Today, I would like to welcome P.J. Jones – queen of the fairytale zombies! Intrigued? Read on!
1. Tell me more about how you got started as a writer and why you decided on parody and comedy as your genres of choice?
I started writing about 20 years ago when I was an English major in college. Back then, it was mostly for fun. As I grew older, my writing evolved. I eventually published a few YA paranormals with a small press. Then I became seriously ill and I needed a bit of comic relief. That’s when I wrote my first parody, Romance Novel.
I fell out of the publishing business while I recovered, and when I was ready to try publishing again, I found nobody wanted to publish my crude parody. I took the advice of a few other writers and put my books on Kindle and other ebook venues. I had so much fun that I wrote a few more paranormal parodies and a dark comedy and put them all on Kindle. Then, I got my rights back for my YAs and indie published those, too. It’s been a blast. I love being an indie writer and having creative control over my books. Plus, I’m actually selling more books than I sold with my publisher.
2. What do you fear? Tell me about your own phobias.
Fly swatters. I hate them. Ever look closely at one? Sticky bug guts and leg and wing pieces. And most people keep them in their kitchens. Gross.
I do not fear failure as an author. Frankly, because I’ve failed enough times to know failure is an eventuality in this business. So is success if you try hard enough.
3. Romance Novel is a parody of a certain well-known sparkly franchise – what do you think it is about T******* that makes it such a popular subject for comedy and satire at the moment?
It’s okay, you can say Twilight. Or are you afraid millions of Twi-hards will lynch your website? Back, Twi-hards, back! Ack! I’m choking on glitter!
Why is it a popular subject for comedy? Hmmm, whiny teen girl meets sexy undead, sparkly stalker. What’s to poke fun of?
4. The Vampire Handbook is an essential guide for those adjusting to the undead lifestyle – what is the worst mistake a newbie vamp can make?
USING YOUR IMMORTALITY TO GET LAID: Do not tell a mortal you are a vampire, just to get laid. This plan, though it works in most paranormal romance novels, will most likely cause a human to run screaming in the opposite direction, leaving you with no other alternative than to silence your mortal crush by draining his/her blood. This, in turn, will leave you heartbroken and sad, causing you to go on an eating and shopping binge, leaving a trail of carcasses and non-biodegradable impulse purchases of handbags, fishing poles and crystal vases.
5. In addition to dry cleaning, what other service industries do you think could benefit from a living corpse workforce? Or have they already been hired and we’ve not been told?
Oh, I have another free short story out called Melvin the Vacuum Salesman Zombie over at www.curiosityquills.com . Selling vacuums is a great new job for Melvin because the victims’ neighbours can’t hear the screams over the loud vacuum motor.
6. Are there any other monsters in the bestiary that you think could benefit from the P.J. Jones treatment?
I have already parodied sasquatch, aliens, Hannibal Lecter, Santa, leprechauns, genies, The Hunger Games…All of these stories are free at Curiosity Quills: http://curiosityquills.com/category/special-columns/paranormalady/
And I recently published a fairytale zombie parody, Attack of the Fairytale Zombies! It’s got hobbits, knights, witches, wizards, dragons… If you are a LOTR fan, you’ll either love or hate my book.
7. Tell me who are amongst your favourites when it comes to comedians?
Daniel Tosh, Seth Green and Seth MacFarlane.
8. Can you tell me some more about what you are working on at the moment?
I am working on a YA fantasy, a YA paranormal, a YA ghost story, and a paranormal parody.
9. What is a typical writing day for P.J. Jones?
Not enough writing. Too much goofing off on FB. I try to get in at least 1-2K words a day.
10. So what does 2012 hold for P.J. Jones? Any last words?
Curiosity Quills Press is going to combine all of my short stories into a novel titled, Paranormalady. I’m also trying to squeeze in Pride and Prejudice and Vampires. But with all these other books I have to write, I hope I can finish them all before the December apocalypse.
Thank you, P.J. Jones!
As the official Royal Dragon Slayer of Fairytale Kingdom, Barth descends from a long line of monster-killing knights. There’s only one problem: Drag, the kingdom’s resident cross-dressing dragon, is also Barth’s best friend.
When the King orders Barth to kill Drag, Barth knows they have to flee the kingdom or else another knight will do the job. But after a beautiful witch begs Barth to stay and help rid the kingdom of a dreadful zombie curse, Barth discovers he may have found his true calling. Is he knight enough to stop the zombie outbreak, save his best friend and get the girl?
Attack of the Fairytale Zombies is available from the following links:
If you want to find out more about P.J. Jones, please visit the following links:
Thanks for posting this, G.R.