Author Armand Rosamilia spotlight!

12/7/2014

I have M&M and bacon loving Armand Rosamilia on the blog today talking about many things including his newest creation in his
Dying Days series - DYING DAYS 4!

I've been a fan of his work for quite a few years, but first met him - virtually anyway - through one of my own events last year (Horror & Thriller month) and have been chasing his tail on several of his own events since then. Including the fantastic - 'Authors Supporting Our Troops event' and 'Summer of Zombie 2014 Blog Tour'

I've also had the pleasure of working with him on a couple of projects including 'Let's Scare Cancer to Death' (a charity horror anthology) and the upcoming 'Fading Hope' and 'State of Horror' anthologies. And I look forward to working with him on further projects in the future also.

So yeah, he's hard working, helps out other authors when he can and works hard for good causes... right, enough of the praise and gushing, dude has trouble fitting through doorways with his huge ego as it is!
Let's let you meet the main man himself.

Armand Rosamilia is a New Jersey boy currently living in sunny Florida, where he writes when he's not watching the Boston Red Sox and listening to Heavy Metal music... and because of him they won the 2013 World Series, so he's pretty good at watching!

He's written over 100 stories that are currently available, including a few different series:

"Dying Days" extreme zombie series
"Keyport Cthulhu" horror series
"Flagler Beach Fiction Series" contemporary fiction
"Metal Queens" non-fiction music series

He also loves to talk in third person... because he's really that cool. He's a proud Active member of HWA as well.

You can find him at http://armandrosamilia.com for not only his latest releases but interviews and guest posts with other authors he likes!

and e-mail him to talk about zombies, baseball and Metal:
armandrosamilia@gmail.com

Armand Interview

1.Tell us all about your latest Dying Days release. What can readers expect from this book in the series?

It is a historical romance with Fabio on the cover. I also used many unicorns and… Dying Days 4 moves the story along into an area no one (hopefully) saw coming. I know the beta readers, editor and first buyers of the book are shocked at where I went with it. I was quite happy. It still retains the Dying Days feeling of hopelessness and you'll cry at a death or two, but you'll be able to cheer on and smile with Darlene and company. I hope.

2.Do you find it hard, this far into the series, to keep coming up with original plots, and plot twists also I guess?

Yes and no. I have a few basic ideas for the entire series already in my head. I know the progression of the zombies and where Darlene and most main characters will end up. But as I write the stories they surprise me and go in other directions. I think when I run out of anything fresh to say, I'll know it is time to end Dying Days.

3.Do you have an end game for the entire series, or does it come to you as you write?

I know roughly at what point the story will have to end, but it might not be a true ending. It could lead to another series for the future. But I think I still have enough story right now that the end isn't necessarily in sight.

4.My favourite thing about your Dying Days series is that you take a somewhat different approach to it. On one hand, your MC Darlene Bobich is very realistic in that she’s ridiculous type heroine with over the top skills. Yet you also write extreme horror which means I never have a freaking clue what you’re going to do next, or should I say what—or who your zombies are going to do **shudder** But do you ever worry about going too far? And is there anything that you wouldn’t ever write about?

A full-blown rape scene is not going to happen in the series, although you could argue the opening line of Highway To Hell was pretty brutal. I never worry about going too far when I write. I don't censor myself. But I do have a moral compass I try to adhere to, even if I come close to that line a few times. I want to keep the reader guessing, and them not knowing how bad it is going to get for Darlene and her friends. And enemies.

5.Though Darlene is your MC are there any other particular favourite characters within the series, and why?

Tosha Shorb might actually be my favorite. She's a tough redhead who uses her sexuality to get over on men, even in the zombie apocalypse. And there's a scene in Dying Days 4 where she bumps heads with Darlene over it.

6.How many Dying Days books are you planning? Or do you intend to continue until you feel it reaches a realistic ending.

How many are you planning on buying? I have the next 2 books formed in my head, with either an ending or an escape clause for another book or three after. I'm not sure. At this rate I'll put out a new one in June each year, with another instalment of the satellite series once a year as well: look for Dying Days: Origins 2 in late Fall, and in the next year we'll have Hell's Bells: Highway To Hell 2, Still Dying 3 and of course Dying Days 5 right in time for the Summer of Zombie blog tour 2015.

7.What aspects of writing do you find the most difficult?

Getting my butt in the chair and not immediately going onto Facebook each morning. Most days I fail miserably. And then keeping the flow going once I begin. And running out of coffee. That really sucks.

8.All writers know that reviews are our gold, but are there any reviews—both good and bad—that have stuck with you?

The one that comes to mind was for my Tool Shed horror novella. I got a one-star review on Amazon. The reviewer talked about buying an actual tool shed from Sears and how it was flimsy and fell apart, and how disappointed he was in it. Nothing about my book, and it wasn't a joke. When I called Amazon the guy on the phone laughed and took it down. Now I wish I'd saved it first.

9.Out of all your work, and there’s a lot, which is the piece that you’re most proud of?

Dying Days 4 is a close second to Death Metal, which was more thriller than horror. I think because it was the first longer piece I got published from another publisher. I still love the story, and someday I'll do a sequel to it. If I ever get time.

10. If you had to pick a soundtrack to your Dying Days series, what would it be?

A Best Of collection of Thrash Metal music from my youth: Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth, old Metallica, Testament, Overkill, Exodus, Britney Spears…

11.What’s the next thing that you’re working on, and when can we expect to get our filthy little hands on it?

First off, go wash your hands… second: I always have many projects I'm working on at once. Right now, as we speak (or don't, whatever) I am working on Dying Days: Origins 2, three short stories for anthologies, a movie adaptation, finishing a horror novel and a horror erotica short story in my Necromance series. And drinking coffee.