Today my guest is Miranda Doerfler.

For those of you unacquainted with her, Miranda is a bestselling story and script writer in the horror, mystery, thriller, suspense and espionage genres. She has been writing since she was seven years old. She publishes a new collection of short stories every three months, and an anthology every nine months. Her most recent projects include Shadows Come to Stay, Haiku of the Living Dead and Dead Inside. She currently resides in upstate New York with her parents, her younger brother and her cat, Baby.

Her work can be found on Amazon.com and her website: http://mirandadoerfler.com, and for events or conventions, you can contact her manager, John Tobin, at 518-227-8629, or by email at info@gloryhaunthounds.com.

Now that you know a little more about Miranda, let’s find out what she has to say about the living dead. Why Zombies? Is there anything specific that draws you to the genre?

Believe it or not, I used to hate zombies…until I started watching The Walking Dead, which I think is one of the most brilliant shows on TV right now. I also started talking to Seth Peterson, an actor who’s become a good friend of mine, who is in love with zombies. His passion for them drove me to continue. I am more intrigued by the apocalyptic aspect that tends to go along with zombies than the zombies themselves, but I found it interesting to think about how a body decays and how that contributes to the look of a zombie while writing my novella.

Since you brought up The Walking Dead, do you think the popularity of the show and its appearance in mainstream media has helped to increase the popularity of the genre, or has there always been such an interest?

Haha! Well, yes, I do believe that it’s increased the popularity. I think zombies have always been a point of intrigue, but the brilliance of The Walking Dead put it at the forefront over so many other things in the horror genre. It’s really interesting to me to see how other people interpret and write zombies. I like watching the genre grow.

The genre grows daily as more and more people unleash their ideas on the world. Take a second, if you will, and plug your latest project for us, published or otherwise.

My latest project is DEAD INSIDE, my zombie novella. It’s the longest thing I have ever written and I am utterly proud of it. My manager is currently talking to commercial publishers, so I’m pretty excited about that. A brief synopsis: “This 33k+ word novella follows Daniel Flynn, the G2 Group and scientists at Hayter Industries as they explore the abilities of The Grief Gene and test a revolutionary virus called, ‘Mortoxin.’ They’re in for more than they bargained for when the virus falls into the wrong hands, and it’s up to everyone involved to put a stop to the threat before it’s too late…for all of us.”

Since Dead inside is not currently available, here is a synopsis of Miranda’s most recent release…

A collection of short stories to envelop you in darkness. Note: this compilation is more thriller/suspense than horror. Includes “Captive,” “Under the Cover of Night,” “Deception” and the seventh installment of the Kindle exclusive, “Black & White.”

Captive: When her car breaks down on a dead-end street, Venicia Acclest is just looking for a little help, but the friendly couple in the house nearby may offer more than she bargained for when they don’t allow her to leave.
Under the Cover of Night: A serial killer is on the loose and the D.C. police are scrambling to stop him. If Detective Robert Stanford only knew how close he was to the answer…
Deception: Something is killing senators sporadically, and although their manner of death is the same, their cause is an utter mystery, and they don’t seem to have any other connection, but Rick and Kate will piece it together. The only question is: will they be too late?
Black & White: Agent White is determined to hunt down Sanctimonia, to the point of staying at the station all night to find any clue in the case files. Little does he know, by the end of the night, he’ll have more reason than ever to find the killer and take him out.

When discussing Dead Inside, your (hopefully) soon to be released zombie novella, what is it that makes your Zombies different?

My zombies are smart. They think and know and can react to a situation more than just flinging themselves at a door. They also have a specific reason for eating humans, but I’m not gonna give that away just yet. ;]

Oh, I love a good tease! So tell us, what are your 5 favourite Zombie books that you didn’t write?

Oh god. I haven’t read any commercially published zombie books, haha. The only thing I’ve read is Seth Peterson’s ZOMBIE MOVIE (available for download on Smashwords), which I loved. I’ve only recently gotten into this genre and have a lot of catching up to do, unfortunately.

Catching up is not such a bad thing, and please don’t forget the independently published ones as well! There are quite a few gems in the genre. Since you haven’t read a lot of Zombie Lit, what are your top 3 favourite Zombie films?

Again, haven’t really seen any. I saw Shaun of the Dead, and that was okay, but I’m not big into comedy horror. I want to see 28 Days Later at some point…

Hmmm, so you’ve done little research in the event the Zombie Apocalypse occurs… Things may not go well for you Miranda! Okay consider this next question a quick test: if the Zombie Apocalypse were to occur right now, 5 things found in the room you are currently sitting will be your weapons – what are they?

Guitar strings (great for severing heads, if you can get close enough!), this super strong lamp (perfect for bashing in skulls), a fire poker, the leg of a stool and…A KNIFE! Thank god we’re eating dinner right now…

Maybe, just maybe you’ll be okay Miranda – but let’s hope it never comes to that! If you’re interested in any of Miranda’s works, you can find links to them all on her website.

Tune in next week when I talk to Stant Litore, author of The Zombie Bible series…