1. What originally drew you to fantasy writing?
I’ve always loved fantastic fiction of all kinds -high fantasy, heroic fantasy, science fiction, horror. The first novel I ever bought was fantasy, CONAN THE WANDERER, and that was when I was ten years old (waaaaaay back in 1968). I gobbled up all of the books in that series and went looking for more. That same year I snuck into a movie theater to see the first showing of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. When I was fourteen I had the opportunity to meet and talk with a variety of top authors, including Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Avram Davidson, Lin Carter, Sprague de Camp, and others. They introduced me to the vast world of fantasy and SF. When I was fifteen I read THE HOBBIT and THE LORD OF THE RINGS for the first time. By the time I was in my twenties I had a library of horror, fantasy and science fiction that covered four whole walls and several boxes. I was a junkie of the fantastic.
I also read a lot of historical fantasy stories, from Gilgamesh to Homer to the legends of King Arthur; and I gobbled up mythology from all over the world: Norse, Egyptian, Roman, Celtic.you name it. It became clear to me, even as a kid, that these stories were used to tell stories whose moral related to something in my own modern world: ethics, heroism, politics, etc.
Shows like STAR TREK, TWILIGHT ZONE and THE OUTER LIMITS were all on.the original versions, and they were also using fantasy, horror and SF to tell relevant stories about racism, religion, equality, the human condition, and so on. Comics books, too. Many of these topics were taboo if told as straight human drama, but were acceptable if coated with the veneer of swords and sorcery, spaceships and monsters. So, how could I not fall in love with a kind of storytelling that told the truth.
2. Have you always wanted to be a writer?
Always. I can’t remember ever wanting to be anything else. Before I could write I told stories with toys. I remember in third grade when the teacher asked us what we wanted to be. Half the kids said ‘fireman’ or ‘astronaut’ or whatever. I said ‘storyteller.’
Do you have any favorite fantasy writers or books that you would recommend?
That’s a long and complicated answer. I read so much of this stuff that I have my favorites broken down into categories with sub-groupings. But a short version of that answer is this: there are two books that I read every single year, and have done so since I met the authors when I was fourteen. Richard Matheson’s I AM LEGEND. It’s been filmed (though never in a way that captures Matheson’s point), adapted to comics, and has been an influence on storytelling that blends horror with science fiction (which had not really been done prior to the 1954 release of his book) with a deeply insightful subtext about culture classes, xenophobia and acceptance. Matheson gave me a signed copy when I was a teenager!
The other book is SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES by Bradbury. I read that every Halloween. It captures the magic of childhood at the poignant moment when a kid realizes that he’ll actually grow up and maybe grow apart from his friends. It’s also makes a terrific statement about the power of the imagination.
As for more recent books -I’m blessed by having a lot of friends and colleagues who are superb writers. My bedside stack –composed of books to be read, and books to be re-read-includes (in no particular order): Scott Westerfeld’s diesel-punk novels, Cherie Priest, Holly Black, John Connolly, James Lee Burke, John Everson, Jason Pinter, Carrie Ryan, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Kevin J. Anderson, Jim Butcher, Heather Brewer, and Joe McKinney. A bit of everything.
3. You seem to be involved in tons of different areas, (novels, short stories, comics, etc.) what’s your favorite?
That answer changes with whatever project is currently in the works. Right now I’m splitting each writing day between comics (I’m writing several limited series for Marvel Comics including KLAWS OF THE PANTHER and CAPTAIN AMERICA: HAIL HYDRA) and a zombie novel, DEAD OF NIGHT, which will be published next fall by St. Martin’s Griffin. At the same time, I’m on book tour for two three new books, ROT & RUIN (Simon & Schuster Books for Children; http://jonathanmaberry.com/rot-ruin ), which is my first YA novel and probably my best writing so far; and WANTED UNDEAD OR ALIVE: Vampire Hunters and Other Kick-Ass Enemies of Evil (Citadel Press; http://jonathanmaberry.com/wanted-undead-or-alive ), a nonfiction book about the struggle of good and evil in history, myth, politics, religion, ethics, literature, and modern pop culture; co-written by Janice Gable Bashman; and the release of PUNISHER: NAKED KILLS and MARVEL ZOMBIES RETURN in graphic novel trade-paperbacks ( http://jonathanmaberry.com/comics ). AND I’m doing research for my next Joe Ledger thriller, THE OTHERS, which I’ll start writing in December, and that series is also in development for TV( http://jonathanmaberry.com/joe-ledger-series ).
4. One of my closest friends loves to read about zombies, what drew you to zombies?
After I snuck into the movies at age ten to see the release of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. I was hooked. That movie scared the heck out of me, and with each new film, DAWN OF THE DEAD, DAY OF THE DEAD, etc., Romero continued to scare me. I LIKE to be scared. I like the thrill of it. It’s why I like insane roller coasters and it’s why I started sky-diving when I was in my twenties.
From a writer’s perspective, stories work well because the best zombie stories aren’t about zombies. They’re about people in crisis. Think about it.since George Romero kicked the genre into gear in 1968, zombies have been walking metaphors. They’re stand-ins for whatever scares us. For Romero that’s been racism (NIGHT), mindless consumerism (DAWN), the runaway build-up of the American military (DAY), the Bush presidency (LAND), the dehumanizing effect of our increased reliance on technology (DIARY), and so on. Other writers have used zombies as metaphors for the slacker culture of Generation X, the threat of global pandemics such as ARS and AIDS, the rape of the ecology by big business, xenophobia, and terrorism. And the model allows for that. Like the best of drama, zombie stories allow the writer to introduce and maintain a massive, constant threat which affects every character in the story. Once done, the real meat of the story is about how the characters react and respond to the threat, how they interact under stress, and how the stress warps or reveals hitherto repressed or suppressed aspects of their personalities. Zombie stories are not about zombies, they’re about people. Writers write about people, so it’s a perfect fit.
5. What spawned the idea for Patient Zero?
I was doing research for a nonfiction pop culture book called ZOMBIE CSU: Forensics of the Living Dead (Citadel Press) in which I asked hundreds of real world experts to speculate on how we’d react, research and respond to something like a zombie outbreak. All in fun, but I want their real answers, and that’s what I got. I was able to interview doctors and scientists from all over the world, scores of forensics experts, people in law enforcement and the military, and even Homeland Security and the World Health Organization.
One of the things that surprised me was how plausible zombies are, at least from a certain scientific angle. Most of the qualities of a zombie can be medically explained, and many can be medically created. So, zombies are possible but not probable.
That made me think of how unscrupulous people might cook up something in the lab -a prion disease married to some parasites, etc.-and use it as a terrorist weapon. It was plausible enough to be frightening, and that’s how novels are born.
I started mapping out who would do such a thing, and then tried to imagine what kind of person would be able to stand up to it. Joe Ledger was born.
6. Can you tell our readers a little bit about John Ledger?
Joe is a complicated character. He has a lot of emotional and psychological damage from some terrible events that happened when he was a teenager, and from other events that have happened since. As a result he’s fractured. There are three separate aspects to his personality: the Modern Man, who is the idealist and optimist and ordinary guy; the Cop, who is analytical and pragmatic; and the Warrior, who is the embodiment of Joe’s rage.
After the childhood trauma, Joe immersed himself in martial arts training as a way of conquering his fears and establishing a measure of control over his rage. Joe is relentless in everything he does, and that helped him become a superb fighter. He also went into the Army, but we weren’t at war when he enlisted. He was trained as a Ranger and his officers thought he was a ‘hero waiting to happen’, but nothing happened. Afterward he joined the Baltimore police, rose quickly to detective, and it was there that all of his skills found a purpose. After several distinguished actions as a cop, he was recruited by the DMS (Department of Military Sciences), a spooky covert government group run by the enigmatic Mr. Church. The DMS was created to stop terrorists who are using radical science as weapons.
One of Joe’s most useful qualities is his lack of hesitation. This is something sought for in candidates for Special Forces and Black Ops. In crisis situations, he who hesitates often dies. He who doesn’t hesitate usually wins. Joe usually wins.
In PATIENT ZERO, Joe and the DMS race against time to stop terrorists who have a workable zombie pathogen.
7. What can our readers expect to see in The Dragon Factory?
In Joe’s second outing, he squares off against scientists using cutting-edge transgenic science to restart the Nazi Master Race program and who are working to create ethnic-specific pathogens capable of global genocide. It’s a wild ride.
The third book, THE KING OF PLAGUES, drops in March, and in that one the DMS tackles a secret society called the Seven Kings, who have created weaponized versions of the Ten Plagues of Egypt. The fourth book, THE OTHERS, will deal with genetically-engineered vampires and werewolves used as assassins.
8. Do you have any upcoming tours/book signings?
I keep the events page on my website updated. You can check here: http://jonathanmaberry.com/
9. Where can our readers find you on the internet?
I’m all over the Net, but start at my website, which is also a blog. From there you can click links to find me on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, GoodReads, Shelfari and other places.
10. Many of our readers are aspiring fantasy writers, can you offer any advice to someone interested in fantasy writing?
The best writing advice applies to virtually all genres, from fantasy to literary fiction. Here are some tips that I typically share when teaching or lecturing on writing:
First, learn the craft. Most writers are born with some kind of storytelling ability (maybe it’s a gene), but good writing is the result of storytelling plus learned skills. Take the time to learn about voice and point of voice, about figurative and descriptive language, about action and tension. Learn how to construct a sentence and a paragraph.
Next, write an outline. Know where your story is going to go so that you don’t waste time writing scenes which don’t contribute to that goal. That said, once you have an outline allow the story to grow organically so that you don’t force it to fit. A technique that works for me is that I write the first and last chapters of a book; then I write an exploratory synopsis -which is an essay written for myself in which I work out the story and the narrative logic; and then I write an outline.
One crucial thing is: NEVER revise until you are finished a first draft. Never. Ever. Revision of that kind is a momentum-killer. It’s a quicksand pit. Write it down fast and ugly and then fix it in the rewrite.
Also, read the genre. Read the heck out of it. Read enough to know what’s good and not so good (from your point of view). Fall in love with the genre.or don’t bother writing for it.
The second part of that piece of advice (and the reason most people step into the revision quicksand) is that you shouldn’t try to write a perfect piece. No one has ever done it, and no one can. Write a solid piece, pretty it up in the rewrite, and then send it out. Then work on something else. Perfection is by definition impossible for humans to attain. Stop wasting good writing time on it.
And last.and maybe most important of all.be relentless. If you love to write, then keep writing and keep sending it out.
11. How did you land your literary agent?
I used utilities like www.publishersmarketplace.com (the only pay site I recommend.and which is worth its weight in gold!). I searched for key words in my genre and PM pulls up deals going back as far as five years. Each deal listing tells you the name of the agent who repped the deal and the editor who bought it. I built my list that way, and then I wrote a heckuva query letter and sent it out. When I got a few rejections, I immediately sent out more letters. When I got go-aheads, I sent them out.
I racked up plenty of rejections, and then I landed a top agent. Since then, she’s sold a dozen novels, five nonfiction books, a TV option, and brokered my pay-rates/contracts for deals with Disney, Marvel Comics and SONY.
I always believe in shooting high first. It makes a statement about how much you respect your own work.
12. Did you make your way out of the famous slush pile?
I bypassed the slush-pile with that query letter. The better the query, the faster the response. I invite any of your readers to email me for a copy if they want a sample: jonathan_maberry@yahoo.com
13. Did you participate in writing conferences or groups?
I studied journalism in college, and attended one writing conference as a conferee -the 2001 Philadelphia Writers Conference. Since then, however, I’ve become a speaker at genre cons, writers conferences and publishing industry events, including ThrillerFest, San Diego Comic Con, Sisters in Crime, BackSpace, PennWriters, Dragon*Con, PhilCon, Horror-Realm, Boucher Con, HorrorFind, Monster Mania, New York Comic Con, Philadelphia Writers Conference, Balticon, The Write Stuff, Hypericon, Hypericon, KillerCon, NAIBA, LunaCon, and many others.
JONATHAN MABERRY is a New York Times bestselling and multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author, magazine feature writer, playwright, content creator and writing teacher/lecturer.
Novels
GHOST ROAD BLUES (winner of the Stoker Award for Best First Novel in 2006),
DEAD MAN’S SONG (2007)
BAD MOON RISING (2008)
PATIENT ZERO (St Martins Press 2009)
THE DRAGON FACTORY (St Martin’s Press March 3, 2010)
For Universal Pictures, and Tor Books, the novelization of the re-envisioning of THE WOLFMAN (2010 Tor Books)
Upcoming Novels
THE KING OF PLAGUES (SMP 2011)
ROT AND RUIN (Simon & Shuster, September 2010)
DUST AND DECAY (Simon & Shuster, 2011)
Nonfiction
VAMPIRE UNIVERSE (Citadel Press, 2006)
THE CRYPTOPEDIA (Citadel, 2007 –winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction)
ZOMBIE CSU: The Forensics of the Living Dead (Winning of the Heinzman and Black Quill Awards and nominated for a Stoker Award; 2008)
THEY BITE! (2009)
Upcoming Nonfiction
WANTED UNDEAD OR ALIVE (2010)
His first comic for Marvel –GHOSTS was released in April as part of WOLVERINE: THE ANNIVERSARY. His upcoming comics include PUNISHER: NAKED KILL, PUNISHER: LAST GUN ON EARTH, MARVEL ZOMBIES 5 and others.
Recent Anthologies and Short stories:
“Pegleg and Paddy Save the World” (HISTORY IS DEAD, Permuted Press 2007)
“Doctor Nine” (KILLERS, Swimming Kangaroo Press, 2008)
“The Adventure of the Greenbrier Ghost” (LEGENDS OF THE MOUNTAIN STATE 2, Bloodletting Books, 2008)
“Clean Sweeps” (AND SO IT BEGINS, Dark Quest Books, 2008)
“Family Business” (THE NEW DEAD, St. Martins Press, 2010)
Jonathan is the co-creator (with Laura Schrock) of ON THE SLAB, an entertainment news show in development by Stage 9 for ABC Disney / Stage 9.
Jonathan’s Big Scary Blog (www.jonathanmaberry.com) focuses on the publishing industry. Jonathan’s interviews include
Sandra Brown, Gayle Lynds, David Morrell, Alafair Burke, Barry Eisler, CJ Box, Jack Ketchum, Tom Piccarilli, Dale Brown, Kevin J. Anderson, and many other best-selling authors.
Jonathan is a Contributing Editor for The Big Thrill (the newsletter of the International Thriller Writers), and is a member of SFWA, MWA and HWA. He is a frequent guest at genre cons and writers conferences.
Jonathan is a founding member of The Liars Club, a group of networking publishing professionals that includes bestsellers Sara Shepard, Solomon Jones, L. A. Banks, Merry Jones, Gregory Frost, Jon McGoran, Ed Pettit, Dennis Tafoya, Keith Strunk, Don Lafferty, Kelly Simmons, and Marie Lamba.
On the last Sunday of every month Jonathan hosts the Writers Coffeehouse, a free three-hour networking session for writers of all genres and levels of skill. The event is held at Barnes and Noble, on Park Ave in Willow Grove PA, Pennsylvania.