Coffin Hop: Jaime Johnesee and Bob the #Zombie

Welcome to Day 4 of Coffin Hop 2014! 

(Check out the Coffin Hop blog and visit all the other Coffin Hoppers

 for some great posts & prizes. See page tab at top or side logo for day one.)

Today we have a two-part event. I welcome two guests - author Jaime Johnesee and her fictional character, Bob the Zombie, who'll be talking with my fictional character, Becca, from GIRL Z: My Life as a Teenage Zombie. 

**  Also: hop by Jaime's blog for her interview with me and Bob the Zombie talking to Becca. 

Jaime is author of the Bob the Zombie novella series about a zombie with bad luck, which includes: 

Bob The Zombie (46 pgs.);

Bob The Spy (Bob The Zombie Book 2) (52 pgs.); and 

Bob the Valentine (Bob the Zombie 
Book 3) (50 pgs.) 

* See end of post for information on a new collection coming soon! (LOVE these covers and it's such a FUN series!!) Read more at her blog. 

** Interview with Bob the Zombie by Teenage Zombie, Becca: 

  

** You always wonder what characters might think or do outside their own little world. (Well, I do.) So, Becca, the main character from Christine (C.A.) Verstraete’s novel. GIRL Z: My Life as a Teenage Zombie, decided to ask Bob the Zombie (by Jaime Johnesee) what his life was like.

It’s not every day (or at all), that Becca finds someone who is also a zombie—and doesn’t want to attack or eat her for lunch. So when she meets Bob, she’s pretty surprised (and he’s kind of cute, too!)

Becca: Hi Bob. I heard about you coming to town looking for a video game. I was really surprised. I don’t know any (full?) zombies I would actually want to be anywhere near, you know? How did you become a zombie? I heard something about magic?

Bob: Hey there! Yeah, I'm here to pick up a vintage Donkey Kong game for my friend Griff. His was accidentally destroyed by a skag (group) of ghouls during a bar fight. As for how I became one of the oozing undead, well, I'm not one of those vicious viral vagabonds. I was raised after death by a necromancer. So, I'm pretty much the same fellow I was pre-mortem it's just that now things like toes tend to fall off and on a hot day I need a lot more deodorant than I used to.

Becca: Whew, that’s good to know. I’ll have to tell my cousin Carm. She, um, freaked out hearing about you and stayed home. I’ll tell her it’s safe.

Bob: Yeah, unless she tries to take the last taco she's perfectly safe with me.

Becca: Are there things you can’t do anymore? What do you miss the most?

Bob: Well, I have a hard time going out in public. People in my neck of the woods just think I'm some overzealous zombie cosplayer. As for what I miss most, it has to be fruit salad. My digestive system can't handle most fruits or vegetables. Lettuce, I'm okay with in small doses, but I really miss peaches and cherries.

Becca: Are other zombies out to get you, too? Have you had to fight them a lot?

Bob: Nope, the zoms in my area are all raised through magic and are pretty nice folks. I did have a huge brawl with that skag of ghouls I mentioned earlier. It has been referred to as the Great Undead American Brawl. Okay, so it really hasn't been know far and wide as such, but it should be. So, things are bad around here, huh?

Becca: Yeah, we’ve had a lot of fights here. Really scary stuff. Do they scare you? What else does?

Bob: Mostly, I'm pretty scared by the Hunters. They're sort of like the cops of supers (supernatural creatures) in my state. They'd make the Boogeyman run to his momma crying. What about you?

Becca: Me? Dinnertime is pretty scary. I’m scared to even try any “real” food anymore except my prescribed diet, though my protein shakes aren’t bad—when I can taste them, of course. Are you lucky enough to get to eat real stuff? What’s your favorite?

Bob: I'm so sorry to hear that. I have a different sort of problem. We have to find out through trial and error which foods are safe to eat and which lead to epic projectile vomiting. My favorite --thankfully, I can still eat it-- is Mexican food. Tacos, if I get my druthers.

Becca: Oh… Mexican food. My favorite… well it was. My Momma and Tia make enchiladas to die for. You know what I mean… So, what’s next for you?

Bob: Well, I'm not sure. I try to live by the 'one day at a time' philosophy. So far I've been in a brawl, stopped an evil plot to hurt someone close to me, had my first date with a zombie lady I'd been crushing on, and I foiled a laundromat robbery. It's been a busy couple years and it doesn't look to be slowing down.

 ** What does the author say about her character? 

An Interview with Jaime Johnesee & an excerpt from Bob the Spy! **

Tell us a little about Bob and how he came to be?

Jaime: Bob was a peripheral character in a novel I wrote for some friends on a gaming site. He was inspired by my friends Nate and Face who came onto the game in the role of goofy zombies. I added my own personality to him and, voila, Bob was created.

Why do you write about zombies?

Jaime: I think they're a fantastic source for humor as well as horror. I love reading about zombies. They have such deep and interesting roots throughout our history. Tales of the undead started with our ability to pass along stories and information and they've never stopped. I find that simply amazing.

What made you use humor, which is pretty unique in the zombie world?

Jaime: I wanted to go the zom-com (zombie comedy) route to make these creatures --who are so often portrayed as mindless chewing machines-- seem more human. Bob hurts, he hungers, he worries, and he loves, all while rotting yet still remaining immortal.

Do you have a favorite monster or ghoul? Why?

Jaime: My favorite monster, aside from zombies, is shifters. Though, in my world, shifters aren't truly monsters, they're simply people afflicted with a virus.

** EXCERPT: From Bob the Spy:

            Oh, while I'm informing you on all things zombie, you ought to know that fire doesn't really do a whole lot of damage either. Hurts a lot though. So far, I've not been able to discover what can kill a zombie. I have discovered what can make us smile, however. We love to dance.

            Almost every single member of our horde finds dancing to be the most fun one can have outside of terrorizing the human populace. Sorry about that, but you have to agree you all are pretty funny to watch when you're scared. I know I used to be.

            Dancing is the number one thing we do as a horde to unwind. There's several clubs we like to hit, but we usually end up at this cool neighborhood hangout called Martin's Bar. It's owned by our friend Griffin. He's one cool guy. He's actually an expath and he can make you feel any emotion he wants you to.

            Griff treats us as though we are family and not disgusting burdens thrust upon him by the supernatural society.  You can roll your eyes all you want, but we get treated pretty poorly in most places. Zombies are the third lowest species on the totem pole. We rank just above djinn and congressmen.

** BOB The ZOMBIE NEWS!!! ** 

** COMING Early November!  New Bob the Zombie Collection - The Misadventures of Bob the Zombie  not only includes all three novellas but will have a brand new novella and bonus short story! It includes some cool interior art and will be in a print version, too! (Oh, I have seen the new, original cover art (Jeffrey Kosh Graphics) and they are fantastic!!!) 

Watch for the announcement and news on Jaime's website or friend her on Facebook.