I was recently invited to
participate in an anthology of female authors who write zombie related
material. A lot of great ladies are involved, thirty two in all, and the end
product is just amazing. It is free from several places and only .99 cents on
Amazon. Again, in case you missed it the first time, here is the skinny on it:
With
over 325,000 words and featuring some of Amazon's Best Selling Female Authors
of Horror, this is certainly not your typical anthology book!
Sit back as your favorite authors of zombie lit take you on a wild, horrifying ride that will leave you breathless. Come and meet the women who love to entertain you with their own unique versions of the zombie apocalypse.
Sit back as your favorite authors of zombie lit take you on a wild, horrifying ride that will leave you breathless. Come and meet the women who love to entertain you with their own unique versions of the zombie apocalypse.
On this fine Saturday morning (where I am) I bring you the quirky Lori R. Lopez.
1) What got you interested in writing about zombies?
I love Horror, and zombies are a big
part of the scene. I will sometimes work them into my books and
stories even when I am not writing specifically a zombie tale. In my
fantasy-horror novel AN ILL WIND BLOWS, dead things crawl up out of
the “ground”. I guess that I have loved the concept of the dead
coming back to life since being fascinated by FRANKENSTEIN as both a
book and movies. It is a very creepy premise. My first actual
zombie story was “Heartbeat”, published in CHOCOLATE-COVERED EYES
and THE MACABRE MIND OF LORI R. LOPEZ. But my two-part story “The
Lycaning” presented a type of werewolf-zombie. My second work that
I consider primarily zombie fiction is “The Fruit Of Thy Womb”,
published in the fabulous DARLINGS OF DECAY anthology. I did create
my own type of zombie, however, and my own unique doomsday scenario.
2) Do you think books by women tend to carry distinctly
feminine covers, regardless of the subject matter, or do you think the industry
treats woman the same as male authors?
I think Mary Shelley should have
shattered any myths that women cannot write Horror as well as the
guys. I do think there has been a barrier for us to overcome in
terms of expectations and attitudes. I’m proud to be part of the
DARLINGS anthology, as it contains a great deal of talent and is
written solely by female horror authors. Also, I believe it will
make more people realize that it doesn’t matter who wrote it, what
counts is how good it is and whether you enjoy the story. As for
covers, I’m an artist and create my own. I think they are rather
different in style, like my writing. They are definitely not
“distinctly feminine”.
3) Tell us a bit about your story in darlings of decay.
The first line goes: “The end of the
world began with a rotten banana.” You can tell right away that
this is not going to be the standard apocalypse. My stories can be
quirky, and this one is no exception. Fruit flies mutate instead of
being killed by a new pesticide. They attack someone, and from there
a disease spreads to humans, then humans are infecting other humans.
But at the heart of the story, there is a very tender plot about two
people who have lost everything already.
4) If you HAD to choose, which would you rather do: eat the
entire F section of an encyclopedia, or lick a bus station bathroom floor from
corner to corner?
I’m a germaphobe, so the bathroom
floor would be out. I guess I would hope that the pages of the
encyclopedia tasted better and were less disgusting. I would
probably read them first, however, unless I was really starving.
Then I would only read snatches as I stuffed them into my mouth.
5) What is your greatest fear?
Well, there’s the germ thing and
cancer and psychos. Public places and stage
fright and the unknown. We all have fears. I have many, apparently.
I could write a pretty long list. But the biggest, I’d have to
say, might be remaining anonymous as an author. Never becoming
widely known. All of my life I have believed I would be famous for
at least one of my talents. Now that could be easier and harder than
ever. There is more opportunity, but a LOT of competition. Oh wait,
I forgot. I think my greatest fear is losing my memory. What was
the question?
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