An Apocalyptastic Interview with Tony Faville

The author: Tony Faville. The book: Kings of the Dead. In a word: Awesome. Tony and his wife, Heather, are super-nice people, and I had the best time reading Tony’s book. I was so excited when Tony agreed to do an interview, and then… life happened. So, Tony, I apologize for the delay in getting this posted!

I highly recommend you readers get thee to Tony’s blog (it has a cute dog on it!) http://tonyfaville.com/ and order his excellent book Kings of the Dead !!!!

The interview:

1.)  You’ve written a pretty detailed zombie invasion story — do you have a stockpile of food and weapons in case there is a zombie apocalypse?

As a matter of fact, I do have a decent stockpile of food and other supplies. At last check I would not be wanting for much for at least three to four months and that number is always growing. I have sealed buckets of beans, honey, rice and wheat berries along with all of my canned goods. Being a “gun-guy” I have an adequate supplie of appropriate guns and ammo on hand in order to last several years. If the merde does hit the proverbial fan, I will be the avoidance type guy and not really looking to get into long drawn out battles. A simple defense of what is mine and important to me will suffice, not looking to be the next Rambo.

As for food, do you realize that Dinty Moore Beef Stew has an indefinite shelf life? Same thing goes for most canned meat products, especially Spam.

And no, I don’t keep those things on hand because I am expecting the dead to rise or a meteor to strike. But this is a tough economic time we are going through and it is most likely going to get worse before it gets better. Imagine if you lost your income today, how long would you be able to last without a trip to the grocery store? It’s nice having a supply of food on hand to lighten the financial burden. Either that, or imagine a storm or something that prevents your local grocery stores from receiving their daily supply of food. After 3 days, their shelves will be empty, and what will most people do then?

2.)  If you had to battle rampaging zombies, which four people or animals would you want on your team?

True life people I know: My wife, not only would I want her with me, but she is very proficient with firearms these days. My friend Jason L., former Navy/Coast Guard, former cop, a “shooter”,  and good friend. My friend Brian, a shooter, former Marine, and mechanic. My friend Neil, a shooter and all around enthusiastic guy.

Fictional Dream Team: Mack Bolan (from Don Pendleton’s book series, The Executioner), MacGyver, Joe Ledger (from Jonathan Maberry’s Patient Zero), Ash from the Evil Dead movies

3.)  Do you like candy corn?

Nowhere near as much as I used to like it as a kid. With that being said, I will still eat them occasionally, but I can only handle a few at a time. They are just too much concentrated sugar for me these days.

4.)  What is your most favorite cartoon of all time?

I grew up in the early 70′s when there were actually still saturday morning cartoons, not like the crap they are feeding our kids these days. So I grew up watching The Bugs Bunny / Roadrunner Show. THOSE were cartoons and were always a great way to spend a saturday morning.

5.)  What inspired you to write Kings of the Dead?

Honestly, it was the desire to have a book on the shelf with my name on it. See, I wrote Kings during the 2009 NaNoWriMo, and I did so because my wife told me that if I was a “winner”, I would get a free proof copy of the book. Well, that sounded pretty cool to me, so on November third, I started writing, and “won” on the last day of November. What happened though, was that I thought I wrote a pretty decent story, so along with my free proof copy, I said yes to the option on Createspace to turn it loose on Amazon just to see what kind of response I got. After a year of being self published I had sold over 1000 copies of the e-book, and over 500 copies of the paperback. It was at that time that I received an email from Permuted Press, asking me if I would be willing to expand the story a little bit. After an expansion of over 30%, they read it, liked it, and signed it.

6.)  Do you have a lucky charm?

I don’t really have a lucky charm in the literal sense. I have never been very superstitious, so I never turned to tokens or talismans to provide me any kind of luck. With that being said, I would have to say the closest thing to a lucky charm would be my concealed handgun license. I have carried that with me (along with the reason for having it) every day for the past 18 years.

7.)  What’s your favorite beverage?

Non-Alcoholic:  Coca-Cola, I spent too much time in the south for it to be Pepsi

Alcoholic, Straight: Bourbon or Scotch

Alcoholic, Mixed: Duck Fart (trust me)

Coffee: Straight espresso with a touch of lemon zest

Coffee “Drink”: White Chocolate Mocha, blended from Black Rock Coffee Bar in Portland. Not a Starbucks (I call them Charbucks as that is what they do to their beans) fan

8.) What’s the best Christmas/other holiday present you’ve ever gotten?

As a child, I would have to go back to 1980 for that one as it was the year I got an Atari 2600 and it basically “changed my life”. If looking at it as an adult, after learning what is truly important, I would have to say the day after Christmas, 1998, the day my wife and I were married.

9.) If you were at McDonald’s, what would you be most likely to order?

It is questions like this that always come off making me look like some kind of snob. See, I am a “retired” Chef that spent several years working in professional kitchens. Because of this, I have been able to eat some of the finest foods on the face of the planet. Also because of this, I make every effort I can to not go to chain or corporate restaurants as I have learned too much about their products and food preparation techniques. It’s one of the reasons why I cringe when I mention Italian cuisine and people say, “Oh, I love Olive Garden!” Yeah, sorry, OG is many things, but Italian cuisine it is not. With that rant being said, if I am craving something fast and salty, you cannot beat the Quarter-Pounder with Cheese and an order of fries from McD’s. And when McD’s is having the 2 for 1 special on Big Macs, my inner 10 year old will not shut up until I pull through the drive-thru and order him a pair. Man, inner 10 year old suck.

10.)  Who’s your favorite author?

If going by the most books by one author I have read, I would have to say Don Pendleton. I read every one of his books from The Executioner series as a kid. If going by current writers, I would have to say Jonathan Maberry. Not only is he a hell of a guy, but I enjoy his writing style. That is one of the reasons I am really looking forward to his next book, Dead of Night, coming in October ( I also have a guest spot in the book).

I would like to thank you for having taken the time to not only read my book, but also for your thoughtful interview. It’s always nice seeing something fresh and new when it comes to interview questions. Thank you!

Okay, that’s pretty much it. I really enjoyed your book and I will be writing up a review as soon as I finish reading this other book I’m supposed to be reviewing (did I mention that I’m behind?) — thanks so much for sharing it with me!