Dead Serious

Q & A #1

Time for this Q & A! I'm excited! Hope you guys are too.

Updating will resume as usual next week, but if you guys like the Q & A we might do a second one when this reaches 2k reads or 500 votes, depending on what you guys prefer.

@KindaCrazygirl1209 asked, "What made you write this story? Was it a sudden spark of inspiration, or did you get the idea to write it out of nowhere?"

Great question! So this may be a bit surprising, but I came up with this story about... Nearly five years ago it looks like. I was new to this wonderful writing site that has since then died, but this was my first story on there. To try and make friends I asked for people to fill out a character form and create the characters for me. I had Erica, but Nicole, Jacob, and Callie were all created by these strangers on the writing site. Callie's original name was Cameron which I changed for this draft to avoid confusion. This is my third attempt to write it.

I can't exactly remember where the inspiration exactly came from as it was so long ago, but I bet Zombieland heavily inspired it without me even realizing it. It's one of my favorite movies. I don't really know where anything else came from.

Write_To_Survive asked, "Does Jacob's girlfriend ever make an appearance?" They also asked, "Is Jacob's girlfriend or whatever, Amber, ever gonna be mentioned again?"

Good memory. Jacob's ex-girlfriend, Amber, will make an appearance. She actually becomes a sort of important character later on, in regards to one of the subplots. I hope you like her!

Kcplayz7805 asked, "I can't remember if it was stated before since it was a while when I started the book, but what happened to her mom? Like was she not in the picture?"

I already answered this one directly to Kcplayz7805, but I figured others might want to know too. Perhaps the latest chapter cleared that up.

Erica's mom died when she was nine and that was the whole reason she moved away from Avalon Creek to Lockewood Grove.

Fun fact: Had her mom not died Erica would have been living in Avalon Creek when Nicole and Jacob moved there. Erica and Jacob would have gone to the same high school, a grade apart.

Kcplayz7805 also asked, "When you started the book did you have everything planned out or as you write have you came up with the storyline?"

When I started this draft of the book I had some ideas. The ending has been permanently stuck in my brain for years and is the only reason why I didn't give up on it after two failed drafts. But more ideas came to me after I started this draft. I don't exactly have a set outline or anything, but I do have a random list I keep adding to of things I want to happen. Like, Erica and Nicole learning to drive from Jacob. Now I have a sort of direction I plan on going in and I know exactly where it'll end up.

So sort of both?

Another question from Kcplayz7805 is, "Also do you ever plan to make Jacob and Locke have a relationship? I know some books have said straight out 'There is no romantic interest in this book-' so do you plan for their relationship to be strictly platonic?"

I kinda just wanna ask this question right back. Like, are the majority of you expecting or hoping they'll be romantic?

Well I, of course, won't just leave that there. I have to answer the questions in a Q & A. XD

Erica and Jacob's friendship is the heart of the story, as their differences bring out the humor of the group and balance each other out. I love writing them and they are definitely one of my favorite friendships. That being said if I were to write them as love interests, I definitely wouldn't prioritize it above their friendship. That's what matters to me, so you guys can imagine whatever you want for them, I suppose.

I didn't intend for them to have any romantic chemistry, so if I accidentally gave the impression that they did or were supposed to end up together, I'm sorry! If you're looking for a zombie story where the leads have a bunch of romantic and sexual tension, well this isn't it. But I hope you still stick around to read this one!

stargirl-yogirl asked, "Are we done with Baltia cause it seemed there would be more stuff for plots and things like Carter and Dr. Khan and stuff?"

We will see more of Baltia! And in a better light too. I'm not done with Carter or Soraya Khan or Annie and Mason by any means. There's still a lot of story left.

Write_To_Survive also asked, "Will Erica ever meet up with her brother or are you just gonna pull that away every time she gets close like, 'your brother's in another castle' type deal?"

Love the reference. Erica and Jake will be reunited and he will be a main character, eventually. I cannot wait to write Jake and Jacob's interactions.

Camgelo asked, "What was your favorite chapter to write so far and why?"

For those who don't know, this is my best bro and also the reason I had to change Callie's name. XD

This might have been the hardest question. Geez, uhhh... Pretty much all the early chapters that focus on Erica and Jacob's differences and growing friendship. Grocery Shopping and Cart Hopping was definitely one of them. As was Blood In The Basement and Shot. Jacob and Ducky is an early, early one I adore. Any of the chapters where Jacob annoys Carter. I just love Jacob, okay? XD

stargirl-yogirl also asked, "Are there any parts you're really excited about? Can you tell us anything?"

I'm really excited to write more of Jacob and Erica's friendship developing, especially as more characters and locations get added into the mix. I will say there will be a lot of not so happy moments coming up near the end. I am super excited the ending, but it's definitely a ways off.

I'm incredibly excited for Nicole and Jake to meet, as they are both fourteen and sassy and incredibly entertaining. They'll be even better when I throw Paisley into the mix.

So what do you want to see happen in Dead Serious going forward?

What have been your favorite moments so far? Favorite chapters?

Who are your favorite characters?

What are you looking forward to?

Tell me all your thoughts in the comments! Thanks so much for being such AMAZING READERS! I truly love and appreciate all you and I especially love that you asked questions for this Q & A! I didn't think there would be so many great questions to answer!

I love you all!

Thanks for forty great chapters!
~Oz