Last week I gushed over Feed and told you all about the release party I attended. This week we’ve got an interview with the author, Mira Grant (aka Seanan McGuire)! We talk to her about having books out under two names, writing, and Feed. No worries, though, you don’t have to have read the book for this first half of the interview.

Welcome Mira! I mean, Seanan. And Mira. Whatever! Thanks for taking the time to answer some of our questions.

Thanks for having me! I love interviews.

Do you feel at all like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at the moment? How do you handle having books out under two names? Literally. Is there a difference in how you present yourself as one persona versus the other?

I dress a bit differently. For Seanan events, I tend to look like a happy pumpkin, while for Mira events, I focus on red, black, and camo prints. I have a lot of chainsaw jewelry, and that comes out for Mira. Mostly, it’s the topics that vary, since I don’t talk fairy tales when I’m Mira, and I don’t tend to get quite as many questions about virology when I’m Seanan.

I know you’ve probably explained this a thousand times by now but can you quickly touch on why the Newsflesh Trilogy has been released under a different name than your October Daye books?

I tell people it’s like when Disney created Touchstone to allow them to release R-rated movies. They were good movies, they were sometimes awesome movies, but they weren’t movies that were necessarily “Disney movies.” I love the books I write as Mira Grant, but they’re very, very different from the Toby books, and I want to set up that expectation right from the beginning. I don’t want people to pick up Feed going “Oh, I loved Rosemary and Rue, this is the same author, so it must be the same thing!” Even if you know that I’m both Mira and Seanan, the different name creates a different expectation.

You’ve got other books in development. Do you anticipate possibly having to publish those under different names too?

It’s possible that I may wind up picking up more pseudonyms in the future, since I want to write YA and maybe even straight romantic comedy. Maybe I can pull a Neil Gaiman and be able to publish as myself in a bunch of different genres, but that’s much more of a long shot than me someday announcing that I am suddenly three people.

Speaking of the Newsflesh Trilogy, you know I love Feed but why do you think it’s going to appeal to others? Or what about it do you hope will appeal to others?

Feed is about the truth. It’s about fear. It’s about family. And it’s about zombies, which are pretty popular these days. I think all those things will have a lot of appeal, especially in combination. Plus a lot of things explode, and people tend to like that sort stuff.

One only has to read a few entries in your blog to see that you’re clearly fan of horror, is that where this book was born? And what else, if anything, had a big influence on the story?

It is! I love horror, and I love virology, and these loves combined to give me functional viral zombies. It all sort of spread from there. Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing was also a big influence, as was Transmetropolitan, by Warren Ellis, and, weirdly, all those really lousy killer virus movies where no one respects the quarantine.

Did the book, or the trilogy for that matter, turn out just as you expected? Or did things change as you went along? For instance, had you always planned on it being a trilogy or did you get close to the end of book 1 (Feed) and realize, shit, there’s more to this story?

To be honest, when I started Feed, I wasn’t even sure it would be a long novella. I was about a hundred pages in when I realized it was going to be a complete book, and about three hundred pages in when I realized there were sequels. I was pissed! I’d been so proud of myself for finally doing something stand-alone.

Ok, I’m going to come back to Feed in a sec but let’s go back to the basics for a few minutes. Like, just how long have you been writing?

The earliest existing piece of my work is from the year I turned nine, when I wrote a long essay explaining why I should be allowed to read Stephen King. It had footnotes. I was an unnerving child.

And, even though you’ve written about this in your blog, can you tell us a little about finding and getting your agent? Not to mention selling the Toby books? Do you any words of wisdom for anyone trying to do the same?

Oh, gosh. I actually met my agent through a mutual friend who knew that I needed an agent, and Diana was looking for clients. We exchanged email for a while, and I showed her the manuscript for Rosemary and Rue, which was frankly not all that good as yet. Lucky for me, she didn’t turn me down flat. We kept emailing sporadically… and then one day, I had an epiphany, and realized what was wrong with the book. I started rewriting it. She saw on my blog that I was re-working the book, requested the first eighty pages, and signed me shortly thereafter. The book sale process was, for me, pretty painless. Diana did all the work.

My best advice for someone looking for an agent is to keep writing, keep revising, and, if someone rejects you, to look critically at the work that they’ve rejected, because you may be missing the forest for the trees. Also, if you’re trying to sell a series, make sure you revise the second book (and the third, if you’ve got it written) just as often as you do the first, or when it comes time to sell, you may find yourself with a beautiful opening number that falls completely flat in the second act.

What’s your writing process? Do you have a set routine that you follow or do you just write when the inspiration hits? Or maybe both?

It’s a combination of both. Some things happen when inspiration hits me. That tends to result in short fiction, side-stories, and sometimes the accidental start of a new series. Others are a matter of checklists and discipline. I try to be structured, when I can, just because I’d never get anything done otherwise.

Note: Check out more of Seanan’s thoughts about writing at her blog, especially her post: Ten Somewhat Silly Facts About My Writing Process

You’ve got a lot of different stories on your plate, how do you keep it all straight? Or are there lots of crossovers happening in your brain as we speak? How do you keep all the various characters straight in your head?

Oh, crossovers happen. It’s like the Ultimate Battle of Ultimate Destiny in here most of the time. But I’m pretty good at keeping things straight, largely because most of my stories don’t make sense with different characters. Toby Daye vs. the zombie apocalypse? Georgia Mason vs. The Super Patriots? Things would so not end well.

Speaking of, where do your characters come from? Are they ever based on people you know? Or do they just kind of appear, fighting zombies and taking down Faerie foe, fully formed?

Most of my main characters show up fully formed and ready to start kicking ass. My secondary characters are more likely to be based on people I know–with permission, of course. For settings like the Newsflesh books, I tend to borrow the names of real people who I know will appreciate that being fed to zombies is a gesture of affection coming from me.

A somewhat related question, in the two different series of books you have out, you’ve got two pretty distinct worlds. How challenging is it to build those worlds and keep track of what you’ve built?

They don’t tend to mash into each other, which is a relief, but they can get really detailed. I take a lot of notes, and even have a private offline wiki for the Toby stuff, since that’s such a huge, sprawling series at this point.

You’re an avid reader and naturally you’ve gotten a lot of questions about the genres you’re writing in recent interviews but I’m curious if there other genres you’d like to write in/explore?

I really want to do more young adult, and even some non-genre, since there are stories that work better without supernatural/horrific elements. I get to play around with superheroes, thanks to Velveteen, so that’s not currently on the “wish list”…although wow, I wish I could write the X-Men (hint, hint, Marvel).

And on the flip side, we recently had a discussion about some of our genre aversions. Are there any genres you find yourself avoiding more often than not? Either in what you write or what types you’ll pick up in the store.

I don’t tend to like crime novels, although I enjoy medical thrillers, and I avoid a lot of “literary fiction.” I like non-fiction when I’m trying to depress myself. It’s sad.

What are some of your favorite authors and books (of all time or currently)? We’re always on the look-out for good books for our monthly book club, do you have one you could recommend? (Besides the obvious – your books! – that is.)

Jeri Smith-Ready’s WVMP series (Wicked Game; Bad to the Bone; Bring on the Night) is fantastic, and one of the most crazy-original approaches to vampires I’ve seen in a long time. I recently read and loved Pandemonium and The Devil’s Alphabet, both by Daryl Gregory–I liked Pandemonium a little better, but they were both just amazing, incredibly detailed and well-thought-out. I also just read Joe Lansdale’s Complete Drive-In, which isn’t going to be to everybody’s taste, but wow. It’s like a B-movie inside your brain.

If you can, you should totally look up the work of Janet Kagen and James Tiptree Jr. They were both just amazing, and I love their stuff to pieces. Oh! And Lee and Miller’s Liadin Universe? AMAZING.

Ok, folks, as promised Seanan and I talked a little more about Feed. However, since it contains MAJOR SPOILERS for the book, I’m moving that part of the interview into a new post (look for it this afternoon). I’m begging you, don’t continue reading until you’ve read the book!

If you’d like to keep up with Seanan, you can find her online at her website (Mira’s got a site too), blog, and Twitter. Also, don’t forget our Feed giveaway! Commenting on this interview gives you another opportunity to win one of our two autographed copies.