Contaminated

My new novel (on the short side at 65,000 words) is now out from Severed Press.

The cover art is by the wonderful Gary McCluskey.

http://www.amazon.com/Contaminated-Zombie-Survival-Novel-ebook/dp/B008PONZPK/ref=sr_1_31?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1343508173&sr=1-31&keywords=contaminated

Meet Tracie McBride - Author of "Ghosts Can Bleed"

Okay, Tracie.  This is a little Q & A to get to know a little more about you and thicken up those stalker portfolios.

1 – Milk or dark chocolate?

 Dark for cooking, milk for scoffing. 

2 – What are your feelings in reference to LEGO’s?

You’re talking about the little plastic building block thingies, right?  I have three kids, so I don’t get to have feelings about Lego; I just have to buy the stuff.  You want to talk to my husband about that, though – he still has all his original and intact Lego sets from his childhood.

3 – I know a lot of people as what the favorites are in regard to horror movies, but my question to

you...what is your favorite comedy and why?

I’m going to go old school and say Monty Python’s Life of Brian.  Anecdotal evidence suggests that it’s the most quoted blasphemous comedy movie in existence.  And it has a catchy theme tune.

4 – What is the story/novel you are most proud of?

No novels yet (that’s on my Plan for World Domination for 2012), but my favourite short story is Baptism.  It’s currently sitting at Number 1 over at www.patronquo.com and  will be reprinted in 2012 in Horror For Good: A Charitable Anthology alongside stories by such horror greats as Joe McKinney, Ramsay Campbell and Jack Ketchum.

5 – What is the most interesting thing you have learned?

What, like ever in my entire life?  That’s too hard.  Most interesting thing I learned today was never to feed the leftover Christmas ham to the dog; not unless you have a gas mask and are prepared to wear it.

6 – Do you do a lot of research for your writing?

Short answer – no.  Long answer – nope.  I’m quite lazy when it comes to research, which is why I like to write about things, places  and people that reside only in my imagination.

7 – Tell me about the collection you have with Dark Continents?

“Ghosts Can Bleed” is a collection of most of my published short fiction and poetry from 2005 to 2010.  41 pieces covering the range of speculative fiction – horror, fantasy and science fiction – and all bite-sized, with no one story longer than 5000 words.  According to one reviewer, it’s perfect for reading while waiting for your weekly appointment with your shrink.

8 – How do you like to tell a story? Character driven, location of importance, or something else entirely?

For me, a story often starts from a small seed – an unusual turn of phrase, a snippet from a dream, something I’ve read in a newspaper article – and I build the story out around it, fitting characters and plot to until it all starts to make some kind of crazy sense.  I like to experiment with form, point of view and voice, which you can get away with more easily in a short story.   For example, a story I have forthcoming in Dagan Book’s Fish Anthology is written in three alternating viewpoints, with each viewpoint character an unreliable narrator, so the reader is left to ponder on which character, if any, is telling the truth.

9 – What kind of music do you listen to when writing?

I don’t.  When I’m in The Zone, I don’t hear anything.

10 – What is the most difficult thing you find about being a writer?

Finding the time to do it.  Actually, that’s not quite accurate – if I could just figure out how to function without sleep, then I’d have plenty of time.  Servants would help, too.

11 – Something about you that no one would believe.

In my teens, I was briefly a bikini model.

12 – Okay, now promote yourself here, what else have you done that you would like people to know about?

If you head on over to my Amazon Author page at http://www.amazon.com/Tracie-McBride/e/B005FD2VTA/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1, you’ll see a list of all the publications currently readily available that contain my work.  Otherwise, I’m quite proud of my blog, ‘cos I made it all on my own self.  It’s here at traciemcbridewriter.wordpress.com.  That’s also the first stop if you want to be kept updated on any new work I have coming out – currently I have 16 poems and short stories scheduled for publication in 2012.

Also - 

April Fool

An Interview with A.A. Garrison about his new book "The End of Jack Cruz" and simian like toes...

Okay, A.A. Garrison. This is a little Q & A to get to know a little more about you and thicken up those stalker portfolios.

http://www.amazon.com/The-End-Jack-Cruz-Garrison/dp/0982280939/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341175443&sr=8-1&keywords=the+end+of+jack+cruz

1 – Milk or dark chocolate?

Unsweetened Baker's Dark Chocolate, straight from the cute little papers it comes in. Good antioxidants in that stuff.

2 – What are your feelings in reference to LEGO’s?

They frustrated me as a child, but I've forgiven them.

3 – I know a lot of people ask what the favorites are in regard to horror movies, but my question to

you...what is your favorite drama comedy and why?

My favorite would be the one I've never seen. Movies mistreated me as a child, and, unlike LEGO's, I have yet to forgive this.

4 – What is the story/novel you are most proud of?

<plug> That would be my one published novel, The End of Jack Cruz, now available from Montag Press. 

5 – What is the most interesting thing you have learned?

That it is entirely possible that our reality is a simulation.

6 – Do you do a lot of research for your writing?

I have a stark aversion to any research I cannot conduct within the sandbox of my imagination. So, to answer your question, no.

7 – Tell me about the novels you have written?

There is a conspiracy amongst the world's publishers not to publish them, except for Montag Press, who would be like the tragic patriot of publishers, risking punishment or death for daring to harbor my words, with agents of this conspiracy under every rock and behind every tree, wielding devilish editor-weapons made from the guts of old typewriters, a clever network of tubes shuttling them around the globe, surveillance performed by way of ingenious anti-gravity devices that can steal your heart, "You want the truth? You can't handle the truth!"

8 –If you could not write, what would be your artistic outlet?

Playing the drums or the bass guitar.

9 – How do you like to tell a story? Character driven, location of importance, or something else entirely?

Typically, the third choice. Which, in my case, would be the imaginative component. Maybe it's just because I crave imaginative writing, but that's the measure of whether I consider my story successful.

10– What kind of music do you listen to when writing?

None. It's too distracting. Now, when I'm brainstorming ideas for writing ... any and all music.

11 – What is the most difficult thing you find about being a writer?

Quenching my ego's thirst for an uncommon amount of fame and money. Writer's block is difficult.

12 – Something about you that no one would believe.

I am adept at manipulating objects with my toes. Like, a simian level of proficiency. I would win contests for this, were there contests for this.

13 – Unicorns or dragons?

Dragons, because there's no such thing as unicorns.

13 – Okay, now promote yourself here, what else have you done that you would like people to know about?

Would you believe that, ignoring the agility of my toes, my novel is the crowning achievement of my life? I suppose I could promote my blog, synchroshock.blogspot.com, in which I've written about some interesting coincidences I have experienced.