5,000 PAGEVIEWS!!!

I wanted to take a screenshot at 5K, but I was out at dinner with my parents, so I guess 5,002 will have to do.
Three months, 81 interviews posted, 5,002 page views and two interview collections published.
It's been a wild ride, and this is just the beginning.
For 2014 I plan on keeping up the same rate of interviewing and put out some more themed interview collections.
I'd like to thank all of the interviewees for letting me subject them to being interviewed and especially those that followed through and actually finished their interviews so I could post them to the blog.
Enjoy tonight so well that you curse the first light of day!

Interview with R. J. Kennett.

Full Name:
Richard Joseph Kennett (writing as RJ Kennett)

Do you have a nickname or what do your friends call you?
I’ve had many nicknames, some not-so-flattering but even they tended to be appropriate.  These days, certain folks call me Elbert, after a character I played in a MMORPG where they met me.  At my day job they sometimes call me James, because they keep getting me confused with my co-worker James, who looks nothing like me – they just don’t think I look like a Richard.  But that’s not a true nickname, just a repeating screw up.
Which MMORPG were you playing?
I get “Steve” a lot.  People get the “S” at the front of my name but the rest slips off their brains.  I don’t mind that much most of the time.  You can call me Steve, as long as you spell my name right when writing me a check you can call me whatever you want.
I hear that!  The MMORPG was Urban Dead (http://www.urbandead.com), which is still active, if barely.  I haven’t been on in a while, but could still pop on from time to time as one of my two characters.  Elbert Gray is my survivor character.  There’s no coincidence that in my book, the head of Central Outbreak Response has the last name of Gray.  And my zombie character is Wolfgang Puck, because who wouldn’t want a chef zombie serving up brains?
Interesting.  I clicked through and checked it out.  It seems a bit too text of an MMORPG for me to get into.  But I loved that when I clicked the “screenshot” off of the main page it said, “Someday has spraypainted the end is extremely nigh onto a wall.” because the work-in-progress title for the post-apocalyptic zombie-epidemic book project I’m working on is “The End Of The World Is Nigh”.  I’m not put off by the coincidence, you know what they say, “Great minds…” and all that.  If anything I’m encouraged because I seem to be shooting pretty near center mass if these coincidences keep popping up.
Yeah, it’s all text, but that was part of its charm when I was playing.  There aren’t as many people on now, but there was a time it was loaded, and lots of fun.

Birthplace:
Houston, TX.

Current hometown:
Houston, TX.

Favorite city and why?
Castle Rock, CO.  I lived in Denver for 12 years, Castle Rock for only one, but I love the small town charm, the scenery and the convenience being an outlying town from Denver.
Plus it’s named “Castle Rock” so it made reading Stephen King books while you were living there that much cooler.
King lived in Colorado for a time, and he got the name Castle Rock from the town.  At least I choose to believe that, because it makes having lived there cooler still.
I won’t be the one to disillusion you.
You are a considerate man.

Birthday / Age:
Christmas Day, 1968.  That makes me… holy crap, time flies.
It does, doesn’t it?

How would you describe yourself physically?
A physical specimen, a man among men.  Tall, barrel-chested.  Ruggedly handsome with a jaw like an anvil.

How would someone else describe you physically?
The barrel chest is still there, just a little lower.  I blame gravity.  And I’m a little taller than average.  Handsome, but not overwhelming.

The first thing people notice about you is…
My smile.  It pisses me off when people say I have a nice smile and should smile more, because most of the time I think I’m grinning like an idiot.

Religion, if any?
Presbyterian.
What does “Presbyterian” mean?
It’s one of the many brands of Protestant Christianity, heavily favored among those of Scottish descent.  Like Baptist or Methodist, but completely not.  Presbyterianism is better because it’s tougher to spell.

Are you superstitious at all? Any phobias?
I find some superstitions to be fun, if pointless.  Others are just pointless.  I don’t have any phobias, but I have a loathing of slugs and snails that borders on it.  It’s not fear; they’re just freaking disgusting.
I had a basement apartment in Long Island.  It was a nice little place with a private entrance and a little patch of yard with a rose bush in it.  The only downfall was that the place was plagued with slugs in the summertime for whatever reason.  Ever stepped on a slug on a cool tile floor in your bare feet?  I have, and I can’t recommend the experience.
Thank you for sharing that. I didn’t want my lunch today anyway.
Just trying to help with your “barrel chest”.

Do you smoke/drink? If so, what? Any bad habits?
I smoked for 22 years, but have been smoke free since August 2010.  I drink a little now and then, mostly beer or wine.  Despite eyewitnesses to the contrary, I never drank THAT much.  Well, maybe in college.  And a two-week bender in Lubbock, but my friends probably don’t remember much of it either.
I always wanted to have a bender.  I’ve never been that much of a drinker.  When I start to get dizzy with the spins I usually yark up whatever’s still sitting in my stomach and try to find a bathtub to spend the rest of the night in with the shower running so I don’t pass out and die.
Never tried that. You’re ostensibly alive, so I guess it worked.
It’s actually pretty nice.  Plus if your body is trying to push out the poison from both ends of your digestive system at the same time it doesn’t hurt to hang out in a bathtub with the shower running until the worst of it has passed.

Current occupation / Dream job:
Currently in retail.  It’s not shitty retail, but that’s a matter of degree.  Dream job?  Not retail.  Preferably writing novels full-time.  I’ve had stints as a political consultant, web programmer and one-man marketing department, though, so I have a broad background.
Has your experience in marketing helped with your book sales?
I think so. I’d hate to see where they’d be without it.  But marketing strategies can change with the times, and proper planning is completely at odds with the desire as a writer, to get my book out quickly.
I totally agree.  I self-published three books last month and coordinating the promotion of all three has been a real challenge.  I try to keep my promotions to one, per day, per group, so people don’t get sick of my shit, but my real-life friends must be experiencing a bit of promotional fatigue.  That’s the price of admission when you participate in social media.  If you’re not going to be a receptive audience for my promotional campaigns for whatever creative endeavor I’m embarking upon then I don’t know why we’re imaginary friends.

What do you like to do when you’re not at work?
I like to read and listen to music.  I’m not big on television, except for a few shows (The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones) and football games, whether college or pro. Thankfully, football season is drawing to a close and I’ll be able to spend more time writing, which is what I’m supposed to be doing.
That’s the tough part about writing.  There’s usually no one pushing you to do it.  Either you really want to write, and you write, or you don’t, and just waste time talking about how you should be writing.
Damn I feel guilty. Thanks.
Well, get back to writing then!
Nah. Still procrastinating, I just feel guilty about it.

What is your zombie outbreak survival plan?
Take notes and write the most realistic zombie outbreak story.  In Zamgrh (which I’m pretty sure is the official language of zombies.  And you can Google it!)  And sell it to the zombies.
Interesting answer.
I’m not sure that in the event of the zombie apocalypse money’s going to do anyone any good, but if I’m wrong and you want to translate my books into Zamgrh in exchange for a cut of the royalties let me know.
A zombocalypse would radically alter the target market, wouldn’t it?
Yes.  But I think bullets are going to be a lot more valuable than paper money in the event of a “zombocalypse”.  So if we plan ahead and stock up on ammo we can be ammunition tycoons!

Weapon of choice:
The pen is mightier than the katana, but I’d hang onto a good machete as backup.

Do you have any special skills?
I can probably still do a good imitation of calligraphy.  And I’m not too shabby a photographer.

Did you go to college and, if so, what for?
Yep.  Best decade of my life, or damn near it.  Went for fun, and somewhere in there managed a degree in public relations from the University of Oklahoma.  Of course, I also attended the University of Houston, Texas Tech University, and Houston Community College at varying times – hence the almost 10-year plan.  Transfers lose credits!
They totally do.  I never thought that was fair.  Halfway through my five years pursuing a degree in psychology they changed the Gen Ed requirements.  Which meant I took two history and two English literature classes for no reason aside from whatever negligible enrichment that participating in the courses might have bestowed upon me.  I didn’t mind the English lit classes, but I could have passed on the history classes.  I’m perfectly fine with repeating history instead of learning from it.  Especially if you’re going to try to cram two-thousand years of history into one semester.  Just remember, when in doubt, answer “Treaty of Paris”.

If you went to college, did you manage to pay off your student loans?
I never took a student loan.  Mostly my parents paid out-of-pocket, or I worked for my tuition.  They didn’t really agree with my 10-year plan.  I can’t imagine why!

Any pets?   If so, what are they and what are their names?
I have a dog named Shadow, who I think is a cross between a Lhasa Apso and a Poodle.

What is your favorite animal?
Dogs.  Kind of dumb, but loaded with personality and completely loyal.  Until someone else hands them a treat.

Speaking of pets, any pet peeves?
Fingers (especially with nails) drumming on any surface.  I fantasize about breaking people’s fingers when they do that near me.
You should someday just to get it out of your system.  Just lean over and swat their hand like a hand-sized spider.  When they say, “Ow!  What was that for?” just give them a heavy stare and say, “You KNOW what that was for!” and get the fuck out of there before someone calls the cops.

Favorite / Least favorite Food:
Fajitas are my favorite!  Least favorite is anything with coconut.  Blech.

What is your favorite quotation / motto / saying?
“Might does not make right; might makes right irrelevant.” – Me.
It’s my favorite because it’s true.

What is the best thing that ever happened to you?
The realization that God is real, and does in fact care about us.  After a number of years as an atheist, that was very liberating for me.
Alright, that’s an interesting answer to me, because I am a practicing antitheist.
How do you rationalize the existence of a God in consideration of the fact that the universe is larger than anyone could ever conceivable wrap their mind around and we’re not even anywhere near the middle of it.  Why would “God” create all this space just so that our species on our planet could exist?  Isn’t that like creating the entire planet earth for the benefit of a single grain of sand?
Why would you assume that God only created humans?
I don’t.  I don’t assume God created anything.
I also don’t assume that Santa Claus delivers Christmas gifts to all good boys and girls and that the Easter Bunny drops off plastic baskets full of candy because I don’t believe in God, Santa Claus, or The Easter Bunny.
I just thought that was the typical doctrine that Christians adhere to from what I remember from being raised in a Christian belief system.
Kind of an “everything everywhere was made for us” and that God buried dinosaur bones to tempt people into atheism so that they will spend eternity in hell because he loves us.  Am I wrong?
Yes.  Your understanding of Christian beliefs is off-base and cherry picked to support your worldview. Unless you update your understanding beyond such a simplistic version, it is pointless to debate the issue. I’m not here to save you or anyone; only Jesus can do that.  Some people don’t want to be saved.  Some aren’t meant to be saved.  But the way I see it, is that there is something rather than nothing.  If I see a painting, I know there’s a painter.  Others see a painting (the universe), and think it farted itself into existence because some smart people tell them it did.  WHO FARTED? The Bible is like the picture on a jigsaw puzzle box.  One can believe blindly that the picture is representative of what the puzzle will look like.  There are a lot of those people, and they can be irritating.  Another person will put together some pieces of the puzzle, realize it matches the picture on the box, then take the rest on faith.  That’s where I am.  Atheists look at the box and believe that it doesn’t match the puzzle because they haven’t put together any pieces.  And you can tell me what Antitheists think of it.  I suspect that it’s that there isn’t a puzzle, but I wouldn’t want to put words in your mouth.
I’m not sure I understand the question.  Was that a question?  But I am able to agree to disagree.  Religion and politics are excellent ways to ruin acquaintances.  I just like to bandy metaphysics with Christians every now and then.  It’s a hobby of mine.

What is the worst thing that ever happened to you?
When my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.  He was a brilliant man, and then I watched over the next decade as his mind was slowly erased and broken.

Ever had your heart broken? Is there a story worth telling behind your answer?
Of course.  Hasn’t everyone?  There’s no story I would care to share.

Ever broken someone’s heart? Is there a story worth telling behind your answer?
A few.  Again, I wouldn’t share those stories.

What is the best thing you’ve ever done?
I don’t know.  It’s probably something I’m not even aware of.  I know several people who my friendship led to making radical changes in their lives; choices they otherwise may not have made, or not making choices they would have.  I’m sure I’ve saved a few lives.

What is the worst thing you’ve ever done?
Sheesh, there’s a few.  Life is full of regrets; we live, learn and grow.  I’ll take the comedic route and say that downing a bottle of champagne at age 16 was pretty bad.  I got so sick that to this day, I can’t enjoy a glass of champagne.  I don’t even remember the fun I must have had that night.
I killed a bottle of champagne by myself one night in Austin after driving there from New York to sell t-shirts at a horror convention.  We had great table placement, and decent merchandise, but the convention was poorly attended and we only made, like, $2K which pretty much made the trip a loss after you factored in vehicle rental, fuel costs, accommodations, table fees and cost of merchandise.  So what was supposed to be a celebratory bottle of champagne was instead used to try to drown my sorrows.  I remember the entire night, and had a great time, but then again I was around 30 years old, so I probably had a much better tolerance for alcohol than you did at sixteen.

If you could kill one person, consequence free, who would it be and why?
No one.  While I think there are people that deserve to die, it’s not my place.  I believe that God gave us life, and only God has the right to take it away; not the state or any person.

What do you do?
I eat.  I sleep.  I write.  I stumble into my retail job and frighten my co-workers by revealing glimpses of the monster in their midst.  They had no idea what a creative mind can dream up to do with an apple corer.  Now they know I’m a little bit twisted, so it’s lost some of the shock appeal, but I can still send them away shaking their heads, saying “he looked so innocent and normal at first….”
I used to have a room-mate that was pretty creepy.  He was just weird, like an alien hiding in a human form, trying to practice acting like a human being, and not doing a very good job of it.  The running joke was that if we ever found out he was a serial killer, and we were being interviewed by the news, instead of the usual, “I never had any idea that he was that kind of person.  He was such a nice guy!” me and his other room-mate would be like, “Oh, no, we TOTALLY figured that he was probably a mass-murderer in waiting.  We always wondered what was up with his collection of children’s shoes.” The person in question didn’t think it was very funny.  But at least we didn’t make fun of him behind his back, and that’s what he gets for being so awkward and weird.

How did you get started doing what you do?
Oh, man.  I’m off on a tangent.  I’d rewrite the paragraph above, but I kind of like it.  I’ve always wanted to be an author, but lacked faith in the traditional publishing industry – it seemed to have more to do with luck than either skill or perseverance.  But when I saw a family member buying e-books for her Kindle, I suddenly realized that the self-publishing phenomenon was real, and powerful.  So I looked into it, and the next thing I knew, I had a book written and selling!
What do you do to keep your books selling?
Paid advertisements in a few proven venues, actively pursuing reviews on different websites and blogs.  I also drop in on horror-focused Facebook groups every few days; it doesn’t push many sales, but I’d like to think it helps with the repetition factor – when people are ready to buy, they have seen my name and my book cover before.
Thanks for the advice!

What is your advice to other people that want to get started doing what you do? Respect your reader; respect your craft.  Write like it matters, because it does.  Fiction provides people an escape from sometimes dreary circumstances.  Your work has value; it matters.  Make it the best it can be.  Then try to make it better.

What are some of the projects you’ve worked on/finished in the past? Give us a little history if you will.
I’m still new to the scene, but I’ve written a short story called “Personal Hell” which has won a flash fiction contest a placed second in another.  It will be appearing in an upcoming charity anthology.  My biggest project was the first of my trilogy, “Central Outbreak Response: Genesis – a Tale of the Zombie Apocalypse”.
Why zombies?  Why not vampires or werewolves or serial killers?
Zombies are popular now, so it was purely a marketing decision.  I want to write a novel in each of the “traditional” horror subgenres, so I’ll be getting to werewolves, vampires and serial killers eventually, with my own creative spin and unique voice.  I also have concepts for horror novels that I think are unique, and will be pursuing them as well.  I’m also interested in crossing into other genres, like science fiction, fantasy and historical fiction.
Well, keep on writing and eventually you’ll have all of the bases covered.  Let me know when you write a Creature From The Black Lagoon book.  I think that’s a monster that has been pretty well neglected if we’re talking Universal Monsters and I’d like to see more of them getting written.

What projects are you working on now?
The second in my COR trilogy; “Central Outbreak Response: Exodus”.  Then I’ll be finishing it with “COR: Revelations”, followed by an addendum “COR: Tangents”, which will be a collection of short stories in the COR universe, following minor characters introduced in the trilogy, showing what happens to them before or after they encounter my protagonists.  After that, there are two more, non-zombie horror novels waiting in the wings.  If I can just sell enough to quit my day job, I’m sure I can make rapid progress on all of these projects and really break out.
Isn’t that the trick of the game though?  My job scaled me back to sixteen hours a week so I filed for partial unemployment this morning.  Hopefully I can take out some of what I paid in and make ends meet until this whole writing thing takes off and then I can tell my employer that I will no longer be needing their sixteen hours a week.  Although I might just hold onto those two shifts so I’ve got some sort of taxable income fattening the coffers of the state so they don’t come sniffing around my writing income until I can afford to pay taxes on it.

What are you watching?
The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones and American football, whether NFL or NCAA.

What are you listening to?
I love most types of music, but have a special affinity for classical, particularly Dvorak and Mendelssohn.  I also dig on Linkin Park, Three Days Grace, Johnny Cash, The Ink Spots, Otis Redding… a fairly eclectic mix.  As a general rule, I never got into rap post-Run DMC, although there are some exceptions that I like.  Just don’t hit me with anything Scat.  Not even from the great Satchmo.

What are you reading?
At the moment, I’m reading “Rotten Legend” by Sylvan Kills, a fellow indie author who’s become a friend through Facebook.  It’s been slow going because it’s the holiday season and I’m in retail, so I just want to be brain-dead after work.
Weird.  He said that he’s reading your book.  Do you two have some kind of cross-promotional pact?
I stumbled across his book while it was on a free run, and promoted it on my website.  I do that for other authors sometimes, not as a quid pro quo, but because I feel like it.  He stumbled across it, I guess in an ego search on Google, and reached out to me.  We’ve become Facebook friends and are reading each other’s books.  I’ll promote other authors, but I won’t review their work as I think review swapping is unethical – they may or may not review mine, at their own discretion.  I’ve met a number of other authors by online contact as well; they’re generally a supportive bunch.
That’s excellent!  I also don’t do quid pro quo.  If someone likes my work, excellent!  If I like theirs, even better!  The only quid pro quo that I ask of my interviewees is that they post and promote the interview once it’s finished and posted.  I get a fair amount of views on the blog organically, but I get more views if the interviewee promotes their interviews and it’s a small reward to watch the page views accumulate.  The other small reward is the networking I’ve been able to accomplish through the interview blog.  I found a pretty solid illustrator that’s been providing illustrations for the chapters of my post-apocalyptic zombie-epidemic book project as I finish them.  And I recently met a book cover designer that will be designing the cover for my next book through Facebook.  So it’s been a pretty beneficial endeavor for everyone involved.

Favorite author / book?
I really like H.P. Lovecraft.  He can be verbose at times, but paints a great mental image with his work.  But for favorite book, I’d have to go with “Starship Troopers” by Robert A. Heinlein.  Forget the film; the book has so much more to it, especially for a person like myself, molded in politics.
I used to work as a third-shift security officer at the cemetery that H. P. Lovecraft is buried in.  It was kind of nice to be able to visit his grave site each hour as I did my rounds.  I also brought in a newsprint pad and did a pad full of grave-rubbings and sold them on Etsy to people that didn’t have the opportunity to come out and visit the grave site.

Favorite band / song?
Dire Straits, “Sultans of Swing”.

Least favorite band / song?
Tom Jones, “What’s New Pussycat”.  The only way I can listen to that song is to imagine the torture scene from “Reservoir Dogs” with Tom Jones strapped to the chair instead of the cop.  I could lop off an ear or two of his while listening to this song.  Yeah, it’s a pretty severe hatred I have for that song.  I’m sure it’s not healthy.

If you could do anything other than what you do now, what would you do?
Well, since what I do now is retail.  I’d choose writing novels as a career, and I’m working towards that goal.  But something other than writing?  Anything?  Master of the Universe has a nice ring to it.
It does, doesn’t it?

Who would you want to meet that you haven’t met?
You get three choices: Alive. Dead. Fictional.
Alive: Jeff Bezos.  I’m sure I could get him to give my book some extra exposure!
Dead: Sam Houston.  He was a colorful character in both Texas and Tennessee histories, and he’s an ancestor.  I’d like to get clarification on some family history and let him know he did okay.
Fictional: Scotty, from Star Trek!  He’d just be fun to hang out with.

What’s the best and worst job you’ve ever had?
Best: Marketing/IT Manager for a construction products company.  The money was good, I had a lot of latitude and the people I worked with were great.
Worst: Call center operator.  The money wasn’t all that bad, but the work was.  I think everyone should do it so they know just how deep in the Suck they can be, and there are even worse jobs out there.

Are there any questions that I didn’t ask that you wished I had asked that you would like to answer now?
Oreos: whole or disintegrated in milk?
Disintegrated, thank you, although I lack patience when it comes to Oreos.
(I was asked this in an interview once… my favorite question!)

Anyone you recommend I interview that you can put me in touch with?
Armand Rosamilia.  I don’t really know him, but I can get you in touch with him, and he gives a hilarious interview.  Also Mark Tufo, Joe McKinney, Phillip Tomasso III, Sylvan Kills, and perhaps Shay Festa, a.k.a. The Bookie Monster, who primarily reviews zombie novels.  Actually, she’d probably write a kickass intro if you needed it.
Actually, I already have an interview posted with Armand Rosamilia.
But you are right, he does give a pretty kick-ass interview.
http://youareentitledtomyopinioninterviews.blogspot.com/2013/11/interview-with-armand-rosamilia.html
I’ve got an interview in process with Sylvan Kills, and waiting on the answers to the First Round Survey from Phillip Tomasso III, but I only have so much patience for reminding people to get around to completing it, so if he doesn’t get around to getting it back to me by the time I’m ready to put out the interview collection, he can wait until the next collection.  You wouldn’t think it would be tough to get someone to follow through on an interview in exchange for the free promotion for their work, but it’s surprisingly difficult sometimes and I don’t have the patience to chase anyone about their interviews.
I’ll send invites to the other folks you recommended if I haven’t already.
Thanks for the recommendations!
You might also try Rachel Aukes and Sarah Lyons Fleming, if they’re not already on your to-do list.  Strong new voices in the genre; their sales put mine to shame.

Got any questions for me?
What gave you the idea to write a book like this?  It’s brilliant!  Interviewing authors gets them exposure, you organize and sell the books, they’ll use their networks to help sell it… genius!
Alright, are you comfortable?  Have a full glass or mug of the beverage of your choice?  Maybe a light snack?  No?  Then go get one.  How about now?  Yes?  Then here we go!  I started the interview blog because I was trying to get coverage for the crowd-funding campaign for my post-apocalyptic zombie-epidemic book project I was working on.  I sent a press release / request for interview to Fangoria Magazine, Rue Morgue Magazine, HorrorHound Magazine, Famous Monsters Magazine, Ultra Violent, Girls & Corpses, Dread Central, Bloody Disgusting, Horror.com , Fear Net, Shock Till You Drop, Horror Society, Horror Happy Hour, Horror Etc., The Providence Journal, The Providence Phoenix, Motif Magazine, Providence Monthly, and The Valley Breeze.  The only one to follow through was Motif Magazine and that was mostly because I had a friend that was a staff writer that put in a good word for me.  Coincidentally, that interview earned me a $100 contributor, so I can only imagine what might have happened if I had been able to receive better coverage for the campaign.  I thought that it was unfair that I wasn’t able to get any kind of coverage without purchasing advertising space so I decided to start interviewing my Facebook friends that were artists, authors, musicians and film-makers to give them something to use to help them promote their work and upcoming projects.  I started the blog on October 1st, and as of today, December 28th, I’ve completed almost 80 interviews and the page has received almost 5,000 registered page views which isn’t bad.  Actually it’s quite good, considering it’s something that I’m doing by myself to help other people promote themselves.  I was trying to think of a way to monetize the site without having to resort to running advertisements, which I’m not even sure if you’re able to do on Blogspot.  I decided to put out collections of interviews in print-on-demand / e-book format of each twenty-five interviews as I finished each twenty-five.  But not all of the interviews came out good enough that I’d want to put them into a collection for sale.  I put out a “Best Of” as the first volume collecting what were, in my opinion, the best interviews from the first 50 or so interviews.  I noticed that a theme was emerging.  I had been interviewing a lot of artists, because when you interview one artist and they post the interview, and you check out their friends lists on Facebook, you end up interviewing a lot of other artists, so the second volume of collected interviews is “artist” themed.  I noticed that there was another trend of interviews with authors working in the zombie genre so I decided to work towards putting out a collection of those interviews.  When I put them all together, I noticed I only had around six interviews, and I wanted to have between twenty and thirty interviews, so I cruised the zombie groups on Facebook looking for zombie authors to interview.  The list of authors in the Zombie Book Of The Month Club was really helpful as it contained the names of a lot of authors actively looking to promote their books, and each author usually promoted other authors so I’ve got around 30 interviews in various states of completion and I’m shooting for the end of January to put out the collection.  My intention is not to profit from the interviewees and I’ll be sending every interviewee a free PDF copy of the book, and what do with the book is none of my concern.  I’d kind of appreciate it if they kept it to themselves, but if they decide to share it with their friends, family and fans there’s nothing I can do about that.  Either way, at least they’ll be reading the book.  It’s true that if you interview someone, you get their fanbase for free and I’m not oblivious to that.  The blog is called “You Are Entitled To MY Opinion” after all.  If an interviewee isn’t quick on their feet and able to keep up their end of the interview I’m going to treat them as a hostile interviewee.  I can’t make anyone be interesting, but hopefully they know how to be interesting on their own.
Well, your hard work is appreciated!
I appreciate your appreciation!

Thanks for letting me subject you to being interviewed!

Pitch parade:
Give me all of your links for things you want to promote.   All of them.
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/richard.j.kennett
https://www.facebook.com/pages/RJ-Kennett-Author/445569188882601
https://www.facebook.com/Central.Outbreak.Response
Twitter: @rj_kennett
Website: http://www.rjkennett.com
Blog: (at rjkennett.com, above)
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7276112.R_J_Kennett
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/RJ-Kennett/e/B00E20TTHY
Amazon “Central Outbreak Response: Genesis” page:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E09HY5Q/

About the Interviewee:
RJ Kennett is originally from Houston, Texas. He has lived in Virginia, Oklahoma and Colorado at varying times, but is currently back in his home state of Texas. He is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma in Norman.
In previous lives, he has been a political consultant, a one-man marketing department and a web programmer. He is presently slaving away in retail while writing, with dreams of writing full-time.

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

Interview with Jay Wilburn.

Full Name:
Donald Jay Wilburn

Do you have a nickname or what do your friends call you?
Jay … In college, my friends called me Room Dog, but I don’t know why exactly.
That is a bit odd.
College Friend: “What’s up “Room Dog”?”
Jay: “I’m sorry… what?  Were you speaking to me?”
College Friend: “Yeah!  Room Dog!  WOO!”
Yes, I believe it was generic term for “roommate” at that time.  I was roommates with a much maligned student they called The Possum.  So, I think I went from being “Possum’s roomdog” to just being Room Dog after he dropped out.  I’m sure that clears this whole thing up for you.
Strangely enough, it does.  At least you weren’t “The Possum”.

Birthplace:
Winterhaven, Florida

Current hometown:
Conway, South Carolina

Favorite city and why?
Conway, of course, it is the strangest town on Earth.  Old South, swamp, farmland, tourist town, beach, retirement town, and more.
Yes, but is it haunted?
All small, Southern towns are haunted both literally and figuratively.  My writing career is partially built of this truthiness.

Birthday / Age:
39, but if you are as young as you feel, I am 70.
I never sleep, so I think that I get to add a .5 modifier to my age… which would make me 57.
Statistically, people who sleep less actually live longer, but I figure the last years are the bad ones anyway, so I’m trying to shave a few of those off.
Ye gods, I hope those statistics are wrong, because with how little and infrequently I sleep I’m going to live forever.  And I’m only 38 and already looking forward to death so it’s going to be a long haul.  At least I’ll hopefully be able to get all of the writing that I want to get written.

How would you describe yourself physically?
Old and tired.

How would someone else describe you physically?
Scary, but strangely sexy.

The first thing people notice about you is…
My crazy beard.

Sexual orientation?
Heterosexual … why?  What have you heard?
Nothing… why?  *looks down at his feet and then up at the ceiling and walks off whistling*

Religion, if any?
Southern Baptist … I’m also a Libertarian politically, so I tend to even piss off people who agree with me too.
Like Dave Chappelle’s Black Klansman skit?
Not quite that bad.

It usually goes like this:
Church friend: What do you mean you don’t oppose gay marriage?
Me: I don’t care what gay people do.
Church friend: But the Bible says it is a sin.
Me: Right, but just because you or I believe something is a sin doesn’t mean it should be illegal for others or that we have to use force of law to impose our interpretation on others.
Church friend: But society is falling apart … like Rome.
Me: I’m pretty sure Rome fell because of the over-extended imperialism, the weight of slavery on the economy, the unsustainable spending and tax system, the corrupt political system, and the barbarian incursion into the Roman army … not because there were gay people.
Church friend: You are part of the problem!  You are putting future generations in danger.
Me: Yes, I am clearly out of my mind.
Or like this:
Liberal friend: How could you be against gun control?  Babies have died.
Me: The Second Amendment is a valuable litmus test to see when the government is encroaching on freedom.   Also, police only come after a crime has started and usually get there after it is finished.
Liberal friend: It was written in the time of muskets.
Me: Freedom of the Press was written in the time of the printing press.  I still want that too.
Liberal friend: No one dies from freedom of the press.
Me: Well, people that want to take it don’t always agree.
Liberal friend: You feel you need a gun to be safe.  They kill people.
Me: I don’t own a gun.  I don’t want it around my family.
Liberal friend: That’s what I’m saying!!!
Me: Right, but I don’t make that choice for others.  I don’t drink, but I’m against prohibition.  I don’t use drugs, but I’m in favor of legalization.  I don’t smoke, but I oppose making it illegal in bars.
Liberal friend: Second hand smoke is as dangerous to kids as guns!!!  Someone has to make reasonable choices to keep society safe.
Me: Who gets to make the reasonable choice?  I’m clearly too emotional about this to make a reasoned decision.
Both ends of the political spectrum are concerned about my impact on babies.
I say, fuck babies.  I don’t mean have sexual intercourse with them.  I mean I was allowed to have dangerous fun when I was a kid.  We had non-child-proof lighters and I climbed trees and fell out of them and rode around on skateboards and bikes without every wearing a helmet.  People were much less aware about the effects of second-hand smoke so adults would drive around with me in their cars smoking with the windows closed neither of us wearing seatbelts.  I think I turned out okay.
One of the worst things to happen to me was when they outlawed smoking in bars.  It really effected my drinking.  There’s nothing better than taking a drag of a cigarette, and then washing it down with a chug of beer.  Now I drink a lot less, so it’s affecting the local economy.  A bar is where adults go to participate in bad behavior and make bad decisions.  The government has no right to legislate the irresponsible behavior of adults.  Keep the schools open and the roads in decent condition, but other than that, leave us the fuck alone to do as we please.  If I want to drive at eighty miles an hour down an empty highway shooting a firearm into the night sky, with Billy Idol’s Rebel Yell blaring out of the windows, it should be my right to do so.  Would that be crazy?  Yeah, kind of.  But it shouldn’t be illegal.

Are you superstitious at all?  Any phobias?
I believe in God and I think he is out to get me.
That’s the worst!  Because it’s not like you can hide.  If you believe in omnipotence and omnipresence as qualities of the Judeo-Christian archetypical deity he’s everywhere at once.  Which is weird to me.  Because I don’t want God watching me poop.  And  watching me shower.  Actually I kind of wish he’d mind his own fucking business.  Plus if he didn’t want us masturbating, why did he make our arms just long enough for us to reach our genitals?  Why not give us stubby little T-rex arms?  Why?
If someone is going to watch me poop, I’d rather it be God.
You should put a piece of electrical tape over the lens of your laptop’s webcam when you’re surfing on the toilet then.

Do you smoke / drink? If so, what? Any bad habits?
Never once in my life.  I don’t know … greed, malice, gluttony … Internet porn.
I’m not proud of my affinity for internet porn either.  But people in my neighborhood weren’t really keen on my looking in their windows and trying to watch them have sex.
Everybody has a vice.  The key is to pick one that let’s you still wander the Earth freely and buy candy when you want it.  Things like drugs or golf are far too expensive and destroy your family relationships.
Well said!

Current occupation / Dream job:
Full-time writer … I will have to turn to a life of crime soon, if sales don’t pick up.
At what point did you decide that you could write as your primary source of income?  Was it a certain number of books or a certain monthly royalty amount or both?
My son was sick and having seizures that were life threatening at one point.  My wife and I used up all our sick days and savings on medical stuff.  I resigned teaching so I could pull out my retirement to pay medical bills and then I stayed home with him to see him through.
So, I did it backwards.  I jumped off the bridge and then looked for a place to land.  Once I was home, we didn’t have to pay for daycare or afterschool care, so our need decreased.  I’ve made it work for almost a year now.  I’ll need to pull down a little more or it will be a life of crime in a few months, but I’ve been heading that direction for a long time, I think.
Well, I hope this interview and the published print-on-demand/e-book collection of zombie-genre authors helps to push your sales a bit.  I can’t promise anything, but all promotion is good promotion… unless you’re spamming cut and post promos in Facebook groups.  Then you’re just a dick and abusing your right to participate in social networking.

What do you like to do when you’re not at work?
I take care of my kids.
I imagine you saying it like this.
http://youtu.be/B0B_ekSrsEk
Right.  Right.  I’m not looking for credit.  Just stating a fact.  If writing is my job, then that’s what I do when my son pulls on my arm, I look up from the laptop, see that he is without pants and asking for food. “Not now, son. Zombie erotica does not write itself. Go play with the paper towel roll I gave this morning … yesterday morning?”
I think pants are over-rated anyway.

Weapon of choice:
I’m learning a shoot a bow and arrow.   I’m ready if they line-up, stay still, and move slowly.
Well, depending on what kind of zombies you’re expecting, I imagine they will move slowly.  You could always build a run so that they line up.  It might just work.
Oh, I’m not doing any real work.  I’m the guy who quit my job with “write zombie stories” as my plan.  The real reason I took up archery was because I needed exercise, so I picked one with minimal movement involved.
Doesn’t that kind of defeat the purpose of picking it as your preferred form of exercise?
But … there might be zombies.  Or I might want to compete in the Olympics one day. I’m terrible at curling.  Just terrible.
Curling’s not a real sport.  It’s just shuffleboard… on ice.  Anything that geriatrics can do shouldn’t be an Olympic sport.  Bingo isn’t an Olympic sport.  Curling shouldn’t be either.

Do you have any special skills?
I can play guitar a little.
It would be a lot cuter if you played a little guitar.  Like a ukulele.
Hmm, I’m picturing it, but in my head the image is horrifying.  Do you see an audience of gnomes throwing poo and booing me?
Geez, I wish!

Did you go to college and, if so, what for?
Yes, education major.  I taught for sixteen years before escaping.

If you went to college, did you manage to pay off your student loans?
I got more when I went back for a Masters Degree.  I actually worked as a bus boy for a while after completing my Masters Degree.

Any pets?   If so, what are they and what are their names?
No… No is an alligator.
What do you feed it?
If you stop taking care of your pool, it attracts frogs and teenagers.

What is your favorite animal?
Pigs… they are delicious.
They are, aren’t they?

Speaking of pets, any pet peeves?
Offended people… I love offensive people.  Offended people annoy me.

Favorite / Least favorite Food:
Mall Chinese food … circus peanuts.

What is your favorite quotation / motto / saying?
Offensive people are more fun than offended people.

What is the best thing that ever happened to you?
Marrying someone better than me.

What is the worst thing that ever happened to you?
Being diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease.
So your kidneys hate you and generate multiple cysts?
Yes, turns out kidneys are quite important.  They regulate blood pressure, body temperature, blood chemistry, mental alertness, cellular oxygenation, the function of joints, and a hundred other things that give me trouble.  I really think the heart and everything else crammed in there is just for show.

Ever had your heart broken? Is there a story worth telling behind your answer?
I had a terrible love affair with public school that ended abruptly.  There was no saving her.

Ever broken someone’s heart? Is there a story worth telling behind your answer?
No, I always overstay my welcome and have others break up with me.
I hate it when they don’t let you know that you’re broken up.  That’s always awkward.
We have memos for everything else.

What is the best thing you’ve ever done?
I once stopped a zombie apocalypse.  My wife insists it was a dream, but I don’t see any zombies so…
On behalf of all mankind, I thank you for your selfless bravery.
It’s for the children.  We are all in this together.  Synergy.  Memes.

What is the worst thing you’ve ever done?
I think I am responsible for a number of animal extinctions through my great depth of apathy, but I can’t prove it… well, I haven’t really tried to prove it.
When we lose the polar bear I’ll tell everyone’s it’s your fault.
Oh, I’m actively working against the polar bear.  That thing has run an effective propaganda campaign making people think it is cute.  It even has corporate, holiday sponsorship!!!  I think they may hold on forever.  I’m running out of ideas.
Start using hairspray for your beard.  I hear that CFCs melt icecaps.  I say, fuck icecaps.  I always wanted to own waterfront property anyways.

If you could kill one person, consequence free, who would it be and why?
I wouldn’t.  I find terrible people fascinating.

What do you do?
I write horror and speculative fiction.

How did you get started doing what you do?
I started writing really bad (as in badly written) stories when I was young.  They were imitations of fantasy and sci fi stories I had read.  Eventually, I started writing zombies.  I entered a zombie story contest and came in third.  I won ten dollars.  That was all I needed to believe I could do this.  I work hard to maintain this delusion.

What is your advice to other people that want to get started doing what you do?
Write a lot.  Write what you love.  Submit it.  Fail.  Write it better.  Submit.  Fail.  Write something that scares you.  Submit.  Fail.  Go back to writing what you love.  Submit.  Gain minor success.  Write more.  Fail.  Repeat.

What are some of the projects you’ve worked on/finished in the past? Give us a little history if you will.
Loose Ends: A Zombie Novel… Time Eaters… The Great Interruption (currently under consideration)… a number of anthologies… a zombie story in Best Horror of the Year Volume 5 with editor Ellen Datlow.

What projects are you working on now?
Coauthoring a YA steampunk novel with Stan Swanson… Composing a semi-sequel to Time Eaters… a featured author in the documentary Dark and Bookish.
Interesting.  If you wanted to tell us a bit more about any or all of the preceding, I’m certainly not opposed to you doing so.
I’ve never written Young Adult or coauthored before. Stan has worked with me quite a while with Dark Moon Books, so it is going well.
While I was out in San Antonio for the debut of Time Eaters at the WorldCon Science Fiction convention, I indirectly pitched the sequel to the novel.  I got a green light on the book and have been working on a “Cannibals in Space” book that has built into something bigger.
The documentary will follow a few up-and-coming horror authors and document their struggles.  I plan on being extra strugglie.

What are you watching?
Dome… The Walking Dead … every movie with Danny Trejo in it.

What are you listening to?
I get on YouTube and find the most random mashups I can find.  They are my writing soundtrack.

What are you reading?
Clean Freak by Sean M. Davis… a preview copy of Dublin by Eli Wilde.

Favorite author / book?
Stephen King THE STAND.
Who’s your favorite character in The Stand?
Trashcan man.
I think Trashcan Man and The Kidd should have their own post apocalyptic novel.

Favorite band / song?
“Cornbread and Butterbeans”

Least favorite band / song?
“Christmas Shoes”

If you could do anything other than what you do now, what would you do?
Still writing, but for more money.

Who would you want to meet that you haven’t met?
You get three choices: Alive. Dead. Fictional.
Stephen King … Ben Franklin… Tom Sawyer.

What’s the best and worst job you’ve ever had?
Writer is best.  Stockboy at Wal-Mart or cook at Waffle House for worst.

Got any questions for me?
Let me think on this.
How about now?
Why do you think the “is zombie fiction over” debate seems to go on and on decade after decade?
I’ve never heard anyone say that.  The zombie, the vampire, the serial killer, the slasher, the western, the romance, the romantic comedy, the space western, the buddy cop movie, all of these genres will perpetually perpetuate.  No one owns the exclusive rights to any of the aforementioned genres.  That’s part of the problem.  Before an author finds their voice and writes something original, they engage in imitation, or at least derivation.  It’s unavoidable, and mostly harmless, and good practice for when they come up with a truly original idea.  The problem is that self-publishing is so proliferate these days that anyone can publish that first novel that should probably never see the light of day.  The only reason that I’m digging up the zombie genre is because I haven’t been able to find the zombie genre book that I’ve always wanted to read, so I decided to write it myself, figuring that I can’t be the only person that wants to read the book I want to read am in the process of writing, novelette-length chapter by novelette-length chapter.  I caught a fair amount of flak when I went out there saying that I didn’t think that anyone has really nailed the zombie genre yet, but I defended my position as well as I could.  Every author thinks that they nailed it, and I believe they honestly gave it their best shot, but if I thought that anyone had truly nailed it, I wouldn’t be venturing forth in the genre myself.  I’d be happy to just kick back and read a Stephen King’s The Stand length and quality zombie book.   The comic book series The Walking Dead came pretty close, but doesn’t have the same sense of scale that The Stand does.  As you know, I’ve been interviewing a representative sample of zombie-genre authors and most of them have offered to send me copies of their books in PDF format so I can review their books and tie the review into the interview.  I truly appreciate their offers, and am sincerely looking forward to getting a chance to read everything I’ve been sent once I get caught up on my own writing.  But I’ve got ten book projects I’m working on, in turn, so it looks like I’m not going to be able to get around to getting into any of that until after the spring thaw.

Thanks for letting me subject you to being interviewed!

Pitch parade:
Give me all of your links for things you want to promote.   All of them.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/writerjaywilburn
https://www.facebook.com/DarkAndBookish
Twitter: @AmongTheZombies
Website: JayWilburn.com
Amazon author site: http://www.amazon.com/Jay-Wilburn/e/B00BGVWV2M/

About the Interviewee:
Jay Wilburn was a public school teacher for 16 years.  He left to care for his younger son and to be a full-time writer in beautiful Conway, South Carolina where he lives with his wife and two sons.  He was featured in Best Horror of the Year vol. 5 with editor Ellen Datlow.  He has published many horror and speculative fiction stories.  His first novel, Loose Ends: A Zombie Novel, is available now.  Time Eaters was released by Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing.  He was a featured author with Hazardous Press at the 2013 World Horror Convention and a panelist on RULES OF THE GENRE.  He was included in the limited edition Best of Dark Moon of Digest.  He is a columnist for Dark Eclipse and for Revolt Daily.  Follow his many dark thoughts at JayWilburn.com and @AmongTheZombies on Twitter.

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