A Zombie With More Brains Than He Can Eat...

This week we're just going bonkers for 'I've Been Deader' by Adam Sifre, a comedy zombie novel that was launched earlier this week by Taylor Street Publishing.

Not only is his book very funny, but we've discovered Adam is handsome AND a lawyer. We envisage a plethora of Zombielevers swooning outside bookshops near you somtime soon.


Lillian Kendrick, the lucky, lucky lady, got to interview him...

What made you start writing in the first place? I don’t even know what made me start eating raisin bread for breakfast. It’s just something I started doing. People liked what they read, my ego grew and demanded that more people like me, so I kept on writing. Then, just when I thought my ego could not possibly get any bigger, I wrote “I’ve Been Deader.”
Where and when do you usually write?
I usually write in the early morning and late evening. Sometimes I’ll write in the afternoons or early evenings; sometimes a little after dusk or if it’s raining. I write when I’m stressed and want to do something I’m good at.

Which writers have inspired you?
Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, and Adam Sifre (his early stuff).
How do you handle Writer’s Block?

I find that bitching about it for several days often helps. Then I sit down and write something that I think is terrible. Then I wait another few weeks and try again.

Are any of your characters based on real people?

Fred is loosely based on me. People think that zombies are fictional, but believe me, there are plenty of us shambling from place to place with vacant stares and not a functional thought in our heads. You can find us at shopping malls, the motor vehicle department, office parties, blind dates – we are legion.

There are a few gloriously ‘yucky’ scenes in “I’ve Been Deader” – where do you get your ideas from? (The drag queens, "Dead Divas", spring to mind!)
Usually when I’m driving. I’m always thinking about weird and funny situations. I do very little outlining before I write. I just wait for an interesting thought to make itself known, write it down, and start tweaking it. The idea for the “Dead Divas” for example, occurred to me when I passed some prostitutes outside the Lincoln tunnel in New York City. The thought of paying a stranger for sex terrified me. I mean, who knows what someone will do to you if they get close enough?
What has been the most encouraging comment you have received in the process of bringing “I’ve Been Deader” to the attention of horror and comedy fans around the world?
I know that I have a tendency to come off as a bit egotistical, but in all honesty, I’ve received comments from hundreds of readers telling me how much they loved the book (and not just from writers looking for return compliments – the jackals). My memory is worse than Charlie Sheen’s, and I’m sure I’ve forgotten many great ones. So I’ll just post one comment that I picked at random, sent to me last year from a reader on Scribophile.com: “I’m not a fan of the horror genre. You can watch your undead movie while I watch Angeline Jolie. But you’ve got something. Perhaps it’s the perfect comedy timing. Perhaps it’s because you somehow manage to make us identify with rotten old Fred.”

Comments like that make it all worthwhile. Well, impressive sales figures will really make it all worthwhile, but until that happens I’m stuck with comments and good wishes.

Well - you've got our backing, Adam. You can find I've Been Deader here and also on our fancy carrousel over to the right.