didn’t help him much when the Voodoo Queen zombified him, though, did it?

If you were a zombie, who would you eat first?
Scarlett Johansson. She seems really brainy.

What’s the first thing you ever had published?
The first thing that I had published for money was a short-lived (har har) music column I called Dead Beats, where I reviewed horror punk music like Dr. Chud’s X Ward and The Rosedales. Getting paid was nice, but the best part was that I conned some music labels to send me free CDs that I otherwise would have wasted my Dead Beats checks on anyway. BTW, horror punk music labels, I’d be glad to flog your tunes on my blog if you want to send more swag my way. I have to like it, though.

Who’s your favorite author?
Webb Glass

What’s your favorite book?
Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace

Name your favorite guilty pleasure.
Dinty Moore Beef Stew

Other than your favorite author/book, name something that inspires your writing.
My children, music, puppies, long walks on the beach, horseback riding.

If you had a theme song that played when you walked into a room, what would it be?
“Where Eagles Dare” by Iron Maiden or “Crushing Belial” by Shadow’s Fall.

Shameless self-promotion bonus question: What’s coming up next?
The third volume in the Generation Dead series, entitled Passing Strange, will be out next June.

Dan Waters is the author of the Generation Dead series. He lives with his family in Connecticut.

You can visit him at www.danielwaters.com or www.gendead.com or visit Tommy and the gang at www.mysocalledundeath.com.

Okay, so I’m about three weeks late with posting this interview on Fangoria.com, which was actually my first live interview.  I realized how much I ramble when speaking live to someone rather than having the chance to actually take the time to craft my answers in a written interview format.  Which is why writers need editors.

The interview was done by Matt Goodlett, who originally wanted to talk to me for a piece in the Omaha City Weekly.  I think that ran back in the second week of March.  Matt put the expanded interview on Fangoria.  I think it turned out pretty good, in spite of my rambling.  Plus they posted the YouTube link to one of the Necrobufrin videos:

Necrobufrin Kills Depression

In other news, I’m getting interviewed Tuesday by someone from the Chicago Tribune about a piece on the recent increase in all things zombie and, presumably, on Breathers.  This is supposed to take place about the time I’m sitting in the rain and thunder for the Giants opening day at AT&T Park.  Then on Wednesday, a review is supposed to appear in the Style section of The Washington Post.

After that, a zombie trend story that will include Breathers is scheduled appear in the Thursday, April 9 issue of USA Today.  And TIME magazine will be including Breathers in a zombie book round-up currently set to run in the April 20 issue (on newsstands April 10).

So this week looks like it’s shaping up to be a lot of fun.  Now if only the rain will hold off until Thursday…

Not long ago, I was friended by a woman on MySpace who, along with her male counterpart, review books and interview authors on Blogspot under the title In Bed With Books.

Great name.  Who doesn’t like to be in bed with a book?  Okay, so I can think of a reasonable argument to that, but I won’t go into it here.

By the way, is it just me, or does the term “friended” sound like a platonic verb?

In any case, the interview was posted today and includes some fun questions about the zombie apocalypse vs. the beespider apocalypse, the greatest snack food, and what I would do if my best friend was bitten by a zombie.

Oh, and they’re also having a contest for free copies of Breathers, so head on over and check out the In Bed With Books Interview.

Okay.  First of all, I have to apologize because I’m completely and irrefutably delinquent on posting this.  I meant to post this a week or so ago but it seems that I really do have stuff leaking out of my head.  I think it’s called gray matter.

Second of all, I have to say that Rhonda Parrish, the interviewer and CEO of Niteblade, is a fabulous gift of a person.  I met her at my first ever World Fantasy Convention in Calgary last Halloween and am absolutely positive that had she been the only person I met, the convention would have been worth the trip.

You can check out my interview with Rhonda at Niteblade News, which also includes wonderful interviews with other authors.

And while you’re at it, check out the on-line magazine at www.niteblade.com