^[1]You’re all familiar with zombie celebutante Amanda Feral from my reviews of Happy Hour of the Damned ^[2], Road Trip of the Living Dead, ^[3] and Battle of the Network Zombies. ^[4] Hopefully you’re also familiar with her from reading about her adventures themselves. But what you may not know is that Mark Henry, whose name is on the cover of these novels, is actually the ghost writer for the real Amanda Feral. The snarky socialite is also an author in her own right, and her first e-book, Stocking Full of Coal, ^[5] just released on December 16th. I had the chance to chat with Amanda before her premiere to get the skinny on where she’s at now (but not who she’s eating).

Alana Joli Abbott: You’re a celebrity and a socialite, as well as the owner of your own advertising firm and a former reality television show star. What made you decide to strike it out as a writer?

Amanda Feral: Is there anything I can’t do? The answer is bowling. Inevitably, I’d pick a ball that was too heavy for me and I’d lose an arm down the alley. But to answer your question, I started amassing all these little stories from observations. People I’d meet and figured I could turn them into some tidbits of hotness. Erotica was a natural fit because my first language is smut.

AJA: For your memoirs, you worked with ghostwriter Mark Henry, whose name ended up on the book covers. Was giving him credit a ploy to avoid paying a percentage of the profits to the Reapers? Or were you just hoping to protect your supernatural identity?

AF: Back then, I just didn’t have the time to write, so I’d call in these snippits from my life and let him worry about how to piece them together. I’m not saying there’s anything fictional in those books, just that he might have exaggerated…particularly about my promiscuity.

AJA: Your relationship with Mark seems combative, based on tweets that pass between the two ^[6] of you. ^[7] Can you tell us a little bit about working with him?

AF: He’s miserable and thinks he’s funny. If it weren’t for me, he wouldn’t have a career at all.

AJA: The first book with your name on the cover, Stocking Full of Coal, launches this month. Congratulations! Can you tell your fans a little bit about the new story?

AF: It’s an erotic tale of bruisesluts and secret societies and what happens when you stop keeping secrets and open yourself up to possibilities. Superhot and disturbing, which I plan to be the tone of all my erotic work.

^[8]AJA: Any supernatural appearances in the book?

AF: This one is a contemporary erotic romance (but heavy on the erotic). So it’s not paranormal, but that doesn’t mean it’s not weird. I can’t get away from the “WEIRD”. I guarantee it’s not anything your readers have ever read before.

AJA: Spill. Was Mark involved at all in working on this title?

AF: You never can tell. He’s stalking me; that might have influenced the depravity in the pages.

AJA: I noticed on your new blog ^[9] that you’re now living in Paris. What made you decide to leave Seattle?

AF: Seattle is a little soggy, as you can imagine. There’s nothing worse than bloating up simply from being outdoors. Normally a body has to be floating face down in a river for months to create the kind of damage a Pacific Northwest autumn and winter can do to a zombie. Paris isn’t a whole lot better, but damn if the flavor of meat and stuff (wink) isn’t enhanced by the French’s bitchy ways. I love ’em.

AJA: There aren’t all that many zombie writers out there — as far as the general public is aware, anyway. What particular struggles have you faced that a non-zombie might not encounter?

AF: It’s not been easy. The vampire and werewolf authors steal the limelight and flood the marketplace with their anti-zombie propoganda. I’ve had it. So I’ve decided to take them out one at a time. First on my list is that snarky bitch Jaye Wells ^[10] (Mage in Black ^[11]). She is so dead.

AJA: Agents or editors: which taste better?

AF: I’ve sampled neither. I’ll tell you after the sales figures on this book come back.

AJA: Aside from following you on twitter, where can your fans get the latest updates on the life of Amanda Feral?

AF: I have a blog, which I update irregularly at feralsmut.blogspot.com. Also, I’m on Tumblr (amandaferal.tumblr.com).

Thanks to Amanda for joining us at Flames Rising. Check out her new book, Stocking Full of Coal, ^[5] or go grab a copy of her memoirs, Happy Hour of the Damned, ^[12], Road Trip of the Living Dead, ^[8] and Battle of the Network Zombies ^[1].