Interview with Kya Aliana.

Full Name:
Kya Andrea Aliana Stillson

Do you have a nickname or what do your friends call you?
Surprisingly, despite my goofy, creative, and imaginative friends, I do not have some quirky nickname. There are many suspicions that I’m a vampire, but alas, no nickname.
Why are there suspicions that you’re a vampire?
Because when I was 13 I got a little obsessed with Stephen King’s “Salems’ Lot” and I was and still am very pale, and there’s no denying I’m a night-owl.

Birthplace:
The beautiful and sunny area of Naples, Florida.

Current hometown:
Upon living in the stunning Appalachian Mountains in Boone, North Carolina since I was 4 years old, I’ve recently returned to beaches and golden sunsets of Naples, Florida.

Favorite city and why?
I don’t think I can properly answer this question because I’m only 18 (a day away from 19! Yay!) and I haven’t traveled as much as I’d like to or as much as I’m going to. While I have an undying faith for the future, life hasn’t yet given me the full opportunity to explore this amazing world we live in. As of now, out of the places I have had the great opportunity to visit, I have to say that my favorite city is Santa Cruz, California: Particularly the boardwalk filled with glorious carnival rides, music, and what’s left of the essence of my favorite film, “The Lost Boys”.
What’s your favorite quote from The Lost Boys?
When Edgar Frog says “As a matter of fact, we’re almost certain that ghouls and werewolves occupy high positions at city hall.” I love almost everything Edgar Frog says!

Birthday / Age:
My birthday is November 8th... what year? Every year! I’m 18 years old and will be 19 tomorrow. I’m excited, but not as excited as I am for my little brother’s birthday on the 16th. He’s turning 13, and I’m doing my best to make sure he has the best birthday blast ever! I’m a huge family advocate; and my little bro is forging his way into teenagehood. I find it my duty to make sure I show him the ropes; give him books to read, and guide him through the world of classic rock.

How would you describe yourself physically?
I’m 5’5’’, and my eyes alternate between blue and grey depending on my mood. I have dyed red hair that I do my best to make shimmer in the sunlight and look unique. Physically I look “a healthy thin” by today’s society standards. Despite living by the beach, I’m rather pale (hence where the vampire theories spawned from.) though I’m hoping by next year I’ll have a sun-kissed tan.
Ah, well, that answers my first follow-up question.
haha, it all comes around.

How would someone else describe you physically?
Haha, who knows. I have pictures for those who want to sculpt their own picture. We all view things differently, and we all have our separate likes and dislikes. It’s a prime example of why some people get tattoos, and some people get piercings, while someone may think that looks totally bad-ass, another person could think that’s stupid. Same with my dyed hair, color of my skin, how big or small my eyes are, or how tall I am.

Sexual orientation?
I’m straight, and totally in love with my sweet Zariel for 4 years now. However, I fully support LBGT rights, and I have a few friends who are gay, bi, or lesbian. I think it’s a silly, minute, and a ridiculous distraction to be so focused on this issue as a society. There is so much going on in this world, and so many issues that are incredibly serious and need to be addressed: world hunger, wars over oil, pollution in the world, and homeless people just to name a few. There is so much out there in the entire universe, this amazing, flowing, euphoric energy that fills all of us is waiting to be recognized. Most of us are yet to explore the idea that we are all connected and we affect everything in one way or another. There is so much to be learned, created, so much for us to experience, and so many better things to focus our time, energy, and support toward; and we’re worried about where a man sticks his penis. It’s ludicrous, and a distraction. Humans are humans. We fall in love; as long as it’s consensual, what’s the problem? We will believe what we want to believe, and someone, somewhere is going to disagree. But that doesn’t mean it’s wrong; it’s just an opinion. That opinion shouldn’t affect our rights. We need to get over the little things, all human beings should be equal and have equal rights, and we need to ban together to focus on the big things that will help our world as a whole unit.
I admire and envy your optimism.

Religion, if any?
I’ve been back and forth, beaten around the bush, read several books on religion, philosophy, and even dabbled in the ideals of atheism. I’m still young, still researching, and I don’t think I’ll ever be certain. I don’t think anyone can ever know the all-being, powerful truth because we are all just human, here to have a human experience. I do believe that we are all connected; there is an energy that flows through us and everything around us. I’m open minded and love to have conversations with others about religion, spirituality, universal energy, etc. etc. But I don’t intend to spend my life trying to figure out what’s after life. I’m here to live, do what I love, follow my heart, and have fun. What comes after life will come no matter what; and I’ll deal accordingly.

Are you superstitious at all? Any phobias?
I delve in the world of horror through writing and reading, so I think I’ve numbed myself quite a bit. Something that has always stuck out are snakes. I can’t stand the way they slither, or their split tongues; I always get a shiver down spin and feel the urge to scream.
I’m not very superstitious; I love Friday the 13^th and I tend to taunt fate by watching horror movies, stepping on cracks in the sidewalk, and entering dark rooms alone.

Do you smoke/drink?   If so, what?  
I’m pretty laid back. I love to party, but smoking, drinking, and drugs just aren’t my scene. Now, loud music, crazy dancing, live bands, piñatas, glow sticks, good food: that’s my kind of party. I love to get down with good people! And I don’t judge; although drinking and recreational party accessories aren’t my thing, I’m totally cool if people around me choose to do them. That’s their choice.

Any bad habits?
A couple. Stress is an amazing thing. I used to bite my nails all the time, and sometimes I do but I’ve kicked that one. Right now I’m battling an awful habit of picking chapped lips. It got really bad, but now I’ve gone quite a few weeks without doing it. I’m learning how to deal with stress and really focus on how to get rid of stress. If I’m always doing something, working toward my goal, and I’m never really lazy and lying around, if I am doing all I can possibly do, being stressed won’t make sense.
I used to get terrible chapped lips. I recommend DCT balm. The one in the little pink/peach jar. It heals the dryness and you can peel the dead skin off and then you don’t have chapped lips anymore. Carry it around and rub some on with your fingertip when your lips feel dry and chapped lips shouldn’t be a problem anymore.
Thanks, I’ll have to look into that. This time of year kills my lips!

Current occupation / Dream job:
I’m writing as my current occupation; which is an absolute blessing and I’m so grateful for all who encourage me. Writing is my dream, my passion, and my ambition in life. I want to reach people, hundreds of people, thousands, Hell, millions of people! But I start out reasonable. I’ll always have more goals as life goes on and I achieve my previous goals. I remember when I was 13 and my goal was to write a novel; then publish; then a book signing, and so on. Right now my goal is to be somebody’s favorite author (and by “somebody” I mean someone other than mom, haha).
Writing is a tough occupation to choose. It’s ridiculously competitive and everyone thinks that just because they can use a computer to put words in a row that they’re an author. I know that’s more of an observation than a follow-up question. SO here are two follow-up questions:
What is it about your writing that is different from other writers?
I do my best to stray from the cliché path and create my own world where the plot-line is unpredictable, yet believable. My drafts undergo several revisions as I carefully consider all the criticism from my family, friends, and sometimes other writers. I’m very conscious of my characters and give each one of them their unique voice, sculpting them into a reality that will stick with the reader no matter what. I’m still incredibly young, so many best sellers weren’t even writing at all when they were my age. I know I have a long way to go, and there’s still a lot I need to work on to make my books truly stand out; but it’s what I love to do. I’m never going to give up.
Whose work do you read for inspiration or whose work do you admire?
I definitely gather inspiration from several different places. S.E. Hinton was my first real inspiration because I found out she wrote “The Outsiders” when she was only 15! It gave me hope and something clicked in my mind that said “See, you can start your dream now!” Her characters are very real and relatable. That inspired me to write my characters with an insightful communication with others and really express their age and how they interact in different situations.
I admire all writers because it’s an incredible craft. I read genres from romance to sheer disgusting horror, and take everything I can from each book. I realize what I want to emanate, what I want to avoid, and what about the plot-line I liked and didn’t like and then I analyze why so I can always be bettering my writing.

What do you like to do when you’re not at work?
Honestly, I love my work. I hardly view writing as “work” at all. The real work is editing, revising, and trying to score interviews, guest blog posts, etc. etc. I’m looking forward to the day when my books are lucrative enough that I can hire an editor and PR. Of course I’m not in this just for the money – that’s not to say money wouldn’t be helpful – but I love to do it; so right now it’s absolutely worth it to be my own editor and PR.

What is your zombie outbreak survival plan?
Oh man, what an excellent question. I do believe I have quite the unique answer. First off, I’ll ban together with my family and the love of my life and his family. Then comes the awesome, kick-ass, unique part: go find Russell Brand. Mr. Brand has been so inspirational and influential in my life and ideals. While I may not agree with everything he says, he makes me think about the issue he’s talking about; and that’s what’s important. And for the most part, I do agree with him on most issues. I think he’s just crazy enough, insanely intelligent, and would absolutely make it through the zombie apocalypse in a whirlwind of revolution. So yes, what I am saying is Russell Brand is my plan.
That’s not a bad plan as far as plans go.

Do you have any special skills?
I’ve been told, and like to believe, that I am a tactical thinker and make good choices on the spot. I can usually find a solution or a way out of a sticky situation that will at least work. I think it’s because I write so much, and there are always a million plot-lines and twists and turns going through my head.

Did you go to college and, if so, what for?
I haven’t gone to college and I’m not sure if I want to. I am taking online classes for writing, and I took a social psychology course. I’m not sure if college is what I want to do. That’s not to say I don’t want to further my education. It’s my dream to be able to travel to different comic-cons, writers conventions, and book signings to meet and connect with other writers. A lot of my favorite authors also offer different workshops, and classes. I think I would be able to learn exactly what I want to learn, and hone my writing abilities, as well as gather some new techniques if I could take classes with writers I already admire as opposed to a college professor I haven’t heard of. That’s just my opinion, and I respect all those who go to college. I think for a lot of professions, college is necessary, even writing sometimes. I just don’t know if it’s for me as an individual.
Not that you asked for my opinion, but my best advice for aspiring authors is to read. Find someone whose work you like and read everything they’ve written. Try to figure out what it is about their work that you like and learn what you can. But it’s also important to read things that you don’t like and maybe even hate and learn from them too. I’ve never taken a course with an author, nor do I ever intend to. As someone once said, “You can’t learn to plough by reading books”. Also the best way to improve your writing is to lead an interesting life. Always take chances and always ask questions. Find out why people do the things they do. Also, college doesn’t educate anyone. It only provides people with an opportunity to educate themselves. Every book you’d buy at college you can get from the college bookstore or online and save yourself a few tens of thousands of dollars. College, for me, was a great vacation from real life and a great opportunity to read a literal ton of books and educate myself about a lot of things. Other than that, it was an expensive waste of time and hasn’t really done anything for me aside from sometimes earning me an extra buck an hour at a new job.
Wow, thanks. I’m always up for listening to advice; might not always take it, but I’ll listen with an open mind. I agree with a lot of what you’re saying. I read all the time, but I never thought to read what I don’t like; just what my mom made me read for school like “Red Badge of Courage” and “Grapes of Wrath”. You make a great point, though, and maybe… just maybe… I’ll have to suffer through the rest of the Twilight books.
As for college, I’ve heard a lot of people say what you’re saying; that’s what makes me think twice before applying.

What is your favorite animal?
The tarsier. The freaky, freaky, little tarsier. The reason being is it can always make me laugh; and laughter is the best medicine. In case you haven’t, you should totally check out True Facts About The Tarsier: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Jz0JcQYtqo

Speaking of pets, any pet peeves?
I can’t stand when people chew with their mouth open. Call me old fashioned, but manners are important.
I hate it when people ask “How are you?” and then don’t wait for an answer. A simple “Hello.” Would’ve sufficed. Oh, and all of these things.
http://youtu.be/BzxVBlc4uIM
Oh yeah, all of those things get under my skin. Chewing with their mouth open is just the worst in my book.


Favorite / Least favorite Food:
My favorite food has to be sushi. It’s so rejuvenating and cleansing; I always feel healthier after a good sushi meal. My least favorite is stew.

What is your favorite quotation / motto / saying?
“Hakuna Matata” It means no worries for the rest of your days. It’s my problem free phil-os-o-phy. 

What is the best thing that ever happened to you?
My mother. Without her bringing me into this world, caring for me the way she did, raising me the way she did, talking to me, and helping me be open minded; I wouldn’t be here today, and I certainly wouldn’t be who I am or where I am. She’s been a great mother and has given me the best life she knew how. She’s my best friend and I can talk to her about anything and everything. She’s always encouraged me to follow my heart and be the best I can be; to bring out the best in others and help celebrate their successes instead of wondering when it will happen to me. She taught me a day without laughter is a day wasted, and to see the good in the world. She is the best woman in the world.
So, is your dad no longer in the picture?
My dad is in the picture. He’s been quite amazing, actually. Our relationship has always been up and down, though. After all, I am a teenage girl, so I have to take responsibility for a good bit of the picture. He supports and encourages me, just in a different way than mom. He’s an artist, so he understands my artistic process of writing. He’s always been the one who makes the money to fund the different classes, or the gas to get to town. My mom is the one who mainly schooled me and brought me back and forth to all these social events, the library, music classes, and anything else she found that she knew I would love or at least should try. I love my dad, and he loves me, but we’re still working on good ways to communicate to build our relationship stronger, whereas my mom and I have always been close.

What is the worst thing that ever happened to you?
Sad, unfortunate, bad, troubling, and stressful things happen all the time. But I can’t say I would change any of them. All my experiences, all my “best times” and “worst times” have brought me to where I am today; I’ve needed them both to be happy. So does that necessarily make them bad? No. It makes them necessary. No one can ever be happy all the time, and why the fuck would you want to be? We are here to have an experience: a human experience. We all need those ups and downs. One won’t understand how good “up” feels if one doesn’t know how “down” feels to balance it out. We need to accept the good with the bad, and the bad with the good. Someone can’t make just one aspect of a bigger picture go away just because it’s “unpleasant” in the moment.
Actually, being happy all the time sounds kind of nice.
Well, of course it does. It’s just not realistic, so we have to accept the bad times as well instead of being pissed off about them. If we’re just pissed off instead of accepting, we’ll NEVER be happy… and who wants that?

Ever had your heart broken? Is there a story worth telling behind your answer?
Heartache is a mysterious thing. Yes, I’ve had my heart broken several times; but not by the clichéd lover. Of course I’ve had boys who’ve I liked who didn’t want to be with me, or led me on, but in the world of soul-mates, star-crossed-lovers, and finding my prince I’ve been very lucky.
My heartache comes from those I’ve loved and lost. Most recently has been my Grandad. We were very close; we had a connection that most grandparents/grandchildren just wouldn’t understand. He encouraged me through the good times, and lifted me up through hard. Any time I had a problem, I could come to him and he would help me find a solution and if that didn’t work we would go from there. He’d been sick a very long time, and I knew his death was around the corner, but no matter how much you prepare for something like that, it always breaks your heart.
I’m still mourning, and going through my own grief patterns and cycle. I’ve had to figure out how to cope, and it’s not at all like I imagined. I used to think I would still be able to feel his presence, or know he was watching over me. But there’s nothing; which has only made me question more (and he would’ve loved it). I do believe he is in a better place; and I do believe he checks in on me from time to time, I just can’t feel it or know it because I’m only human. I find comfort in knowing he didn’t fear death, he welcomed it as a new adventure; much like he embraced everything in his life.

What is the best thing you’ve ever done?
An interesting question, and who am I to say? I can’t fully comprehend how my actions affect other people. What might feel big and profound to me could be viewed as a small and a “good start” to others. I’m not sure how I would decide what my “best action” is: I like to think the “best thing” I’ve ever done is accept other people for who they are and how they are.

If you could kill one person, consequence free, who would it be and why?
Wow, you do a good job at making me think. While I may know the answer immediately, I think “how do I best phrase this?” – the answer is “no one”. Why would I kill someone? What good would it do? How would it affect the world? Even if I chose some bad entity, another would rise. It’s the ying-yang, it’s the inevitable balance of the universe. You can’t erase the bad. You can stand up against it, change it, but you can’t erase it. Killing a bad entity might help in the moment, but to what avail? 

How did you get started doing what you do?
It was the summer I was 13. I’d already read all the books on my shelf, and I wasn’t going to be able to go to the library until tomorrow. So, I decided to write a story; I liked it and kept adding a little bit each night. After a couple months I realized I had a whole story, a whole novel of 70,000 words. Poorly written, and it’s still unpublished, but it inspired me to write more. And more importantly, encouraged me to learn how to write fiction.

What is your advice to other people that want to get started doing what you do?
Talk to as many writers as possible. Gather techniques, styles, and criticism. Find what works for you and follow your heart. Do it because you love it, and don’t let anybody put you down. That’s not say don’t take their criticism, but separate what will make you a better writer and what will make you happier with your writing.

What are some of the projects you’ve worked on/finished in the past? Give us a little history if you will.
I have four published novels, one of which is a free e-book. The free one happens to be my first self-published novel, “Impending Doom”. It’s free because some people will enjoy the story, but my writing has improved greatly, and I don’t feel good charging people for something that’s so outdated.
My second published novel, “Sly Darkness”, is available for $0.99 on Kindle, and $10.00 for a paperback version. This is the one I’ve had the most fun writing, and I’m slowly but surely working on the sequel.
I published a novella, “Adrenaline”, in honor of my Grandad. This was just a month before he passed away and I’m so grateful he got to read it. It’s also $0.99 on Kindle, and only $8.00 for a paperback.
My most recent novel, the first in a trilogy, is about zombies and was published on Halloween. “Lost Souls” is a zombie novel, but goes far beyond the clichéd zombie. It’s available for $0.99 on Kindle and will be available on paperback soon!
What are your books about?
And were you a little worried about naming your novel “Lost Souls” considering the popularity of the Poppy Z. Brite novel of the same name?
My books are mainly suspense/thrillers with a touch of supernatural mystery.
“Impending Doom” is all about vampires (trust me, not the kind that sparkle). A new family – you’ll soon discover they’re vampires – and they invite the whole town out for a dinner party… but they’re the main course!
“Sly Darkness” is about a loner, Zander, who drifts into town. He stays at an old abandoned mansion; he doesn’t know it’s a popular hangout spot for a few select teens. When they meet, they decide to head out into the woods to search for a missing boy; not to be heroes, but to collect the reward money. They all have secrets, and when they get lost in wood, all Hell breaks loose!
“Adrenaline” is about death, a mother’s twisted path, and how her daughter must be stronger than she was. Mel is astonished when she finally meets the man she’s been dreaming about her whole life… but who is he? And why can he bring back the dead? And why is her mother so afraid of him? All shall be revealed with the help of the ghost of her grandfather (loosely based on my grandfather). This was an incredibly emotional book  to write, especially since my Grandad passed away shortly after. There have been some reported typos, and the 2nd edition is undergo.
Alright, now for “Lost Souls”. It’s a zombie book; but the focus isn’t primarily on zombies. It trails off into what happens to societies, how they pull together – or apart – and the different communities that exist and how they deal with the zoms… and of course there’s the power hungry sect that wants world domination! Oh, and we can’t forget the relationships… those that survive, those that fail, and those that get thrown to the zoms.
It took me three years to write this story; and I’m talking just the first draft. It’s been called “Lost Souls” from the beginning and the reasoning will be explained a little deeper in the sequel. To be perfectly honest, I’ve never even heard of Poppy Z. Brite, although now I’m very intrigued.
It’s astonishing how much literature is out there, and how many ideas and plot-lines have been written. A while ago I had this brilliant idea to write a story where a human girl falls in love with a zombie. I told my friend about it and she said, “you mean like Warm Bodies?” Now, I’d never heard of this. She told me about the book and then I realized it was being made into a movie! A few months later, it was everywhere. And here I thought it was an original idea.

What projects are you working on now?
I’m spending my time on NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), an excellent program where one writes 50,000 words in just one month. My novel rotates between two alternate realities, both showcase different levels and issues in society.
NaNoWriMo only requires writers to write 50,000 words? Is that the length of work that people are calling a novel? I’ve always aspired to write books like Stephen King and Clive Barker do. Books you can use as doorstops. I actually looked up the criteria and this seems to define it pretty succinctly.
http://askville.amazon.com/Word-count-long-novella-matter-short-story/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=6153729
It may seem weird, but despite the fact that I have several publishing credits I’ve never bothered to learn what the word count is for professional markets.
All of my credits have been by invitation and all of my stuff has been published so far, so I guess I’ve been pretty lucky as a writer, but you’ve definitely got a head start on me.
Just this month I’ve started to familiarize myself with what the professional guidelines are for length and formatting.
I mean, for example, the sample story for my current project, a post-apocalyptic zombie-epidemic, novel-length book project is 28 pages single-spaced, 11 point Calibri, and over 15,000 words. I’m shooting for 500 pages in Word, which is about a thousand pages in book format I guess.  I have no idea what that’s going to be in Word Count, but extrapolating from what I’ve got so far it’s going to clock in around 273,000 words, but let’s call it 270,000 for ease of use, which the “article” I referenced refers to as “epic” which I kind of have to admit is my goal. If a short story is a song, I want to write a symphony.
Wow, good follow-up conversation! I believe the “definition” of how many words does it take to make an actual novel lies in what genre you’re writing. While my books have been enjoyed by readers of all ages, I define it as Young Adult Fiction. I’ve been told that if I write “epic” size novels like Stephen King’s “The Stand”, most teenagers won’t bother to read it. Studies show – as well as my own studies where I’ve talked with several avid readers at the library – that teens would rather read four or five shorter novels (between 50,000 and 80,000 words which is basically 150 to 200 pages in book format) than one long “epic” novel. Usually my NaNoWriMo novels are longer than 50,000 words; so I make it my goal to write 50,000 words but not necessarily finish the novel. This year, with “Sleepwalker”, I have big plans. It’s the first time I’ve really delved into the psychological thriller aspect of horror, and I’m expecting it to be around 100,000 words of non-stop action, horror, confusion, mystery, and enough thrills to keep that adrenaline pumping so you can’t fall asleep!

What are you watching?
I hardly have time to watch TV, but South Park is a favorite, interviews with Russell Brand are a must, and American Horror Story is my favorite show because it offers so much inspiration for what I write. The Walking Dead is also fun as well, but not always smart.

What are you listening to?
A plethora of bands and genres. Among my favorite are 80s hair bands like Bon Jovi and Poison. I love alternative like 3 Doors Down, Daughtry, and Nickelback. My favorite musician is Tony Poole, his music is pure and comes straight from the heart. He’s also a great family friend, and all-around good person.
You should check out Richard Thompson, Nick Drake, and Elliott Smith.
Awesome! Thanks, I love music recommendations!

What are you reading?
Never just one thing, I always have several novels going at once. I’ll read anything and everything I can get my hands on. Most recently I finished/reviewed “The Road to Hell is Paved with Zombies: Zombie Fighter Jango Book 1” it’s a very refreshing novel. The writer’s voice is prominent and unique, the plot-line is gripping; I simply couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.
I look forward to reading Cedric Nye’s books after I finish writing mine. Plus I’m already about ten books behind in my review queue. Not to mention that keeping current on this interview blog is a huge distraction. A pleasant distraction, but I could be punching keys for my own project instead of helping people to promote theirs but I don’t mind. It’s funny that you posting that link on my wall led to both his interview and this one. Sorry about that. I’m kind of cagey about people posting stuff on my wall, but I don’t want to make it off limits because my IRL friends like to tag me in stuff, but I like to pick what I want to promote and from whom, rather than people promoting their stuff on my wall. I know it’s silly, but I guess I can be silly sometimes.
I completely understand. I wouldn’t want anything promoted on my wall that I didn’t know what it was. I guess I just viewed books a little differently because my friends often post whatever they’re reading on my wall because I devour anything and everything I can get my hands on. Plus, I trust my friends’ tastes, so I encourage it. Glad it all worked out and I’m super happy to be interviewed!

Favorite author / book?
Now this is always changing the more I read and the more I go through life. For a long time it was “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton, a very influential and timeless teen read. Then it was Jonathan Maberry’s “Rot and Ruin” series, a great zombie novel that will not only keep you interested, but make you think. Then “Molly Fyde series” by Hugh Howey. The past couple years it’s been anything by horror mastermind, Stephen King, and now I’m retreating into the world of lesser-known authors. My favorite for the past couple months is “Healing Eruption” by outstanding young author, Kelsey Day Marlett. “Healing Eruption” is a brilliant and gripping read that has something for everyone and plays on the human emotions.

Favorite band / song?
I would have to say my favorite song is “Welcome to Wherever you Are” by Bon Jovi; it suits me right now.

Desert Island Music / Movies / Books: You know the deal. Five of each.
Music:
1. “Welcome to Wherever you Are” by Bon Jovi
2. “Money Just Can’t Buy” by Tony Poole
3. “Nothin’ But I Good Time” by Poison
4. “Kryptonite” by 3 Doors Down
5. “If Today Was Your Last Day” by Nickelback
Movies:
1. “The Lost Boys”
2. “Pay it Forward”
3. “Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl”
4. A recording of Russell Brand’s stand-up routine “Messiah Complex”
5. “Rock of Ages” movie (And then I have a bunch more music, haha)
Books:
1. “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton
2. “Salems’ Lot” by Stephen King
3. “Healing Eruption” by Kelsey Day Marlett
4. “Rot & Ruin: Book 1” by Jonathan Maberry
5. “My Booky-Wook” by Russell Brand

Who would you want to meet that you haven’t met? You get three choices: Alive. Dead. Fictional.
Alive: Russell Brand
Dead: John Lennon
Fictional: Dracula

Anyone you recommend I interview that you can put me in touch with?
Kelsey Day Marlett.
Cool. Make the introductions and I’ll handle the follow-through.

Got any questions for me?
Why do you interview people?
I started the blog because I was trying to solicit interviews to talk about a post-apocalyptic zombie-epidemic novel-length book project I’m working on and was running a crowd-sourcing campaign for. I sent out a press release to a couple dozen horror-genre print and online content distributors and I never heard anything back.
I didn’t think it was fair that I didn’t even get a reply, so I made my mind up to start an interview blog where EVERYONE would be entitled to an interview.
That’s such a great idea, and super awesome of you! Good luck on your post-apocalyptic zombie-epidemic novel-length book project! Can’t wait to hear the title; it already sounds impressive! And thanks for having me here.

How do you come up with your questions?
Actually, it started as a character survey for characters-level contributors to my crowd-funding campaign. Then I customized it for a general interview survey ad tweaked it as I went along. For about a dozen interviews I included the Voight-Kampff interview questions from Blade Runner, but I got a lot of variations on the same answers so I dropped them.
http://theendoftheworldisnighbook.blogspot.com/2013/09/character-survey-for-end-of-world-is.html

Who haven’t you interviewed that you would love to?
That’s a pretty good question. Generally, I’d like to interview everyone.
More specifically, I have a sheet of yellow legal paper that I filled with a list of names of people I wanted to interview. I decided to keep that as a goal and haven’t looked at it for a while so I have no idea who’s on this list.
The problem is that a lot of established celebrities see the interview as a waste of time and only want to do video interviews.
I don’t have the time or effort to work on integrating Skype or video interview into the blog. As I’ve said, I already spend too much time on this working on trying to help people to promote their own work instead of working on my own work, but I’m going to keep it up until it dies down or people start asking me for interviews.
I’ve already got about a hundred interview requests out and pending and I’m not going to chase anyone about finishing their interviews anymore.
One question I wish I had the nerve to ask from one person before they passed was the time I met Tura Satana.
I wanted to ask her what it was like making out with Elvis, but I was scared she’d beat me with her cane.
How do you decide who to interview?
I mostly ask artists, authors, and film-makers. People doing interesting things.
I used to go through the friends list of interviewees and add artists, authors, and film-makers but now I’ve got people adding me so I guess I’ve finally managed to establish myself for whatever reason. I wish more people would ask to be interviewed instead of waiting for me to ask them. Don’t be so shy! I’ll interview anyone. Just ask!

Do you ever get any feedback on your interviews?
Nope.
Maybe three-to-five “Likes” on Facebook after I Share the interview on the wall of the interviewee. The blog has EXACTLY 3,000 documented page views and only, maybe two comments.
But I have met some interesting people and made some new and talented friends and acquaintances so it’s been somewhat rewarding, but I wish I didn’t have to promote the blog. I think it’s great and it should really have a lot more page views, but I’m not going to put any money into promoting it. All I’ll do is use the Admin panel to send invites to all of my imaginary friends on Facebook and if they don’t like the page for the blog, then fuck ‘em. It’s one of the few things I’m using Facebook to promote. That’s what social networking is for me. A way to keep in touch with people I know and don’t see that often because they live far away and a way to promote the projects I’m working on.
If I’m not interacting with a person and they’re not in my News Feed and I’m not in theirs, then there’s no point in us being imaginary friends and I drop and block them so I don’t have to deal with them in the future or hear any static about dropping them.

Thanks for letting me subject you to being interviewed!
Thank you for interviewing me. You asked great questions, and I’m really excited about getting this out there for the world!

Pitch parade:
Give me all of your links for things you want to promote.   All of them.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KyaAlianaBooks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kyaaliana
Website: http://www.kyaaliana.com/
Blog: http://www.kyaaliana.com/#!blog/cxxh
Etc.: http://figment.com/users/298741-Kya-Aliana

About the Interviewee:
Kya Aliana carefully contrives her craft, morphing the characters and plot into a twisted web full of intoxicating suspense. Her wickedly insightful characters, combined with a plot full of twists and turns of all extremes, offer the perfect scenario for chills, as she steadily masters the several dark layers of horror. Her books offer an intelligent, refreshing, and clever thrill-ride for all readers.

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 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