Cannibalism and literary mayhemOkay here's one of the best parts about my reviews outside of reading the books, getting to talk to some of the most interesting people I've met. Maybe it's just because I'm a bit nosey, but I think everyone should get to know a writer. Let's get to know Ian shall we?DD- How long have you been writing and who's been the largest influence on your work? IM- First, I just want to say thanks for having me on your blog. In case your readers don't know, we were in an anthology together and your story, "Black Friday," was fantastic! I expect great things from you in the future. I was writing when I was a little kid. Back then, it was mostly short stories where my siblings were attacked by monsters from the closet or under the bed, or I would make them out to be pretty dumb. I wrote for my high school newspaper for a short time, but became disheartened because all of my pieces were heavily edited for content. I guess I was sort of a rabble-rouser then and still am. I got away from writing when I dropped out of high school and moved in with my eventual wife. I was 17 and working 2 jobs to pay bills, so there was little time for it. Fast forward about 15 years. I'm driving a truck over the road and going bat shit crazy because I have too much time alone with my thoughts. I pick up a notebook at a truck stop and start writing as a form of therapy. That was about 6 years ago. My wife had always told me I needed to get back to writing. Guess she was right. I've always loved to read, and I've been hooked on horror since I was a wee lad. When I was a teenager I read The Grapes of Wrath, which had a huge influence on me. It sort of turned me into a political junkie, and I've read books from all over the political spectrum since. It's hard to narrow it down to just one influence. DD- First, thanks for the compliment, I was really honored to be in an anthology with you guys, " Death in a cold place" was awesome, your concepts are always outside of the box and that's what I aspire to be with everything I write, but I will be discussing that book in a future blog. I'm really glad you found your way back to your writing, tell me what is your writing process like? IM- I don't really have one. I just sit down and write whenever I can. There's a lot of smoking involved plus copious amounts of coffee or beer, but never coffee flavored beer. I like beer flavored beer, and don't really get coffee/apple/banana/kumquat or whatever flavored beer. My day job is very physically demanding and time consuming. Plus, I am a single dad to three dogs and have to do everything around the house myself, and I'm kind of bad at all of it. DD- Yeah, wait, what ... Coffee flavored beer? I'm very gullible you can't joke like that with me, I'll believe this thing and have bad dreams about it, I'll wake with a weird taste in my mouth. *Snort* Okay enough about your non- adventurous palate for refreshments. This book was amazing, so different from any other zombie stories I've read. What was your objective with this story? IM- Thank you. I appreciate that tremendously! This might sound crazy to some folks, but I started writing One Undead Step with just the title in mind. Originally, it was One Small Step: How the U.S. Faked the Moon Landing to Avert the Zombie Apocalypse. Pretty wordy, right? I didn't have an objective. I didn't have a plot, or characters, or settings. I just had the title and started writing. It actually came surprisingly naturally. DD- Are you a zombie author or are you just doing zombies right now? IM- I have two more zombie books I'm working on now, one is the first in a series. I can't say after that. I love horror, and write short stories sometimes, but only zombies grab me and make me want to write a book. Maybe someday my brain will scream at me to write a werewolf book, but it's just zombies, for now. I have a couple of other things in my head that I may write down someday that aren't horror. One is actually non-fiction and another is satire. In my heart, I'm a satirist. That's what I'd really love to do everyday. Hopefully, the wind will eventually blow me in that direction. One other thing that I've been mulling over is a horror-erotica novel. Not sure I'll ever do that one. A lot of folks look down their noses at that stuff, but I'm a big believer in 'to each their own.' I've read some urban fantasy, and if you strip away a lot of the story and get right to the part where the chick bangs the dog, it's pretty much the same thing. DD-*Laughs* You're killing me right now, I look forward to reading that, so just let me know. What should people know about you that they don't already know? What are you doing when you're not working on the next most terrifying thing? IM- I have three rescue dogs that take up a lot of my free time and expendable income. It was four, but I lost my only girl, Sheena, a ways back. I also love to disc golf. We don't have much in Port Charlotte, Florida, but we have a killer disc golf course. I mentioned that I was married, but I'd been single (which I'm terrible at) for quite a while. I recently got engaged, but I haven't remarried yet. So, if anyone is in the SW Florida area and wants to try and change my mind, hit me up. Must be over 30 (never going down that road again) No kids. I like them okay, but don't really want any in my house. DD- Okay ladies I hope you're taking notes right now,though I don't think you're girl is going to be too happy about that one, so being that you're about to get killed, brings me to this question. You have only time enough for one last song at the end of the world, what is it? IM- My wedding song. I won't say what it is. DD- Thumbs down for holding back Ian. Thanks for the interview, you rock. Author website: http://politicalhorrorstory.weebly.com/ Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/Ian-McClellan/e/B0088Q14BM/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/politicalhorrorstory Twitter: https://twitter.com/ianmcc2010
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