Interview by Carrie Avery Moriarty

Welcome, Char Robinson, to BOD’s author spotlight. I am so pleased to be interviewing you for your book series, Zombified Book One: Hudson Place and Zombiefied Book Two: Shady Oaks.

Thank you for taking the time to ask me about the Zombified Series!
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In reading your bio, you’ve got a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism/Public Relations. How has that influenced you in your pursuit of fictional writing?

I’ve been writing all my life, but my degree gave me the training and the confidence I needed to pursue a writing career once my children were grown.

While zombies are not my preferred choice in dystopian fiction, I was intrigued to find out how you would spin this story. Can you tell me what influenced your choice in writing about zombies?

I originally asked my kids what they’d like to see me write, and since we’re all big fans of everything zombie, it was kind of the logical choice. Even though shows such as The Walking Dead weren’t out when I wrote the first novel, zombies were still very popular. I planned to write just one book for the kids only, but after I finished it, they encouraged me to publish it and that led to the second book.

Your story begins at the beginning, the start of the infection. How much research did you have to do to ensure that your zombies were biologically authentic in their development?

The source of the infection in my novels is actually based on a real occurrence that happened just north of where I live. Just as in the first novel, a boy scout was digging for selenite crystals at the Great Salt Plains State Park (http://www.stateparks.com/great_salt_plains.html) and he found several glass vials full of an unknown liquid and some broke. The Army came in and closed the area down for about two years, apparently at one time they used the salt plains for training. The scout and anyone else who came into contact or breathed the fumes became the first victims of my zombie plague. News story: Army team cleans up chemicals vials that were found at Great Salt Plains helped train soldiers  http://newsok.com/article/3046796

I found it interesting that you had a character who was, for lack of a better term, a prepper and played an integral part in the survival of the characters. Do you feel like this could be used as a sort of guide for those who want to plan for an inevitable end of the world scenario?

Funny you should mention that, because I’ve discovered my novels are indeed available at some online prepping sites. The first novel was written when there was a lot of talk about avian, or bird flu, and the possibility of it mutating and causing a pandemic. I did a ton of research on prepping at that time and so yes, there’s prepping info interlaced into both books.

While book one primarily takes place in a large city, book two is set in a small suburb. These settings provided two very different sets of challenges for the main group of characters. What made you choose these complicated settings?

The first one made sense because I needed a safe haven for the survivors and wanted to do something a little different than having them stuck inside a school or mall. They had a place to go to that was tailor-made for a crisis situation, or even a zombie apocalypse. As for the second location, at the end of the first novel you see the main family leaving and the sequel picks up with them in the small town of Shady Oaks. Everything in that novel occurs within a 24-hour time frame and was actually a lot of fun to write.

Your zombies change, grow, and evolve throughout the books. I know, as an author, that sometimes the characters do something unexpected. Was their evolution the plan from the begging, or did they surprise you?

They evolved basically on their own, lol. I began to think about all that emptiness in their heads after death, and I let them fill that space on their own. I was thrilled with how they evolved, especially how one, in particular, rises up to become a type of zombie king.

I see you were working on a project of zombie-themed short stories. Have you completed that project, or has it been shelved for a later time? 
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The book of short stories will be completed, it’s just been shelved temporarily. I’m planning to publish it around Halloween. Great timing, eh?

It was a pleasure reading your books, and interviewing you. Thanks so much for joining us for our author spotlight.

Thank you again for the interview and for reading the books! I love sharing my stories!

ABOUT CHAR ROBINSON

Char loves writing and is the author of the Zombified series (Book One: Hudson Place/Book Two: Shady Oaks). Besides writing, she enjoys photography and takes pictures of almost anything, especially her family. She lives in Oklahoma with her husband of almost 40 years and has three children and four grandchildren. Char has a BS in Journalism/Public Relations from Oklahoma State University.

She is currently working on a zombie-themed book of short stories.

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Interview by ER Arroyo

Today, it’s my pleasure to introduce you all to Author Sarah Negovetich. We came in contact through someone I met last summer at UtopYA Con in Nashville, Ethan Gregory. I saw him pimping Sarah’s debut novel, a YA dystopian called Rite of Rejection, on Facebook and I sent him a message encouraging him to convince her to join BOD, knowing her book would be sure to find an audience with our members. Sure enough, Sarah fits right in with the BOD crowd, and I’m thrilled to have her joining us on the blog today! So, Sarah, thank you for being here! I’m excited for our readers to learn more about you and your awesome series.

First, please tell us a little about yourself and your Acceptance Series.

Hi! Thanks for having me and welcoming me into such an amazing community. I’m a YA author and literary agent, based in the middle of nowhere Texas. The final book of the Acceptance Series (Rite of Redemption) just released last week. The series follows a teen who’s convicted of a future crime and sentenced to life in prison while she attempts to reclaim her freedom.

We love YA dystopian around here. What inspired you to jump in on this genre for your debut series?

It wasn’t on purpose. I was working on a fantasy series and a steampunk when the idea for this story hit. I just got the what if questions stuck in my head. What if we could identify criminals before they committed their crimes? Who would be in charge of identifying them? How would that kind of power impact the wielder? The more I delved into it, the more it became clear that this needed to be a dystopian story.

Your books touch on social issues such as gender roles and diversity (interracial relationships, as one example). Were these subjects something you wanted to make a point to address or something that grew organically as you went along?

I knew going in that I needed to have a diverse cast that reflects the world we live in. How that showed up in the different characters was very organic. I tend to let my characters tell me who they are as I’m writing the first draft. In regards to gender roles, that was very intentional. Everyone talks about the world 70 years ago as if it was the golden age. I wanted to recreate that time period in my story world and highlight some of the ways it wasn’t the utopia it’s depicted as.

What can readers who haven’t read your books expect from the series?

Eek, hopefully an entertaining read. 😉 They should definitely expect a darker world. I don’t pull punches in my stories so the ugly and gritty part of life is shown in all its glory. That said, I like to think my books also offer glimpses of the best humanity has to offer.

Now that the series is finished, what’s next?

No rest for the weary. I’m already working on my next project, which will be a stand-alone YA Sci-Fi. I’m really excited about this project, but I’m not ready to share many details yet. I will say the tentative title is GHOST CODE and readers should expect another dark story with high emotions in the midst of lots of tech.

What would you like your existing fans/readers to know?

I really want my readers to know how much I appreciate and value their feedback, both in reviews and emails. I am completely serious that I only ever planned to write Rite of Rejection. Revelation and Redemption are a direct result of readers reaching out and pleading for more of the story. I am out of a job without my readers, and you guys rock!

BOD has a lot of writers, and I’m sure they’d love to know a little about your approach to writing. Are you a plotter or pantser? Is there anything special or unique about your writing time?

I’m a hard-core plotter. I live by Save the Cat and plot out every scene before I start writing. That said, I try to plot on a high level so that the details of the story can happen more organically as I write. As far as routines go, I intentionally don’t have one so that I’m able to write whenever I have the opportunity. With kids, life is way too unpredictable to get hung up on a routine that has to be in place to write.

Does being an agent impact your approach to your own writing career? If so, in what ways?

I think so. As an agent, I have a closer look at exactly what editors are asking for and what is most likely to sell. For example, when I finished Rite of Rejection, I knew that editors were done with dystopian even though readers were not. So I let my agent shop the story, but we only went through one round of submissions. I also understand the advantages and disadvantages of different publishing models, so when we got an offer on the story, I was able to evaluate it more objectively than most authors in order to make the decision to self-publish.

Okay, forget the books for a minute. Tell us something about Sarah! It can be anything.

Even though I tend to write darker stories, I’m actually a super positive person. Like borderline annoyingly positive. I’m also pretty chipper and tend to smile all the time. So, I guess you can’t judge an author by their books. 😉

Thank you again for joining us today and for being such a great part of the BOD family!

ABOUT SARAH NEGOVETICH

Sarah Negovetich knows you don’t know how to pronounce her name and she’s okay with that.

Her first love is Young Adult novels, because at seventeen the world is your oyster. Only oysters are slimy and more than a little salty; it’s accurate if not exactly motivational. We should come up with a better cliché.

Sarah divides her time between writing YA books that her husband won’t read and working with amazing authors as an agent at Corvisiero Literary Agency. Her life’s goal is to be only a mildly embarrassing mom when her kids hit their teens.

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Interview by Angie Taylor

Welcome, Elizabeth Nelson, a.k.a E. M. Nelson, to the ON THE BOD BLOG author spotlight interview. It’s so fun to have you!
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Thanks for having me!

I love meeting new authors and getting to know BOD members. How did you hear about BOD, how long have you been a member, and what is your favorite part of BOD?
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I was introduced to BOD through a fellow author, who also happens to be a member. She read the premise of the anthology I was working on and thought that BOD would be an awesome place for feedback on it, which it has been. I joined a little less than a year ago and have loved it every day since. I do have to say the BOD parties are a big fave of mine, but my absolute favorite part is the camaraderie between all the members.

​How long have you been a writer? Was it something you wanted to do ever since you were a child or was it something that kind of happened as an adult?

I have always wanted to be an author. I fell in love with reading at a young age and wondered what would happen when I had read all the books in the world. (I had some unrealistic goals back then of reading a book a day for the rest of my life.) So I gave writing a shot in grade school while working on a project for my English class. Most of the students laughed at it but the teacher assured me I had a knack for telling a story. His encouragement led me to write several small stories, none of which will ever see the light of day, but all of which prepared me for a life- long love of writing.

What was your favorite book or author to read when you were a child?

I discovered Tolstoy in 7th grade and loved the fluidity of his work. His books were a little long for my goal though, so I’d have to say that Robin McKinley won me over with The Blue Sword, which led to me reading all of her other works and discovering the fantastic world of Fantasy novels.

How fun! McKinley is one of my favorite authors as well. The Blue Sword is one I re-read every couple of years. Are there any authors or books that have impacted your writing?

So many! As I said before, I had an unrealistic goal- which I had no problems meeting before things like work and kids came along- so I read a lot. Some of my favorites were Tad Williams, Kristen Britain, Sean Russell, and Lois Lowry. Of course I also have to list Rowling, Dashner, and even Stephanie Meyer. I have no prejudices when it comes to a good read and I feel that all of them have influenced my writing in their own way.

I really enjoyed the entire premise of Nation of the Moon. It was fun to read a dystopian story where werewolves were the cause of destruction. What can you tell us about Nation of the Moon, and what was it like being part of a team of authors to create such a fun anthology?

As you mentioned, Nation of the Moon is an anthology involving a werewolf apocalypse in which only the continental United States is affected. The stories cover different viewpoints, from those who become wolves to those who survive the night–and even a few who don’t. As my first time working with a group, it was really fun to see how each of us took the initial story line and weaved such different tales from it.

I loved “Dark Assent.” I especially loved that you focused on the duality of human nature. What made you want to write from the viewpoint of one of the infected/werewolves?

When I first read the premise, I knew that I had to write from the viewpoint of someone who had been the bad guy so to speak. All the possibilities from the discovery of the character’s guilt to how he would react to it and how it would affect him as a person excited me. I’ve read a lot of stories from the point of view of someone who has lived through an ordeal and it always made me wonder what the other guy’s tale would be.

In my own writing, I tend to base some of my characters off of people or characteristics that I know or am familiar with. Were Steve and Kim or any other characters in “Dark Assent” based off of people you know?

They weren’t directly based off any real person however, as a mother with young children, I did draw from the emotions I feel I would have had if I had been in a similar situation and some of the basic thought processes I felt any parent would experience.

What else have you written or are you writing that you’d like us to know about?

I’m actually working on a children’s book and finishing up the first book in a dystopian YA series. I had high hopes of publishing one of them this year, but life has jumped in and shown me my place, so it’ll likely be next year instead.

Sounds fun. Keep all of us at BOD updated so we can read them. Okay, now for some random questions. If you could be a character in any dystopian book/movie/etc., who would it be and why would you choose that world to live in?

That’s a toughie. I would have to say Tris from Divergent. Mainly because I felt that I would have made many of the same decisions she did throughout the series, plus in my mind Four reminded me of my husband, so that’s a plus.

If you won the lottery what would you do with the money and why?

I’d buy a castle, probably somewhere in Scotland, and retire into my new writing cave. We are living in Europe at the moment and I have loved all the history and culture we have had the chance to experience as we have traveled. Scotland has been my favorite so far with its beautiful Highlands- and furry cows. Plus who could resist the sumptuous sound of those accents? I also discovered I love blood sausage, and I haven’t been able to find that anywhere but up in that region.

You had me at accents! I’d come visit. What’s your favorite motivational quote and why is it your favorite?

I have no idea who said it, but my fourth grade teacher told me “Good, Better, Best. Never let it rest. Until your Good is Better, and your Better is your Best” and it always stuck with me. It’s a good motto to live by in every aspect of your life.

I love that! Yes. Very wise words. Okay, one last question. If you could sum up your best advice for new writers in only four words, what would it be?

Keep writing. I know it’s only two, but it’s the best to go by. It’s easy to let yourself get distracted or focus on how horrible that first draft is, but writing is a process and if you dedicate yourself to it, you’ll never fail.

Thank you so much, Elizabeth Nelson, for spending time with me and sharing your talents with all of us at BOD!

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