Saturday, August 31, 2013

Interview with Pembroke Sinclair


Can you tell readers a little bit about yourself and what inspired to write in this particular genre?

I write under the pen name of Pembroke Sinclair, and I’ve had several short stories, novels, novellas, and nonfiction published in various places.  I write across several genres, including science fiction, fantasy, horror, Westerns (modern, not historical), romance (not with a capital R), and about films.

What is it about the paranormal, in particular vampires, that fascinates you so much?
What inspired you to write this book?

I had a dream about zombies, and the premise was new and fascinating, so I put it down on paper.  How many times have you seen zombies migrating to the West to escape the deteriorating effects of humidity?

Please tell us about your latest release.

“Life After the Undead” follows Krista’s life and how she survives in the zombie-infested world without her parents.  It’s tale about growing up and discovering what you can accomplish when you put your mind to it.

Was one of your characters more challenging to write than another?

Liet had his challenges.  I wanted to make him creepy and evil without making him one dimensional or stereotypical.  He has strange personality quirks, mainly being contradictory, and I didn’t want to make it seem like those quirks were convenient to the heroes, but realistic.  It was a challenge to make it work.

Is there a character that you enjoyed writing more than any of the others?

Krista was pretty fun to write.  She is snarky and sarcastic, but also scared and vulnerable.  It was fun to let her different emotions come out at different times in the story, and to watch her grow from a scared kid into a confident young adult.

Do you have a formula for developing characters? Like do you create a character sketch or list of attributes before you start writing or do you just let the character develop as you write?

I let the characters develop as I write.  I usually have a general idea of their background when I start, but I let them take me where they need to go.  After all, it’s their story.

What is your favorite scene from the book? Could you share a little bit of it, without spoilers of course?

I really enjoy the scene where Pam and Krista head to Industrial Falls to gather supplies.  They go after being advised not to, but at that point, they feel invincible.  They run into a huge horde of zombies and barely escape with their lives, but at the same time, they learn that they are capable of surviving the most dire of situations.  It’s becomes a learning experience with lots of undead.

Do you write in different genres? 

I do write in different genres.  I’ve written science fiction, fantasy, horror, Westerns, romance, children’s books, middle grade, young adult, and nonfiction.

Do you find it difficult to write in multiple genres?

Personally, I don’t.  I enjoy genre jumping, it keeps ideas fresh and offers new challenges.  I like to push myself as a writer to better myself and look at things from a different perspective.

What can readers expect next from you?

The sequel to “Life After the Undead,” “Death to the Undead,” is now available.  Readers can now find out what happens to Krista, Quinn, and the others.  

Where can readers find you on the web?

I am on Facebook, Goodreads, and have a blog at www.pembrokesinclair.blogspot.com

Would you like to leave readers with a little teaser or excerpt from the book?

I will never understand peoples’ fascination with the apocalypse. Why would you waste so much time and energy worrying about something you can’t change? Besides, most of the time, it never comes to fruition anyway. Remember Y2K? What a hullabaloo that was. People were so afraid computers were going to fail and throw society back into the Dark Ages that they were stockpiling supplies and moving into the wilderness so they could get away from technology. Why would they move to the wilderness? If technology was going to fail, wouldn’t they be just as safe in a city? I guess they were afraid when technology failed, everyone would go crazy and start killing each other. Either way, it didn’t happen. I wonder how those people felt afterward.

Then, there was the whole 2012 scare. This one was supposedly based on ancient prediction, so you know it was reliable. Are you kidding? Even the Mayans didn’t believe their own ancestors’ “vision.” What happened was there had been a tablet that had the Mayan calendar carved into it. The end was broken and faded, so no one knew what it said. Our culture, being the pessimistic lot that we are, automatically assumed it was an end-of-the-world warning. But, again, nothing happened on December 21, 2012. Christmas came and went, and I think everyone, everywhere, even the skeptics, had a little something more to be thankful for. Life went on as usual, and all those doomsayers faded into obscurity.

The day the world did end was pretty nondescript. By that I mean there was no nuclear explosion or asteroid or monumental natural disaster. There weren’t even any horseman or plagues to announce the end was coming. The world ended fairly quietly. I couldn’t even give you a date because it happened at different times depending on where you were. It was never predicted, and I’m sure a scenario that no one even considered. Who really thinks the dead are going to rise from the grave and destroy the majority of the population? No one but Hollywood, and we all know those are just movies. But that is exactly what happened. Those of us that survived were left wide-eyed, mouth agape, trying to figure out what to do next.

There were a few who were able to pull their heads out and organize those left behind. They made sure the populace had food, shelter, and protection. They were saviors, the United States‟ heroes. Life wouldn’t have gone on without them, and it was pretty difficult those first few years after the zompocalypse.

Sometimes it’s difficult for me to remember what life was like before the rise of the undead. I was a teenager, though I hesitate to say normal. I wasn’t deformed or anything, but my classmates thought I was strange. I had a fascination with the dark, the macabre, but I wasn’t a Goth or Emo. I read books and magazines about serial killers. I didn’t idolize them or want to be like them—hell no—but I was fascinated with how evil and black a human’s soul could get.

I wanted to be a psychologist and work with the criminally insane, maybe figure out why they did what they did. Apparently, when you’re 15, your friends think you’re weird if you have desires to help someone other than yourself. While they were worried about becoming popular and getting the right boyfriend, I was trying to figure out how to make society better.

Of course, those dreams will never come true. Society doesn’t exist. Everything I once held dear is gone. I lost my parents to the horde, like a lot of kids. Unlike some of the others, mine weren’t taken by surprise or in some freak accident; they were taken because of their own stupidity. Some days I miss them a lot, but others I believe they got what they deserved. I might sound callous and uncaring, but what about them? Why would they abandon their 15 year old daughter? It used to keep me up at night, trying to find the answer to that question, but I’ve given up asking it. No reason wasting time on things that could’ve or should’ve been.

As I stare out the passenger side window of the semi, I’m reminded how bleak the future has become. The truck rolls down a once heavily traveled highway that has been reduced to a cracked trail. Gas stations and towns dotting the landscape have been abandoned and are crumpling into the weeds that are taking them over. There are a few areas that still resemble pre-zombie destruction, and these are the military outposts set up along the road, used for protection and refueling. I use the term “military” loosely because there is no formal military anymore. It’s a rag-tag group of men and women who were lucky enough to get guns. I chuckle to myself. It’s been two years since I was last out in the world, and a lot has changed since then. I still remember the day the zombies attacked. It’s as clear as if it happened yesterday.



Life After the Undead
Pembroke Sinclair

Genre:  YA Horror
Publisher:  eTreasures Publishing

ISBN:  ISBN-10: 1937809013
ISBN-13: 978-1937809010

Number of pages:  356

Cover Artist:  Jerrod Brown

Book Trailer:  http://youtu.be/hrgv7W9A_7w


Book Description: 

The world has come to an end. It doesn’t go out with a bang, or even a whimper. It goes out in an orgy of blood and the dead rising from their graves to feast on living flesh. As democracy crumples and the world melts into anarchy, five families in the U.S. rise to protect the survivors.

The undead hate a humid environment, so they are migrating westward to escape its deteriorating effects. The survivors are constructing a wall in North Platte to keep the zombie threat to the west, while tyranny rules among the humans to the east.

Capable but naïve Krista is 15 when the first attacks occur, and she loses her family and barely escapes with her life. She makes her way to the wall and begins a new life. But, as the undead threat grows and dictators brainwash those she cares about, Krista must fight not only to survive but also to defend everything she holds dear—her country, her freedom, and ultimately those she loves.

Death to the Undead
Book 2
Pembroke Sinclair

Genre:  YA horror
Publisher:  eTreasures Publishing

ISBN-10: 1937809226
ISBN-13: 978-1937809225

Number of pages:  286

Cover Artist:  Jerrod Brown


Book Description: 

The battle that began in Life After the Undead continues.

Zombies changed her life completely...

Tough teenager Krista escaped to the safety of Florida after her parents were killed by the zombie horde. She united with General Liet, a distant cousin, and moved with him to North Platte to help build a wall to keep the zombies in the West. Krista fell in love with Quinn, a survivor and fighter from the zombie-infested wildlands of the West, and together they freed the garrison at North Platte from the power-hungry Liet.

But zombies aren’t the only enemy they have to face...

Now, North Platte is free, but Liet was not the only one using the zombie apocalypse to control their people. Florida is ruled by five ruthless Families, who use intimidation and the threat of the zombie horde to coerce their populace. Krista and Quinn hatch a desperate plan to run guns into the state and help the people revolt. Krista and Quinn, labeled as rebels run for their lives when the Families attack North Platte. The Families want them captured, the zombies want to eat them, and other survivors want them dead. Caught in between powerful forces, they must survive long enough to devise a new plan and put it into action, all while trying to solidify their new relationship and trying not to self-destruct in the meantime.

About the Author: 

I write fiction under the pen name Pembroke Sinclair, and I have had several short stories published.  My story, “Sohei,” was named one of the Best Stories of 2008 by The Cynic Online Magazine.  I have novellas and a short story collection forthcoming from Musa Publishing and eTreasures Publishing.  I have two novels, Coming from Nowhere (adult, sci fi) and Life After the Undead (YA, horror), that are available from eTreasures Publishing, as well as Death to the Undead (YA, sequel to Life After the Undead), which is forthcoming.  Life After the Undead was a Top Ten Finisher in the Preditors and Editors Reader’s Poll in the YA category and the cover art category.

Under my real name, from March 2008 to January 2011, I wrote scientific articles for Western Farmer-Stockman.  I have a nonfiction book, Life Lessons from Slasher Films, scheduled for release in July 2012 from Scarecrow Publishing (an imprint of Rowman and Littlefield).

I have my Master’s in English, and I am a freelance content editor for Musa Publishing, as well as a former content and line editor for eTreasures Publishing.



1 comment:

Pembroke Sinclair said...

Thank you so much for having me on your blog!

 
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