Ghoulish greetings to you all on this fine October day from your friendly, albeit dark, mother-daughter writing team, Inion N. Mathair. Though we said we’d be idle for a while, Inion N. Mathair has decided to have their first author interview, and we’re lucky enough to have the talented and lovely Jennifer M. Zeiger. Jennifer’s blog was one of the first to start following us and has been a constant source of encouragement and support. We feel privileged to have her on Two Voices One Thought.
Let’s start by giving you the link to her wonderful blog: http://jenniferzeiger.com/ and urge that if you haven’t had the chance to visit, please swing over and check out her innovative posts and interactive stories.
So without further ado, we present to you, Jennifer M. Zeiger.
Thanks for being here, Jennifer. We’re very excited about our first interview.
JMZ: I’m excited and blessed to be here=)
1. Your short story anthology, Midnight Abyss, is a group collaboration with eight other writers. How did you meet the other writers and what was the initial spark that inspired you all to work on this project together?
JMZ: I met the others on a workshop site for writers called Writer’s Carnival. Since it’s a workshop site, you post your writing and the other members can give feedback. It can be everything from spelling mistakes to story arches to characterization. We became familiar with each other’s writing there, liked what we saw and decided, (it was mostly Anisa and Kelleigh’s brain child) to work together to create a book.
2. Would you consider doing collaborating with authors again?
JMZ: Yes, I’d love to do another collaboration. I’m sure there are horror stories out there about such things as this but my experience with this group has been amazing. I’d be selective in who I work with simply because of how much interaction there has to be for a collaboration to work, but if I felt the people were right, I wouldn’t hesitate.
3. How long did it take you all to complete the book?
JMZ: A couple months. If we really were planning ahead, we should have been getting the word out about the book earlier than we have, so it should have taken longer but the book turned out amazing in my humble opinion. =)
Wow! It’s great that you were all able to come together, put creative differences aside and work closely on something that you’re all so passionate about. A little bird told us that the book is geared for the upcoming holiday… Halloween. This is Inion’s favorite time of year and many others as well.
4. What inspired you to focus your stories on Halloween?
JMZ: The genres mostly. Horror and dark fantasy are right up the Halloween Alley.
5. Can you tell us what we can expect with the stories? (without giving away any spoilers)
JMZ: We have stories ranging from vampires to zombies to demons to dragons to just plain human depravity. Some of the stories are true horror stories, so if you like blood and guts, they’re perfect for you. But we also have some that aren’t gory but still have a darker theme. Honestly, I love the variety in the book.
We are on the edge of our seats, Jennifer, and can’t wait to sink our fangs into these stories.
6. How did you decide on the cover/title and was it a group consensus?
JMZ: The cover and the title were both a group decision. I missed the Google hangout for the title but we all threw out ideas and it was decided when we gathered on Google. As for the cover, we had a few people do mockups for us to give us some ideas of the possibilities. (Great thing about having nine people, we all have connections). The cover we choose won the vote. I absolutely love it. I think it’s perfect for the book.
7. How long have you been writing?
JMZ: Since I was about 13 or 14. Even in high school and then college, I’d write scenes in my notebooks=)
8. Do you prefer writing short stories or novels?
JMZ: Novels are my passion but after doing short stories for the blog for a year, I’m starting to really enjoy those too. They’re seeds for my longer stories=)
9. What can we expect from Jennifer in the future? Are there other stories in the works?
JMZ: I’m always writing stories on the blog but I hope to publish a novel soon. I’ll keep hounding the traditional route for a while longer but if that doesn’t pan out, I’ll definitely move to see about self-publishing. After this experience with Midnight Abyss, it’s not quite so daunting anymore.
Well, if we could just pick your brain for a couple of more questions. In keeping to the theme of your book, we’d like to ask you a few Halloween-ish questions…
10. What’s your favorite Halloween tradition?
JMZ: Eating pumpkin seeds. I like carving pumpkins but the seeds are what I look forward to. We bake them with salt and eat them for a snack.
11. Do you prefer psychological horror, blood and gore or scares from beyond the grave?
JMZ: I love things like The Walking Dead but can’t handle Saw. Go figure. I think it has something to do with the personal connections in the story. So I guess I like blood and gore but it’s got to have a redeeming quality to it.
12. Do you prefer tricks or treats?
JMZ: I’ve a terrible sweet tooth, so I’ve got to go with treats. Fudge, particularly dark chocolate, is my downfall.
We’d like to thank Jennifer M. Zeiger for coming on our blog and showcasing her short story anthology, Midnight Abyss. We’ll be first in line to grab a copy and wish her great success. Below are links where you can find Jennifer and her novel which is due to release on Halloween.
Facebook: Midnight Abyss (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Midnight-Abyss/1411599732401816?fref=pb&hc_location=profile_browser)
Twitter: @AbyssMidnight (https://twitter.com/AbyssMidnight)
Goodreads: Midnight Abyss (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18595036-midnight-abyss?from_search=true) I believe we’re going to do some giveaways for reviews here, so that’s definitely something to look forward to.
Print: http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?keywords=1492966231
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?keywords=B00G8RK626
Tumblr: TheMidnightAbyss.tumblr.com
My blog: jenniferzeiger.com (http://jenniferzeiger.com)
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Inion N. Mathair 