Interview with C.A. Verstraete, Author of GIRL Z: My Life as a Teenage Zombie and Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter
Author’s Bio: Christine
(C.A.) Verstraete enjoys writing fiction with a bit of a “scare.” Her short
stories have been published in anthologies and publications including, Happy Homicides 3, Mystery Weekly, Baby Shoes: 100 Stories by 100 Authors and
Young Adventurers: Explorers, Heroes and
Swashbucklers.
She also is the author of a young adult novel, GIRL Z: My Life as a Teenage Zombie and
books on dollhouse miniatures. Her
latest is Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter.
Learn more at her blog, http://girlzombieauthors.blogspot.com
and her website, http://cverstraete.com.
What
inspired you to write your book?
The Walking Dead. I started watching it and was
hooked. I wrote a teen zombie book and then I realized there was a reason why
Lizzie Borden did it…zombies – and wrote an adult zombie story.
Is
there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either
growing up or as an adult?
I, of course, loved reading Stephen King. Bram
Stoker’s Dracula is also a longtime favorite that I try to re-read whenever I
can.
I’ve also written a kid’s
mystery and a couple how-to, dollhouse books. I’m not as fast as other writers,
so I’ll just say it takes a while.
Do
you write with an outline, or just let it flow organically?
I outline, but characters will do what they will.
It’s not set in stone and other ideas often come along as I’m writing.
Do
you listen to music when you write? If yes, is there a theme song for this
book?
I always have the radio on. How about a 1970s
song, Run, Run, Run by Jo Jo Gunne. That seems to fit both books. Ha! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ia0vOOjCCNo)
What are the keys to success in getting your book
out to the public?
Talk a lot. Book sites. Keep talking.
What advice would you give to new authors?
Don’t give up. It’s a long
haul, not a sprint.
How about sharing an excerpt?
--From GIRL Z: My Life as a
Teenage Zombie:
Prologue
A virus. A freaking virus.
I'd been sick before, you know, measles,
mumps—kid stuff—but not really sick.
Never like this.
This . . . this couldn't be happening.
I tuned back in to the doctor's
explanation—new diet, pills, blah-blah—and let his words fade again into the
background.
Gone was the golden tan I'd nurtured over
the summer with tanning cream and a few hours sitting in the sun by the pool
with one of my cousins. Now my skin had a weird grayish tone, like I'd rubbed
myself with fireplace ash.
I stared at my legs, mottled with strange
gray blotches, and my pretty pink toenails peeking out from beneath the sheet.
The machine next to me made a frantic beep-beep.
I caught a reflection of myself in the metal
frame of the bed. I moaned and rubbed a hand over my cheek, wondering at the
scaly texture while at other times I felt almost nothing.
Large, deep brown eyes under ebony bangs. A
decent nose.
Spots.
I took in the pinkish spots and my uneven
skin tone, which reminded me of those old battleships on that PBS show I'd
watched with my aunt on TV.
For the first time in my sixteen-year-old
life I was . . . ugly.
I lost it.
The machine's whir-click-whir turned into a wail—beep-beep-beeeeeeep.
A nurse in blue scrubs tried to reassure me
even as she attempted to keep me immobile on this slab they called a bed.
"Relax, it'll be fine," she said.
"No, it won't," I yelled, "It
won't!"
How could looking like freaking King Tut
without his wrappings ever be fine?
--From Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter:
Chapter
One
Q. You saw his face covered with blood?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Did you see his eyeball hanging out?
A. No sir.
Q. Did
you see the gashes where his face was laid open?
A. No sir.
—Lizzie Borden at inquest, August 9-11,
1892, Fall River Courtroom
August 4, 1892
Lizzie Borden drained the
rest of her tea,
set
down her cup, and
listened
to the sound of furniture moving upstairs. My, my,
for
only ten o’clock in the morning my stepmother is certainly energetic.
Housecleaning, already?
THUMP.
For a moment, Lizzie
forgot her plans to go shopping downtown.
THUMP.
There it went again. It sounded like her
stepmother was
rearranging the whole room. She paused at the bottom stair, her concern
growing, when she heard another thump and then, the
oddest
of sounds—a moan. Uh-oh. What was that? Did she hurt herself?
“Mrs. Borden?” Lizzie called. “Are you
all
right?”
No answer.
She
wondered if her stepmother had taken ill,
yet the shuffling, moving, and other unusual noises continued. Lizzie hurried up the stairs
and paused outside the partially opened
door. The strange moans coming from the room sent a shiver up her
back.
Lizzie pushed the door open wider and stared. Mrs. Abby Durfee
Borden stood in front of the bureau mirror, clawing at her
reflected
image. And
what a horrid image
it was. The
sixty-seven-year-old woman’s hair looked like it had never been combed
and stuck out like porcupine
quills. Her usually
spotless house dress
appeared wrinkled and
torn.
Yet,
that wasn’t the
worst. Dark red
spots—Blood, Lizzie’s mind whispered—dotted
the
floor and streaked the sides of
the older woman’s
dress and sleeves.
Lizzie gazed about the room in alarm. The tips of Father’s slippers peeking out from beneath the bed also glistened with the same viscous
red
liquid. All that blood! What happened here?
What
happened?
What’s next for you?
I’m working on a tie-in story for Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter and hope to work on a sequel for that,
too.
Where can readers find out more about you and your
book(s)?
·
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/C.A.-Verstraete/e/B003PAR12C/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
·
Twitter: caverstraete
·
Book buy Links: https://www.amazon.com/Lizzie-Borden-Zombie-Hunter-Verstraete-ebook/dp/B01KISRS80?tag=geolinker-20
It’s been a pleasure
having you here with us today. I know my readers will enjoy getting to know you
and your work.
Thanks for letting me stop by!
this novel sounds very interesting. I already liked Girl Z so I know I will try and get this one too
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Thanks for stopping by Sandra!
ReplyDelete