Winter of Zombie 2015: John O'Brien

You're reading Books, Beer and BLOGshit! Its the only blog on the internet that hunts zombies with its bare hands! I am your coagulated blood handed host, Mr. Frank!

Today, author John O'Brien makes his triumphant return to the BLOGshit. He is a regular to the BLOGshit on both the Winter and Summer of Zombie blog tours and we always look forward to him like he's Santa Claus with a gun. John O'Brien is a preeminant force in the zombie fiction world and we always look forward to what he has to say in this, the Books, Beer and BLOGshit Winter of Zombie 2015 interview.

BANG!

The Blogshit: Let’s cut to the chase, what are you promoting for the Winter of Zombie?

John O'Brien:  I recently published another set of short stories set within the fictional world created with A New World.  The title is, A New World: Untold Stories 2.

The Blogshit: It’s rarely ever talked about, but how do you envision the outcome of the zombie world you have created? Is there hope? Will humanity succumb to the new world order? What is the outcome of all this horrible zombie business?

John O'Brien:  It could go either way and there’s always hope that humanity will survive in some capacity.  But it’s a huge uphill struggle.  The odds are pretty bad.  As the series began, the odds were 7 night runners for every single survivor.  That very quickly dropped off into staggering odds as humanity vanished under the wave of hunting night runners.  So, we’ll have to see what happens.

The Blogshit: As a writer of zombie fiction, do you feel you can sustain your career writing about zombies only or do you feel you will need to write outside the sub-genre to continue? What avenues will you branch out to if you do feel a need to expand?

John O'Brien:  I’m not sure about this, honestly.  I feel that I could sustain it with stories in the same genre, but eventually those would overlap.  There are only so many different things that can happen.  So, I will eventually write outside of the genre and have a few stories in mind to do just that.  I will most likely branch out into the military thriller and fantasy genres.

This is NOT the John O'Brien you're looking for.

The Blogshit: What is more important to the story: A sympathetic human survivor or a zombie with an interesting storyline?

John O'Brien:  The most important thing in my opinion is to have a character that people can relate to.  One that seems real in their thinking and actions.  Mistakes will be made and they can’t be perfect all of the time.  So, to me, it doesn’t matter whether that would be a zombie or survivor.  I just need for them to be three dimensional and seem real.

The Blogshit: For you, who are the most important writers in zombie fiction at this moment?

John O'Brien:  You mean besides me?  Haha…I’m so kidding there.  To be honest, there are a lot of great writers out there in the genre.  It’s difficult to give name to any one or two.

THIS is the John O'Brien you're looking for.

The Blogshit: Is there room for sex in the zombie apocalypse?

John O'Brien:  I think there’s room for it, if it’s done appropriately and not the focus.  After all, the characters are in a stress-filled environment.  Post-adrenaline, shared tense encounters, and the closeness each survivor will share will naturally lead to that.  I chose not to be descriptive or have that in the series, but it will be prevalent in any situation of that kind.

The Blogshit:  How much consideration do you give to the seasons in your zombie stories?

John O'Brien:  Well, I try to keep everything as realistic as possible.  I mean, it is fiction.  However, each season brings a different challenge to the mix so I keep that in mind when keeping track of the story line in my head.

The Blogshit: Our final question always revolves around zombie themed food. This Winter of Zombie, Books, Beer and BLOGshit wants you to consider setting up a food truck to cater to a zombie clientele. What would you name your Zombie Food Truck?

John O'Brien:  Brain Apetit

Whether you’ve been freshly raised or have been stumbling around the block for a while, you’ll appreciate our specialties. Tired of Mexican or Asian? We carry only the finest and specialize in celebrity cold cuts. Try our leg of Tufo sandwich. Cold outside? Of course it is — you’re undead. Order our famous Armand chili. Have your own kill? Bring them in and throw it on our open grill. Leave your legs behind, we cater.  Whatever you crave, don’t moan. We have what you need. 

John O'Brien
Author of the series, A New World

Author page: http://www.amazon.com/John-OBrien/e/B005IDEPP0/
Web site: http://anewworldseries.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/A_NewWorld
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorJohnWOBrien
Merchandise store:
http://zazzle.com/anewworldsupplies

http://www.cafepress.com/anewworldseries

Winter of Zombie 2014: John O'Brien

You're reading Books, Beer and Blogshit! It's the only blog that's a day late and a dollar short! We are your blog hosts, Mr. Frank and Mr. Jeff!

This, the second to last interview on the Winter of Zombie Blog Tour 2014, features a seminal guest on the seasonal tours, writer John O'Brien. John has been to The Blogshit more times than we can shake a stick at... and we can shake a stick at a lot of blog appearances.

The best part? He somehow always has something new to say and always has new material to talk about. He is one of those machines of a writer. Even in the dead of winter, he keeps chugging along. Just watch:

The Blogshit:  Welcome to the Winter of Zombie Blog Tour stop at Books, Beer and Blogshit. Do you have new tales to tell in the dead of winter 2014?
John O'Brien:  I released the 10th book in the series last in late August, A New World: Storm. I’ll be working on another set of short stories which will hopefully be ready by mid-December.

The Blogshit:  Have your zombies had to face a freezing cold winter yet? If so, how do your particular breed of zombies react to cold, harsh winters?
John O'Brien:  The timeline of the series takes the story from the beginning of summer to late Fall. However, there is a part of the story that encompasses northern Canada and the night runners aren’t able to sustain themselves with the short nights and freezing temperatures.
The Blogshit:  Does or will, Winter figure into your zombie world or do you figure what you will tackle will be unaffected biologically or geographically?
John O'Brien:  The night runners are affected by the cold temperatures in the northern climates. Most of the story takes place during the warmer months and in the US, so the climate doesn’t figure into it
much.
The Blogshit:  Do you yourself live in a part of the world that is affected by the cold of winter?

John O'Brien:  In the western part of the northwest, the climate is pretty mild for most of the year. There are freezing temperatures at night and for about two weeks during the year, we have snowfall.
Some freezing at night, but that’s about it. book in the series last in late August, A New World: Storm. I’ll be working on

The Blogshit:   In the summertime we talk about zombie sandwiches. We think in the winter it’s time to talk about zombie ice cream. What crazy zombie inspired ice cream flavor can you come up with?


John O'Brien:  Well, the ice cream itself has to be especially made. You first have to capture a lactating night runner and add...wait, that’s just not right. I could come up with an ice cream sandwich joke, but I’ll spare you that one as well. And ice cream isn’t a joke. Very serious business.

John O'Brien
Author of the series, A New World

Author page: http://www.amazon.com/John-OBrien/e/B005IDEPP0/

Web site: http://anewworldseries.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/A_NewWorld

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorJohnWOBrien

Merchandise store: http://zazzle.com/anewworldsupplies

http://www.cafepress.com/anewworldseries

Summer of Zombie Blog Tour - John O'Brien

You're reading Books, Beer and Blogshit! It's the only blog that's daring enough to take on a zombie orgy! We are your bloggers, Mr. Frank and Mr. Jeff.

The second annual Summer of Zombie Blog tour is going to plow through this blog like a horde of zombies. Listeners of the Books, Beer and Bullshit podcast may recall our recent interview with Todd Brown (Episode 16) which ultimately served as the catalyst to relaunch the Summer of Zombie blog tour for 2013. The original SoZ Blog Tour also was how we made our acquaintance with podcast favorite, Armand Rosamilia, who organizes the now annual event.

This summer there are NINE authors featured on the tour. You can count on familiar faces stopping in here at The Blogshit, but there are going to be many great new faces as well. Including our kickoff interview with author John O'Brien who was a veteran of the original SoZ Blog Tour. 

There are nine authors, so there are nine questions.  Each author received the same questions. So without further adieu let's take a look at how each author handles the infamous Books, Beer and Blogshit interview. Take it away John O'Brien!

The Blogshit: Which of your books do we need to be talking about now and what is inside the pages to get excited about it?

John O'Brien: I recently published the seventh book in the series, A New World. A New World: Takedown furthers the adventures of Jack Walker and the small group of survivors as they struggle through their daily survival. The sixth book, A New World: Dissension, left with Lynn going down under a swarm of night runners. Jack is off looking for other remnants of humankind and encounters several strange situations only to return to find out about Lynn. He then sets off to find her. I’ll leave the rest to the reader to find out what happens.

The Blogshit: What is it about zombies that keep you writing in this genre?

John O'Brien: Zombies add an additional level of challenge to a survival situation in a post-apocalyptic world. They are a relentless force that invades the psyche 24/7.

The Blogshit: With the saturation of zombie fiction in the current market, what do you do to keep your writing fresh and relevant?

John O'Brien: For one thing, I generally don’t read anything within the same genre in order not to subconsciously take or use other author’s ideas. While the creatures themselves may introduce anything new, it is the group dynamics, the characters, and the situations which lend itself to a myriad of different scenarios.

For myself, I chose to go outside of the norm for the creatures and created an entirely different sort. Night runners are a genetically altered species of humankind that prowl the night streets in search of prey. So, technically, they aren’t really zombies at all. And, their abilities are growing.

I also think about different scenarios and interactions people in a post-apocalyptic world might face. Zombies, or night runners in this case, aren’t the only dangerous creatures.

The Blogshit: What makes your zombies stand apart from all the others?

John O'Brien: I mentioned in the previous reply, the night runners are a genetically altered species which makes them faster, stronger, and more agile. They hunt in packs during the night hours and communicate in a much different manner – I can’t give away too many spoilers here. They are ferocious and persistent in their endeavor to hunt down prey. Humankind has taken a step down the food chain.

The Blogshit: Do you write (or plan to write) outside the zombie genre?

John O'Brien: I’m not sure whether I will or not. I have a couple of series in mind after A New World eventually concludes. And that may be some time yet as there are several more books planned for the current series.

The Blogshit:  Do you think the mega hype around the movie adaptation of World War Z will have a positive or negative effect on the zombie fiction scene?

John O'Brien: I personally don’t see how World War Z will have anything but a positive effect on the genre. Although it doesn't follow the book and the zombies in the movie are the exact opposite of the one’s depicted in Max’ books, it will be an exciting movie to watch. And it will cross into other genres as well, pulling some of them into the Z genre.

The Blogshit: Is there a need for attrition in the zombie fiction market?

John O'Brien: I’m not sure what you mean by attrition, but I think the advent of indie authoring has brought many talented writers to the forefront and advanced the genre by leads and bounds. It provides the readers with an endless supply of their favorite reading.

The Blogshit: What do you see in the future of zombies, both on the page and off?

John O'Brien: I think the zombie genre will continue to grow. It has already entered the mainstream market from its once niche market place and will continue to fill it. More events, conventions, and other activities will continue to increase. As with any genre, it will reach a peak and plateau but that plateau will continue to be a high one – surpassing the others.

The Blogshit: We are building a menu for a fictional sandwich shop. Typically we ask what to put on the namesake of your sandwich. For the Summer of Zombie Blog Tour we are going to set aside a special menu sub-section so: What do we put on your zombiefied sandwich?


John O'Brien: Dead flesh and lots of it… in this case we’ll have to use our basic substitutes.
First off, bacon is a requirement for any sandwich so you’ll have to pile plenty of it on. After that, anything will work.

This man did NOT write Leaving Las Vegas

There he is the brave John O'Brien! John's work features a sort of alternate creature to the classic zombie. His series, as he said is now seven books in. Definitely take at look at John O'Brien if your looking for something a bit left of center in your zombie fiction. John O'Brien is extremely approachable via the internet. Here is some additional background and a plethora of links to find all things O'Brien...

John O’Brien Biography

John O'Brien is a former Air Force fighter instructor pilot who transitioned to Special Operations for the latter part of his career gathering his campaign ribbon for Desert Storm. Immediately following his military service, John became a firefighter/EMT with a local department. Along with becoming a firefighter, he fell into the Information Technology industry starting two large casinos in Washington as the Information Technology Manager and becoming the Network Manager for the Washington State Legislature, the Northwest Information Technology Manager for the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Network Systems Manager for Hollywood Video.

Currently, John is writing full-time on the series, A New World. As a former marathon runner, John lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest and can now be found kayaking out in the waters of Puget Sound, mountain biking in the Capital Forest, hiking in the Olympic Peninsula, or pedaling his road bike along the many scenic roads.


John O’Brien Links

Web Site

http://anewworldseries.com/

Facebook Profile

http://www.facebook.com/JohnWBOBrien

Twitter

http://twitter.com/#!/A_NewWorld

Amazon author page

http://www.amazon.com/John-OBrien/e/B005IDEPP0

Books

A New World: Chaos

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004W0CL2Y

A New World: Return

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005OSXDE8

A New World: Sanctuary

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006PY6ZAY

A New World: Taken

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007NP3XUE

A New World: Awakening

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008NFNN5S/