Horror Artist Showcase – Author Linda Zimmermann
Author Linda Zimmermann – Horror Artist Showcase
I met Linda during a book signing in a local Barnes & Noble in the fall of 2010 for the release of her then-most recent book and 10th volume in her Ghost Investigator series, which chronicles her adventures as a paranormal investigator. I’ll admit that her name was unfamiliar to me and I was intrigued to meet a local author who shared a keen interest in a childhood passion of mine – the paranormal. Did I “believe”? No. But I was always fascinated with the notion of otherworldly beings dwelling among us. This point, however, was moot, as there was an ulterior motive for my being at the brick-and-mortar retailer.
I was involved with a local production company that was interested in producing a low/no budget show that would be the online, and local, equivalent to SyFy’s Ghost Hunters, only we wanted to make it as real as possible and wanted to focus a lot on historical facts on said haunted locales–that means no gimmicks. Our goal was to recruit Linda Zimmermann with the hopes of having her participate in the webisodes–to our delight, she agreed.
I was fortunate enough to corroborate with her on a few projects where, little by little, I got to know her better on a personal level. Her most recent work, HVZA, Hudson Valley Zombie Apocalypse, was underway and, being a fan of horror and zombies, I was thrilled! A few months later, her book was ready for print and she honored me when she asked to use a photograph I took of her in full zombie attire. The rest, as they say, is history.
Reelybored: Tell us a little about yourself, your background, history, etc.
Linda Zimmermann: I was always writing stories when I was a kid, but I considered it just a hobby because I really wanted to be a scientist. I was a research chemist for a medical diagnostics company for about ten years but found myself drawn to writing more and more. Finally, I decided to take the plunge and try writing for a living, thinking I could always go back to being a chemist if I had to. It hasn’t always been easy, but I never had to put on a lab coat again.
I naturally wrote and lectured about science, and history, too, which was another hobby of mine. People started asking about ghost stories while lecturing about local history in the late 90s. Well, one thing led to another, and the next thing I knew I was the “Ghost Investigator,” writing about my personal experiences in haunted sites. There are now 10 volumes in the Ghost Investigator series, and I also have two haunted tour books.
As much fun as I’ve had with all that, my real love is fiction. I love creating characters and situations and get completely absorbed in the process. When I decided to write HVZA: Hudson Valley Zombie Apocalypse, I thought about zombies every minute of the day and had zombie dreams all night!
Reelybored: Would you consider yourself a fan of all things horror?
Linda: If I had a dollar for every hour I’ve spent watching horror movies since I was a kid, I could probably retire right now! I love really good horror, but I confess I probably like really bad horror even more. Give me a 1950s movie with a guy in a rubber monster suit and I’m set for the night.
Reelybored: Who are your inspirations as a horror writer?
Linda: I couldn’t really name anyone specific, but my inspiration is anyone who can give realism to the story. Where the horror genre starts to lose me is when it goes so far out there as to be completely beyond belief. For example, the evil killer or monster that you shoot thirty-two times, blows up and burns to a crisp, and he still keeps coming at you. To me, the more plausible it is, the more terrifying.
Reelybored: Tell us a little about your book, Hudson Valley Zombie Apocalypse (HVZA).
Linda: It’s 2012 in New York’s Hudson Valley and a medical student, Rebecca “Becks” Truesdale, is working and studying night and day. She hears stories on the news about terrible murders in the area. People start going crazy—which she witnesses firsthand at the hospital where she works—and there are rumors that an unknown contagion is spreading.
As the zombie nightmare unfolds, she tries to use her medical training to help find a cure, but society is rapidly crumbling and she has to learn to survive and fight—both zombies and other humans.
I spent a lot of time trying to make the science behind the story as plausible as possible. I also traveled throughout the Hudson Valley scouting locations for the story to add that extra touch of realism.
Reelybored: Where did the idea of writing a book about zombies stem from?
Linda: I always loved all things zombie, and was thrilled when “The Walking Dead” began on AMC. I started kicking around the idea of some sort of zombie book. Plot and character ideas kept going through my head and I couldn’t sleep until I wrote them all down. It was zombies 24/7, and I loved every crazy minute of writing the book.
Reelybored: What is your favorite Zombie horror movie and why?
Linda: You know what they say, you never forget your first zombie! Hands down, it has to be the original Night of the Living Dead. I know now it looks cheesy, and the makeup is laughable, but when I saw it when I was a kid, it scared the crap out of me.
If you can look past its obvious defects, it really sets the standard for zombie movies: Keep it simple, keep it real, and keep it personal. As I say in the introduction to HVZA, there’s nothing scarier than zombies on your doorstep. George Romero may have had a low budget, but he knew how to drop ordinary people into a horrifying situation and let people’s characters dictate how they would handle such a crisis.
Reelybored: Do you think Zombies can be real?
Linda: I don’t see the dead rising from their graves, but it’s certainly possible for drugs or diseases to turn people into killers. And I have no faith that the government could contain the situation if it became widespread.
Reelybored: What would you do in the event of a zombie apocalypse?
Linda: Kick some zombie ass! Seriously, I have guns and I know how to use them. I thought a lot about this while I was writing the book, and like Becks, I would stockpile as much food and water as possible, fortify my house, and beware of other people—as they could be more dangerous than the zombies.
Reelybored: What do you have planned in the near future?
Linda: I am currently writing some new material for an HVZA graphic novel that is due out in the fall. I’m also working on a new Ghost Investigator book. However, I am primarily going to devote my time and energy to promoting HVZA at book signings and readings throughout the area. Honestly, this is one of my favorite things I’ve ever written, and I am so excited about sharing the story with other zombie fans. I really got a kick out of the first signing I did for HVZA when someone who already read the book started discussing the plot and characters with me. How cool is that?
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