Sierra
asked
Isaac Marion:
Hello, I was curious if you were going to write other stories as well, besides for sentient zombies? I loved your writing style of Warm Bodies, but the topic was not something I am personally interested in. I would love to read more from you, your style is unlike any others I have found.
Isaac Marion
I don't consider zombies the "topic" of these books. They're just an easily recognizable point of entry into the topics of these books. I'm not interested in zombies for the sake of zombies. I'm not interested in "how to survive a zombie apocalypse"--I don't even care much about "how people behave when society breaks down," although that's definitely more interesting than generic zombie mayhem. What interests me about zombies is the state of undeath itself, the ways I see it in myself and the world around me and what it would mean to climb out of it. Zombies are just a versatile vehicle for exploring the human experience and that's what interests me--that's the "topic."
Of course when I started Warm Bodies, I underestimated how stuck people get on genre signifiers and how hard it would be to get them to read this story on its own terms instead of corralling it with every other story that involves the undead. I don't plan on stumbling into that corral again. I always write with some element of weirdness, but pop culture monsters aren't by any means my "thing" and nothing in my writing queue resembles Warm Bodies.
Of course when I started Warm Bodies, I underestimated how stuck people get on genre signifiers and how hard it would be to get them to read this story on its own terms instead of corralling it with every other story that involves the undead. I don't plan on stumbling into that corral again. I always write with some element of weirdness, but pop culture monsters aren't by any means my "thing" and nothing in my writing queue resembles Warm Bodies.
More Answered Questions
Ivy Tucker
asked
Isaac Marion:
So since this massive tome you've produced has now been split in two, can I ask which book we were reading in the extract at the end of The (new) New Hunger? AND what does this mean for your book promotional jaunt? Are you going to be locked away editing for another year, or do we get to pester you for autographs and buy you beer? AND (most importantly), where does that leave your other projects, shorts and music?
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