Author Interview: M. M. Shelley

M.M. Shelley is a storyteller, word smith and dreamer. MISHAP AND MAYHEM, a captivating story of faerie's and magic, is her debut novel. She has traveled the world extensively in search of the magic which is often overlooked in every day life. M.M. Shelley is a native of southern California, and a student of mythology from which she gets much inspiration.

M. M. Shelley, the author of The Chronicles of Orlando, has stopped by the blog and answered a few questions that we had.




YABR: What inspires you when you write?

MMS: I am inspired by various of things, I enjoy writing because its an escape into different worlds.


YABR:  Do you base your characters off of real people?  Do you have a process for coming up with characters?

MMS: The only name I used from an actual person is the character Fernie in The Zombie Story, I had an uncle named Fernie who past away several years ago. He used to tell my brothers and I stories of the days when he was on patrol as an LAPD officer. Although he was nothing like the character in my story, I just sort of borrowed his name.


YABR: What do you wish was different about the book(s), if anything?

MMS: Well, because these are a series of novella's they will always be evolving, these are stories that I believe will allow the reader to have a fun escape for a few hours. 

YABR: What is your favorite item on your work space?

MMS: I have a large map that's framed and hangs on the wall in my office, I love to travel and incorporate the places that I visit as the settings of my books and so when I get stuck on a scene I will take a look at my map and think about where I would like to be.

YABR: What type/genre of books do you like to read?

MMS:  I grew up reading Agatha Christie; Hercule Poirot is my favorite detective I enjoy a good murder mystery, but I enjoy a good romance too.

YABR: Favorite color

MMS: This changes all the time, right now I'd have to say Blue.


YABR: Favorite holiday/season

MMS: Fall!


YABR: Word that best describes you and why

MMS: Tenacious. I grab hold of an idea no matter how crazy it may sound and run with it and it has helped me pursue my dreams.  
      
        
YABR: Optimist or pessimist
MMS: Optimist  
YABR: Favorite author/book/series

MMS: Agatha Christie and her Hercule Poirot mysteries

YABR: Favorite food/drink

MMS: Japanese! There's a great restaurant near my home, it's a family owned restaurant and they are incredibly wonderful.


YABR: Favorite place to read/write

MMS: Anywhere, you never know when you will be inspired.

The Zombie Story

Publisher: M.M. Shelley

Publish Date: 10 May 2011

Source: from author

Series: The Chronicles of Orlando

Other Books in Series: Dead Relatives

Unfolding on the streets of Los Angeles is a new breed of monster...

Orlando, fresh from the mid west, arrives at his new high school on his Harley Davidson. All he wants is to make it through the day, and begin his training as a Zombie Hunter.But someone has different plans for him.

The Zombie Story is the first novella in a young adult series.

This novella starts out with Orlando moving to Los Angeles during his last year of high school.  He had to move after the economy crashed and both his parents found jobs in L.A.  After Orlando witnesses a murder outside his home, things begin to unravel.  First, his mom is upset with him.  She thinks that he made up the crime to get back at them for moving.  Then his grandfather has someone come over and tell him something that is unbelievable.

At first Orlando doesn’t believe Maxwell, his grandfather’s friend, when he tells him about zombies and that he is supposed to train to kill them.  Then, when he is going to the junkyard to get parts for the car his mother gave him, he spots a motorcycle that he has to walk home.  It is during that walk that he encounters his first zombie and uses some of his magick to help him defeat him.  Orlando has never been tested to see what level of magick he is.

At school the next day, Maxwell introduces him to Ruben.  Ruben is a zombie hunter who will train Orlando.  After the eventful day, Orlando meets Fernando aka Fernie which eventually leads him and Ruben to Tijuana, Mexico.  There he learns some secrets…some he may not have wanted to know.

I thought that this novella was a little choppy.  You would be talking about one thing and the next thing you knew, it would be something else.  I think that there was a lot of information and background story to put in a novella.  This should have been a novel which would have given you time to read the pertinent information.  The plot was there for it and the development of the story was rushed.  When I first read the synopsis for this book, I thought it might be an interesting read and it was.  Overall, I thought it was a good book and am anxious to read the sequel, Dead Relatives.

Everyone in the world had magick in one form or another.  The ones who had the least amount were known as Novices, most of the population was Novice.  Novices had the smallest amount and had no control over when it was used…The ones at the next level were known as Mercurial, they were given the name Mercurial because their magick was never reliable and always unstable, it was never stead and it could be destructive.  The third level of magick were Wizards, they had learned to control their power and a wizard was someone who’s magick was the most strong and consistent.  There were not many who reached the level of Wizard.

The cover has Orlando on it in his leather jacket and what looks like the Los Angeles skyline.  I like the colors on the cover.  I also like the color of Orlando’s eyes. 

 

•Orlando.  He is the main character of the story.  He has this naiveté about him when it first comes to learning about zombies.  It is surprising considering the magick that is in the world, but refreshing at the same time.

•Ruben and his sister Elodie.  Ruben is the one that is training Orlando to fight zombies.  He has no doubts in backing Orlando when he needs to go to Tijuana, Mexico.  Elodie helps Ruben and Orlando when they are in Mexico.  She is strong willed and intelligent in the use of her magick. 

•Orlando’s grandfather.  Orlando describes him as being “off his rocker.”  He is the one who first brought Maxwell in to tell Orlando about the zombies.  Even though he is sometimes wrong, he still has Orlando's best interest at heart.  He was also a zombie hunter.

•Zombies.  It was refreshing to read about them in a different atmosphere than I have read before.  This story is about zombies, but it doesn’t focus on them.

•Fernando.  He is a wizard who comes and sees Orlando one night telling him about a mission that he is supposed to embark upon.  He seems like he is one of the good guys, but you can never tell.  

•The choppiness of the writing.  Sometimes I felt like I got whiplash when reading.  At times, I had to re-read something to make sure I was following along with the story.  More towards the end of the novella, it got better.

•Maxwell.  When Orlando first meets him, he tells Orlando that he has a temper after he was woken up by his grandfather’s loud television.  Then, the next day at school, he asks Orlando, “What are you doing here?” and then tells him that he is supposed to be training.