The Next Big Thing 2

We’ve been tagged in The Next Big Thing again! Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is to answer the questions then tag some other bloggers. This post will self-destruct in 5…4…3…2…1 and like all action films, we’ve diffused it at one second remaining.

What is the working title of your book?

Scott the Zombie. It does exactly what it says on the tin. Plus we couldn’t think of a better one. Hell it worked for Jane Eyre.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

We were watching 28 Weeks Later a couple of years ago and although we thought it was a great film, we couldn’t help thinking that all zombie films are the same. Zombies go on the rampage, a group of survivors band together, lock themselves in somewhere and try to survive, usually by making their way to a safe haven. We thought ‘what if there was a functioning zombie?’ So we wrote a short story, Parliament of Monsters, which is about a talk show for supernatural creatures. There’s a zombie, Scott, a vampire, Vincent, a shapeshifter, Lola, a werepanther, Ethan, a ghost, Ceri and Frankenstein’s Monster, Mike. The host, Delilah, is a succubus. We loved the story and Scott so much we turned it into a novel. Ceri is actually a cross over character from another short story & novel, Field of Screams.

What genre does your book fall under?

The new, exciting and probably made up genre, ZomCom.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Michael Trevino for Tyler

Scott’s best mate, Tyler,could be played by Michael Trevino, who plays Tyler in the Vampire Diaries. Ethan is six foot five, muscly with very short dark hair and is gorgeous. Maybe Jonathan Rhys Meyers. He’s hot.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers for Ethan

As for Scott, it’d have to be someone who isn’t bad looking, but maybe a bit funny looking. Scott’s not a drop dead hotty, despite what he thinks.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Life doesn’t stop just because you’re dead.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Self-published. Our recent foray into self-publishing has resulted in The Big Six fighting to sign us. The bidding was into 7 figures last time we heard and we’re terrible at making decisions so we’re going to stick with self-publishing while they battle it out in a death match.

If you want a more honest answer, self-published. We’re control freaks and self-publishing means we can have everything our own way. That and there’s no way a publisher would take this novel. It’s too different.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Six weeks.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

Twenty Eight Weeks Later.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Although Scott is a functioning zombie, he still eats brains – not flesh like modern zombies. So there’s none of that ‘vegetarian vampire’ crap. When he realised he’d have to eat people to survive he made a list of everyone he hated enough to eat. He was surprised how long it was. Some he never saw coming! But he believes he’s civilized because he cooks his brains in a microwave and has them with meals. He also sets traps to catch his prey and likes the brains of intelligent or creative people. He hates people who watch mindless reality TV shows because it makes their brains taste like cardboard. The vampire in our story does sparkle, BUT only because Tyler plays a prank on him & covers him in glitter. Scott works in a supermarket and dreams of having a franchise created for him with comics, films, merchandise and crazed fans. But he’s a bit of a loser, though he’s the only one who doesn’t see that. He believes he’s the best thing to happen to zombies since George A Romero started making films. Shame he can’t tie his laces.

our victims, uh, chosen ones to accept this mission are:

Ryan Burt

Cinta Garcia de la Rosa

Gena Mantz

Deborah Dalton

Lacey Wolfe