Summer of Zombie Blog Tour 2014: Thomas M. Malafarina

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Thomas M. Malafrina on The Blogshit today. He writes about these monsters called zombies. They are reanimated corpses that walk around trying to eat living corpses. Heard of 'em? 

You wanna know more? He has a metric ton of 'a's in his last name. Still hungry for more? Read the interview damnit!

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

Thomas M. Malafarina:  I’d be a survivor; at least for a while. I suspect something as mundane like a common cold or bronchitis would take me long before a zombie even got a chance. (I don’t have the strongest constitution when it comes to colds.) Then I suspect I’d be a lurching runny-nose coughing zombie spewing gunk all over the street.

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

Thomas M. Malafarina:  It is the first book in my Dead Kill series, appropriately called “Dead Kill Book 1: The Ridge Of Death.” It’s published by Sunbury Press (www.SunburyPress.com) and is available in paperback, Kindle and Nook.

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

Thomas M. Malafarina:  I suspect progressive since I strive to create new scenarios others may not have thought of previously. (I bore easily.)

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

Thomas M. Malafarina:  In “Dead Kill Book 1” the zombies act like most zombies (slow, clumsy and hungry) but their numbers have been reduced to the point where they are no longer a major threat to man; just an deadly annoyance.

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

Thomas M. Malafarina:  They are just regular people thrust into an unimaginable set of circumstances. They are reluctant heroes. In my book, the world is on the way back from the brink of extinction but there are still plenty of dangers from both the undead and man as well. There are a lot of new ideas in this book which I don’t believed have been touched on before. Hence, the reason I decided to make it a series rather than a single novel.

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?

Thomas M. Malafarina:  That’s not really an issue for me. I’ve never run with the pack and never will. If you aren’t the lead dog, the scenery never changes.

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?

Thomas M. Malafarina:  As long as there are creative minds, there will always be room for good stand-alone stories. This is my first zombie novel. I’ve written about 5 or 6 zombie short stories; all cool and all different. At one point, I had no intention of ever writing a zombie story and most certainly not a zombie novel. But I decided if I could find a way to do something different then I would. So I did.

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

Thomas M. Malafarina:  Not at all. Zombies are just one aspect of horror for me. I write about whatever horror happens to be on my mind at the time; it could be ghosts, demons, vampires, werewolves, humans or whatever I feel like. If somebody wants to pigeon hole me that’s fine with me. I’ll still write whatever I choose.

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?

Thomas M. Malafarina:  A little of both. Sicker is great for color (and I sure do love sicker) but you always need a good story so smarter is essential.

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?

Thomas M. Malafarina:  God I hate pickles! In fact, I pretty much hate all vegetables. I’m a major meat-a-terian and I love everything grilled and burned. So I suppose I would have to eat my zombie sandwich, well done, burnt to a crisp with no traces of leaking puss or limp flesh. I’d probably want to scrape off the fried maggots and blowflies as well.

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Publisher: www.SunburyPress.com

On The Web:  http://www.thomasmmalafarina.com/

On Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Ridge-Death-Dead-Kill-Book-ebook/dp/B00K7GBWCM/