Jay Wilburn lives with his wife and two sons in Conway, South Carolina
near the Atlantic coast of the southern United States. He has a Masters
Degree in education and he taught public school for sixteen years before
becoming a full time writer. He is the author of many short stories
including work in Best Horror of the Year volume 5, Zombies More Recent Dead, Shadows Over Main Street, and Truth or Dare. He is the author of
the Dead Song Legend Dodecology and the music of the five song
soundtrack recorded as if by the characters within the world of the
novel The Sound May Suffer. He also wrote the novels Loose Ends and Time
Eaters. He is one of the four authors behind the Hellmouth trilogy. Jay
Wilburn is a regular columnist with Dark Moon Digest. Follow his many
dark thoughts on Twitter, Instagram, and Periscope as @AmongTheZombies,
his Facebook author page, and at JayWilburn.com A.) I came in third in a zombie story contest in 2010 and that was my first real pay for writing. I left teaching after sixteen years in February of 2013 and began writing full-time. That made things pretty serious.
2.) What is the hardest part for you about writing?
A.) Continuing to believe in your own myth so that you can keep going and keep doing your best even with the evidence that you may not make it and all the people telling you it is impossible.
3.) How did you feel upon publication of your first completed project?
A.) I thought I had conquered the world. It turned out the world still had some fight left in her, but I think I may have world on its heels. I’m pushing hard in these final rounds of fighting.
A.) Characters. Both develop through the process. Consistent, strong, full characters can elevate any story in a way the best story struggles to do with weak characters. I try to give the best story I can, but the characters carry it.
As I have ghostwritten to pay my bills and to support my own terminal writing habit, I’ve had to move fast with story and drive toward deadline. I can’t afford the luxury of writer’s block. In that drive, I’ve come to hesitate less with the direction of stories. I make a choice and move the characters in that direction. When the characters come to a metaphorical turn in the road, I don’t worry so much about whether they go left or right. I make decision and send the characters off. There is a story down both those paths. The characters will make something out of either one and different characters may explore the other path in another form some day.
5.) What is a typical day like in your world?
A.) I get up and fix breakfast for the kids. We get them dressed and off to school. My wife usually drops them both off. If I have errands to run, I’ll take them and then get groceries or whatever done early.
Then, I sit down and write. I work through taking breaks every few pages. I pick up one kid, give him a snack, go over homework, and go back to writing. Sometimes I remember to eat. Then, we go pick up the other kid. We do homework which takes longer since he is older. I do a little more writing and then I fix dinner.
Dead Song started as a short story, but will now be a twelve book epic dodecology. The Dead Song Legend tells the story of Tiny Jones. He will be a legend in the recovery era, but the truth behind his story is far more complicated than the fantastic tales of his travels across zombie infested America. He crossed the country recording music of the survivors and in the process reminded people why they had survived. His influence changed the people, the culture, and the history as he captured their voices, songs, and music. He would also uncover the mythical Mud Music which seemed to sing to the zombies and uncover hidden truth behind the darkness of the world.
Dead Song Legend Dodecology Book 1: January from Milwaukee to Muscle Shoals
Start the series here: http://amzn.to/1CvxbST
Dead Song Legend Dodecology Book 2: February from Vicksburg to Cherokee
Coming soon.
Check out the first soundtrack to the series, The Sound May Suffer: Music from the Dead Song here http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/thesoundmaysuffer6 or on Spotify. The hard CD is also available on Amazon.
Win your very own horror library.
Enter for your chance to win an electronic horror library that contains the following ebooks. Simply tweet to your friends about the Halloween Horror Author Countdown, enter as often as you want. On October 31st one lucky winner will be chosen at random to receive a library containing the following titles.
Blood Lily by Jenny Allen
The Misadventures of Bob by Jaime Johnesee
A Jar of Fingers by C.L. Hernendez
A Coin for Charon by Dallas Mullican
The Human Condition by Mark Taylor
Spook Lights by Eden Royce
In the Hands of the Unknown A.E. Hellstrom
Winchester Over by Dave Lund
The Complex by J Rudolph
The Dead Song Legend by Jay Wilburn
Zombie and Chainsaws by Mike Evans
Flight of Destiny by Francis H Powell
Through a Mirror Darkly by Kevin Lucia
Awfully Apetizing by Leod D Fritz
Darkly Wood by Max Power
Family Reunion by P. Mark DeBryan
Slice Girls by Carmilla Voiez
Cannibal House I by Shaun Adams
Zombies Inside by Rebecca Besser
Dark Crescent by Dev Jarrett
There is more to come and the list will be updated as books are added.
There are several ways to enter to win.
On Twitter tweet the following message:
Have you read The Dead Song Legend?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016OQNI0W
#2015HHAC #BookBoost
Don't forget to use the hashtag #2015HHAC so your entries can be tracked.
On Facebook go to my Facebook fan page, like and share the daily post about the countdown.
https://www.facebook.com/RichardSchiver
Or you can comment on any or all of the countdown posts by answering the following question:
What kind of horror do you like?
During the month we will track everyone's activity, assigning each action a number and at the end of the countdown a random number will be drawn. The person whose name appears next to that number will be the winner.
There may also be daily contests as a couple of authors have expressed a desire to hold smaller giveaways on the day of their post. So check back often and enter as many times as you like by tweeting about the contest, don't forget to use the hashtag #2015HHAC so your tweet will be counted.
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