Postcard For Reader

Interview: Jonathan Maberry

Visiting WORD today is the one, the only Jonathan Maberry!

Jon has written lots of books. LOTS of books. (I mean, just LOOK.) But his latest is a book of much interest to the YA community - a post apocalyptic zombie novel. Now, I'm not a big zombie fan, but I have to admit that this doesn't sound half bad.

In the zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic America where Benny Imura lives, every teenager must find a job by the time they turn fifteen or get their rations cut in half. Benny doesn't want to apprentice as a zombie hunter with his boring older brother Tom, but he has no choice. He expects a tedious job whacking zoms for cash, but what he gets is a vocation that will teach him what it means to be human.

Sounds pretty epic, doesn't it?

Check out my interview with Jon below the cut. We talk about the inspiration for Rot and Ruin, the Writers Coffeehouse, and super epic video games!

Nicole: Hi, Jon! Welcome to WORD. Now, how did you come up with the idea for Rot & Ruin?
Jonathan Maberry: It’s complicated. The idea of wanting to write about growing up in a post apocalyptic world has been cooking in my head since I first read Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend when I was fourteen. The desire to write a novel about a teenager dealing with a zombie apocalypse has been on the burner even longer – since I was ten, which is when NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD first premiered in theaters. Yes, that means I’m older than dirt; and yes, it means that I snuck in to see a movie that I shouldn’t have seen at that age.

However, it wasn’t until I was approached by editor Christopher Golden to contribute a story for the zombie anthology The New Dead (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2010) that both things coalesced into one. Chris wanted each of the contributors to do something a little ‘different’. Something new. I’d never read a story like the one that had been cooking in my head all these years, so that’s what I wrote. The story was called “Family Business” and was pretty well received by reviewers who took a look at The New Dead. The whole anthology is awesome, and I highly recommend it.

Thing is... that story was not intended for teens. The anthology is definitely not for teens.

My agent, the wonderful Sara Crowe, suggested that I expand the storyline and when I gave her the outline for a novel and a possible sequel, she shopped it around. We got several very nice offers, and ultimately decided on Simon & Schuster.

While writing the book, I got the chance to do one more thing that’s been cooking inside of me. I wanted to tell a story about the zombies themselves. They may have been turned into monsters by some catastrophe (a plague, radiation, who knows?) but they were all people once. To forget that is to detach from our own humanity. In Rot and Ruin, Benny learns a lot about zombies and who they once were.

N: How was writing Rot and Ruin different than writing your other novels?
JM: Very liberating. I don’t have to worry about the novel fitting into a genre or sub-genre. The teen fiction market is much more open to experimentation and cross-genre writing. I wrote the best story I could and had fun doing it.

I read a lot of YA and teen fiction and I’ve developed a great appreciation for what authors are doing.

In terms of structure, Rot and Ruin has less explicit language than my adult thrillers; no graphic sex, and the protagonist is a teen. That’s really the man difference between a teen novel and one for adults.

N: What is ONE PIECE of writing advice that you would offer young novelists?
JM: Write every single day. No exceptions. No excuses. Even if it’s half a page, write it down. Every day.

N: Who is your favorite character in Rot & Ruin?
JM: Definitely Benny. When we first meet him he’s a moody crouch. He’s immature for his age, and kind of comes off as a spoiled brat. I can relate. I had some moments like that myself. Mine were a little earlier, but the effect was the same. But as we move through Rot & Ruin we see that Benny’s attitudes come from the fact that he’s hurt, he’s damaged by a traumatic experience when he was two. It isn’t until he’s taken out of his normal routine and given the opportunity to face the world as it really is that Benny has a chance to heal from that hurt. His healing, and the resulting maturing are core to the story. It’s not just a coming of age story –this is about learning the value of human life, and to understand that a person first has to understand the value of his own life.

That’s what happens to Benny, and that’s why I love the character. We grew up together.

N: If you were attacked by a zombie, what weapon would you use?
JM: I favor the katana, the traditional sword of the Samurai. I’ve been practicing and teaching jujutsu and kenjutsu (Japanese swordsmanship) for 46 years. If I have a katana with me, there had better be a whole lotta zoms, otherwise I’m outta here.

N: Damn. You wanna teach me? *laughs* You lose a bet and have to die your hair some sort of eccentric color. What color do you choose?
JM: Shocking red. My family is from Scotland and my uncles, aunts and cousins are all redheads; but the American branch somehow wound up with brown hair. What’s that about? I’d like to go crazy red to make up for it.

N: You run the Writers Coffeehouse, "a free three-hour networking session for writers of all genres and levels of skill." What inspired you to start that? Do you have a favorite part about running it?
JM: For a large part of my writing career I was a solo act. I wrote magazine articles, greeting cards, plays, and college textbooks... but I really didn’t know any other writers. Then I went to a writers conference (the Philadelphia Writers Conference, 2001) and met a slew of other writers. It was such an invigorating experience and I found that by being around other writers I became a better writer. It’s weird, but I’ve seen it happen to many others since. Maybe we’re vampires who feed off each other, but if so…it’s a healthy swap of energy.

In 2005 I was asked to become Executive Director of The Writers Room, a nonprofit writers education center in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. While I was there I saw more of the benefits of writers working as a community. After all... while doing the actual writing we spend a crazy amount of time sitting alone with our computers. A writing community allows us – forces us, really— to come out of our shell.

I started the Writers Coffeehouse there and at first we had five or six people. Over the years it’s grown, and eventually outgrown several locales. Now we’re hosted by the Willow Grove Barnes & Noble and we average fifty to seventy people per session. The people who attend range from absolute beginners to New York Times bestsellers. It’s held on the last Sunday of every month, from noon to three. No fees, everyone is welcome.

N:You're magically zapped into a video game of your choosing. Which video game and why?
JM: Snood. It’s the only one I know how to play. I know... that’s tragic.

Rot and Ruin is in stores now! Don't forget to check it out - and thanks for stopping by WORD, Jon!