books to curl up with. Goo Morning Shawn, I am glad you could make it today .
Shawn Chesser: Glad to be here and thank you for having me .
books to curl up with : Ok here we go
books to curl up with: Tell us all a little bit about yourself.
Shawn Chesser:
I’ve been happily married to my wife for 22
years and a father of two. I live in Portland, Oregon, where I write full time.
I’m a Star Wars geek who enjoys reading comic books, playing outdoors in the
Pacific Northwest and ogling classic automobiles in the wild. As for the genre
I write exclusively (for now), it was a no brainer as I’ve been a zombie
fanatic for decades. I’m a Romero purist at heart and prefer my creatures
shambling, trudging and moaning. As for fast, agile, screaming specimens... not
my cup of tea.
books to curl up with:
What inspired you to write your first novel.
Shawn Chesser :
Emerging from a dark time of my life I needed to
prove to myself that I could finally finish something I’d started. I actually
wrote most of my first novel, 'Trudge: Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse,' on my
first generation iPhone over a three month stretch while my boy was playing
indoor gym here in rainy Portland, Oregon.
books to curl up with :
Who or what inspired you to start writing and
in what way.
Shawn Chesser\;
It started out as a kind of esteem building
exercise for myself that when fully embraced became more than just a lark. I quickly
found that I enjoyed getting sucked into the world I had created and once I had
gotten a taste of that there was no turning back.
books to curl up with:
Do you have a specific writing style.
Shawn Chesser:
I write third person pov exclusively. I tried to
write a short story in first person and failed to get into a groove. As far as
my prose goes, I tend to be minimalist when it comes to using obscure words. I
also am apt to sprinkle lots of pop culture references into my work.
books to curl up with:
Tell us
about your current project.
Shawn Chesser
I'm deep into writing 'District: Surviving the
Zombie Apocalypse’ which will be the eleventh book in my bestselling series.
books to curl up with:
What made you decide to write about zombies .
Shawn Chesser:
I kind of touched on this above. Definitely it
was George Romero's Night of the Living
Dead that began my fascination with zombies. I was first allowed to watch it
when I was about twelve or thirteen. I really liked how even when confronted by
the Zs relentless march, the disparate band of survivors—save for a couple of
bad apples—banded together to fight the inexplicable scenario unfolding before
them.
books to curl up with:
What scares you the most.
Shawn Chesser:
On land, it’s spiders that I’m afraid of. In the
ocean, I see myself as shark bait. Concerning the arachnophobia, it’s rooted
mainly in how the little bugger’s move on their eight spindly legs.
As for the latter, watching Jaws when I was 9 ruined
the ocean for me. Thanks a ton, Spielberg!
books to curl up with:
How do you feel about the boom in horror /
zombie genre. Has the graphic novel helped or hurt this genre.
Shawn Chesser:
The zombie boom is awesome for readers and
writers alike. The zombie/post apocalyptic genre tent is huge and there’s
plenty of room under the big top for everyone’s take on the apocalypse to be
voiced. Conversely, I’ve noticed readers of zombie/PA fiction have voracious
appetites and they’re always looking for a new series to glom on to. Speaking
from my own personal experience—gleaned from reviews and internet trolls—sadly,
there are a few writers out there who fail to see this as truth and instead of
putting their heads down and grinding away on their next book— they prefer to cast
shade on other writer’s work by publicly slamming the type of Zs, cause of
outbreak, mode of transmission … etc. Thankfully they are the exception to the
norm.
I
don’t know how much of an impact the graphic novel aspect has on the genre. When
I started writing I was doing it solely for my own enjoyment. I published
Trudge at the urging of a friend back when self publishing was just becoming accessible
to those of us less tech savvy individuals. Turned out, for me, the timing was
everything. Back then zombie books were few and far between and I was fortunate
enough to gain a pretty big reading audience after about book three. And I must
say, I’m grateful to have the best constant readers an indie could hope for.
books to curl up with :
If your
book was to be made into a movie , who would like to see play the leads
Shawn Chesser:
That would be a dream come true. I’d first try and get the combat veteran who portrays my protagonist, Cade Grayson, on my book covers to play the part. If he wasn’t game … good question. I’d probably end up doing an online poll and letting my readers voice their casting recommendations and then go from there.
books to curl up with :
When was the last time you were really
scared.
Shawn Chesser:
On approach to the airport on Maui the plane was
bucking like a bronco and visibility out my window was zero. Though I knew my
family was in good hands with the pilots in the cockpit, not being in control
of the situation was damn scary for me.
books to curl up with:
Who is your favorite author and why?
Shawn Chesser
This
one’s a tie ... Stephen King for his ability to include pop culture in his
work. He's such a wordsmith. Lee Child for his crisp minimalist style of
writing. He's a great story teller whose words paint a vivid picture in my
mind. I really dig his protagonist, Jack Reacher.
books to curl up with :
Your favorite place to write .
Shawn Chesser:
At home in the morning just after the kids head
off to school. Coffee and quiet is all I need.
books to curl up with:
Last but not least where can we find you and
stalk you
Shawn Chesser:
Shawn Chesser’s latest book. Drawl: Surviving the Zombie
Apocalypse
is where you
may sign up for my non spammy STZA SITREP NEWSLETTER.
Shawn
Chesser’s FACEBOOK AUTHOR PAGE
Shawn Chesser’s Twitter handle is
@sdchess
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