Tell us about Anti-Sentient.

Anti-Sentient is about gene-therapy, clinical trial studies and zombies, all set in Los Angeles. It’s a new take on the tried and true zombie lore. With pharmetucial companies trying to cure everything from sleeplessness to sparse eyelashes, what happens when researchers seek to genetically alter subjects in an effort to cure them?

What genre is it?

Horror, medical thriller.

What kind of readers will it appeal to?

Adult men and women (18 – 45).

How long did Anti-Sentient take to write?

Four months as part of a graduate studies course on novel writing. I was going to school full-time and not working. I wrote three hours a day, religiously and by the end of the semester I had the finished product. I worked with my professor on editing it before I began shopping it around.

What was the most challenging part of your creative process?

Making my characters believable. I gave them complete backgrounds so I’d know how they’d behave. It helped me build the story around them. Zombies are cool, but you have to have something other than people running and getting eaten to keep the story interesting.

I also tried to paint a picture with my story. I love reading stories that I can visualize and feel I’m a part of. Writing the story just came to me. I’d be driving down the street and an idea would come to me that just fit, like puzzle piece into the story. Figuring out the entire puzzle was challenging, but I loved it.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m a Los Angeles native. I’ve always loved writing but never dreamed of pursuing it professionally. I was laid off from a dead-end job when the recession hit and decided to go back to school and earn my Masters. I took a creative writing course and never looked back. Losing that job was the best thing that could have happened to me. I’m working as a technical editor now, writing and sharing my work.

Have you got a blog where readers can keep up with your work?

My GoodReads author page.

Where can people buy your book?

Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

What’s next?

I’m working on a sequel. In the first book, the outbreak is confined to Los Angeles. In the sequel, we’ll see it spread, as well as examine some ramifications of the original tests that were not initially realized. I’m also working on a book of short stories, completely unrelated.