Today for the last day of the 10 days of Halloween, we welcome Adam Selzer (author of I Kissed a Zombie and I liked It).
Thanks Adam for your time!
1. Tell us a little bit about yourself 
I live in Chicago, where I write books by day and work as a historian / ghost tour guide by night. I've never seen a ghost, but I've seen some weird stuff and uncovered some fantastic stories that never made the history books before. I have not given up my childhood dream of buying a van and painting it to look like The Mystery Machine.
2. What is your book, I Kissed A Zombie and I Liked It about?
It's my attempt to do the most realistic paranormal romance possible. There's nothing really paranormal in it - zombies were created scientifically to work as slave labor in a box box discount chain store stockrooms, and the vampires (whose powers come from protein mutation, not a deal with the devil or whatever) came out of hiding to stand up for undead rights. Now there are zombies and vampires in the world, and people just sort of live with it. But vampire teenagers tend to be jerks who mope around, acting all emo. Instead of PSAs telling girls not to use drugs, there are now PSAs telling girls not to become vampires just because their boyfriend is one. The only girl who doesn't like vampires is Alley, who falls for a guy who she thinks is a g
oth, but turns out to be a zombie (one who just hadn't decomposed enough it to be obvious). Falling for a dead guy forces her to take a hard look at herself and her values.
3. If you were stranded on a desert island, what are three things that you would bring?
Something shiny that would make the natives think I'm a god, a copy of Tristram Shandy (which would take me years to understand, so it'd be long-term entertainment) and, if at all possible, a raft.
4. Are you currently working on any books? If so, what is it?
Yes! For a long time I've wanted to take all the songs from a famous musical and build a new story around them. My next book is a follow-up to ZOMBIE, and is about a girl who is told by her "fairy godmofo" that if she doesn't get a vampire to kiss her at homecoming, she'll die (unlike all the girls who only THINK they'll just die if they don't get kissed at the dance). It's called EXTRAORDINARY, and it could be staged as a musical using songs from THE MUSIC MAN. Look for a book trailer soon! It'll be followed by a non-zombie book called TANGLED UP IN BLUE (or possibly DEBBIE DOES DETENTION) about a girl who gets over a crush by embarking on a "holy quest" with a couple of misfits who've invented their own religion. I also have a couple of cool Chicago history books coming out (and strangely enough, Rahm Emmanuel came into the coffee shop while I was typing that).
6. How would you survive a zombie attack? Or would you?
Rush to the nearest 7-11 and order up the biggest slushee I can get, so I can get a serious case of brain freeze. Zombies don't want frozen brains.
I live in Chicago, where I write books by day and work as a historian / ghost tour guide by night. I've never seen a ghost, but I've seen some weird stuff and uncovered some fantastic stories that never made the history books before. I have not given up my childhood dream of buying a van and painting it to look like The Mystery Machine.
2. What is your book, I Kissed A Zombie and I Liked It about?
It's my attempt to do the most realistic paranormal romance possible. There's nothing really paranormal in it - zombies were created scientifically to work as slave labor in a box box discount chain store stockrooms, and the vampires (whose powers come from protein mutation, not a deal with the devil or whatever) came out of hiding to stand up for undead rights. Now there are zombies and vampires in the world, and people just sort of live with it. But vampire teenagers tend to be jerks who mope around, acting all emo. Instead of PSAs telling girls not to use drugs, there are now PSAs telling girls not to become vampires just because their boyfriend is one. The only girl who doesn't like vampires is Alley, who falls for a guy who she thinks is a g
oth, but turns out to be a zombie (one who just hadn't decomposed enough it to be obvious). Falling for a dead guy forces her to take a hard look at herself and her values.3. If you were stranded on a desert island, what are three things that you would bring?
Something shiny that would make the natives think I'm a god, a copy of Tristram Shandy (which would take me years to understand, so it'd be long-term entertainment) and, if at all possible, a raft.
4. Are you currently working on any books? If so, what is it?
Yes! For a long time I've wanted to take all the songs from a famous musical and build a new story around them. My next book is a follow-up to ZOMBIE, and is about a girl who is told by her "fairy godmofo" that if she doesn't get a vampire to kiss her at homecoming, she'll die (unlike all the girls who only THINK they'll just die if they don't get kissed at the dance). It's called EXTRAORDINARY, and it could be staged as a musical using songs from THE MUSIC MAN. Look for a book trailer soon! It'll be followed by a non-zombie book called TANGLED UP IN BLUE (or possibly DEBBIE DOES DETENTION) about a girl who gets over a crush by embarking on a "holy quest" with a couple of misfits who've invented their own religion. I also have a couple of cool Chicago history books coming out (and strangely enough, Rahm Emmanuel came into the coffee shop while I was typing that).
6. How would you survive a zombie attack? Or would you?
Rush to the nearest 7-11 and order up the biggest slushee I can get, so I can get a serious case of brain freeze. Zombies don't want frozen brains.
Thanks Adam for your time!
rotfl! Brain freeze?
ReplyDeleteI hadn't though of that!! Thanks for hosting this interview! XD
Oh, I have heard of this book, but I haven't read it yet! sounds pretty cool!!!
I love the idea of a book build around the songs of a musical, so I will be on the lookout for it! XD