I had an opportunity to interview G.R. Mountjoy, author of a new zombie novel 3 YEARS AFTER…
Here’s what he had to say:
[Steven Pajak] As a new author, my readers may not be familiar with your work. Could you please tell them about yourself? What are some things that you enjoy doing when you’re not writing?
[G.R. Mountjoy] A little about myself. I am 37, married, I have a daughter and a child on the way. I served in the Army for 15 years, and am medically retired from the Army. I had a bad surgery by a civilian doctor. I grew up in Indiana, knew my entire childhood that I wanted to be a soldier, and joined the Delayed Entry Program on my 18th birthday. I was in the 82nd Airborne and spent 3 years as a Scout Observer in the 1/504 Parachute Infantry Regiment Scout/Sniper Platoon. I then reclassified to be a Blackhawk Crew Chief. I have spent time in Korea, Fort Drum New York, Hunter Army Airfield “Savannah, GA”, and worked on a counter narcotic mission in the Bahamas for 3 years. Right now I am trying to attain my Bachelors degree. I attend Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah Georgia. I work, and spend time playing golf, reading, and have given up my addiction to World of Warcraft. I love movies and Science Fiction.
[Steven Pajak] What made you decide to write zombie fiction?
[G.R. Mountjoy] I have played around and been reading while on my various deployments for years. Last semester I was in a literature class and a Professor told us a 10K short story would be worth a letter grade. I messed around, turned the word count off, and next thing I know, I was had 30K words! So then she read it, and told me I had something. I kept just writing , and then had a story. It was fun.
[Steven Pajak] Please tell us a little bit about 3 Years After… I understand you’re planning a sequel. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
[G.R. Mountjoy] 3 Years After… is about a Special forces team that is picked out to use some government technology, time travel. The problem, it all goes to shit. So the first book is about the team finding out that the zombie apocalypse hats happened. They fight across the country to find the remnants of the government. They get a follow on mission and get told what happened to humanity. I leave off with the team getting on a helicopter that leads us to book 2. I am close to completing book 2.
[Steven Pajak] Who are your favorite authors? What are some of your favorite books?
[G.R. Mountjoy] My favorite authors range a lot of books. I will start with my favorite reading, and that starts with Star Wars books. That would encompass way too many authors. The next is Christopher Golden and the Shadow Saga. His book “Of Saints and Shadows” is by far the best book that I think is out there. I like Jack Campbell’s Lost Fleet Series also.
Onto Zombies, I was really new to this, and to be honest, I feel like a newbie. Last semester I bought a kindle, and a friend told me to read J.L. Bourne’s “Day by Day Armageddon” and that started it! From there I read Tufo, Recht, DiLouie, Meigs, Pajak, Knight, and most recently Talluto and Clines. There are so many great independent authors like myself out there, they are all helpful, and Facebook has helped to connect us.
[Steven Pajak] Did you attempt to publish your work traditionally before you decided to publish your work independently? If yes, why did you stop pursuing the traditional publishing route?
[G.R. Mountjoy] I tried to go through Permuted Press. I submitted via their guidelines, and was told my work was good, but they weren’t interested. This killed me. I then joined the writers store, looked for an agent, and then submitted it to way too many, and never got a response from any of them. I then contacted Mark Tufo “Author of Zombie Fallout” on Facebook. He told me to just do it! And it did. Trust me, I made mistakes, I didn’t get it edited, my cover was done by a friend. I was crucified on Amazon by the reviewers. Trust me, they really didn’t say many bad things about my story, just my grammar. I then contacted Steven Pajak, and got a lot of help with a sweet cover, and help with getting my book out on paperback. It has been a learning process, but it has been awesome!
[Steven Pajak] How do you market your work and what have you found to be the most successful in marketing your book?
[G.R. Mountjoy] I have really just marketed it by word of mouth, and with reviews. I am not trying to become a millionaire. I had three goals, 10 books, 100 books, and 1000 books. I have passed all three of them. I have a blog that I need to update more, I have been approved for expanded distribution on Kindle Direct Publishing, and have it on Nook. I would love to be picked up by a publishing company, but if I don’t, well that is the breaks. I don’t consider myself to be great, but have made the newspaper and can tell my kids that I am a published author.
[Steven Pajak] What can we expect to see from G.R. Mountjoy after the 3 Year After… series?
[G.R. Mountjoy] I plan on finishing the series, and having it done within the next year. Over the summer I had writers block, aka played a lot of golf. I am also working on a spoof of survival guides that will cover what to do during an apocalypse. I think that my time in the military and the way that I am writing it will make it a very fun and interesting read. My main goal is to write more and have people enjoy my super badass military characters.
For more information about G.R. Mountjoy or the book, you can visit him at:
Facebook
G.R. Mountjoy’s Blog
3 YEARS AFTER…
Reluctant psychic Susan Moore witnessed the brutal slaying of a young boy in a vision. Despite her psychic gifts, she is unable to save the boy fro
