Interview: Kellie Sheridan

Please welcome Kellie Sheridan, author of MORTALITY, to the blog today!

 

     

 

 

1. Kellie, can you give our readers a brief summary of Mortality?

MORTALITY is about the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse. The world has suffered not one,

but two waves of infection, and as a result our society has been essentially devastated. The

novel follows to characters, Savannah and Zarah, both of whom are just trying to survive and

make a difference, but there just might be a few guys thrown into the mix as well.

 

2.       What inspired you to write Mortality?

Last summer I became a little obsessed with zombies. I avoid horror movies whenever possible (which is always) so it wasn’t really something I’d seen a lot of before, and I’m not really sure what changed. All of a sudden I was watching The Walking Dead, reading books by Rhiannon Frater, and basically sucking in all things zombie apocalypse.

 

After that, even though I knew that the zombie craze might be over by the time I finished my book, I knew I wanted to write about zombies. I just love the survival elements that the genre has. My zombie obsession turned out to be a really good thing for me. Go figure!

 

The Prequel to MORTALITY

3.       How many books will there be about Savannah?

About Savannah, technically there will be two. MORTALITY, and

the sequel, DUALITY. But I’ve already released one short story

collection in the same series, and might end up doing one or

two more like that in order to flesh out the world a little more.

It’s just so interesting to write about post-apocalyptic societies

and see how everything develops, it will be hard to step away

from that world.

 

4.       Will book two also be from two different POVs?

Absolutely! Unfortunately, I can’t figure out how to say

anything else without giving something important away. But I

can say I’m really looking forward to writing it.

 

5.       Who is your favorite character in your book?

While the two lead girls are obviously pretty important to me, Zack and Liam were probably my

favorites to write. Zack is just such a sweetheart, and Liam is just so swoonable. But between

Savvy and Zarah, I definitely relate more to Savannah and found her a little easier to connect

with.

 

6.       When you started writing Mortality, did you know exactly what would happen or did you let the story develop as you wrote?

Right from the first chapter I knew where the book was going to end, but a lot of stuff in the middle changed as I wrote. One character I’d expected to die, lived… so that was nice. Most of the other stuff was small. I had a deadline in mind for myself, so I did my best to keep the story from getting away from me.

 

7.       Can you tell us anything about the sequel?

Since any and all characters are fair game for a death scene during the zombie apocalypse, I’m

going to try and phrase this without talking about anyone specific.

    The quest for the cure continues. We’ll revisit some characters and places from the first book.  
     Not everyone makes it to the final chapter.

 

8.       When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I always wanted to be a writer, although it took me a long time to realize that it was a legitimate career option. I was always herded towards more practical options, and thought of writing as more of something I did for fun. I wrote articles for websites, wrote reviews, and wrote novels, but it was just a hobby.
 And then last year when I started working within the publishing industry and going to book events, I realized there was nothing stopping me from being a writer professionally. So as my zombie obsession grew, I decided that this was going to be the book I wrote to publish instead of just to say I wrote a book, and from that point on I made a point of looking at is as a business as well as a passion.
 
 Bing, bang, boom—professional writer!

 

9.       What is your favorite part about being an author?

I’m an author? Yeah, it’s still kind of sinking in. I think the most fun thing for me at this point is thinking about all the other stuff I want to write about, and mapping out entire series in my head. My plan is to put out as much work as I can while still keeping the quality steady (and hopefully improving as a writer over time), and there are a lot of books I already really want to write… and now I can!

 

10.   What are you currently reading?
Right now I’m reading The 5^th Wave by Rick Yancey, for review. For myself, I’m about to start Wool by Hugh Howey, although I’m sure I’ll end up reviewing that one too.

 

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Thank you Kellie for stopping by the blog!

You can find Kellie on Goodreads, Twitter or you can check out her blog.

Mortality is now available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and itunes.

 

Review: Mortality by Kellie Sheridan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author: Kellie Sheridan
Released: March 4th 2013

After surviving a deadly plague outbreak, sixteen-year-old Savannah thought she had lived through the very worst of human history. There was no way to know that the miracle vaccine would put everyone at risk for a fate worse than un-death.

Now, two very different kinds of infected walk the Earth, intent on nothing but feeding and destroying what little remains of civilization. When the inoculated are bitten, infection means watching on in silent horror as self-control disappears and the idea of feasting on loved ones becomes increasingly hard to ignore.

Starving and forced to live inside of the abandoned high school, all Savannah wants is the chance to fight back. When a strange boy arrives with a plan to set everything right, she gets her chance. Meeting Cole changes everything. Mere survival will never be enough.

***

 

This was probably one of the most unique stories I've ever read. It's actually two stories in one featuring Savannah and Zarah. While reading it, I knew there had to be a reason that we were reading the two girls' individual stories but I wasn't expecting the way in which they collided!

I have never read a zombie book before but when I read the blurb a few weeks ago, I knew that if there was going to be a story that would make me a zombie fanatic (like everyone else seems to be these days) this would be it. It just sounded so interesting! (PS After I finished reading it, I totally started watching The Walking Dead and now I'm addicted!)

While both girls are featured somewhat equally, I think it's safe to say that Savannah is the "main" character. She very much reminds me of strong, but impulsive characters like Alex from the Covenant series (by Jennifer Armentrout). She makes mistakes, but she's fiercely loyal which makes her likeable despite her flaws.

Usually, I need a good romance to really enjoy a book and though there is a love story (two actually, Savannah & Cole and Zarah & Liam), romance isn't the main focus of this story. However, I was not put off by that at all because honestly, I wouldn't be feeling all that romantic when there were reanimated dead bodies wandering around my world. *shudders*

Of the two "lead" males, Liam is probably my favorite and I hope we get to see more of him in the next book.  Cole was pretty sweet too but I don't know, there was just something about Liam...I felt horrible for him at the end but, hey, you gotta do what you gotta do in a Zombie Apocalypse!

All in all, it's a great, entertaining read and I'm looking forward to more from this author!

AND because I love this book so much,  I'm giving one lucky reader their very own copy!

Click the link for you chance to win an ebook version of MORTALITY:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Next Wednesday I'll be posting my interview with the author, Kellie Sheridan. Be sure to stop back by for that because her answers are great!