I’m very excited to have Alex Granados with me today.  I’m putting him in the hot seat about his new release Cemetery Plot.  It sounds like a very “cool” book! LOL

Alexander, can you tell us a little bit about your Cemetery Plot?

Cemetery Plot is a neo-horror novel about a zombie apocalypse. You like that? Neo-horror? I just made it up. It means horror that incorporates numerous other genre elements, including, in this case, science fiction, mystery and post-modernism. OK, maybe not the last one, but it sounded good.

Anyway, the novel follows Mark Nimocks, his friend Emily, and Vanessa Hawthorne. Vanessa took part in a satanic ritual that she hoped would bring her back as a zombie. Instead she wakes up decades later unchanged. Meanwhile, a cemetery tycoon is after her to find out the secret to her resurrection.

In this future, a plague made cremation impossible, and grave space is scarce. Everything has been replaced by cemeteries. So, the knowledge of how to bring the dead back to life could be a valuable thing.

This story is interspersed with a story from the future of this world. In that story, a zombie apocalypse has taken place, and a living dead medium is trying to eek out a living in the midst of the chaos.

That sounds quite wild and very original!  That is fantastic.  I’m a die-hard Stephen King fan, so this sounds right up my alley!

Do you only write in this genre?  If not, what other genres/sub-genres do you write in?

I write in all sorts of genres. Originally, I wanted to just write science fiction, but somehow, last November, I found myself writing this zombie novel. Probably has something to do with all “The Walking Dead,” I’ve been watching. Anyway, I’ve written horror, science fiction and pseudo-crime novels. I don’t really like to think about genre. I just like to write whatever is in my head.

Which leads me to my next question:  what was your inspiration for this story?

I was walking past the Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, North Carolina. It’s full of dead rich people, and it’s pretty hard to get your body laid to rest there. I started thinking that given enough time, the whole planet could be a cemetery, and I started to think of a story set in that world.

Wow!  Inspiration hits at any time and that just proves it! 🙂

Now, titles are one of the most important things to an author.  How did you come up with your title?  Was this the only title, or did you have a working title as well?

This title was the only one I entertained. I came up with it fairly early on, and I liked it because of its double meaning. It can mean a Cemetery Plot, i.e., a plot in a cemetery, or it can mean a Cemetery Plot, i.e., the plot of a story that takes place in a cemetery. Those are both true, so there you have it.

I totally love a double meaning!

I am also a fanatic about my character names. Are the character names in Cemetery Plot special in any way?

Not really. Mark is named after one of my best friends. The last name Nimocks is shared by one of my neighbors. I’ve dated a few women named Emily in my lifetime, and Vanessa is the name of a crazy woman that one of my friends used to tell me stories about. They were just the first names to come to mind.

Fun!  I use names from my own life too.  Kind of an in-joke at times.

What was your process for writing this book?  Is this different or the same as other books you’ve written?

I wrote this book during National Novel Writing Month last year. I started writing it and, after 25,000 words, decided I didn’t like it anymore. So I started over, and, after 25,000 words, decided I didn’t like that story either. A month later, I decided to put the two together and see if I could make them one. It worked. The writing itself took about a month and a half to two months. The revision took probably six months or so. I try to write 2,000 words a day, and that’s what I did with Cemetery Plot.

I mostly do the same thing with each novel — 2,000 words, every day, until it’s finished. I don’t necessarily try to get it all done in a month though.

How cool is that!  And great that this came originally out of NaNoRiMo!  And that is awesome that you can adhere to a writing schedule!  I wish I had the time…and discipline.

Do you have plans to turn Cemetery Plot into a series?  Why or why not?

No. I feel like I’ve told the whole story. The explanation of the zombie apocalypse and how it came to be is pretty well laid out, and I don’t see a whole lot more I want to say about it.

Who is your favorite hero or heroine and why?  What qualities do they possess that make them memorable?

Yossarian from Catch-22. He is hilarious and cowardly, and yet, somehow, in his cowardice, he manages to perform more bravely than many of the men around him. Meanwhile, he is privy to the absurd truth about the world that all the others seem to overlook. I think if you’re not cowardly from time to time, then you’re not that smart. And if you’re not brave from time to time, then you’re not really worth much. A contradiction of sorts, I know.

I so love your choice!  I loved Catch-22 and I do agree with you about Yossarian. 🙂

What was the first author and book you read in this genre?

The third book in the Xanth series by Piers Anthony. I can’t remember the title. Might have been Castle Roogna. I know it’s not horror exactly, but I think they all fall under the category of fantasy.

Who has been the greatest influence on your writing?

I don’t have the slightest idea. I have many authors that I hold in high esteem, but I don’t think I write like any of them in particular. Maybe Strunk & White. Their book on grammar was a bible to me when I was younger, though I’m sure I ignore many of their rules when I write today.

I still have my Strunk & White from grad school.  A fantastic resource or inspiration.

If you could have one wish granted just for you (not world peace, LOL), what would you wish for?

I want to know what this is all about. You know, why we’re here. What the greater plan is. What my purpose is. If there is any truth to anything at all, or if we’re just making it up as we go along. I want to know. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.

Very deep.  And there would be so many people who would be knocking on your door if this wish was granted!  Excellent request

And finally–and I’m almost afraid to ask–what is the most exciting/daredevil thing you’ve ever done?

Well, I had what you might call a misspent youth, so it was spent doing all sorts of daredevil things that I don’t really want to mention in public. Suffice it to say, I’m lucky to be alive. But in a more conventional way, I would probably have to say bungee jumping, though it wasn’t nearly as cool as you might think if you haven’t done it.

Somehow I think I might have pegged you as a daredevil! LOL  I probably don’t want to know what you did in your “misspent youth” if bungee jumping is “conventional.”

You rock, Alex!  Thanks so much for coming by today!

Blurb for Cemetery Plot:

The apocalypse isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. When Vanessa Hawthorne woke up at the end of the world, she expected to be one of the undead… and to have company. Instead Vanessa wakes up in a near-future America where graveyards are as plentiful as strip malls and a real-estate tycoon is after her for the technology she doesn’t even know she hides.

Cemetery Plot is a farcical romp through a future where the undead are part of a money-making scheme.

The past and the future collide and bring together an undead medium with the people responsible for the end of the world.  

Throw a mad scientist into the mix and you have a time-traveling apocalyptic prophecy for the modern money-obsessed world.

Available at Amazon.