Risingshadow has had the honour of interviewing Armand Rosamilia.
Armand Rosamilia is a New Jersey boy currently living in sunny Florida, where he writes when he's not sleeping.
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 (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.
Click here to visit the author's official website.
AN INTERVIEW WITH ARMAND ROSAMILIA
- Could you tell us something about yourself in your own words?
I’d rather use other people's words if you don't mind... sexy, titillating, and amazingly humble. Oh, and I'm also A New Jersey boy (if being almost 45 is still on the edges of boy) living in sunny Florida and writing full-time and living the dream.
- How did you become a writer?
Doesn't writing pick you? At 12 I read every Dean Koontz paperback I could get my hands on. I knew I wanted to be an author from there, but it took me close to thirty years to get in a position where I could actually earn a decent wage from it. And it was worth every second of being a retail manager to get here. Now I get to kill off every customer and co-worker... in my stories, of course.
- Are there any authors or books that have inspired you to write dark fiction/horror? Have any of these authors or books influenced your writing style?
Obviously Koontz. I was never a huge King fan, I think because my mom was and she was always reading his books. Robert E. Howard was also something I read a lot of in my teens, as well as HP Lovecraft and any other horror or fantasy book I could find.
- Are there any specific authors or books that you'd like to recommend to your readers?
I am still a big fan of what used to be Leisure fiction books before they imploded. I have a shelf and spill over onto another with the paperbacks I bought from them: Brian Keene, John Everson, Douglas Clegg, Jack Ketchum, Richard Laymon, Nate Kenyon, Tim Waggoner… I could go on and on.
- What kind of dark fiction/horror do you write?
I mostly write zombie fiction with my Dying Days series, but I love all spec fic. Most of my horror work involves normal everyday people in horrific situations. I want to see how a regular Joe will react when confronted with zombies or monsters.
- Could you tell us something about Chelsea Avenue? What kind of a book is it? What can readers expect from it?
Chelsea Avenue is a traditional horror novel. Some paranormal elements and an evil entity haunting a New Jersey town over the years. I wrote it as if it could be placed alongside the aforementioned Leisure fiction books and fit right in.
- Is Chelsea Avenue a standalone book or part of a bigger series?
It is actually part of a trilogy, but can be read as a standalone if that makes sense. It does to me. I have the other two book ideas in my head but nothing on paper yet. Or computer screen. Or whatever.
- What are you currently working on?
I am always working on 3-5 projects at once. I have another contract for an upcoming movie adaptation as well as several short stories for anthologies, and I'm completing Dying Days: Origins 2, which is set in my Dying Days zombie world. And a hundred other things.
- Is there anything you'd like to add?
Thank you for the time, and I hope everyone will check out Chelsea Avenue, my first full-length novel release! And if you see me at conventions or on the sidewalk, please give me M&Ms...
Armand Rosamilia