Wednesday 18 September 2013

Interview with Jesse Petersen + Giveaway (US only)



Today I bring you an interview with Jesse Petersen, who writes awesome books about zombies and other monsters. The interview is also translated in French by Melliane for those fans of Jesse who read her books in French.


Photo Credit: imaginate photography

Welcome to Pearls Cast Before A McPig, Jesse.
Could you tell a bit about yourself for those people who don’t know you yet?


Sure! My name is Jesse Petersen and I write snarky urban fantasy about zombies and monsters (but not together). I’m married to my high school sweetheart, we live in Arizona with our two cats. We’re huge geeks and spend our spare time running the “family business” (books) and having deep discussions about Star Wars. It’s a good life.

How would you describe the Monstrosity series and how many books will there be?

I think of the Club Monstrosity series as what would happen if monsters were real and needed therapy. I hope it’s fun, snarky and unexpected. At this point there will only be two books in the series, CLUB MONSTROSITY and THE MONSTERS IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD (July 29).

The first three books in the Living With the Dead series were published by Orbit, but you self published The Zombie Whisperer. Was it difficult and what advice would you give authors who want to try self publishing?

Not really difficult in that I felt like Dave and Sarah still had some story left in them and Orbit wasn’t interested in doing a fourth book. It was easier for me in some ways, since I was already published and had an audience out there. Otherwise, it’s just a lot of work as far as promotion, promotion, promotion...


Are there any other projects you’re working on or thinking about starting in the near future?

Right now, I am working on projects back in the romance world, but I would never completely rule out more urban fantasy if an idea struck my fancy.

If you could, would you change places with any of your characters?

Oh dear God, no. LOL All my characters are a little messed up and definitely dealing with some crazy stuff. It’s fun to write, but I think it would be stressful. I’ll just watch from the sideline, throwing things at them.

Where can you be found when you’re not at your desk writing?

Hopefully outside in the beautiful weather. Or hanging out with my cute nephews.

What did you do to celebrate the release of your first book?

I got a tattoo, actually. LOL

What authors have been an influence to you? And have you read any books lately that you want to share with us or have you been too busy with writing to read?

I come from a romance background, so a lot of my writing influences are from that genre. I am always inspired by geeky movies and television (Shaun of the Dead, Venture Brothers, Doctor Who, etc). And I have been really busy with writing lately, but I’ve read The Guernsey Literary Society lately and it was AWESOME.

Are there pigs in any of your books or will there be any in future books?

No pigs so-far. But never say never...


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Pouvez-vous nous parler un peu de vous-même pour ceux qui ne vous connaissent pas encore ?

Bien sûr ! Mon nom est Jesse Petersen et j'écris de la fantasy urbaine sarcastique sur les zombies et des monstres (mais pas ensemble). Je suis mariée à mon amour qui remonte au lycée, nous vivons dans l'Arizona avec nos deux chats. Nous sommes de grands geeks et passons notre temps libre à gérer « l’entreprise familiale » (livres) et à discuter longuement sur Star Wars. C'est une bonne vie.

Comment décririez-vous la série Club Monstrosity et combien de livres comportera-t-elle ?

Quand je pense à la série Club Monstrosity, je pense à ce qui se passerait si les monstres étaient réels et qu’ils avaient besoin d’une thérapie. J'espère que c'est amusant, sarcastique et inattendu. A ce stade, il n'y aura que deux livres de la série : CLUB MONSTROSITY et THE MONSTERS IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD (29 Juillet).

Les trois premiers livres de la série Zombie Thérapie ont été publiés par Orbit, mais vous avez autoédité The Zombie Whisperer. Etait-ce difficile et quels conseils donneriez-vous à des auteurs qui veulent essayer l'autoédition ?

Cela n’a pas été vraiment difficile dans le sens où je sentais que Dave et Sarah avaient encore un peu d’histoire laissée en eux mais Orbit n'était pas intéressé à l’idée de publier un quatrième tome. Cela a été plus facile pour moi d'une certaine façon, comme j’étais déjà publiée et que j’avais des lecteurs là-bas. Sinon, c'est juste beaucoup de travail en ce qui concerne la promotion, la promotion, la promotion...


Y a-t-il d'autres projets sur lesquels vous travaillez ou envisagez de créer dans un avenir proche ?

En ce moment, je travaille sur des projets afin de retourner dans le monde de la romance, mais je n'éliminerais jamais complètement la fantasy urbaine si une idée frappait mon imagination.

Si vous le pouviez, changeriez-vous de place avec l'un de vos personnages ?

Oh mon Dieu, non. LOL Tous mes personnages sont un peu foirés et doivent gérer des trucs fous. C'est amusant à écrire, mais je pense que ce serait stressant. Je me contente juste de les regarder depuis la ligne de touche, en balançant des choses sur eux.

Où peut-on vous trouver lorsque vous n'êtes pas à votre bureau en train d’écrire ?

J’espère à l'extérieur, avec le beau temps. Ou sortir avec mes neveux qui sont mignons.

Qu'avez-vous fait pour célébrer la sortie de votre premier livre ?

Je me suis fait un tatouage, en fait. LOL

Quels autres auteurs vous ont influencé ? Avez-vous lu des livres récemment que vous souhaitez partager avec nous ou bien avez-vous été trop occupée avec l'écriture ?

J’ai un certain bagage en matière de romance donc beaucoup de mes influences d'écriture sont issues de ce genre. Je suis toujours inspirée par les films geeks et la télévision (Shaun of the Dead, Venture Brothers, Doctor Who, etc). Et j'ai été très occupée avec l’écriture ces derniers temps, mais j'ai lu récemment Le Cercle littéraire des amateurs d’épluchures de patates et il était génial.

Y a-t-il des porcs dans un de vos livres ou bien il y en aura-t-il dans les livres à venir ?

Aucun porc jusqu’ici. Mais ne jamais dire jamais...



About Club Monstrosity:

Natalie’s one of Frankenstein’s creations and works in a New York City morgue. So of course she needs therapy. She and her friends—er, fellow monsters—have formed the world’s most exclusive, most dysfunctional support group. What could go wrong?

Undetected in the modern world and under pressure to stay that way, Natalie Grey, Dracula, Bob the Blob, and others (including the fetching wolfman Alec) meet regularly to talk about the pressures of being infamous in the Big Apple. Topics include how long it’s been since their last sighting, how their “story” creates stereotypes they can’t fulfill, and—gasp—sometimes even their feelings. But when their pervy Invisible Man, Ellis, is killed in a manner reminiscent of the H.G. Wells novel, it’s clear someone’s discovered their existence and is down for some monster busting.

Led by Natalie—and definitely not helped by Hyde’s bloodthirsty tendencies—the members of Monstofelldosis Anonymous band together for security and a little sleuthing. And maybe—maybe—if they don’t end up dead, they’ll end up friends somewhere along the way.


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Giveaway:

Jesse kindly offered a digital copy of Club Monstrosity to one US reader of my blog.

The winner is erin f

A winner will be picked at random on October 9th.
This is a US only giveaway for people living in the US who are legally allowed to enter this giveaway.

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Don't forget to leave a comment:
I decided to have an event wide giveaway on my blog for commenters.

At the end of this event I'll pick one commenter on any author post of this event at random and that person will win a book of his/her choice as long as bookdepository ships to where you live, you're legally allowed to enter, and the book costs no more than 10$

And drop by Between Dreams and Reality as well for more great author posts.

6 comments:

SandyG265 said...

I've read several of Jesse's zombie series and enjoyed them.

Melissa (My World...in words and pages) said...

Aaah, I knew I knew her name but couldn't place it. I've heard great things of her books, and have had them suggested to me on several occasions. :) Thank you for sharing more about her and them!

erin said...

I love, love, love Jesse's married with zombies series!!! Glad to see she's putting out new stuff! Can't wait to get my hands on it! Thanks for sharing!

JenM said...

Hooray, I didn't realize Jesse had self-pubbed another book in her zombies series. There were definitely some loose ends in the third book. Off to buy now! Club Monstrosity sounds really good also, so I will check it out.

Sobbin said...

Love this series. So funny and real at the same time. :)

Great interview!

Aurian said...

Thanks for the nice interview. I still have to read the first zombie book, but it is on my shelf.