My book is called Odium Origins: A Dead Saga Novella. Part one. It’s an accompaniment to my full length novel Odium. The Dead Saga.

Oh? Maybe you should tell us about that book first then.
Odium takes place several years after the zombie apocalypse has happened, and focuses on how the world has changed and what people have had to do to survive.

So how does Odium Origins fit into the jigsaw?
Odium Origins came about because a lot of fans of the main book wanted to learn more about the characters from the book, and so odium Origins was born. It focuses on four groups of characters and what happened when the apocalypse started and how they all found each other. These same characters are then in the main book – Odium.

What genre are these books?
Dystopian post-apocalyptic zombie novel.

What kind of readers will it appeal to?
Anyone who loves, zombies, Dystopian or post-apocalyptic worlds. Old school zombies – slow shamblers, and anyone who enjoys character driven books.

Tell us about these characters.
My main character is Nina. She isn’t your usual female heroine. She isn’t instantly likeable. It’s a couple of years after the zombie apocalypse and she has hardened to the world and people in general. She’s lived through a lot and lost a lot. But you grow to love her honesty, her sarcasm and quick wit and discover that underneath all the bitchiness (and dry humour) she’s actually very loveable.

Sounds like you’ve got a lot of sympathy for her. Do you have a a lot in common?
Hahaha, quite a lot actually. I have a very sarcastic sense of humour and I put a lot of that into her. She also says it how it is and so do I But I have tact where she really doesn’t!

We’ve interviewed you before about your novel, Limerence. For anyone who hasn’t yet read it, give us a brief description.
Think old school vampires. Dark, sexy and scary.

I also have a couple of short stories out and next year the sequels to both Odium and Limerence come out.

Tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m a 32 year old mother of three who lives in the UK with my little girls, husband and scruffy dog! I work part time and write every night well into the early hours.

I read pretty much anything other than sci-fi! I collect mugs, love sweets and hate brussel sprouts!

Do you have a website where we can keep up with your work?
Yeah. www.clairecriley.com

What about social media?
https://www.facebook.com/ClaireCRileyAuthor
@ClaireCRiley

What’s next?
The sequel to Odium and Limerence, and a new idea I have for a romantic crime horror. I also have several more short zombie stories coming out at some point in the year. They’ve already been accepted and I’m just waiting on dates.

How easily do new storylines come to you? If we give you four random words – Man, Woman, Airport, Darkness – can you give us a brief storyline?
Very! I prefer to have a genre to go with it though to make it even easier.

You decide the genre.
A woman is travelling back from Africa with her husband’s dead body–he got mauled by a tiger whilst out on safari. On the journey home, she goes through his briefcase and discovers things about him that she never knew, like the fact that his father was a witch doctor.

Upon arriving home, they unload his coffin and discover it empty…apart from a note from him saying that he’s sorry.