THE ePOCALYPSE: emails at the end – An Interview

It’s the end of the world… but there’s still time to send out a quick email. This collection features 33 apocalyptic collaborative short stories, written entirely in email format. The end is near, so you better read while you can! 

Compiled by Jessy Marie Roberts
ISBN-13: 978-1-61706-085-4
Cover Price $19.99
Buy from Amazon

I was lucky enough to read this book recently (Kindle Version) and was so impressed with the some of the stories, due to the unique email format and quality of writing, that I met up with a number of the authors and put some writerly questions to them.

Allow me to introduce the authors in question:

• Tammy Crosby
• Anne Michaud
• Patricia Hollett
• Anna Ivy
• Jessica Peter

So on to the interview questions:

1. What made you decide to write? And who (if any) were your influences?

JP - I’ve written for as long as I can remember. For my YA writing, LJ Smith’s original books (pre-hiatus) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer are the biggest influencers. For the post-apocalyptic romance I’m working on, my history-loving hero is certainly influenced by the Regency romances I read, and the wastelands come from my dreams.

PH - I started writing after reading the Twilight series, then a few Kelley Armstrong books. I’d always liked writing, just never took it seriously, but then decided to write a story that was formulating in my mind. I would say Kelley Armstrong is a huge influence and I like Christopher Pike and P.J. Cast & Kristen Cast as well.

AM - After years of studying filmmaking, I realized I lacked the knowledge to write a strong screenplay, so I decided to leave my job and do a Master’s in Screenwriting in England. And that was it, as soon as I lived the writer’s life of staying in pajamas all day long and writing, I was hooked.  As for influences, my taste in literature is pretty much like in movies: horror, sci-fi, dark and sad stories. Philip K. Dick is a master, Clive Barker a genius, and Jane Austen my guiding star.

TB - My Nanny (grandmother), she taught me to read and write and gifted me with the joy of weekly trips to the library.  Also, Kelley Armstrong. When I first decided to write I couldn’t find a local writers group so then I tried to find local authors, and found Kelley. She was amazing. She answered all my emails and led me to her online writing forum.  The rest, hopefully, will one day be history.

AI - When I realized that someone had to write the books and stories that I was reading, I wanted to be one of those people that get to create imaginary worlds and stories for a living. One of my main influences was J.K. Rowling. The Harry Potter series were a large part of my life and I grew up reading those books. Of course, there were other authors like C.S. Lewis, and Tolkien whose books I simply couldn’t put down even if I wanted to (which I never did.)

2. How did the ePocalypse project come about?

JP, AM & AI - For Anne, Anna, and I:  I asked Anne, because I know we both write post-apocalyptic, and she asked Anna. And there we were - we all knew each other from Kelley Armstrong’s Otherworld Writing Group. I thought it would be fun, and an interesting experiment in collaboration.

TC - Pat and I had both submitted and had stories accepted in another Pill Hill anthology, so when I saw the collaboration one, well it was a natural fit for the two of us.

PH - We [Tammy & Patricia] hashed out a few ideas, but then I suggested the God/devil idea and she liked it so we just ran with it. We wanted to do something different than the usual zombie, disease, war ideas for our apocalyptic story.

3. What process did you go through to come up with the idea for your stories?

JP - It was basically an MSN chat. The funny thing is, I was originally picturing something darker for our piece – something with the earth/water or pandemics perhaps. In Animal Kingdoom, we wrote about animals. . . attacking. The idea grew on me the more I imagined it with campy taglines like “When good animals go bad” and “When animals attack”. I think in the end, it was a sort of creepy camp, like an old B-movie.

PH & TC - Well I think our MSN chats helped a lot. We did what we call some plot ping-pong throwing ideas back and forth to come up with what we thought would work, and then just started doing the emails back and forth. Tammy has a good knowledge of religion, and well I guess in a way I’m more devilish than her so it seemed to work well for us. I definitely couldn’t be the good guy in the story, and Tammy seemed to make a better God than I ever could.

AM - We brainstormed and agreed on animals mutating and attacking humans, scheduled an order to answer, and went from there. For my part, I knew I wanted those weird jellyfish taking over – because it’s happening as we speak, the population of jellyfish multiplies without predators and soon, they will reign underwater. SO CREEPY.

AI - Between the three of us, we just pushed around ideas until we found something we liked. We worked off of that and built it into a story.

4. What were the challenges that you had to overcome with writing collaboratively?

JP - Well with three people in a group, that makes three different schedules, three different opinions, and three different ways of writing. We tackled the last by each writing a different character. The opinions we worked through democratically. And the schedules sometimes slowed us down (especially with different timezones!), but we still finished quickly enough to submit. So, it worked.

PH - It didn’t seem to be too challenging to us only because we have such a great rapport already. We work well together so it was just a matter of finding time between all our other projects to squeeze in emails and try to make them into some sort of a story. That seemed to be the biggest challenge. Emails are usually not story-like so attempting to show verses tell was difficult when its in an email.

AM  - I’m an outliner type of person, I need to control my characters – and in this case, I couldn’t oversee two third of the finished product, which taught me how to deal with adversity:) I knew what I wanted Jane to end up, how I wanted her to (beep beep), but it was to get there through my collaborators that made it so cool, to work on different ways to get to the end as one, kinda. Does that sound cheesy?

TC - It didn’t seem to be too challenging to us only because we have such a great rapport already. (well duh) We work well together so it was just a matter of finding time between all our other projects (ie husbands, kids, the usual annoyances) to squeeze in emails and try to make them into some sort of a story. That seemed to be the biggest challenge. Emails are usually not story-like so attempting to ‘show’ verses ‘tell’ was difficult when its in an email (Or even in a regular story for that matter. *head-desk*)

AI – With three different people, you get different ideas of what should happen, what we should write, etc. That was our biggest (maybe even only) problem. In the beginning I thought schedule conflicts would be a big issue, but I think we were all pretty fast at just writing out part, then passing it on to the next person and just throwing the draft around.

5. Writing can be a solitary activity; how do you cope with the need to write and your responsibilities to family and partners?

JP - Well, I live alone with one large cat. That helps! (The living alone. . . not the cat). But I manage to squeeze in writing time between, before, and after all the necessary socialisation with the outside world.

PH - It is definitely a solitary activity. I’d love to write everyday and there are periods where I am fortunate enough to do so. Right now though I’m going through a relocation to a different city 4 hours away so packing and setting everything up has taken up all my time.  My family are quite demanding as well, but I’m hoping after the move and back-to-school for the kids, I’ll get back on track.

AM - I’m lucky enough to be able to write every day since my contractual job goes through rushes then free periods of time. I don’t have kids except my cats and cannot write after 4-ish, which gives me plenty of time for a semi-normal social life.

TC - Ugh, I’ve no idea. Working full time and being a mom of a 4yr old, cleaning house, doing laundry etc. All moms know it ain’t easy. Just take one minute one day at time, put them to bed early or ship ‘em to Grandma’s so you can get some ‘free’ time. ;P

AI - It’s hard to find the time, but when you want something bad enough, you make it work. I make sure to spend time with my family and my friends, but I’ll still set aside time specifically for writing. If I ever have a few extra minutes, I’ll try and get a little bit of writing in where ever I can. Really, it’s just about finding a way to manage the time you’ve got. I’m still working on a way to quit sleeping so I can have a few extra hours just for writing, but I haven’t made much progress there.

6. Do your family/partners support your writing? (beta reading, encouragement etc.)\

JP - I’ve always had support and positivity about my writing from my family and friends. Most of it is the more passive support, since none of them are writers themselves, but I do get a couple people to beta read as readers/copy editors.

PH - My family and partner are amazing about my writing and they love that I’m doing something I enjoy. Of course that works both ways because I encourage them in their endeavours as well. I live in a family of left brained thinkers so we’re all creative in different ways. I also get an enormous amount of support from my best writing partner Tammy (Crosby) who continually prods me to move forward and get better. Lisa in OWG is another person who always touches base with me to support and encourage me. I’ve been fortunate to find a few wonderful people through the OWG writing group who I’ve connected with on more than just writing and it makes writing more enjoyable to know you’re not alone.

AM - Of course, but they do tend to like everything and give me only positive notes, which is why I rely so much on exterior feedback than my love circle. For encouragement, I do have the best support system, although he doesn’t like to be called like that!

TC - My husband Chris is amazing. He does so much I still have no idea how I managed to luck out like this. He reads all my stuff (I’ve caught him peeking) but he keeps his opinions to himself and lets my online pals tear me apart instead. Smart man, no going to bed mad for that fella!

AI - I don’t let them read my writing yet. But I imagine they’d be more than willing to beta read if I asked.

7.  What are you working on next?

JP - I’m working on a post-apocalyptic romance with a steampunky flair based on the myth of Cupid and Psyche. My first draft is nearing completion! I also love to travel, so I’ve been writing travel articles when I can squeeze them in.

PH - I’m currently working on my manuscript Forest Born, which is the story of a teenage girl who is a werewolf. I’ve also got a few other stories on the go, a post-apocalyptic story about a young girl and her brother, and a story I’ve been working on about a 12^th century vampire who travels through the ages. There are also many short stories I’ve started or developed ideas for; there’s always something spinning around in my head and I have to get it out. My priority is to finish my first manuscript right now.

AM - Right now: a bunch of short stories for specific anthologies, a trilogy of novelettes and this WIP about gargoyles in a parallel universe. Oh, and those flashes that come every Friday.

TC - Currently rewriting my one and only ms from scratch for Camp NaNoWriMo. Still dunno what the hell I was thinking!

AI - I’ve got a few short stories floating around, asking for my attention, but I’m trying to focus on my manuscript for now. It remains nameless for now. Hopefully that will change soon. I’m still plotting and outlining. It’s just getting started. But getting that outlined and plotted out is at the top of my to-do list at the moment.

8. Where do you want to be as a writer? (What goals do you have.. do you have an ideal scenario in mind?)

JP - Well, I’d love to have published books for sale at bookstores, or even better, other places, like airports and drug stores. I’d also like to make enough money at it that I can at least survive with just writing and another part-time job.

PH - I would love to have several or lots of novels published. That’s definitely a huge goal. But, I like to dream big. I’d love to write as a full-time career, and be successful at it of course. Yes, I know it’s a huge undertaking and a lot of work. I’ve just got to set my goals and hit the targets and hopefully someone will like what I’ve written. I also love learning as I go. There is definitely a huge learning curve that happens when you start writing, and to keep learning, and becoming better at the craft is important as well.

AM - I do: write for the rest of my life and be happy about what I create.

TC - My goal is to have my novel published. That’s it, that’s all, everything else is gravy/cake/icing. Something fattening.

AI - To get published. That is the long term goal that I’ve set for myself. That’s the one I’m focusing on for now. Ideally, I’d be able to live off of my writing and I’d be successful. That is a lot of work, but it’s something I’d really like to do. I think if I put my mind to it, then I can do it.

Thank you ladies for sharing your thoughts with me. I wish all success in your writing endeavours.

The epocalypse: emails to the end can be purchased in print and ebook formats.