A Writer's Insights - Interview with Jean Booth

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Today I have a special treat for you. Author of the popular Zombie War series, Jean Booth, answers questions on her approach to writing.

Thanks for joining us Jean, first of all, which team do you belong to: Plotter or Pantser?

I'd have to say, I'm more of a pantser. There are a few things I plot out, however I typically leave it up to the characters on how they want to get there and solve the issues. I like to give my characters the freedom to tell their story the way it needs to be told, while sticking to a few plot lines that can't be changed because of the flow of the series.  

I see you write in two different genres, romance and horror. Do you think elements compliment each other? Can we expect a touch of romance in Zombie War: Zombiefied!?

I actually write in more genres than just romance and horror, those are just what I've gotten finished and published so far! :) I was thinking of this question just the other day! I believe romance and horror do compliment each other in quite a basic way. I believe fear, hate, loathing, love, lust, and desire are all such intense emotions, just a slight push one way or the other can completely transform desire into loathing and vise versa. My good friend Candy has been begging me to do a zombie romance. We giggle about it, picturing skin and body parts sloughing off while in the act of mating. I wasn't sure how I'd pull that off while still keeping this series relatively ok for younger audiences. While there's a touch of romance, it's no where as intense as in my Origins series. 

* Do it! I'd love to read a comedy/zombie/romance!

What lessons did you learn while writing a series? How do you keep all your plot lines linked?

I never intended for Zombie War to become a series. I had a crazy dream that eventually became The Beginning, and I thought I was just going to leave it at that. I thought it'd be fun to just have a short zombie story that would give people a chance to see how I write and broaden my audience. I never expected it to be this popular. I had people begging me for more, and finally my brother in law came up with such an amazing title that I had to write a sequel. I guess one of the things I learned about writing this series was how to bring it all together and wrap it up. That was a lot more complicated than I thought it'd be. I keep my plot lines linked by reading and re-reading my previous books, and I also have an outline and glossary of characters and events that I continuously check to make sure things are consistent. 

What sort of writing schedule do you keep... if any?

I wish I had a schedule! I typically write when the muse inspires, which has typically been 2-5am Sometimes I force her to sit down with me and get words out, and those days are 50-50. Sometimes I have to trash everything I've written, sometimes it's gold. The muse prefers to have pencil and paper to write ideas on rather than the computer which can be both good and bad. 

* OMG - I would BE a zombie at 2-5am!

And what's your favourite marketing tip for new authors?

Haha! I SUCK at marketing! This is my absolute, hands-down, WORST ability. I guess I would say, blog, tweet, fb, post on social media everywhere. Get your name out there and be nice to people. We're all in this together, if you find a secret that helps sell books, share it! I'm an open book. I share everything with my fellow authors. I had to hire a publicist because I'm horrible at sales. It's never been my strong suit. 

* '...be nice to people.' This is actually great advice and the thing that will probably most help writers network sucessfully.

And please, tell us a little more about Zombie War: Zombified! to wet our appetites.

Here's a little sneak peek of Zombified!:

Prolog

One Month Prior to Outbreak

"You don't have to do this, you know. There's still time. They caught it early, you still have options." Jessica pleaded with Caleb, her voice scratching unintentionally with how scared she was for her twin brother. He'd only recently been diagnosed with AIDS and she knew there was still time. There were still things they could do to help him. He didn't have to risk his life on this untested, unapproved treatment.

"They said this was proven to not only stop the progression, but to eliminate it completely, Jess. I'd rather try it now, while I'm still healthy enough to fight. I don't want to wait for this to not be an option." He explained, as rationally as he could again to his twin sister, hiding his nerves and fear from her. He wanted to be brave. He didn't want her to know how terrified he was at contracting AIDS.

"It's been proven on primates, Caleb. Not humans." She said with irritation. She wanted him to understand the risk he was taking. They didn't know how this vaccine, this cure, would react with the human genes.

"You wanna go with me?" He asked, ignoring her implication and trying to sound like he was doing her a favor, when in reality, he wanted to break down, weep, grovel and beg for her to hold his hand. He couldn't do that anymore. They were adults and he was supposed to be a man, not a scared little boy who still needed his sister's support.

"Of course! What a silly question. I love you." She pulled him close to her, hugging him fiercely and wishing to whatever higher power was listening, that they weren't having this conversation - that this was all a very bad dream.

If you'd like to connect with Jean or learn more about her books, here's some useful links:

Website

Blog

Facebook

Twitter

Amazon

B&N