Zombie author Shawn Chesser talks about his books and his characters

Shawn Chesser is one of the best zombie genre writers of our day. His plot lines are solid and his characters believable.

Chesser has written four novels in his "Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse" series:

"Trudge" See review here.

"Soldier On" See review here.

"In Harm's Way"

"A Pound of Flesh" See review here.

Below is my interview with Shawn Chesser.

Terra-Are you current of former military?

Shawn-I almost joined the Army in 1989. I wanted to fly helicopters in a bad way. Took the ASVAB entry testing and scored high. However, since I was not college educated there was little chance of becoming an aviator as quickly as I had hoped, so I declined. I thought that working on helos all day and then watching someone else fly the bird would be too heartbreaking. Thankfully I didn't join... If I had I would have been in Kuwait and would have never met my wife of nearly 20 years. Raven and Cade wouldn't have been born either. So after all of that... no. My dad is an Air Force veteran though.

Terra- I know your mother let you watch NOTLD in 1980, what other zombie films do you like?

Shawn-Dawn of the dead ruined my mall experience for a short time. Not as impactful as Jaws though, I'm still terrified of the ocean. Day of the Dead was nice and dark. The setting... Florida I think if I remember correctly. Plus you've gotta love Bub! People may hate me for this but I loved the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake by Zack Snyder. The SFX were so good. The intro with Johnny Cash.... Man Comes Around... priceless. I really liked Kenneth played by Ving Rhames and Ana played by Sarah Polley. 28 days later was kick ass... the tone was set early on. I hate fast rage/Zs though. For comedy Z films- a tie between Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland. Thank God for The Walking Dead, as most of the Z movies stink. Five minutes in and it's evident because of awful SFX and poor gunplay its surely going to be a stinker.

Terra- Cade Grayson, your main character in your books is the perfect zombie hunter. He's an amazing man who knows all about guns and helicopters and all that guy stuff. Is he based on someone in your life?

Shawn-I read a ton of Executioner books growing up. Mack Bolan is the man and Don Pendleton really brought him to life. Cade's not the bruiser Mack was... Different era as well. I'd be lying if I said I'm not living vicariously through Cade. I'm a gun enthusiast- though I don't have quite the goodies Cade does. Hear that NSA? I'm an aviation geek who enjoys air-shows. I dig the military channel and I love historical books about war and the men and machines involved. I truly appreciate all of our veterans. Please tell your husband thanks for me.

Terra-(Will do Shawn, thanks) How many more books in this series will there be?

Shawn- As of now I am writing Allegiance which is book 5. I have ideas for two more going forward. I am also toying with writing a novella about Ronnie Gaines and his mission to snatch the Alpha carrier from Bethesda during the fall of DC. I'd also like to do a flash forward of a few years that sees Raven surviving in the STZA universe.

Terra-Has anyone approached you regarding TV or Movie projects?

Shawn- So far no. My FB friend, fellow author, Mark Tufo signed his movie deal. John O'Brien alluded to some "upcoming news" on his blog. Who knows what that means though. I'm waiting... I'd love to see my story made into a movie-Zero Dark Thirty with Zs. But... I have been courted by a publisher who wanted me to sign with them. They also wanted the rights to turn my series into audio books as well. I declined- I don't need a boss or a deadline.

Follow Shawn on Facebook.