Please
tell my readers a little bit about your book.
I
like to call Cemetery Plot a horror/sci fi mashup. I can say that because it
has two tropes of both genres: zombies and time travel. But more than anything
else, what I was trying to do was tell an interesting story. The book has two
intertwined stories. In the first one, the world is overrun by graveyards. A
virus, transmitted through the ashes of the cremated, necessitates a law
banning cremation. As a result, grave space is at a premium, and in place of
the strip malls of today, cemeteries have taken their place.
In this setting, our protagonist,
Vanessa, wakes from a decades long sleep. She participated in a satanic ritual
to turn her into the living dead, but it didn’t work. Instead she wakes up
alive, human, un-aged and miserable. A cemetery tycoon finds out about her and
is convinced that he can study her and find a way to raise the dead. If he can
do that, he can make room in his cemeteries for more bodies, and, in the
process, make more money.
That’s the first story. The second
one, which alternates chapters, is set in the future of the first story. In
this future, a zombie apocalypse has taken place. A living dead medium is the
protagonist. He can speak to zombies, and he cons rich people into paying him
for communicating with their departed loved ones.
These two stories merge at some
point, and you find out how they are inextricably linked.
Scary thought, but you look so relaxed in your photo. Is
this the only genre you write in?
I hadn’t really intended to write a
horror novel for my first book. It just came out that way. I write in any
genre. I’ve completed a few other manuscripts, some fantasy, some crime and I
think one science fiction, so I’m an equal opportunity writer.
Diversification. I like it! When
did you start writing toward publication?
I
started last November (2011) for National Novel Writing Month. (aka NaNoWriMo) I had never
completed a novel, and I decided to give it a go. By the end of the month, I
had two 25,000 word stories that I combined to form Cemetery Plot. Then I
decided to try to get it published.
Did
you have several manuscripts finished before you sold? If so, did you send them
out yourself?
I
actually only had the one finished when it sold. I did send it out myself to
numerous agents and publishing companies. After many many rejections, my
current publisher accepted my manuscript.
Why
have you become a published author?
I’ve
always wanted to be a novelist. From the time I was in fourth grade, and my
Halloween story was voted best by the rest of my class. That was my first taste
of popularity, and I never forgot it.
Do
you have any rejection stories to share?
Not
really. They all uniformly suck.
I feel for you. I have kept them all. What
is your writing routine like?
Ever
since last year’s National Novel Writing month, I’ve made it a habit to write
2,000 words a day. I do that until I’m done with a rough draft, and then I try
to edit 20 pages a day until I make it through. Then I repeat that over and
over again until I’m done.
Who
first introduced you to the love of reading?
My
mom took me to a bookstore and I saw the cover a book called Castle Roogna by
Piers Anthony. It had a dude with a sword on it or something, and it looked
interesting. My mom bought it for me and it sat on a shelf for a couple of
years. Then one day, I picked it up and fell in love with the story. I ended up
reading almost all the Xanth books by Piers Anthony. I was hooked on reading
from that point forward.
Who
influenced your decision to become a writer?
My
sixth grade teacher Mrs. Drawbaugh (I think that’s how you spell it) gave us an
assignment to write a short story. We turned them in. Later that day, she came
and got me out of Home Ec. She demanded to know if I had received help from my
parents. When I told her no, she said I was talented and that I should be a
writer for a living. That’s what really put the idea in my head.
What
sort of promo do you do? Do you have help?
I
tweet, post on Facebook and Goodreads, and I have my own blog. I’ve done
numerous blog interviews, set up through my publishing company, and I’ve done
one radio interview. I’m really struggling with the whole self promotion thing
and am always open to advice.
Having
achieved your goal to be a published author, what is the most rewarding
thing?
Getting my book
in the mail. Seeing the beautiful cover with my name on it was all the reward I
ever wanted.
Even in this age of all-things-digital, there is nothing that compares to holding YOUR book in your hands. What do you see
ahead in your writing career?
More novels! I
keep writing them. I’m also actively pursuing a literary agent.
Are
you a member of any writing organizations and, if so, have they helped?
Not
currently. I do subscribe to Writer’s Market.
Will
you share some encouraging words for authors still struggling for that first
contract?
I’ll
give you the advice that another writer gave me, more or less. If you can quit
writing, do it. It’s frustrating, hard and often minimally rewarding. But if
you find you can’t quit. If you just have to write. Then do it consistently and
never give up. Write every day. Keep sending stories out. Just don’t stop.
Good advice. What’s
next for you?
My
novel Into the Cave will be released April 1 from Crushing Hearts and Black
Butterfly Publishing.
Vanessa Hawthorne is a zombie. . .at
least that was the plan. Miserable with her life, she agreed to participate in
a fatal ritual that would transform her into one of the Living Dead. Instead,
she wakes up decades later alive, unaged and living in a world overrun with
graveyards.
But when a real estate tycoon finds
out about Vanessa, he will stop at nothing to discover how she cheated death.
He hopes that this knowledge will give him the power to resurrect the dead. The
money he stands to make is incalculable. And he is willing to do whatever it
takes — kidnapping, assault and even murder — to get the job done. Luckily for
Vanessa, she has Mark Nimocks and his friend Emily to protect her. . . but at
what costs?
A zombie apocalypse is in the works,
and it will take a medium from the future to find a way to undo the end of the
world. But can he actually help change the past? Or is the world fated to be
destroyed no matter what?
Excerpt from Cemetery Plot
“Hi. My name is Nathan Mickels. I
guess I could tell you about the end of the world, and being one of the last
remaining humans on earth or some of that apocalyptic crap. But the truth is
that the world hasn’t changed much since it ended. Sure, the dead are walking
and people are dying. But there’s still money to be made.
“Take me for instance. I specialize
in a particular trade. You see, these Living Dead, they’re not the brightest
creatures. Any mother hoping that her little Annie was going to come back and
sit at her knee had a rude awakening. Little Annie was much more likely to bite
her and turn her into a zombie than give her a hug.
“Nevertheless, people find out that
the dead are coming back to life, and they just got to see. That’s where I come
in. It’s my job to hunt down the Living Dead. Specific ones. If your uncle
Andrew died last year, you might hire me to find him and bring him to you. Of
course, if you were smart, you already checked out the graveyard. You probably
only come to me if you find a hole where your uncle should have been.
“So out I go, and I track down your
uncle. But what good is he going to be to you as a grunting hulk of shit for
brains? None, that’s what. I have a unique talent that I get paid for. I’m kind
of like what people used to think mediums were like. You know, they figured
they could talk to the dead and all that crap. Well, I can talk to the dead. It
takes some doing and some concentration, but leave me alone with a walker for a
good six hours, and I can start getting something intelligible out of them.
“Mind you, it’s not what you’d think
of as intelligible, but it’s a language of sorts. Some kind of guttural,
grunting and wheezing that resolves itself into meaning in my head. Well, you
don’t believe me? Ask me anything? How old was Uncle Andrew when he lost his
virginity? What did he really do to lose that sales job? Was he really just
being friendly with his niece that time you caught them together in the
bedroom? (Here’s a hint. No. You ought to kill that bastard all over again.)
“Anyway. That’s me. The Living Dead
medium.”
A
little bit about the author
Alex Granados is a producer for The
State of Things on North Carolina Public Radio WUNC and the North Raleigh News
Columnist for the regionally acclaimed News & Observer newspaper. Cemetery
Plot is his first novel.
Alex received a degree in journalism
from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also has a minor in
philosophy, which basically means that he used to think he was really smart but
realized he wasn't in time to switch majors.
Fishing, reading science fiction,
watching crazy movies, walking his dog Zoey and late night dance parties with
his wife are some of his favorite hobbies. Alex still doesn't know what he
wants to be then he grows up, but he is holding out for astronaut.
How
can my readers buy your book?
EBook at Amazon
You
can find more information about Alex Granados and Cemetery Plot at
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