Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Summer of Zombie Blog Tour 2014: Claire Riley

You're reading Books, Beer and Blogshit! It's the only American blog that says, "Blimey!" I am your blog host, Mr. Frank.

We're going to go 'cross the pond for this stop on the Summer of Zombie Blog Tour. We are going to take a look at the zombie apocalypse through the mind of an authentic English lass. The ever so spunky, always so funky and reported lover of monkeys, Claire Riley.

Claire is part of the new wave of female zombie writers. She brings an edge you may not expect while still maintaining that feminine touch to her writing. The result is a style that has great appeal across the sexes. So let's take a look at how Claire Riley tackles the Books, Beer and Blogshit interview. (If you don't understand any of the words, try dropping a 'u' and it should make more sense.)




Books, Beer and Blogshit:  Are you a survivor or one of the undead?

Claire Riley:  My mouth says survivor, my brain is laughing at me and telling me I’m writing checks that my arse can’t cash.


The Blogshit:  What is your latest piece of zombie fiction we should be concerning ourselves with?

Claire Riley:  Odium II The Dead Saga


The Blogshit:  Do you feel you are a classic or progressive type of zombie fiction writer?
Claire Riley:  Progressively classic


The Blogshit:  What makes your zombies different from all others?

Claire Riley:  They’re dead. Oh no, wait. They eat people. Oh crap. Okay, I guess nothing. I do have some glorious imagery though.

Quote from Odium II: ‘Holy hell, they’re like those little Russian dolls—a body within a body. Or should I say a rotting corpse within a rotting corpse?’



The Blogshit:  What makes your living different from all the others?

Claire Riley:  I like to think that they’re very real characters. You aren’t going to like them all. Even some of the good guys. But isn’t that real life?


The Blogshit:  Do you think it's important, in this climate, to run with the pack or really try to reinvent the wheel in zombie fiction?

Claire Riley:  I think it’s best to remain true to what you want and screw everybody else. Well, don’t actually screw everyone else, not unless you’re charging anyway. Snark!


The Blogshit:  Zombie fiction seems heavily dependent upon working within the construct of a series. Do you feel that is the way that makes it work best for you, or do you think there is still room for stand alone stories?
Claire Riley:  I do think there’s room for standalones, but I think the thing is when you write a zombie book, you create an entire world, and that opens up so many doors and story avenues for the writer. It’s not like writing romance, or a ghost story or whatever. A zombie-ridden world changes everything. The entire landscape is yours for the taking. And we do. We take it and create story after story, and thus creating a series.

The Blogshit:  Are you ever afraid of being pigeon-holed in this zombie fiction genre?

Claire Riley:  Not really. I read a bit of everything, and I write a bit of everything. I have to say that my favorite is zombie fiction, and that’s a lot to do with the zombie fans and other zombie writers that make it so enjoyable. But as for being afraid of being pigeon-holed. No. I aint no pigeon, and I aint going in no daman hole.

The Blogshit:  For your next zombie story, stand alone or series, do you think you will need to go sicker or smarter to keep it going?

Claire Riley:  Neither. I intend to keep it real, keep it interesting, and keep playing to my strengths. I won’t, and don’t, write things to get progressively gorier, or for shock value, so that won’t change. I just write it as it comes, and try and keep things interesting for me. If I’m interested in it, then hopefully the reader will be.

The Blogshit:  On last year's tour, we asked about what to put on your zombie sandwich. This year, we want to know: What special ingredients would you use to pickle the pickles on your zombie sandwich?

Claire Riley:  Like what kind of sandwich I like to eat? Steak and onion sub roll please. Or did you mean a gross zombie sandwich? Cus’ if you meant the latter, I don’t roll that way (get it, roll!)





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Odium. The Dead Saga is a top #100 dystopian selling book on Amazon.com for 2013, Indie book of the day winner December 2013 and Indie Author Land 50 best self-published books worth reading 2013/14

Limerence featured book in the Guardian newspaper for best Indie novel 2013



Claire C Riley’s work is best described as the modernization of classic, old-school horror. She fuses multi-genre elements to develop storylines that pay homage to cult-classics while still feeling fresh and cutting-edge. She writes characters that are realistic and kills them without mercy.

Claire is the author of “Limerence,” “Odium. The Dead Saga,” “Odium Origins. A Dead Saga Novella Part One,” “Odium II The Dead Saga” “Odium Origins A Dead Saga Novella Part Two” a contributor to several zombie apocalypse anthologies, including the charity anthology “Let’s Scare Cancer to Death.”

Claire lives in the UK with her husband, three daughters and one scruffy dog.

Coming up in 2014 are several projects including, “Odium III The Dead Saga,” “Odium Origins A Dead Saga Novella Part Three,” “Nina’s Odium,” “Limerence II: Mia,” plus anthology contributions to several exciting projects including “Fading Hope,” “The Murderous Campbell’s,” and “State of Horror: Illinois.”

She can be stalked at any of the following.

www.clairecriley.com

https://www.facebook.com/ClaireCRileyAuthor

http://bit.ly/clairecrileyamazon/

https://twitter.com/ClaireCRiley

https://www.google.com/+ClaireCRiley

http://www.pinterest.com/clairecriley/

https://www.authorgraph.com/authors/ClaireCRiley

Purchasing links for Odium The Dead Saga

UK Amazon Link

http://bit.ly/OdiumUK

USA Amazon Link

http://bit.ly/OdiumUSA

1 comment:

  1. Awesome! Claire seems like my kinda chick :)

    ReplyDelete