Today I have the pleasure of featuring an interview with Jolie du Pre, author of the recently release Benton: A Zombie Novel, Volume One. If you’re not acquainted with Jolie, let’s take a moment to get to know her…

Jolie du Pre is a full-time, published author, editor, article writer and blogger. She has short stories in over 15 books; she’s the author of a novella, and she’s the editor of three anthologies. Today, Jolie’s focus is on her new adult/romance/zombie apocalypse series – BENTON. Jolie is a married mother of two who loves writing, reading, traveling, cooking, running, pole dance and fitness, and monsters, especially zombies.

Welcome Jolie! Now let’s get to the questions… Tell us about your zombies? If the dead were to rise, do you think you’d stand a chance against them?

My zombies are the traditional slow-moving types.  Yes, you can outrun them, but when you eventually get tired, they’ll keep going.  Unless I have a gun, I don’t stand a chance.  Jennifer Benton is great with a machete, but Jolie is no good with melee weapons.

At least you’re honest! What was your first experience with zombie media? Was that experience was drew into writing the genre?

Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” is my first experience with zombie media, and it was an experience I will never forget.  I watched it when I was a child, and for nights after I couldn’t sleep.  Yes, I thank Romero for drawing me into the zombie genre.

NOTLD was my first exposure as well and it’s still as creepy now as it was then! Pop Quiz: The item to your left is your only weapon during the Zombie Apocalypse. What is it and what do you think are your chances at survival?

The item to my left is a lamp.  So yeah, I’m screwed.

Yes, you just might be! Tell us about five favourite pieces of Zombie media.

Okay, here it goes:

“The Walking Dead” TV series – There is no greater fan of the TWD TV series than me.  One of my greatest moments was getting the opportunity to meet some of the cast members at a Walker Stalker con.  They say celebrities are snobs and unapproachable.  Well, that’s not the case with the cast of TWD.

“Night of The Living Dead” – It is the second scariest movie I’ve ever seen next to “The Exorcist.”

“Dawn of the Dead” the remake – It’s directed by Zack Snyder.  So it’s not a Romero movie.  However, I love it!

“Shaun of the Dead” – You could probably hear me laughing from down the street when I first watched this brilliant British zom com!

“Resident Evil” film series – Seen them all!  Love them all!

Great choices! We all know that we sometimes have bad luck. Keeping that in mind, what song do you think would get stuck in your head, playing over and over again on an incessant loop?

You mean, what song would I hate to be playing over and over again in my head?   “Sk8er Boi” by Avril Lavigne.  Zombies, eat me now.

Yes that would likely be awful… Thank you Jolie for taking the time to answer my questions. If you’d like to connect with Jolie, you can find her on Twitter, Facebook, her Amazon Author Page, her website and her blog Precious Monsters. You can also join her mailing list here!

Now let’s take a look at Benton: A Zombie Novel, Volume One… Clicking on the cover will take you to Amazon!

Zombies have killed everyone in the Benton household–all except twenty-something Jennifer. She’s escaped her bedroom, but what now? Waterbank, Illinois is overrun. Where can she go?

A chance encounter with seven other young survivors points her toward Texas. A charismatic, handsome young man named Mark says he can lead them all to his family’s ranch. He’s sure they’ll be safe there. Jennifer wants to trust him, with her life and possibly her heart.

There’s no place else to go, there’s no way to escape the zombies but through, and there’s no telling if Jennifer and Mark will live long enough to act on the emotion building between them.