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)
Inion N. Mathair 
Co-writing on projects like these fascinates me. As a songwriter, I co-write, but only with my hubby. I’m sure you two can relate that writing with someone you’re close to feels very natural (and sometimes easy). 🙂 I can’t imagine writing with 8 other people. I’m so impressed when people can handle a collaboration that large – and do it well. Great Q&A!
Hi Anita & thank you for visiting Two voices one thought. We wholeheartedly agree with you. We we’re blown away by the “nine-writers” concept & the comradery of this group. And yes, we have some experience with this. It does take a lot of patience and mutual respect on the collaborators part. But after watching that video of you and that precious little girl Lanie, it’s clear your way ahead of the game. It shows in that little girls face. Inspiring to watch & so rare these days. My piano teacher Ms. Boyd, was hideous! I still remember the ruler she’d use when I’d place my hands wrong. Which is why I’m a guitar player. LOL You collaborate with the most important of partners. Children who aspire to be artists. That my dear is truly giving back to the craft. Thx for stopping by & we look forward to visiting your beautiful blog again! 🙂
Great interview! Love the one on Jennifer’s blog for your book too. You’re all awesome! Keep up the great work! 🙂
Thanks, JC. It was so much fun doing an interview swap with Jennifer and we feel blessed in the process of putting this out to have met Jennifer’s co-authors, who we’ve started getting to know better. They’re all an incredibly gifted group of people. And, thanks for showing your support to both of us. It’s greatly appreciated. Thanks for stopping by, JC. We love hearing from you.
I apologize for coming in here late, but I really appreciate you doing the interview with Jennifer. Isn’t she great? I have really enjoyed working with her and all of the other talented writers in this collaboration. We are a very ecclectic group, but I am happy to say the project was a great success, in my opinion. Thank you again!
She is awesome and we can only imagine what a gem she is to work with. And, OMG yes the project is a success. We’ve got the book and can’t wait to read it. Once we’re done publishing our new YA novel, Nightwalkers: The Secret of Jessup. We are going to curl up, *turn on all the lights LOL* and dive headfirst into the book. 😉
Great interview ladies!! And I wish Jennifer the best with her anthology — it looks great and I love that cover!!
That was the first thing that really captured us when we went to the Facebook page. Of course, being able to read any of Jennifer’s work had us itching to get the book as well. She is so talented and crazy sweet. Thanks for stopping by, Arlene.
Thank you for taking the time to do this interview with Jennifer! It’s been a blast working with her and we appreciate you helping us spread the word. This is a fun read as well 🙂
Anisa
Thanks so much, Anisa. We were so excited to hear that an anthology was put together and one centering around horror no less. Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for the great interview, Inion! You rock!
Thank you, Doug. We had a blast doing this with Jennifer and hope another anthology’s coming out soon. We loved the idea of a reader being able to get stories from different writers in one book. Definitely a great concept.
Thanks so much ladies for running this interview!
Thanks for letting us interview you, Jennifer. We’ve bought our copy and can’t wait to delve into it. 😉 We wish you and the rest of the authors much success with it.
Thank you!
Love the interview! Thank you so much for doing this. We had a great time putting the book together!! 🙂 It’s an amazing group of people.
Thanks for stopping by Kelleigh. We loved the concept of gathering a bunch of talented writers to put out a short story collection. It really keeps a reader on their toes and engaged. We can’t wait to read it and will be putting up a review as well. Hope you had a great Halloween. 🙂
Thanks so much for the great interview and helping us get the word out!
No problem, Matthew. We’re more than happy and so honored to have the book as our first author interview. Can’t wait to read. 🙂
Awesome interview! Off to check out the links. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by, Coleen. It was our first interview, but we’re so honored that it was with such a talented writer like Jennifer.
Awe, thanks for the compliment=) I just started reading The Perfect 7. Loving it so far=)
GREAT interview!!!! this book is on its way to my house right now! Can’t wait to read it! I’m a big fan of Jennifer’s writing. 🙂
We’re fans as well. We loved her interactive stories on her blog. She’s a very talented writer and an even greater person. 🙂