VBT: Mad World: Epidemic

Hello, and welcome to my blog! Today, I'm interviewing Samaire Provost. 

Tell me about yourself, and your writing.

I write in the afternoon and evening. I am a huge night owl so I do my best work between the hours of 6pm and midnight. I have my best ideas usually late at night when I'm winding down, maybe around 2-3am. I keep my iPad by me at all times so I can write down any brainstorm ideas I have. I already have ideas & notes for my next dozen books, which hopefully I will get out in the next 1-2 years.

How long have you been writing? How many published books do you have, and what genres?

I have been writing since before I can remember. I wrote stories when I was a young child.   I've been writing professionally for the last few years.  So far I have published 3 books.  Before I settled down to publish my novels I was a freelance writer and worked on writing textbooks for school age children.

Do you write in multiple genres or just one? If just one, do you ever consider straying outside your genre?

I write books that can span several genres, but mainly Paranormal. They could be shelved in the Young Adult section, as well as the Fantasy section of any bookstore.  And yes, I have definitely considered writing in many different genres, and I probably will before I am through.  I plan on being around for many, many decades to come.

Are you a plotter or do you write from the seat of your pants?

I plot out the general ideas, I feel I need to know where I am going, but I also write from the seat of my pants. Scenes are often written this way. Dialogue, etc.  I know where the general direction of the story must go, but I take a winding road to get there.

What is a typical writing day like for you?

Wake up around 10am.  Groggy for an hour.  Diet Pepsi a must.  Sit down at computer.  Dilly-dally around on Facebook, Twitter, Amazon & Goodreads.  Eat breakfast.  Then settle down to write.  I sometimes find it easier to write in spurts. I will write furiously for an hour or two, then take a 1/2 hr break. Then sit to write again for several hours. Then another break, maybe for dinner. Then more writing.  I have a daily word goal which I try to surpass every day.  I try to think of writing as a job, not a hobby.  I think you get more done that way.

Who do you love to read? Favorite authors, favorite books?

I love Rowling's Harry Potter series.  Madeleine L'Engle's Wrinkle In Time series.   Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, Good Omens, & Neverwhere books.  Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising series is a great favorite.  Love Stephen King.  There are so many 

What is something you'd like to accomplish in your writing career next year?

Next year is 2014 and I haven't extended my dreams past "great success" for that year.  For this year of 2013, which is just beginning, I have several plans, including bringing my books to Barnes & Noble NOOK, getting them out in Audiobook, and hitting some bestseller lists.

If you could have one paranormal ability, what would it be?

Flying.  I would love to be able to fly.

If you could keep a mythical/ paranormal creature as a pet, what would you have?

A Dragon.  Definitely.  One big enough to ride 

Tell us a little about your latest release.

My latest release is Mad World: DESPERATION, the conclusion to the Mad World series.  I think readers will be pleased with it.

What is something that you absolutely can't live without? (Other than family members)

Books.  I live on books.  They are my drug 

Could you ever co author a book with someone? If so, who would you choose, and what would you write?

I would love to co-author a book with Neil Gaiman.  I think it would be something disturbing. We both write paranormal stories, so it would be a great fit. Something incredible, otherworldly and surprising.

If you could spend a day with anyone from history, dead or alive, who would it be, and what would you do? What would you ask them?

I'd spend a day with Ray Bradbury.  I had met him and talked with him briefly a few years before he died.  I would love to spend an entire day with him, talking stories, picking his brain, and just laughing with him. He was such an amazing person.

What are some of your other hobbies outside of writing?

I love to read! I am always reading. I also like to travel, and I have a huge affinity for trees. If I visit a park, I gravitate to the trees. And yes, I am a tree hugger. Literally. 

If you were on the staff to have a book adapted to movie, what would you pick?

I would pick Gamain's Good Omens. I really love that book.

What is a talent you wish you had, but don't?

Rock climbing. I have tried, but I just don't have the talent for it. It looks like great fun, and I wish I could do it.

Favorite color?

Right now my favorite color is purple. In the past it has been green, sunbright orange, bluey-purple, and black. But right now it's purple. Like it was when I was a teenager. Back then I had my whole bedroom decorated in purple.

Weather: Hot or cold?

Stormy cold. Thunderstorms, with intermittent sleet/snow/hail. But you will find me indoors, in a comfy chair in front of the fire, with a warm, soft blanket around my legs, a good book in my hands, and hot cocoa with those little marshmallows sitting on the table next to me.

Favorite place to read?

In bed. Before sleeping, I spend hours every night reading books.

Favorite meal

Japanese Teppanyaki. Filet Mignon, tempura shrimp, fried rice, and that fire volcano of onions. 

Favorite non-alcoholic drink.

Diet Pepsi

If you could travel anywhere and do anything, no limits or money holding you back, where would you go?

I would live anywhere in the world I think I would pick Vienna, Austria. And I would travel a lot, I love to travel! I have been to Mexico, Canada, Ireland, and Israel. In the coming years I plan to add to that list a hundred-fold.

I would bring my family with me to live, and make sure we had everything necessary to make us happy and content.

And I would have Friesian horses is a stable out behind the house. The house would have a lot of land, with a forest and a stream.

BLURB: “The Black Plague is ancient history. It killed 100 million people nearly seven centuries ago, halfway around the world from the technologically advanced research center at Stanford University. Scientists there have recently begun examining samples of bone marrow from plague-infected corpses unearthed in Europe. All the necessary safeguards are in place. What could go wrong?

Alyssa and Jake are away with their class on a highly anticipated year-end trip to Broadway with their senior acting class when all hell breaks loose at home. Traveling back, and trying to find their families, they encounter deadly results. Riots are breaking out. People are being evacuated. And they have no idea what's happening to their families. 

Horrific ordeals, heart-pounding tragedy, and chance encounters harden them for what lies ahead. Faced with tormenting decisions, they're forced to follow their instinct for survival at any cost - even when the cost is a heart-wrenching decision of life or death.

A harrowing adventure of frightening discoveries, horrifying confrontations and narrow escapes in Epidemic, the first installment of the Mad World series. 

Find out what's got everyone so terrified.”

REVIEW RATING: 4 LIGHTNING BOLTS

REVIEW:  Don't groan, but I'm going to tell you something.

I read a book about zombies, and I liked it!  (Yes, I had the Katy Perry tune in my head while writing that line. Cheesy? Yes. Laugh,go ahead)

Let me tell you something else- this isn't one of those gory insane zombie stories. Mad World: Epidemic has an intriguing plot and it's so much more than zombies. This book took a lot of world building, and was done well.

Does it have gore? Yes, some. Not for the faint of heart, but it was very well done. Does it have death and somber? Yes.  What exactly drew me to this book? Well, just the way it was written. The way that I felt for the characters and the never knowing what was going to happen next. This is a different book than many that I've read. I am so glad that I have the next to read, because I'm desperate to know what happens next. 

Author Bio:


Born naked. Clothed and fed shortly thereafter by adoring parents who looked on in bemusement as their daughter became a reading, writing, free-spirited, feral, animal loving, bleeding-heart chocolate lover who laughs easily. Samaire Provost is a California writer of Young Adult novels. Her love of paranormal stories, odd plots, and unique tales as well as C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, E.A.Poe, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, and Stephen King has deeply influenced her writing.

Connect with Samaire!

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/samairep

Twitter - https://twitter.com/samaireherself

Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6453849.Samaire_Provost

Amazon author page - http://www.amazon.com/Samaire-Provost/e/B008PVTXMW

Amazon book page - http://www.amazon.com/Mad-World-Epidemic-1-ebook/dp/B008PO969O/

Blog - http://samaireprovost.tumblr.com/