Z Resurrected Blog Tour - Author Interview + Giveaway

Z Resurrected - Anthology
Author(s): Tom Leveen, Dana Fredsti, Joe Mckinney, Eric A. Shelman, Mark Tufo, T.M Williams
Release Date: October 15, 2015
Publisher: Half Light Publishing
Pages: 315
Purchase: Amazon

In this anthology, six horror authors revisit some of their most infamous zombie characters, resurrecting the undead.

Contributing authors to Z Resurrected are some of horror’s best, who have each carved a distinct path in the world of zombies: Dana Fredsti, Tom Leveen, Joe McKinney, Eric A. Shelman, Mark Tufo, and T.M. Williams.

.

Blog Tour

Tom Leveen Interview + Giveaway

It's almost Halloween people, time to get our asses in the spirit!

.

Visit the other lovely ladies on this tour!

Bex, Stefanie, Ashley, Nicole, Emily,

Can you believe this is my first interview? I've always shied away from doing them, especially for books I haven't read because it's kind of difficult to come up with not only creative, but meaningful questions to ask the author. When one of my good friends, Bex from Aurelia {Lit, Geek, Chic} asked me to hop on the blog tour for Z Resurrected there was no way I could say no. I noticed Tom Leveen, who wrote the book Random I read and loved last year, had written a story within this anthology, so I immediately called dibs on him. He and I have a little in common, so he's the perfect person to share my inter-newbie experience.

How did I do tommy boy? lol. 

In this interview, I ask him questions about his YA zombie-apocalypse novel Sick. Stick around for a giveaway for this title open to all US residents!

To start things off, and so that my readers can get to know you a little more, care to share 5 of your top favorite books?

Tommy Boy: Absolutely. Required reading for me would include:

Speak | Laurie Halse Anderson

Stargirl | Jerry Spinelli

The Long Walk | Richard Bachman/Stephen King

The Great Brain series by John D. Fitzgerald

Maudie and Me and The Dirty Book by Betty Miles

How would you describe yourself as a writer?

Tommy Boy: Prolific. I've usually got at least two novels going at any one time, sometimes up to four, and a backlist that would keep me busy for the foreseeable future even if I never had another idea the rest of my life.

Also, neurotic; needy; envious; and doubtful.

I’ve read your YA book Random which covers some pretty controversial topics. Can we expect the same in your zombie title Sick?

Tommy Boy: Yes, I think so. The plot of SICK is about a zombie-like apocalypse, but like all horror fiction, the themes are about something else. It has elements of LORD OF THE FLIES, for example, and even THE BREAKFAST CLUB (depending on who you ask). Racism features prominently, as well as how we treat "the other" -- anyone who we think is different from us somehow. If you want, you can even read some indictments of our public school system and commentary on the impact of war on our kids.

If you *want* to...

As I'm sure you know, we have a ton of zombie titles in the YA genre. What sets Sick apart from the rest?

Tommy Boy: I avoided reading them at the time of the writing, so I can't say definitively how they are different, but I will hazard the guess that SICK is 1) more about relationships than monsters, and 2) possibly more gory. It depends on your Gore Tolerance Level.

How long after the events in Sick does your story in Z Resurrected take place? What's changed?

Tommy Boy: Actually, my story PANIC in Z Resurrected takes place at the same time as SICK. Brian, the protagonist of SICK, spends much of the story trying to find and save his ex-girlfriend, Laura. In PANIC, she gets separated from her friends during the initial outbreak and records what happens to her on a cell phone after she gets isolated with an infected student in a classroom on the other end of campus.

The majority of your titles are contemporary novels with dark subject matter. What inspired the idea to attack a zombie apocalypse theme this time around?

Tommy Boy: I was a zombie fan ever since I first caught NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) on TV when I was a kid, and rented DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978) long before I should have been allowed to watch a movie like that. Some high school friends and I got into a long debate about how we would have defended ourselves back in our old drama department, and who would have lived or died. It didn't take long after that to put together the idea for SICK, although I chose to tell it from a non-drama-kid's point of view so that readers could acclimate to the setting the way the main characters do.

If any characters from Sick were a representation of yourself, who would it be and why?

Tommy Boy: All of them, in some sense. That's true of every author I think. Me at my worst, me at what I hope would be my best. I'd probably be Jack. See what happens to him.

I noticed that this title is pitched for lovers of The Breakfast Club and The Walking Dead. Did this movie and tv show inspire you in any way while writing this novel? If so, you get major cool points with me. The Breakfast Club is one of my favorite movies!

Tommy Boy: Me, too! Of course. Now, not every appreciated that tag line, and I understand that - those are two iconic shows that you shouldn't go around comparing yourself to all willy-nilly. But BREAKFAST CLUB was definitely one of the movies I had mind while writing the book, because it was supposed to be about a group of very dissimilar students who end up working together out of necessity at first, and out of solidarity later as they get to know each other. That was intentional. As for TWD, that's an unavoidable comparison these days; I do like the show a lot, but there was nothing in it that particularly inspired me. In fact, I did not watch the show until after the book was published. I think it's safer to say I was inspired by DAWN OF THE DEAD . . . probably both the '78 and '04 versions.

What do you enjoy the most about writing?

Tommy Boy: Satisfying my curiosity. Writers are naturally curious, and for me anyway, I write stories to answer questions that pop up in everyday life. Usually it's those "What if" questions, like, what if there were a zombie apocalypse back in my high school days and me and the guys were all in the drama department when it went down? Many novels, like RANDOM, start with asking something like, "Now, why would someone do X?" I write novels or stories to answer questions for myself in hypothetical ways.

You have quite a few titles under your belt, any personal favorites?

Tommy Boy: It varies from day to day, but today, it's been a ZERO kind of day. She's the oldest of my characters in real-time, meaning I first wrote her story back in 1993, so I have an affinity for her and her story. I'm also proud of how my most recent novel, SHACKLED, turned out; I felt I got to put a lot of new knowledge and skills to work in that one. The craft-learning never stops, that's for sure.

Okay, game time! You’re stuck in a cafeteria surrounded by flesh-eating zombies. No weapons, no allies to depend on, just you, yourself, and not I because I’m chilling elsewhere enjoying a piping hot bag of popcorn. What is your epic escape plan?

Tommy Boy: Wow...not many details to work with, so I'll have to make some assumptions. Goal #1 - and this is discussed in SICK - is to get OUT of the building, where there is at least room to maneuver. If the tables are round, flip one of those on edge to create a rolling shield a'la Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in the opening sequence with the gong. If the chairs are those orange and yellow plastic types you see at schools, use one of those to fend off attacks while rolling toward a door or window.

If they are all picnic tables, I think I'm screwed. Aim for the kitchen and hope for a cleaver? Or look for any possible way to climb up to the ceiling and bust into the crawlspace or roof.

Andddd, that's a wrap! For my very first interview, I think I did a pretty decent job lol. So if you're interested in Z Resurrected or Sick by Tom Leveen, make sure you enter the giveaway below!

.

a Rafflecopter giveaway