Interview with Pembroke Sinclair Author of LIFE AFTER THE UNDEAD

By: Meradeth Houston on 6:00 AM

The world has come to an end.  It doesn’t go out with a bang, or even a whimper.  It goes out in an orgy of blood and the dead rising from their graves to feast on living flesh.  As democracy crumples and the world melts into anarchy, five families in the U.S. rise to protect the survivors.  The undead hate a humid environment, so they are migrating westward to escape its deteriorating effects.  The survivors are constructing a wall in North Platte to keep the zombie threat to the west, while tyranny rules among the humans to the east.  Capable but naïve Krista is 15 when the first attacks occur, and she loses her family and barely escapes with her life.  She makes her way to the wall and begins a new life.  But, as the undead threat grows and dictators brainwash those she cares about, Krista must fight not only to survive but also to defend everything she holds dear—her country, her freedom, and ultimately those she loves.

(Q) Thanks for stopping by my blog! Let’s start with the basics: where are you from? Is there any place online you’d like to direct us to learn more about you? (A blog, facebook, etc.?)

I was born and raised in Wyoming.  I spend my childhood through high school in Rock Springs, then went to college and stayed in Laramie.

If you are interested in contacting me, I can be reached at pembrokesinclair @hotmail.com, and I have a blog at http://pembrokesinclair.blogspot.com/

(Q) I always love hearing about how the idea for a particular book came about. Please fill us in on how you got the idea for Life After the Undead.

This book was a dream that I developed into a short story.  I enjoyed the characters and wanted to expand on their adventures, so I turned it into a novel.  While I queried agents, one suggested that I turn it into a YA novel, so I did!

(Q) Which authors have most influenced your own writing?

Piers Anthony and Christopher Pike.  I’m sure there are more, but those are the two that stand out in my mind.

(Q) What do you do for fun other than writing?

I don’t really have time for “fun,” but I do spend my spare time hanging out with my children.

(Q) If you could describe your ideal writing spot, where would it be? What music would you listen to (if at all)? What treats would you have on hand?

Anywhere that’s quiet, and I mean dead silent.  No music.  I would have a glass of ice water, some chips, and some chocolate or maybe a cinnamon roll! (Mmm, cinnamon rolls--I shouldn't be putting this up while at Panera--I've been resisting those all afternoon!)
(Q) Plotter or pantser? Both? Neither?

Both.  I don’t make an outline, but I have a general idea of the story in my head before I begin working.  However, I let the characters take me where they need to go.
(Q) Do you have any new projects that you are working on? Care to share?

I’m constantly working on something!  I’ve been doing edits for a novella, my nonfiction book, and short story, and I always have ideas for stories in my head.

(Q) What kinds of marketing do you think are the most successful in terms of getting your name/book out there? (Curious minds are taking notes!)

I do a lot of blogging, and I have a presence on Facebook and Goodreads.  I’m not very good at keeping up with either of those, however, since I don’t have a lot of time.  I like to have things made with my book cover on it and give those away.  My favorite is key chains.  Everyone loves key chains!

I try to set up appearances at conferences or any other book-related thing that’s happening.  That hasn’t happened too often, but you have to start somewhere!

I also set up reviewers to read my book.

(Keychains! That is a really fun idea!)

(Q) How about an excerpt to tantalize the readers?

            I will never understand peoples’ fascination with the apocalypse.  Why would you waste so much time and energy worrying about something you can’t change?  Besides, most of the time, it never comes to fruition any way.  Remember Y2K?  What a hullabaloo that was.  People were so afraid that computers were going to fail and throw society back into the Dark Ages that they were stockpiling supplies and moving into the wilderness so they could get away from technology.  Why would they move to the wilderness?  If technology was going to fail, wouldn’t they be just as safe in a city?  I guess they were afraid when technology failed, everyone would go crazy and start killing each other.  Either way, it didn’t happen.  I wonder how those people felt afterward. 

Then, there was the whole 2012 scare.  This one was supposedly based on ancient prediction, so you know it was reliable.  Are you kidding?  Even the Mayans didn’t believe their own ancestors’ “vision.”  What happened was there had been a tablet that had the Mayan calendar carved into it.  The end was broken and faded, so no one knew what it said.  Our culture, being the pessimistic lot that we are, automatically assumed it was an end-of-the-world warning.  But, again, nothing happened on December 21, 2012.  Christmas came and went, and I think everyone, everywhere, even the skeptics, had a little something more to be thankful for.  Life went on as usual, and all those doomsayers faded into obscurity.

The day the world did end was pretty nondescript.  By that I mean there was no nuclear explosion or asteroid or monumental natural disaster.  There weren’t even any horseman or plagues to announce the end was coming.  The world ended fairly quietly.  I couldn’t even give you a date because it happened at different times depending on where you were in the world.  It was never predicted, and I’m sure a scenario that no one even considered.  Who really thinks the dead are going to rise from the grave and destroy the majority of the population?  No one but Hollywood, and we all know those are just movies.  But that is exactly what happened.  Those of us that survived were left wide- eyed, mouth agape, trying to figure out what to do next.

Thanks for stopping by and letting us learn some more about you and your book! I hope you all are looking forward to reading LIFE AFTER THE UNDEAD!

(I love this start!)