Interview with Rusty Fischer

Welcome to Jagged Edge!

Would you like to tell us a little about yourself?

Sure! I write a lot, don’t read enough, I love cheesy B-movies, the cheesier the better, and try to weave that kind of element into my YA books as often as possible. Not the cheesy part, so much, but the over the top world-building of zombies, vampires, werewolves and so on. I like the immediate sense of B-movies; the fact that you have to override your brain with your imagination. That’s a great place to start!

What inspired you to write?

Shyness, mostly. I’m still shy, so it’s easier for me to write than talk. Plus, I didn’t have a ton of friends when I first started writing, so making up stories in my room was a better way of filling my time than, I dunno, recreating the Empire State Building out of popsicle sticks! Plus, I was a big reader and I loved the joy that reading gave me. I suppose, even back then, I wanted to recreate that joy for others.

What authors influenced you as a writer?

Author, not authors: Judy Blume, period, first and foremost. Others followed, notably S. E. Hinton and, much later, Stephen King, but Judy Blume was the first author, the first other person, I ever really connected with over a book.

Your favorite character? Is it your character or a different authors?

It would be easy to list one of my own here but, then, no one would know what I was talking about. But my favorite character of all time was Bobby Marks from Robert Lipsyte’s classic One Fat Summer. (I’ll let you figure out why!)

What is your favorite Quote? Why is it your favorite?

Crazy thing is, I just saw this the other day on a used car lot sign, of all places: “The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.”

If you could jump in to a book, and live in that world, which would it be?

I would like to go to high school with Stephen King’s Carrie, and go back to that late ‘70s world and take her to prom instead of John Travolta and then when she didn’t get covered in pig guts, ask her to show my latest novel to Stephen King. You think she’d go for it?

What is at least one thing that every writer needs to have or do?

I would say discipline. I know everyone says creativity, but I know a lot of creative people who don’t get jack done on a daily basis!

Are your books different than your personal favorite books by other authors?

I would say “no,” because even when I’m reading out of, say, the YA genre or not reading about zombies or vampires or ghouls or whatnot, I still look for authors who share the same kind of voice as I like to think I write in. It’s really challenging for me, when reading for pleasure, to suffer through a kind of dry, non-sarcastic, almost academic tone. I just really have to “relate” to the author and feel like they’re talking to me. All of the YA writers I really respond to, look up to, follow and digest, like Stacey Jay or E. Van Lowe or Amanda Ashby or Adam Selzer all have that same kind of snarky, tongue in cheek voice/tone that I really respond to.

What lead you to writing in this genre?

I’ve always been a big fan of YA, not just when I was a young adult but, later, when I was a teacher trying to get my teenage students involved with reading. When I left teaching to begin writing for professionally – originally for a teaching magazine and, later, for a book packager – I kind of lost touch with the genre, but stayed busy watching scary movies, etc. A few years ago, when I suddenly got the itch to write YA, I wanted to write not only books that readers would have fun reading but that I’d have fun writing; scary, spooky, snarky zombie, vampire, ghoul and werewolf stuff seemed just the right fit!

Where readers can find you?

The best place to visit is my blog, Zombies Don’t Blog, at http://zombiesdontblog.blogspot.com/. There they can find reviews, posts, excerpts, coming attractions and link to dozens of free zombie and vampire stories, poems and books!

LAST QUESTION:

Was there a question you wish I would have asked but didn't?

Well, I *wish* you’d asked me what it felt like for Stephen Spielberg to be adapting my latest book into next summer’s blockbuster movie, but… maybe next time!!!!