The Story is About   +  novel

Carrie Ryan

Books:

• The Forest of Hands and Teeth
• The Dead-Tossed Waves

Gabry lives a quiet life. As safe a life as is possible in a town trapped between a forest and the ocean, in a world teeming with the dead, who constantly hunger for those still living. She’s content on her side of the Barrier, happy to let her friends dream of the Dark City up the coast while she watches from the top of her lighthouse. But there are threats the Barrier cannot hold back. Threats like the secrets Gabry’s mother thought she left behind when she escaped from the Sisterhood and the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Like the cult of religious zealots who worship the dead. Like the stranger from the forest who seems to know Gabry. And suddenly, everything is changing. One reckless moment, and half of Gabry’s generation is dead, the other half imprisoned. Now Gabry only knows one thing: she must face the forest of her mother’s past in order to save herself and the one she loves.

You've been lucky enough to become full time writer, but that wasn't always the case. How did you balance being a lawyer and a writer?

My fiancé and I ate a lot of frozen dinners, gave up TV, and have weeds that could take over the world :) It was actually really difficult at times to balance being both a lawyer and a writer -- there were some nights when I was preparing for a trial and the only time I had to write were the 8 minutes I was waiting for the pasta to cook for Mac’n’Cheese. At the same time, there were days at work where I’d get really amazing news (like my cover) and I found it impossible to concentrate on work for the rest of the day. It was a huge relief to be able to quit being a lawyer and just focus on writing

What challenges did you face writing Dead Tossed Waves that you didn't have for The Forest of Hands and Teeth?

The first line for The Forest of Hands and Teeth came to me while I was walking home from work on night and I had unlimited time to work on the story. If I didn’t know what happened next I could take days or weeks to mull it over. With The Dead-Tossed Waves I didn’t have as much luxury of time and I was also dealing with reading reviews from the first book which clouded the way I looked at my writing. I finally stepped away from reviews and the internet and indulged in the writing and that’s when I found the story again.

Describe your writing style in three words.

A copyeditor’s nightmare.

Is there another genre that you'd like to write someday, maybe something without zombies? Is there a genre that you'd stay away from?

I’m working on a non-zombie book now but I’m always somewhat superstitious about talking about a new project before it’s fully fleshed out. There’s really nothing that I’d stay away from though there are some genre’s that I’d have to do a ton of reading in before I felt like I could tackle them.

If you could travel back in time for one year, where would you go and what three things would you take with you?

This time last year I was at a writing retreat in Ireland with a bunch of other YA authors. If I could go back in time to that moment I’d probably bring a measuring cup (for Ally Carter who baked us tons of amazing food) a bottle of whiskey (for everyone else) and dry wood (we never could get a good fire going). Honestly, the trip to Team Castle was one of the best trips I’ve ever had and I’d gladly go back in time to live it all over again.

What is something about yourself that most people would be surprised to know?

I think most people when they read my books and then meet me in person are surprised that I’m a fairly upbeat person who likes to laugh and joke around (very different from my books). It may not surprise anyone at all to know that I worked in the coroner’s office one summer during college (which also happened to be the summer I was a debutante which inspired a book I’d been working on before The Forest of Hands and Teeth called Dead Bodies and Debutantes).

Carrie's Top Ten of all things... ZOMBIE

1. World War Z. Max Brooks is just a genius with this book -- not only does he go through the zombie apocalypse step by step but he creates a huge cast of very distinct voices and stories along the way. Utterly absorbing.

2. Dawn of the Dead. I know most people hate the remake, but it will always have a place in my heart as the movie that started it all.

3. Night of the Living Dead. George Romero’s movie that really created the modern zombie (though they weren’t called zombies in the film). I actually really hated this movie the first time I saw it because I was so frustrated at the characters inability to get it together to survive. But then I heard Romero talk about the point of the movie which was society’s inability to get their act together to solve really big issues in the world like poverty, hunger, war, etc. This made me love the movie (I always love finding the deeper meaning to zombie books and movies).

4. Shawn of the Dead. This zombie flick perfectly nails the kitsch humor of zombies and then the utter pathos and despair that can come along with it. I don’t think I’ve laughed as hard at a movie or been more moved.

5. The Walking Dead. Robert Kirkman notes that his goal with this graphic novel series is that it has no end -- there’s not set story arc but instead he just wanted to explore what happens to people constantly trying to survive after a zombie apocalypse.

6. 28 Days Later. Sure some zombie purists don’t count this as a zombie flick, but these fast zombies are utterly terrifying.

7. Plants v. Zombies because OMG have you seen the music video for it? It can brighten even the darkest day (link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N1_0SUGlDQ)

8. Dead Set. This is a British mini-series my brother-in-law gave me and I love it. It’s about what happens when the zombie apocalypse hits but the cast of Big Brother has no idea anything’s going on. It’s pretty much the perfect satire of reality TV (with zombies).

9. I Kissed a Zombie and I liked It. Adam Selzer also does a brilliant job satirizing paranormal romance -- I found myself nodding my head and cracking up in several places (and yes, loving this book kind of breaks my rule about not liking sentient zombies).

10. Zombieland. Because everyone wonders if they’ll be the one with the most zombie kills once the apocalypse hits.

• 3/16 Cynsations
• 3/17 The Book Smugglers
• 3/18 MTVNews.com “Hollywood Crush”
• 3/19 The Page Flipper
• 3/20 Through A Glass, Darkly
• 3/21 Reader Girlz
• 3/22 Mundie Moms
• 3/23 Cheryl Rainfield
• 3/24 Just Blinded Books
• 3/26 Bildungsroman
• 3/27 Beautiful Creatures

Can't get enough Zombies... join the Dead-Tossed Waves fan page on Facebook!