Interview with Amanda McNeil
Waiting for Daybreak is a
book about a zombie outbreak. With zombie fiction being so popular lately, can
you tell us a bit about what aspects of your book will make it stand out from
all the rest?
There are three things that I
think make it stand out. First, the
virus itself. The virus mysteriously
only affects the mentally healthy. Those
suffering from a mental illness are immune.
Second, it is set in the north in Boston, whereas a lot of the zombie
tales we see right now are in the south or in the countryside. Third, the main character is a 20-something
city dwelling woman with Borderline Personality Disorder. She does not have access to guns. She lives
in a studio apartment. How she survives
then is perhaps a bit more relatable to other city dwellers.
Your main character Frieda
suffers from depression or a similar emotional disorder. You don't see many
heroines with this type of character flaw and I love the concept of her
reevaluating her normalcy now that the zombie apocalypse has hit. Can you give
us some more insight on Frieda, her depression, and how it plays into this
zombie scenario?
Well, when I created Frieda, I
decided to give her Borderline Personality Disorder, although I never
explicitly say the name of the disorder in the book. I’ve been fascinated at how readers are
trying to figure out exactly what she has.
I didn’t realize it’d matter so much to them! Perhaps future editions will include an
author’s note explaining what Frieda has.
In any case, people with BPD have
a different sized amygdala than the rest of the population. The amygdala regulates emotions, so a key
aspect of the illness is that they feel things more strongly. The DSM IV (the manual psychiatrists use to
help them diagnose mental illnesses) lists nine aspects of the illness. A person must exhibit five in order to be
diagnosed. If you or your readers are
interested, you can see the full listing here, but the primary ones that you see in
Frieda are unstable emotions (particularly anxiety and depression),
self-injury, disassociation, and unstable interpersonal relationships.
Obviously since the virus only
doesn’t affect those with a mental illness, my main character had to have
one. I chose BPD because it is more
complex than some others, and I wanted readers to realize that mental illness
*is* a complex thing. I also chose it
for those who have it to see a positive reflection of themselves in
literature. Most movies and literature
demonize people with BPD, and that is just a reaction to the discomfort of not
understanding someone.
Beyond just the fact that Frieda
had to have a mental illness in order to be a survivor, her illness plays into
every single decision she makes. Her
illness is what made her be at home the day of the outbreak and thus safe from
being eaten by zombies. Her illness gave
her anxiety to such a level before the outbreak that she was actually
moderately well-prepared for an apocalypse due to her “irrational” fears. Her intense love for her cat is also what
sends her on her dangerous mission across the city that is the catalyst for a
lot of the action in the book.
I'm a zombie fanatic so I'd like
to take this time in the interview to ask you some fun flesh flavored
questions.
If you found yourself in the
middle of a zombie outbreak and the only weapon you had to defend yourself with
was the item directly to your right... how screwed would you be? (I would be
pretty screwed as mine would be a water bottle lol)
Hehe, mine is my reusable coffee
mug...so I wouldn’t be any better off than you!
No but seriously, what would be
your weapon of choice in a zombie outbreak?
A hatchet. It takes away the noise factor of guns but
you don’t have to get as close as Frieda does with her kitchen knife!
Favorite zombie flick?
Sugar Hill. It’s a 1974 blaxploitation film in which the
main character takes revenge for her boyfriend’s death by calling up a voodoo
god and getting a gang of zombies together to attack the gang responsible. It
is amazing.
What was your favorite thing
about writing a zombie book?
Going for walks and imagining
what my city would look like overrun by zombies!
Finally, do you have any advice
for aspiring authors looking to self-publish?
Be persistent and believe in
yourself and your writing. The hardest thing about self-publishing is the
people out there who believe every single self-published book is bad. This is not true! But you will have to stand
up for yourself and your work. Not in an
aggressive way, but in a brave I’m going to put myself out there and let the
haters hate way. You’ll have to grow a
thick skin and just hope that with your work will somehow find the right
readers for it. Writing the book is
easy. Putting it together for the various distribution requirements (Amazon,
Smashwords, CreateSpace) and tossing it out there is really hard. Harder than I expected. Prepare yourself for
that. Also, never ever ever respond to reviews, whether positive or negative.
It will always make you look bad.
Unfortunately, self-published authors actually do have to look at some
of the reviews to at least gather up quotes to use in marketing. It’s
unavoidable. But don’t respond. Be ready
to close your computer and go drink some wine with some friends. :-)
Thank you, Amanda for indulging
me!
Thank you for having me!
Synopsis
What is normal?Frieda has never felt normal. She feels every emotion too strongly and lashes out at herself in punishment. But one day when she stays home from work too depressed to get out of bed, a virus breaks out turning her neighbors into flesh-eating, brain-hungry zombies. As her survival instinct kicks in keeping her safe from the zombies, Frieda can’t help but wonder if she now counts as healthy and normal, or is she still abnormal compared to every other human being who is craving brains?
About the Author
Amanda McNeil lives in Boston in a funky attic apartment that used to be a servant's quarters. She, alas, must write by night and work by day. She writes scifi, urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and horror and has been strongly influenced by Stephen King, Margaret Atwood, and Chuck Palahniuk.Her first book, Ecstatic Evil, was released on July 7, 2011. Its sequel is set during American Thanksgiving and the release date is not set yet.Her second book, Waiting for Daybreak, about a woman with Borderline Personality Disorder attempting to survive a zombie-like virus outbreak in Boston, was released on June 4, 2012.You may contact Amanda at opinionsofawolf@gmail.com and find her online at her blog where she also maintains an up-to-date listing of her published short stories
Connect with Amanda!
Amazon, Author's Blog, Author's Twitter, GoodReads, LibraryThing, Pinterest
Giveaway Details
1. Be a follower of Wickedly Bookish
2. Provide a valid email address
3. Be 16 years old or older
4. Fill out the Rafflecopter below
No comments:
Post a Comment