Author Interview & Giveaway: Annie Walls

I think one of my best indie finds from this year is the next author feature for my Blogoversary, she created an amazing zombie novel, Taking on the Dead, that will make anyone's hairs stand on their end and leave you wanting more. Please welcome to Blood Rose Books today:

Annie Walls 

Is there a book, author, story or person that inspired you to become a writer?
Honestly, no. I can’t remember when I started writing, but it wasn’t until my late twenties that I realized I wanted to write full-time. I’ve always been an avid reader and writer of some kind.

What are some of the challenges you have had as an indie author?
Getting an editor that believes in your story and rising above all the backwash that indie authors receive.

The Urban Fantasy / Paranormal genres appear to be the genre that everyone is writing in these days (even authors that are well established in other genres), what do you think draws authors to these genres? How do you believe your novels stand out from the rest of the crowd?
I think because you can add elements that are not real and make them real to the reader. My novels are character driven. I like diving deep into them and even secondary characters. I’m not sure if this makes them stand out, but it helps the readers relate and care about them.

Zombies have become the new Vampire or werewolf (everywhere you look there is a new Zombie novel/TV show/movie out) in the horror, paranormal and urban fantasy genres, why do you think that zombies have become so popular?
Because the threat of the end of the world. I know it might be a little out there, but really, if we had a choice of how the world ends, wouldn’t zombies be the most fun? Wouldn’t zombies give us a better chance at survival than say a nuclear war or a huge meteor dropping on us? But to be honest, since the genre has become so mainstream, I’m really sick of them. Haha! I can’t wait to publish the Famished and be done with it.

You have a love of zombies, hence why you chose to write a novel based around them. Every writer does zombies slightly differently, what do you think are the key characteristics that are needed to create zombies and create a successful zombie novel?
I think we need to be able to picture them clearly in our minds. They have to be gross and they have to resemble people. I decided to have mine at different stages of decomposition to make it more realistic, and I believe this helped a lot in my novels.

What do you think would be the hardest or most challenging genre to write a novel in and why?
For me, it would be an epic fantasy. The world building alone could be a novel. The authors that can do this plus pull off an awesome plot and character building, I’ll forever envy.

Do you see yourself in Kansas’ character? Do you think you would react in a similar way as she did?
No, I can’t see myself as Kan. I’d like to be Kan though. Haha! Yeah, I would react the way she did by hiding out. It was my plan before I gave it to her.

You decided to release a sub-story from your Famished Trilogy (Bailing Out into the Dead) and you chose to release it in a serial type format, why did you choose this format instead of the novel format? Were there additional challenges in releasing it chapter by chapter?

I decided to do this to give readers something to read and look forward to while they wait on my next book. Another reason is for it to be free. I never once thought it’d be as successful as it has, so I’ll continue to do it. The only challenge I faced was in editing… I did it myself, and worry over it all the time.

Do you have any information on upcoming works or events that you are able to share?
I’ll be releasing a new series when The Famished is done. It’s similar in feel as a dark fantasy and has all the same elements except I replace the zombies for physic abilities. It’ll take place in a dystopia world as well, but with advanced technology.

This is the first I’m mentioning this publically, but I’ve also written a book I’ll be publishing under a pen name and hopefully, traditionally. It’s a quirky love story I wrote for a contest. So we’ll see how that works out. It’s, by far, the most challenging thing I’ve written because I stayed within one genre. There’s nothing dark or creepy to it, and I had trouble not adding something wicked. ;)

What is one book on your shelf that you cannot wait to read (can either be a new or old favorite).
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is always a go-to book. 

I want to thank Annie again for being part of my Blogoversary, and I know I am looking forward to continuing to read her famished trilogy, it is an amazing Indie find. Annie has very nicely offered an ebook giveaway to go along with interview, so make sure to check out the raffecopter app below (Giveaway open INT).

  a Rafflecopter giveaway