The end of the world might bring about a loss of words. I mean, it's a traumatic event. The world as you know it is ENDING. Imagine yourself in that moment. How would you feel? What would you do? Where would you go? As a writer of post-apocalyptic fiction, these are questions I ask myself every day during the course of my work.
Jackson Dean Chase has asked himself those questions, too, and he even wrote a book about it: the POST-APOCALYPSE WRITER'S PHRASE BOOK. It's a book that is meant to help writers of apocalyptic tales write richer, more tone-setting scenes. He's written a lot of other books, too, but I'll let him tell you about those. Hello, Jackson. Welcome to Writing Belle! Please tell us about yourself. Glad to be here. I'm a Northwest author and poet specializing in “Bold Visions of Dark Places.” That means I get to write any genre as long as it's grim and gritty. According to your website, you hail from "vampire country." What do you mean by that? (I'm thinking something along the lines of Castle Dracula...!) I wish I lived in a castle! I was actually referring to Forks—“the Transylvania of the west coast”—where Twilight takes place. It's not as sparkly as you think...
Jackson's Beyond the Dome Series
How many books have you written total? Nine so far. They're all in the dystopian, horror, or post-apocalyptic genres. Cannibals and zombies are two of my favorite things to write about. I want to know where you came up with the idea for a "Post Apocalypse Writer's Phrase Book." I was working on my first novel and kept getting writer's block. I knew what I wanted to describe, but didn't always know how. So I wasted hours digging through dozens of books looking for some half-remembered phrase that was similar. That slowed my writing down even more. Finally, I said to myself, “There's got to be a better way! Maybe there's a 'one-stop shop' kind of book that describes what I need...” But there weren't. That's when I knew I had to write these phrase books or they'd never exist. And how do you come up with the integral phrases that are contained in your book? I drew up a list of subjects by category, then began populating them with phrases. I'd work on one subject (like “zombies”) as long as I could, then switch to another. I'd keep going back and forth like that til I had all the subjects in each category were filled in. While the Horror Writers' Phrase Book is broad in scope (for use with any contemporary or historical setting), the narrower focus of the Post-Apocalypse Writers' Phrase Book allowed me to go into more setting specific details: ruined cities, types of survivors, that kind of thing.
One of Jackson's Horror Novels
How do you think the apocalypse will happen? (Zombies? Vampires? An Interstellar-like plague that drives us to space?) Tough to say. It could be something random like an asteroid. Or it could be man-made, a bio-weapon released accidentally or on purpose... between anger, greed, and laziness, we're always screwing things up as a species. If I got to decide, I'd pick zombies—that kind of apocalypse gives us a clean slate to test ourselves and find out who we we really are. But I'm not sure I see myself surviving long... Any upcoming projects? I'm working on a new dystopian novel, Beyond the Dome, Book 2: Warrior. There's a lot of end of the world carnage in it. My vampire novel, Forever Dark, will be out in October, 2015. How and where can readers connect with you? The best way is to visit my website at www.jacksondeanchase.com and get 4 FREE eBooks, including my latest dystopian, “Hard Times in Dronetown.” Thank you so much for visiting with us today! Happy writing! About Jackson Dean Chase (Taken from Jackson's Official Website) I’m an author and poet who specializes in bringing you “Bold Visions of Dark Places.” While my initial work falls within the dystopian, horror, and post-apocalypse genres, I’ll be expanding into fantasy, science fiction, and thrillers, as well as adult novels and poetry. I hail from vampire country. No, not Transylvania—the other one in Washington state. I grew up wandering the rain-swept wilderness hoping to find the magic portal that would take me home. I never found the portal, but I did find another way out… through writing. MY SECRET RECIPE: I’ve always loved science fiction, fantasy, and horror, but it wasn’t until I combined them with pulp thrillers and noirthat I found my voice as an author. I want to leave my readers breathless, want them to feel the desperate longing, the hope and fear my heroes experience as they struggle not just to survive, but to become something more. WHY I WRITE YOUNG ADULT FICTION: YA lets me connect with my younger self, that lonely high school kid with his whole future in front of him but too much emotional pain to know what to do with it. It’s a chance to heal, and a chance to help others. It’s also a chance to have fun and tell the kind of stories that appeal to teens and the adult crossover audience. To me, it doesn’t matter if you’re 16 or 66. When you pick up a book with my name on it, it’s going to deliver.
Did you like this feature? If you're a writer of dystopian fiction, survivalist stories or post-apocalyptic tales, contact me to get featured for the End of the World Event at Writing Belle! Email me at: [email protected]
