Remember, you can also RSVP for and invite your friends to my release party here, and if you haven't entered the tour giveaway yet, the Girls with Books have it on their tour post below.
Oh, and the book has officially been released!
Blog Tour: Confessions of the Very First Zombie Slayer (That I Know of)
I gave this book 4 1/2 stars. This book is an awesome story about Cassie's adventure during a zombie apocalypse. There is a great balance between seriousness and humor. The book was well paced. Cassie is a determined, go-getter which makes it easy to connect with her, however; I have to admit my favorite character in this book is Norman. Norman is just adorable. He doesn't care what others think and just rolls with the punches. I highly recommend this book. You will not be disappointed.
Interview with F.J.R. Titchenell
What’s the best thing about being an author?
The writing. That’s what you get into it for after all. Getting positive responses is amazing, and I'm so happy to get to share my work and see people enjoy it, but the best part still has to be that feeling of letting a story that needs to be told out onto the page, reading it over, and being amazed it came from you.
What are your must have writing accessories?
I don't need much, just a reliable computer, flash drives for backups, and plenty of coffee. While away from the computer, I used to fill a lot of notebooks and type things up later, but now that I've got a quite decent smartphone, I mostly write on that while I'm away from home so all I have to do later is copy and paste.
There’s plenty of stuff that helps, though. Headphones for music, a cozy bathrobe, fingerless gloves for typing in the winter. My husband and I keep a whiteboard in the living room to put reminders on, and we both end up filling it with last minute thought on our projects after the computers are off for the day.
If you were writing a book about your life, what would the title be?
Hmm, Nerds and Words, maybe?
Do you have a playlist for Confessions Of The Very First Zombie Slayer (That I Know Of) ? If so, what's on it?
Normally, I have pretty full playlists for all my projects. I don't have as many songs chosen for Confessions of the Very First Zombie Slayer (That I Know of) as for most, but Cassie and Norman's song is definitely Daughtry's "Life After You," and I always had this image of the friends fighting off zombies to Death Cab for Cutie's "I Will Follow You into the Dark."
Am I the only one who hears "If heaven and hell decide / that they both are satisfied / Illuminate the nos on their vacancy signs" and can't help imagining zombies?
Is Norman's character based on someone you know?
Ooh, I'm kind of surprised no one’s asked that yet... (Click here to read the full interview)
F.J.R. Titchenell Answers the Question: Where Do You Get Your Ideas, and How Do You Stay Motivated to Finish a Book?
Short answer: Everywhere. That’s part of how I process every bit of information I encounter. Everything goes in a mental file for later use in stories. Everything.
More specific short answer: My husband.
It’s tough to admit sometimes, but it’s true. He’s my muse, my sounding board, and my brainstorm partner, and while inspiration can and does come from anywhere at any time, nothing else gets my gears turning as well and reliably as he does. When we’re working together, most of the big ideas are usually his, and I get to focus on my favorite parts, playing with our characters’ poor little psyches and getting their dialogue just right.
Confessions of the Very First Zombie Slayer (That I Know of) was my idea (though I do owe my love of zombies to Matt in the first place). The concept for this one leaped into my head seemingly out of nowhere. In other cases, when I’ve been more pressed for a new idea, I’ve often flipped through my favorite stories that have inspired me somehow, mixed a few unlikely co-influences together, added a completely new setting, and – this is the most important part – found a way to ask myself, “Why hasn’t it been done this way yet?”
Often I get there by doing things like changing up gender roles or turning common lapses in characters’ logic on their heads. That’s how you avoid being a simple rehash.
Even in my solos, though, many of my best ideas start with Matt tossing out a passing notion that I have to dig into and build on and run with.
Perfect example, one of the touches to Confessions of the Very First Zombie Slayer (That I Know of) that a lot of people get a kick out of, one of my favorite details too, is Norman spending most of the book dressed as a clown. That was Matt’s idea… sort of.
When I told Matt I was working on a YA zombie book, he made a joke about a character staying dressed as a clown all the time so if he became a zombie, he’d at least get to be a zombie clown.
I loved the idea and knew I had to use it for the male lead. I think Matt thought I was insane when I told him that. He’d meant it as a background gag, a wacky sidekick at most, not someone who would ever need to be taken seriously, but I fell so in love with Norman once I got him in costume, he was so perfect for Cassie to bounce off of, so right for the tone of the story, I knew I could never allow him to be upstaged by some straight-faced pretty boy... (Click here to read the rest of the guest post)