GOOD SUNDAY MORNING ALL

Good Sunday morning all . Our next victim in November to Dismember on reading zombie is Scott Baker .

Good morning Scott thank you for joining us here today

Thank you for having me

 Tell us a bit about yourself.
I was born and raised in the Boston area, worked for the Central Intelligence Agency for twenty-three years, and am now retired where I live outside of Concord, New Hampshire with my wife (fellow writer Alison Beightol), daughter, two Boxers, and two cats. I write full time. I’ve been very fortunate because I’ve lived and traveled all over the world,and have had the opportunity to see and do things most people can only imagine, a lot of which has made its way into my novels.

 Tell us about your books.

I’ve published nine novels, two novellas, and two anthologies. They range from general horror, big bug thrillers, vampires, and even a tentacle sex story. I love them all, but I have a special fondness for my zombie stories. My Rotter World trilogy is unique in that it deals with a small band of humans and vampires working together to survive the zombie apocalypse; one thing I do in my series is bring an end to the apocalypse in which only one side survives (you’ll have to read the trilogy to find out who). My novella Dead Water involves a zombie outbreak aboard an oil rig, and my other novella Nazi Ghouls From Space… well, the title speaks for itself. Cruise of the Living Dead is my collection of zombie-related short stories, including zombies aboard a cruise ship, rednecks vs. zombies, cannibalism during the outbreak, and my favorite, “Deck the Malls with Bowels of Holly” in which an alcoholic mall Santa battles zombie reindeer (think Army of Darkness meets A Christmas Story).

Do you have a specific writing style?

I’m a huge fan of intense action scenes. I hate it when you read through three hundred pages and the climax is wrapped up in two pages. That’s ripping off the readers. I try to include action scenes that will last for at least one or two full chapters. To me, the greatest compliment is when a fan tells me my book kept them up all night because they couldn’t put it down. 

 Where did your interest in writing originate?

I was writing as far back as I can remember, when I was about seven or eight, although back then it was short stories jotted down in notebooks. My first publication was a cheap monster magazine typed on construction paper folded in half with photos from other magazines pasted in. It had a circulation of one – my mother

Do you read your reviews and what do you do when you find a bad review?

I love reading them. Negative reviews don’t bother me. Several times I’ve taken constructive criticism and used it to improve later novels. Sometimes the bad reviews are from people who for some reason didn’t like the plot or characters, which is fine – I know I can’t please everyone. So far, I’ve not received any mean-spirited reviews. I figure if most of the reviews are positive, then I must be doing it right.

Do you have any writing rituals?

Not many. I try to do a minimum of a thousand words a day. I mostly write in the morning in the family room with the dogs curled up around me while my wife and daughter are at work and school. After they go to bed, I spend several hours alone in my study with the cats either writing, marketing or engaged in social media

 Do you hide little tidbits in your stories that only a few people will get?

Not often. Sometimes I name tertiary characters after friends or colleagues I worked with. Some of the locations I use are places I had access to while serving with the government, so only a handful of people will be able to say they were there. The only work I hid a lot of Easter eggs in is my novella Nazi Ghouls From Space. Both WWII history buffs and UFO enthusiasts will get the references. 

 If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager, to help you become a better writer what would it be?

I don’t think there was anything different I could do. I was asthmatic as a kid and spent a lot of time sick in bed, and as such became a voracious reader. And I’ve been writing as far back as I can remember.

How long on average does it take for you to write your books?

Writing the first draft takes about three to four months. That’s the fun part. I send out the draft to my beta readers; when I get their comments, it takes another four to six weeks to revise the draft. That’s the most frustrating part because I read through the manuscript once as I do the initial revisions, a second time when I read through it for any continuity issues I missed, and the final time for grammar/spelling. Then I run a Find/Replace search for those words I tend to overuse. By this time, I’m so sick of reading the manuscript I can’t wait to see it published and done with. LOL.

 Do you believe in writer’s block? Definitely.

It happens to me all the time. I break it by taking a few days off and reading, watching TV, playing video games, and spending time with the family. Once my mind is clear, the creative juices begin flowing again. The one thing I never do is force my writing when that block hits.  

NOW FOR SOME FUN FAST QUESTIONS 

COFFEE TEA OR OTHER: Iced coffee

FAVOURITE JUNK FOOD: Chocolate chip ice cream with chocolate sprinkles

FAVOURITE CHILDREN'S BOOK: Anything by Dr. Seuss

DO YOU GOOGLE YOURSELF: Only occasionally. However, I have signed up for the media monitoring sites Mention and TalkWalkerAlerts, so every morning they scan the media and send me updates via email in which my name or my books are mentioned.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST

What would you tell any aspiring writer out there?

Two things. First, write every day, even if it’s only a few hundred words; if you write one page a day, at the end of a year you have a 356-page manuscript. Second, never give up. This is a brutal industry where it has become increasingly harder to be noticed among the tens of thousands of other writers. Keep at it and don’t give up; if you have the skill and perseverance, you will get published. 

Where can we find you at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ScottMBakerAuthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/vampire_hunters

Amazon Author’s Page: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003N4U9BK

Goodreads Author’s Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3505916.Scott_M_Baker

BOOK LINKS 

Amazon link to Rotter World: https://www.amazon.com/Rotter-World-Scott-M-Baker/dp/1618680285/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333421267&sr=1-1

Amazon link to Rotter Nation: https://www.amazon.com/Rotter-Nation-World-saga/dp/0996312102/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1430546669&sr=1-1

Amazon link to Rotter Apocalypse: https://www.amazon.com/Rotter-Apocalypse-World-saga/dp/0996312129/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1445892548&sr=1-1

Amazon link to Dead Water: https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Water-ebook/dp/B005PYJNFY/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1318181743&sr=1-1

Amazon link to Nazi Ghouls From Space: https://www.amazon.com/Nazi-Ghouls-Space-Scott-Baker-ebook/dp/B00OGN5D18/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1413266484&sr=1-1&keywords=nazi+ghouls+from+space

Amazon link to Cruise of the Living Dead: hps://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C2DW26W?ref_=pe_870760_118561140