Industrious does not even begin to describe prolific writer Jonathan Maberry, who has five (yes, 5) novels to write in a little over a year, aside from promoting this chilling zombie tale as well as his celebrated Joe Ledger series. Also a blogger and teacher, Maberry here makes the case for why Team Zombie should win over Team Vampire, once and for all.
Benny Imura and his friends have made it to Sanctuary, they’ve found the jet and they’ve discovered that civilization is struggling to regain its foothold in the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse. Scientists are on the verge of finding a cure for the zombie plague.
It should be time for celebration, but it’s not.
Benny’s best friend, Chong, has been infected by an arrow dipped in the flesh of a zombie and he hovers between life and death and Dr McReady, a researcher who may have the critical formula for a cure, has gone missing. So Benny convinces Captain Ledger to mount a search and rescue mission to find the doctor and help Chong.
But with the Reapers still pursuing their plan to turn all zombies into super-fast shock troops even if they can save Chong, can they save themselves?
YOUNG ADULT: What three words come to mind when you think of writing?
JONATHAN MABERRY: Passion. Fun. Discovery. (I have to entertain myself as well as my readers.)
YA: Tell us a little bit about your latest work. What is different about Fire & Ash and what does it bring to the series?
JM: Fire & Ash is about the end of the ‘coming of age’ arc, where Benny Imura becomes an even more powerful person than the adults who influenced him. It’s about becoming powerful in your own life. And it’s about discovering how far you’d be willing to go to save those you love. And zombies. There are lots and lots of zombies.
YA: Zombies seem to be the new vampires in terms of YA fiction (and film) trends. What do you think is so appealing about them? What might be next, in your opinion?
JM: Vampires have been so humanized that they stopped being scary. They’re romantic and tragic, but not frightening. And that’s shifted the focus away from the humans in the story. Zombies are always scary. You can’t relate to them or reason with them. They aren’t evil. They are a destructive force over which we have no control. Like plagues, tsunamis and super storms. In today’s world, that’s scary. And, they are blank canvases upon which each writer can paint an entirely unique picture. If you look at the most successful zombie books–Forest of Hands and Teeth, World War Z, The Walking Dead, Breathers, Warm Bodies—they’re all really different from one another. Zombies allow storytelling diversity. Go Team Zombie!
YA: Take us through a typical writing day for you.
JM: I usually write at a Starbucks or diner in the morning. Three or four hours. Then I take a break. Walk the dog, go to the gym, whatever. In the afternoons I either migrate to a different coffee shop or go back to my home office and write until five or six. I alternate between projects –novels, short stories, a blog, and comics. Each hour of my writing day is divided into fifty minutes of writing and ten minutes of social media; all day. I also do lots of Skype visits with schools around the world; and I do tons of traveling, visiting schools, conventions, libraries, and so on. I’m on the road about half the year, so I write on the road.
YA: Besides the classic ‘never give up’, what advice would you give to aspiring young writers today?
JM: All writers who want to get somewhere need to understand that writing is an art but publishing is a business. They are not at all the same thing. Learn both and become good at both. Always improve your craft, but also become part of the process of selling and promoting your work. It’s also important for writers to get to know other writers. We don’t prosper in isolation; instead we feed off of each others’ energies. It sounds very vampiric, but in a healthy way.
YA: What’s next for you?
JM: I’m coming up on my busiest year ever. I have five novels to write in the next fourteen months. That’s not a typo. WATCH OVER ME and COLD COLD HEART, the first installments of a new mystery-thriller series for older teens; THE NIGHTSIDERS, the first book of a new Middle Grade horror/SF series. PREDATOR ONE, the 7th in my Joe Ledger thriller series. And DEADLANDS, a novel inspired by the popular role-playing game. I’m also editing three anthologies, including V-WARS: BLOOD AND FIRE. And I’ll be launching three new comics next year, one for Dark Horse and two for IDW. At the same time I’ll be promoting CODE ZERO, the 6th Ledger novel; and FALL OF NIGHT, a zombie novel. I do my weekly SCARY OUT THERE teen horror blog. And I have two movies in development: ROT & RUIN and DEAD OF NIGHT. No, I do not sleep.
YA: What other authors, YA or otherwise, do you idolize? Or, what YA books are on a pedestal for you?
JM: Among my favorite recent YA novels are Kendare Blake’s brilliant ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD, Rick Yancey’s ELEVENTH WAVE, Libba Bray’s THE DIVINERS, Nancy Holder’s THE SCREAMING SEASON, anything by DJ McHale, and a long, long list of others. Most of what I read these days is YA. But I’m also oldschool. I read Ray Bradbury’s SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES every year at Halloween. He gave me a copy of it when I was a kid, and I buy a new hardcover copy each year, read it, and donate it to a local library.