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Interview with Armand Rosamilia and Contest!

Today I'm welcoming horror writer Armand Rosamilia, author of Dying Days.


Tell us about Dying Days.

Dying Days is my extreme zombie series, centered around Darlene Bobich, a regular woman trying to survive. So far three books have been released, and there are many more to come. As long as readers keep responding to them. While the themes might be dark and graphic, at the core of the stories is a human just like you and me, who cries, has panic attacks, and isn't superhuman. Unless you're superhuman, in which case, ignore what I said.

What is up with pop culture's obsession with zombies? It doesn't seem to be waning at all. Why do you think that is?

Eventually (sooner than later) it will go away, but right now we're in a great time as a zombie writer and reader. With the end of the world coming right before Christmas (and we'll have already spent all our money on presents - nice job, Mayan Calendar!) the apocalypse is in our thoughts, on every History and Discovery Channel program, and in our videogames. But, like everything else, it will fade. The Walking Dead season seven will be lambasted for not killing teenage Carl already, there will be three network comedy shows starring zombies, and Brendan Fraser will make six bad zombie movies in a row. Then the world will indeed end.

Who do you look to for inspiration as a writer? The great masters of horror? Or is there an incongruous author you cite as an influence?

My favorites growing up were Dean Koontz and Robert E. Howard. I read a ton of others but those two set the foundation for me as a writer. But I read all the time, and not just horror. Mostly horror. Writers like Scott Nicholson, Joe McKinney, Brian Keene, John Everson, JA Konrath, and W.D. Gagliani are my favorites right now, but who knows what new author I'll discover?

Your site says Dying Days is going to be made into an independent film. What is that process like?

It's like pulling teeth, and that has nothing to do with Reality's Edge Films. When we decided to work together on the project, one of the stipulations was for me to write the first draft of the screenplay and then have final say. No big deal, right? It would be around 100 pages and I wrote a dozen pages of fiction a day with no problem. Plus, it was only taking the basic story of Dying Days and making it into a script. The plot and dialogue were all there! All I had to do was cut and paste the book into a screenplay format and we have ourselves a movie. Only it doesn't work that way. Script writing is so alien and different for me that I had to step back, study it, and start from scratch. I find it harder to write, but in the end it will be great. I hope.

What book of yours do you love the most? Why?

If I had to pick one, it would be Death Metal. It was my first release through another company in January 2009, right before the explosion of Amazon and eBooks. It was only sold on the company's website and a defunct horror book selling site, so it didn't do well. But for me it was a great experience to write it, edit it, and have a print copy in my hand. It was promoted as an urban horror novella, but I'm not sure what that is. It's horror but there's nothing supernatural and it's more of a horror thriller, if I had to tag it. I re-released it through Rymfire Books last year and its still available and doing quite well with sales. Someday I'd like to swing back around and do the sequel to it. Until then…

 Music when you write or no?

Sometimes, if I'm working on a specific chapter or scene, I'll put something on that fits the mood. I'm 42 and grew up on 80's Metal, so there's always Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Manowar, Slayer and Anthrax playing. For really gruesome scenes (especially zombie) I'll put on some hardcore music from my teens like Bad Religion, Black Flag, Minor Threat, Bad Brains or Dead Kennedys. For love scenes? Light a candle, some Barry White… nah, just kidding…

Thanks for the interview! I hope it piques some interest to actual read some of my work! If not, I hope it piques interest to read another author's work!

I can be found on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Armand-Rosamilia/e/B004S48J6G/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

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Want to know more about the Dying Days series? Want to win free eBooks and maybe print books of them? My contest is simple: e-mail me at armandrosamilia (at) gmail (dot) com with DYING DAYS in the subject line and I'll enter you into the daily giveaway… Also, post a comment here and you get another chance… follow my blog at http://armandrosamilia.com for yet another chance, and friend me on Twitter (@ArmandAuthor) and simply post DYING DAYS to me, and you'll get another shot… nice and easy, right? If I get enough people joining in the giveaway there will be a print book given away that day!

Dying Days series information can be found here: http://armandrosamilia.com/dying-days-series/

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