Featured Author – E.M. MacCallum + Giveaway!

Today I’d like to welcome author E.M. MacCallum to Juniper Grove! E.M. is here to promote her book Zombie-Killer Bill!

About the Author:

Author of six published short-stories, E.M. MacCallum has loved writing long before 2009 when her debut “The Perfect Fit” short-story appeared in the Northern Frights Publishing anthology “Shadows of the Emerald City.” A storyteller a heart, she’ll always be scribbling down notes and living in a fantasy world. She can be found hiding in anthology titles such as: “Throw Down Your Dead”, “Leather, Denim & Silver”, “Hannibal’s Manor”, “Superheroes vs Zombies” & the upcoming: “For the Oceans”

 

E.M. has graciously submitted to an author interview! Check it out below:

 

Without giving too much away, can you tell us what your book is about?

 

“Zombie-Killer Bill” is a zombie/western with an unconventional set of zombie rules. There’s three types of zoms in the wild west. Legal Zombies are coherent, regular folks who over time will degenerate until they become a raging, flesh-hungry Illegal or the docile, obedient Slave.

 

When gunslinger, Zombie-Killer Bill comes across the mass murder of Slave and Legal zombies at the Hansen Ranch, his newest hunt becomes personal. Alongside a determined, young gunslinger, they seek out a mad-scientist with ties to the wild west’s zombie history. Unbeknown to Bill, the mad-man knows Bill’s his dark past. If Bill doesn’t find him before the Illegals, the one closest to him  – the one he’s hidden away from the world – could pay the price.

 

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

When I was around eight years old I wrote a hundred-page story, which basically was one sentence and a picture per page. I was so proud of it that I started writing what could be called fan-fiction today and it branched out into making my own characters and worlds. I was addicted to reading so it only seemed natural to be addicted to writing.

 

Do you have a specific genre that you always write in or do you try writing in different genres?

Horror is rooted in everything I’ve cracked out. I enjoy writing anything supernatural, historical, urban-fantasies and fantasy, but there will always be a horror element. I can’t help myself!  I think I can safely blame R.L. Stine, Diane Hoh and Caroline B. Cooney for a chunk of that.

 

What do you think makes a good story?

Great characters and good plot. I mean, great characters with no plot doesn’t bode well and neither does a great plot with shoddy characters. When I find myself caring and rooting for those people in the pages then I know it’s a good book.

 

Is there anything that you find challenging in your writing?

The second draft. I can spew out a story in no time. It’s gluing all the bits together and fixing the little hiccups that takes up my time and causes some worry. Though I find once it’s done, I’m usually pretty happy with the result (at least initially).

 

Do you ever experience writer’s block and if so, how to you overcome it?

Absolutely! It’s one of the most frustrating moments during the writing process.

 

There are two methods I’ve discovered over the years that work wonders for me. Just to warn you, the first one is going to sound cuckoo. Ok, here goes: I talk to myself. I pick a quiet room so people won’t start dialing for straight-jackets and I will just talk out loud about anything and everything. I’ve mapped out quirks, appearances, worlds and even had conversations (and yes, answered myself) all to get the motor upstairs running. It’s ridiculous how many times this has worked.

 

Another and much less nutty method is listening to music. Metal and classical are the two genres I pick depending on mood/scene etc. Again, I pick a quiet place to just listen and map out scenes in my head with the flow of the music.

 

Do you have any writing projects you are currently working on?

Always! December was all short stories and this January I’ve picked up my NaNoWriMo challenge again to spit-polish. It’s about a demon who collects pretty ghost girls in order to lift the veil between living and dead. Again, can’t seem to pull away from the horror genre.

 

What is the best advice anyone has ever given to you?

Do whatever makes you happy. If writing didn’t make me happy, I wouldn’t do it. It truly is one therapy I can’t live without. I’m sure most writers can attest to that.

 

One food you would never eat?

Shrimp. It’s best if I don’t detail the “eyes popping in teeth” idea I had when I was a kid. Still can’t eat a shrimp due to the overactive imagination I had as a child. One day I may overcome it, but thankfully I live in the prairies and can procrastinate.

 

Do you have any hobbies outside of writing?

Is Facebook a hobby? Haha. I really liked camping when I can. Hiking, reading, drawing, playing video games…really, there are endless things I can find to do. Haven’t found a dull moment unless I wanted one.

 

Thank you E.M. for that insightful interview!

 

Synopsis:

Zombie-Killer Bill is a gunslinger hired to kill the Illegal zombies of the wild west.

 

The Illegals – raging, flesh-eating monsters – spread the infection more than their zombie counterparts – the docile Slave or coherent Legals. Bill’s new job however, is bigger than just a routine zombie slaying. Dozens of Legal and Slave zombies have been brutally murdered on the Hansen Zombie Farm, leaving only the suspicion that a single crazed man was behind it all.

 

To solve the murders Bill teams up with an unlikely partner and hits the dusty trail. Together they risk life and limb to catch the mad-scientist before he changes the west as they know it.

 

Thanks to E.M., one lucky reader will win a SIGNED Print copy of Zombie-Killer Bill!

 

Giveaway is open to the US and Canada Only and will end on February 5th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Happy Reading,

Jaidis