Third Book Interview with James
Cook
Friend and author James Cook has the third book in his Surviving
the Dead series released imminently on May the 1st 2013. In this
short follow up interview I ask how he’s been and how it was writing the third
instalment to his exciting series.
Q1. Hey James how have you been since the last interview
it’s been a little while
A.
I’ve been doing very well. After the release of my second
novel, and its subsequent success, I resigned from my job as an investment
advisor and started writing full-time. That was back in August, and I spent the
next seven-or-so months pounding away at my third novel, Warrior Within. It
hasn’t been all rainbows and butterflies, but I must admit that being a writer
is the best job in the world. I’m happier than I’ve ever been.
Q2. Can you give us a quick recap on the story arc?
A.
In the first novel, we’re introduced to the main
character, Eric Riordan, and his long-time friend and former Marine Corps scout
sniper, Gabriel Garrett. The story follows Eric through the Outbreak, and
details his journey to a community of survivors in Alexis, North Carolina. He
stays with them for a few months, has a brief romance with the leader’s
daughter, and then eventually they are discovered by a roving Army patrol. The
patrol informs them of the meltdown of a nearby nuclear power plant, and
advises them to leave. Most of the survivors follow the Army to a safe zone at
Fort Bragg, but Eric decides to strike out on his own and reunites with
Gabriel.
In the second novel, Eric and Gabriel decide to journey
west to Colorado where the remnant of the Federal Government and the military
has established a fortified community in Colorado Springs. On the way, they
encounter a family of fellow survivors, and agree to let them follow along.
They get as far as Western Tennessee, where they are attacked by members of a
rogue para-military group calling themselves the Free Legion. Three of the
protagonists are wounded, Eric quite badly, and they barely manage to escape
with their lives. A short time later, they make their way to a large survivor
stronghold at Hollow Rock, Tennessee. After Eric is nursed back to health, he
and Gabriel decide to help the people of Hollow Rock strike back at the Legion.
The third novel is the story of that conflict.
Q3. So a third book to your series, so what can we expect
character development wise?
A.
Character development is kind of my thing. Eric discovers
more of his potential, for better or worse, and we learn more about Gabriel’s
shadowy, violent past. The story focuses strongly on the changes wrought on the
two men by the end of the world, and the consequences of their actions in the
wake of that tragedy. I can’t really say anymore without giving away the story,
so I’ll leave it at that.
Q4. Being the third part in a series you probably had
ideas in your head for this either from the beginning or at least into writing
the second novel, so how hard was it to write?
A.
Some of it was easy, and some of it was damned hard.
There are scenes that I wrote in just a few short hours, and there are scenes
that were like pulling teeth. Some of the scenes tackle harsh subject matter,
and others are just damned brutal. There was one scene in particular—involving
sexual abuse—that left me drained and gripped by a deep melancholy. I had to
drive over to my favourite tavern and knock back a few cold ones after I wrote
it. It was probably two days before I finally shook off that particular case of
the blues. But that’s how writing is, if you want it to be good at it. Pain is
like high-octane fuel for a writer, and some of my best writing is done when it
hurts the most.
Q5. Are there any more parts on the cards or is the last
one?
A.
Definitely more. This is an on-going series, not just a
trilogy.
Q6. Any other works you are working on that we may see in
the future?
A.
My next project is a stand-alone novel set in the
Surviving the Dead universe, and after that I’ll start on a vampire hunter
series that I have been planning for a long time. The series title will be Jeremiah Cain: Vampire Hunter,
and the first novel will be titled Burn Them All. After that,
probably another Surviving the Dead novel, and then on to the first part in a
fantasy trilogy that will be titled Gladiator
of Corsryn.
Finally James is there anything extra you would like to
say to your fans here:
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Being a writer has been
a life-long dream for me, and now I am finally living it. Gratitude is a weak,
petty word to express how I feel to everyone who has supported me by buying and
enjoying my work. I promise that I will never take this gift for granted, and
that I will continue to write fast-paced, entertaining fiction for decades to
come.
(Lord willin’, and the creek don’t rise.)
Thanks for another interview for my blog James look
forwards to any future projects you are working on, which sound like there are
many to come too. Personally can’t wait for that Gladiator series I like a good
fantasy novel lots in the future for you then.
THN.
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