1.) Can you provide a brief summary of your novel?
Avery Nolan is my homage to the pulp fiction and hard boiled detective dime store novels of the fifties and sixties. Set in 1959, Avery Nolan is a Lucky Strike smoking, scotch drinking, straight shooting, hard fighting son of a gun with a heart of gold. A veteran of the war in the South Pacific as a US Marine that returned home to become a member of the New York Police Department, he eventually became disillusioned with police work and became a Private Investigator. Hired to find a missing research scientist, he uncovers a KGB plot to destroy the United States from within.
2.) What were your motivations to write Avery Nolan – Private Dick of the Dead?
Honestly, I was sitting at my computer one sunday morning, taking care of Facebook “business” (no, NOT Farmville), when I had a scene pop into my head. I quickly jotted it down, then looked back over it and realized that it would not work with any of my current works in progress. With that being determined, I recognized that it had some value to it, and could possibly use it at a later date in something. That evening as I sat there watching TV with my wife, I suddenly grabbed my iPad and keyboard and started writing. Less than an hour later I am sitting there with 1,000+ good words and had a smile across my face. I had just created Avery Nolan.
3.) What made you choose to place the storyline in the late 1950s instead of contemporary times?
I grew up reading Mickey Spillane, and watching Bogey and Mike Hammer, so the genre has always been there in the wings just waiting for me to do something with it. It just happened to get melded with my preferred genre, zombies, but it wound up melding quite nicely in my opinion.
4.) Your work was published through Smashwords, was this option decided on to gather interest in your work before you ‘shopped’ it to a publisher?
I had more fun writing Avery Nolan than I have had with any of the other works that I have written. Because of that, I felt it was a labor of love if you will, and decided I wanted to get it out to readers at the lowest cost possible. Problem is, in spite of the fact that everyone that has read it has thoroughly enjoyed it, Avery Nolan: Private Dick of the Dead is dying on the shelves. If it is because it is self-published, or because it is a novella, or if it is because it is not the “first part of a trilogy!”, I honestly don’t know. It’s a fun story to read, and even though only priced at .99 for an ebook, and $5.99 for a paperback, it’s simply not selling.
5.) When you sit down and write what is your perfect writing environment, Quiet, Music, a specific room in the house?
I prefer to be in my office, with Johnny Cash and nice glass of scotch, neat. Of course, my social media, friends sending me text messages, and my spoiled dachshund wanting to play ball do their very best to disrupt my writing.
6.) What helps get you in the mood? Watching classic horror films or…?
I have to confess that for some reason, I get more ideas coming to mind for my stories while taking a nice hot shower. I don’t know if it is the isolation, or the steam, or whatever it is, but when I am left needing a nudge in a certain direction with my writing, I will hop in the shower and it comes to me.
7.) What kind of research did you do to get the ambience of the story setting, the time frame, attitudes of the characters, manner of dress, etc?
I would have to refer to earlier when I mentioned that I grew up watching those movies, and those TV shows. I have always felt I was born in the wrong generation and belonged back in that era when a man was a man and it was okay for him to be that way. No, that may not be the most politically correct thing to say these days but, well, don’t get me started.
8.) Did you find it difficult to set your tale in a different time frame?
No, not really. I mean, sure it was kind of difficult writing dialogue that would be more appropriate for the era, but listening to some old time radio broadcasts gave me a bit of a feel for it. I even had one reader from New York commend me on nailing the feel of New York City. I thought that was kind of funny because I have never set foot in that city.
9.) What advice can you impart to authors just starting out who want to break into the zombie/horror/apocalyptic genre?
Number one would be to write. Just that, write. Number two, please recognize that not everything has to be a trilogy and not every book has to have a sequel. Try selling one book before planning for three.
10.) Who do you feel is directly responsible for your entry into the horror genre and specifically the inclusion of zombies into your work?
When I was a young man of 10 or so years of age, I snuck downstairs and watched Dawn of the Dead being played illegally over a local cable station. That started a love affair with all things zombie. So, like just about every other zombie author out there, thank you George Romero for giving that guidance to my life.
11.) What and who are your favorite authors and books?
The very first zombie novel I ever bought and read was Autumn by David Moody. So, in absolutely no order it would be David Moody, Jonathan Maberry, David Wellington, Craig DiLouie and Peter Clines. Each one of these men have written, and continue to write phenomenal works of art.
12.) If you had to do it all over again, the writing, the self publishing, etc, what would you do differently?
I sure as heck would not have waited until I was 40 to start writing. Other than
that, it is a very exciting time in the world of publishing and writing, and I would
not change a thing.
Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to ask the questions you did.
Tony
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