Nicole Smith

An Interview With Kings of the Dead Author Tony Faville

Good day, fine people. I’m back with yet another great interview. Check it out!

Q: Today, I’d like to welcome Kings of the Dead author Tony Faville to The Evolution of Nikki. Tony, could you please take a moment and tell us a little bit about you and your background. Please include five unique things about you.

T: Well, I have a varied background, US Navy from 88-91 when I was discharged for a neck injury, worked in the Federal Government for a few years, spent several years working in the Computer Industry, then I spent several years working as a Chef, and now my day job is spent doing medical records and I write part time.

Q: As you know, I’m a huge fan of Kings of the Dead. For those who aren’t familiar with it, can you tell them a little bit about it?

T: Kings of the Dead is a zombie journal that is actually presented in a true journal format. The most popular zombie journal out there is not even really a true journal. Now, I don’t know about you, but when I keep a journal, I don’t actually transcribe entire conversations. This journal is written by the protagonist, a guy named Cole Helman. Cole and his friends are actually zombie nuts and interested in the survival aspect of the genre, so when an actual zombie outbreak occurs, they are relatively ready for it to happen.

Q: Where did the idea for Kings of the Dead come from?

T: I will just say that there is a lot of my circle of friends in the Kings of the Dead. We all love zombie films, love talking about survival and the apocalypse. The old adage of “write what you know” is so very true.

Q: How did you sign on with Permuted Press?

T: They actually came looking for me after Kings had been available as a self-published piece of work for over a year. They came and asked me if I would be willing to expand the original piece of work, and then they would consider signing the book. After an expansion that added 30% to the story, and not just 30% of ifs, ands or buts, but actually adding to the story, they liked it enough they wanted to sign it.

Q: What comes next? Are you working on something new?

T: I am currently working on a project titled Avery Nolan: Private Dick of the Dead. It is a set piece from 1959, Private Investigators, Dames, Broads, Feds, KGB, Cold War, Zombies, etc. I am going for the whole dime store, pulp fiction paperback style from the writing to the size of the book to the cover art.

Q: What is your writing process like?

T: Hope that my mind is no fried from work, that my friends respect my writing time, that my neck and shoulders will not be in too much pain to allow me to write, and then hope my fingers will do the writing I would like them to do. Honestly, with my current day job, I just write every chance I can as having a schedule to write just isn’t happening.

Trust me, there are many, many days that being an unemployed writer hanging out in a coffee shop desperately trying to put together enough words to be able to sell even a short story sounds better than my current job.

Q: What has been your most rewarding experience as an author?

T: I have a young man out on the east coast that is a huge fan. His mom always talked about how he loved my book, and would read a chapter every night before he did his homework. At first I thought maybe he was a little young for it, but then I found out he has Aspberger’s Syndrome and has connected with three things: Cooking (I was a Chef), military (I was in the Navy), and zombies (I write about zombies). When his mom thanked me and told me that I had been able to give her and her baby the first genuine smiles she had seen in years, it was more than I could stand. I got everyone together that was involved with Kings and I had them all sign a copy of the book and we sent it to him. The pictures are worth a million copies sold.

Q: What has been the hardest thing to deal with?

T: When I released Kings, it was right on the cusp of self-publishing being accepted. I faced a lot of personal attacks because the book was self-published. Let me tell you, there are some arrogant and ignorant people out there that are still unwilling to accept the fact that the publishing industry is changing, and has changed.

Q: Who are your inspirations? What authors’ careers would you like to emulate?

T: Don Pendleton was one of my favorite authors for many years, and I think a lot of my writing is very similar to his. With that being said, if I could hone my writing skills to the likes of someone like Jonathan Maberry who seems to be able to punch out 2 to 3 large novels a year, wow, that would be cool.

Q: If you could pick one author to collaborate with, who would it be and why?

T: To be honest with you, I am still working on honing my own skills, let alone work with someone else. The whole concept of co-writing a book is still like speaking Mandarin to me. Maybe someday, but I would like to get a little better known than I currently am now.

Q: Where do you see yourself in five years? Ten?

T: Still trudging along with a day job, writing when I can. In ten years? It sure would be nice to be in a part time job and spending more time writing.

Q: What advice do you have for other aspiring authors?

T: Write! And when you think you have written enough, write some more! Never ever underestimate the value of a good editor. You cannot be your own editor, you HAVE to have an uninvested individual look at your work. Oh, and not EVERY book has to be the first part of a trilogy. Try writing one book and see if it sells before setting out your grand “trilogy” scheme.

The Fun Stuff:

Q: If you were to create a soundtrack for one of your novels/stories, what songs would be on it?

T: Highway to Hell by AC/DC, Sympathy for the Devil covered by Guns and Roses, In My Life covered by Johnny Cash, The Man Comes Around by Johnny Cash, Rooster by Alice in Chains, For What It’s Worth by Buffalo Springfield, Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen

Q: Who would you cast as the lead character in your story?

T: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and no, I have not put any thought at all into this. 😉

Q: Where can people find out more information about you?

T: Google always works, and if that is not enough, http://tonyfaville.com should suffice.

Q: What books are you currently reading?

T: Oh no! Right now I am not really reading anything as I am scared to death that part of what I am reading will wind up in what I am writing. I want absolutely nothing to influence my writing, so I find the best way to do that is to ignore all other written words.

Q: Where can readers purchase your book?

T: It is available in both paperback and ebook at amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com. Ebook copies can be purchased at the Apple iBook store and Smashwords.