Interview with Armand Rosamilia.

Full Name:
Armand Rosamilia

Do you have a nickname or what do your friends call you?
Mando

Birthplace:
Newark, New Jersey

Current hometown:
Jacksonville, Florida

Favorite city and why?
Boston. I'm a Red Sox fan and there is so much to do in Boston. I wish I lived closer.
It is a pretty decent city as far as major metropolises go, but their street system always scares me.   I’m perfectly fine in most big cities because they’re laid out like grids, but because Boston is so labyrinthine I never go to Boston by myself.
I grew up in Jersey but went to Boston more than New York, which I'm not a big fan of.

Birthday / Age:
I'll be 44 on November 21st.

How would you describe yourself physically?
I look like Kerry King from SLAYER… if he was out of shape and over 300 pounds.
I don’t know if you’ve seen Kerry King lately, but I think it’s safe to say that you pretty much probably just look like Kerry King.
Haha. I dare you to say that to his face, though…
I probably would. I mean, not, like, to his face, poking a finger into his chest, but within earshot? Definitely. I always say that I wouldn’t say anything about someone that I wouldn’t say to them and I try pretty hard to adhere to that saying.

How would someone else describe you physically?
Nicely if they were within arm's reach of me.
Duly noted.

The first thing people notice about you is…
My eyes. I have gorgeous eyes. Seriously.
I checked out the pictures you sent over.   You do have nicely shaped warm-looking almond-esque eyes.   The kind of eyes that a guy could kind of get lost in if they weren’t careful…
Wait… what was I talking about?

Once again proving my point… but stop sending me poetry. I hate poetry. 

Hair Color / Eye Color / Race?
Bald… hazel eyes that turn blue at times… white boy. 

Sexual orientation?
I'm straight… not that there's anything wrong with it.
If there’s something wrong with being straight then I’m doing it wrong.
But I get what you mean.   Kissed a boy.   Didn’t like it.
If that’s what you’re into than godspeed and bon appetit!

Religion, if any?
I believe in God. 

Are you superstitious at all? Any phobias?
I am a sports fan, so there are many superstitious rituals I follow, which is why my Red Sox won the World Series. You are welcome. I have an irrational fear of dogs, no matter the size.
Oh shit, then those skinless dogs in Resident Evil must have freaked you right the fuck out!
In the first game, when they jump through the window the first time and attack, I screamed like a little girl!
For some reason I can’t imagine you screaming like a little girl… without laughing.

Do you smoke/drink?   If so, what?   Any bad habits?
My only vice is too much coffee and food. I am a social drinker and a lightweight. Two beers and I'm feeling good.
I can totally relate.   If I buy a six pack I usually have a few beers left over at the end of the night.   I’ve never been really impressed with people that have a high tolerance for alcohol.   “Oh, you have to spend twice as much as I do to catch and keep a buzz.   Good luck with that.”
I like my two banana bread beers and I'm tipsy move.

Current occupation / Dream job:
Answer for both… full-time writer.

What do you like to do when you’re not at work?
When I'm not writing I watch documentaries, read biographies, and hang out with my lovely Special Gal.

What is your zombie outbreak survival plan?
To die first. I want to be Patient Zero. I have no use for not being in constant reach of M&Ms and sweet tea. No thanks.
That’s a great answer.   Justin Aerni gave me a similar answer with this wacky elaborate plan about how he’d prepare for being a zombie and I asked him if I could use it in a post-apocalyptic zombie-epidemic novel-length book project I’m working on and he said it was okay by him as long as I gave credit where credit was due, so it’s totally going into the book.
Sweet. Writers like John O'Brien and Mark Tufo have elaborate plans to kill all zombies and re-take the world and mold it in their twisted image. No thanks.
I interviewed John O’Brien and I want to get around to reading his books, but part of the problem with interviewing authors is that I’ve got a book review queue ten books deep already, and that’s just four authors, and that will probably take me till next year.

Weapon of choice:
My wits. Because I'm too fat and lazy to run.
Well said, sir. As a kind of big guy myself, I’ve always said if you can’t dazzle them with your skills, then blind them with your bullshit.

Do you have any special skills?
Not that I'm aware of. I once ate 37 White Castle cheeseburgers in two hours. Sober.
Yeah, but they’re tiny little bite-sized burgers. I used to love it when McDonalds used to have their “Bag Of Burgers” on the menu. It was, like, ten of their no frills burgers for, like, five bucks and I used to pick one up at least once a week when I was a teenager. But now that I’m older and my metabolism has slowed down I can’t fuck with fast food too often or it sticks with me for weeks.

Did you go to college and, if so, what for?
I went for journalism but got bored after a semester. 

If you went to college, did you manage to pay off your student loans?
The fun of community college is there were no loans. 

Any pets?   If so, what are they and what are their names?
I hate animals. Really. Not a pet fan at all.
But some of them are really delicious!
Very true.

What is your favorite animal?
Not polar bears. They are stupid.
I mean really, fuck polar bears. Seriously.
Another reason I like you. Keep sending the poetry. 

Speaking of pets, any pet peeves?
Chewing with your mouth open drives me nuts.

Favorite / Least favorite Food:
Faves are pizza, ziti and tuna on a cinnamon raisin bagel… I hate all condiments.

What is your favorite quotation / motto / saying?
Not fer nothin'. (It's the Jersey boy in me.)

What is the best thing that ever happened to you?
Meeting my Special Gal. Oh, and having kids too. 

What is the worst thing that ever happened to you?
Wasting too many years in bad relationships not being able to express myself and write and forced to stay in crappy jobs because it was the 'right thing to do.'
That’s where I’m at now, my friend, I mean, except for the relationship part.   At least you’re finally living the dream.
I think about how long it took and the sacrifices and I really appreciate all of it now.

Ever had your heart broken? Is there a story worth telling behind your answer?
A couple of times. Two bad marriages led to divorce and a long-term relationship that had me so depressed I couldn't leave the couch most days. I've talked about these people many times… killing them in several great stories.
That’s great!   I mean, the last part.   Not so much the first part.   I’ve dabbled a bit in that myself.   They’re probably not going to bother reading your stuff anyways after the fact, so, fuck it, use what you’ve got.
I don't hide the fact I wrote about them, and will keep writing about them.

Ever broken someone’s heart? Is there a story worth telling behind your answer?
Yes. I was a particular dick to a girlfriend in my late teens and I regret being one. At the time I was immature and knew her parents hated me. 

What is the best thing you’ve ever done?
Had my children. 

What is the worst thing you’ve ever done?
The statute of limitations isn't done, so I'd rather keep quiet… unless they find the burial ground. 

If you could kill one person, consequence free, who would it be and why?
She knows who she is. 

What do you do?
I write. Full-time the past 2+ years. 

How did you get started doing what you do?
I've been a writer most of my life. I started writing horrible Dean Koontz rip-off stories at 12.
No shame in that. At least you realized it and went in another direction. Nothing makes me more frustrated than some author trying to be the next fill-in-the-blank.   My unsolicited advice is always, “Why don’t you try being the first great you instead of trying to be the next whoever?” They never listen.
Those authors tend to be more fly-by-night anyway. They don't get rich and famous halfway through writing book two and give it up. I'm glad. Be yourself. Or, as Chevy Chase wisely said in Caddyshack… “Be the ball, Danny."

What is your advice to other people that want to get started doing what you do?
Write. Every single day. Something. And drink heavily.
Do you really think the drinking helps?   I know it’s a pretty common cliché that most authors are alcoholics, but do you really think that alcohol is integral to the process and if so, why?   I mean, I get needing a drug to reach the creative place in your head, but my drugs of choice for writing are caffeine and nicotine and energy drinks containing a miscellany of other “ine”s because I’ve got ADHD and the stimulants help me to hone my focus into a more precise and accurate tool. Your thoughts?
I hardly ever drink. Not enough room with all the coffee. I like the 'start drinking heavily line'… stole it from Animal House.
I’m surprised I missed that one. I’m usually good at recognizing movie quotes.
“Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son.”
http://youtu.be/mkoPq5AOCOA

What are some of the projects you’ve worked on/finished in the past? Give us a little history if you will.
There are a ton. I have over 100 releases on Amazon right now and more coming all the time. In fact, in November alone I will have eleven more to choose from. Horror, contemporary fiction, zombie…
Wow. That’s pretty fucking prolific. I’m sure a lot of authors, myself included would be pretty envious of your output. What would you say the secret was to generating that volume of output?
Organization. My girlfriend put together an Excel spreadsheet for me to see what I've started and never completed as well as upcoming deadlines, stories I want to write but have no real home yet, etc. I always work on the top 6 and as soon as one is completed another story moves into the slot.

What’s your favorite genre to write in?
Horror. I can't help it. 

If someone were to pick up just one, okay, considering how many books you have out, three, books of yours to check out to get into your body of work, which ones would you recommend and why?
For zombie horror you have to start with Highway To Hell, which really kicked off my Dying Days series. For thrillers it would be Death Metal, which was the first non-horror story I wrote I loved. It combines kidnapping with Metal music and is still one of my favorite tales. For contemporary fiction my Flagler Beach Fiction Series is the ticket. The stories are like fun beach reads and nothing close to what I've written before. 

What projects are you working on now?
I'm writing a horror novel this month a publisher is already interested in. I will also be starting the zombie novella Dying Days 4 soon, and I have another dozen projects I need to get done.

What are you watching?
Not much since baseball season is over. I like documentaries on Netflix. 

What are you listening to?
I'm a Metalhead. I listen to old school stuff like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest and also newer stuff like Steel Panther. Hey, they are new to me. 

What are you reading?
I just finished Backcountry Lawman by Bob H. Lee, a nonfiction account of his life as a Florida Game Warden. I was also lucky enough to interview him live on the radio. I co-host a radio show on 1700 AM in Flagler Beach Florida with Tim Baker called Friday Night Writes.
Hey, if you’re looking for writers to interview for your radio show, keep me posted.   I’m a writer and I’m a pretty good guest.
We do guests live in the studio here in Florida. If you're going to be down in this area let me know.
Dag! I don’t make it down that way much, but if my writing career takes off, I’d like to start taking out booths at shows, so if I ever end up down at Spooky Empire I’ll definitely let you know I’m coming in advance and we can hook it up.

Favorite author / book?
Favorite author all-time is Robert E. Howard. Favorite book, though, is Watership Down.
Oh, man!   Watership Down is so good!   Have you read The Plague Dogs?
No! Who is it by?
Richard Adams, the same guy that wrote Watership Down, that’s why I figured it was worth recommending if you like Watership Down. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Adams
I also love the adaptations of those books into feature length animated films by Martin Rosen. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0742034/

Favorite band / song?
"Anything, Anything" by Dramarama

Least favorite band / song?
Anything off the "Bat Out Of Hell" album by Meatloaf

Desert Island Music / Movies / Books: You know the deal. Five of each.
Music: Steel Panther, "Feel The Steel"; Slayer, "Reign In Blood"; Overkill "Feel The Fire"; Cyclone Temple "I Hate, Therefore I Am" and Bad Religion "Stranger Than Fiction"
Movies: This Is Spinal Tap, Blues Brothers, Dawn of The Dead (remake), Jaws and Beaches
Books: Watership Down (Richard Adams), The Rising (Brian Keene), Conan (Robert E Howard), The Best of HP Lovecraft and The Hobbit (Tolkein)

If you could do anything other than what you do now, what would you do?
Not go back into retail. That's for damn sure. I'd try to find a way to use my expert eating for a career. 

Who would you want to meet that you haven’t met? You get three choices:
Alive. Dead. Fictional.
Brian Keene. Robert E. Howard. Solomon Kane. 

What’s the best and worst job you’ve ever had?
Best: full-time writer. Worst: retail for 20+ years.
Alright, I’ve been looking for a place to fit this question in and here’s as good a place as any.   At what point did you finally have enough books out and were receiving enough of an income from them that you felt secure enough to give up wage slavery and just focus on writing?   Was it a certain number of books or a certain monthly royalty amount?
I got laid off from a job I hated I traveled too far to get to, worked 80 hours a week and never had a life. While I was looking for another slave job I got serious with the writing and it took off. It wasn't the money or number of sales I was looking for, it was the fact it kept growing each month and as new books came out it increased and my back-list kept selling. And I never had to do something I hated again. 

Are there any questions that I didn’t ask that you wished I had asked that you would like to answer now?
Why am I so damn sexy? Short answer: it's a gift. 

Anyone you recommend I interview that you can put me in touch with?
Thriller author Tim Baker and zombie author Mark Tufo are two of my buddies and great interviews.
Oh shit!   Hook it up then!   If you want to suggest them as friends on Facebook and kick them an introductory message I’d be more than pleased to handle the follow through.
I will definitely do it, they are both great. I do the Friday Night Writes radio show with Tim, too. 

Got any questions for me?
Please answer all of the above… or maybe don't do that.
-laughs- I knew that would happen someday, so I got it out of the way relatively early in the blog so I’d have it ready for when the inevitable happened.   You can check out when I first had the interview table turned on me here:
http://youareentitledtomyopinioninterviews.blogspot.com/2013/10/you-are-entitled-to-my-opinion_9724.html

Thanks for letting me subject you to being interviewed!
Hey, definitely my pleasure!

Pitch parade:
Give me all of your links for things you want to promote. All of them.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/armand.rosamilia
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArmandAuthor
Website: http://armandrosamilia.com
Blog: http://armandrosamilia.com
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Armand-Rosamilia/e/B004S48J6G/

About the Interviewee:
Armand Rosamilia is a New Jersey boy currently living in sunny Florida, where he writes when he's not watching the Boston Red Sox and listening to Heavy Metal music... and because of him they won the 2013 World Series, so he's pretty good at watching!
He's written over 100 stories that are currently available, including a few different series:
"Dying Days" extreme zombie series
"Keyport Cthulhu" horror series
"Flagler Beach Fiction Series" contemporary fiction
"Metal Queens" non-fiction music series
He also loves to talk in third person... because he's really that cool.
You can find him at http://armandrosamilia.com for not only his latest releases but interviews and guest posts with other authors he likes!
And e-mail him to talk about zombies, baseball and Metal:
armandrosamilia@gmail.com

About the Interviewer:
Scott Lefebvre has probably read everything you've read and can write about whatever you want him to write about.
Mostly because when he was grounded for his outlandish behavior as a hyperactive school child, the only place he was allowed to go was the public library.
His literary tastes were forged by the works of Helen Hoke, Alvin Schwartz and Stephen Gammell, Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Stephen King, Clive Barker, Edgar Allan Poe, and H. P. Lovecraft.
He is the author of Spooky Creepy Long Island and a contributing author to Forrest J. Ackerman’s Anthology of the Living Dead, Fracas: A Collection of Short Friction, The Call of Lovecraft, and Cashiers du Cinemart.
His reviews have been published by a variety of in print and online media including Scars Magazine, Icons of Fright, Fatally Yours and Screams of Terror, and he has appeared in Fangoria, Rue Morgue and HorrorHound Magazine.
He is the Assistant Program Director for The Arkham Film Society and produces Electronic Music under the names Master Control and LOVECRAFTWORK.
He is currently working on a novel-length expansion of a short-story titled, "The End Of The World Is Nigh", a crowd-funded, crowd-sourced, post-apocalyptic, zombie epidemic project.
Check out the blog for the book here: theendoftheworldisnighbook.blogspot.com
Check out the Facebook Fan Page for the project here: www.facebook.com/TheEndOfTheWorldIsNighBook
Check his author profile at: www.amazon.com/Scott-Lefebvre/e/B001TQ2W9G
Follow him at GoodReads here:
www.goodreads.com/author/show/1617246.Scott_Lefebvre
Check out his publishing imprint Burnt Offerings Books here:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Burnt-Offerings-Books/1408858196016246
And here: http://burntofferingsbooks.blogspot.com/
Check out his electronic music here: soundcloud.com/master_control
And here: master-control.bandcamp.com
Check out his videos at: www.youtube.com/user/doctornapoleon
Check out his IMDB profile here: www.imdb.com/name/nm3678959
Follow his Twitter here: twitter.com/TheLefebvre or @TheLefebvre
Follow his Tumblr here: thelefebvre.tumblr.com
Check out his Etsy here: www.etsy.com/shop/ScottLefebvreArt
Join the group for The Arkham Film Society here:
www.facebook.com/groups/arkhamscreenings
Stalk his Facebook at: www.facebook.com/TheLefebvre
E-mail him at: Scott_Lefebvre@hotmail.com