Kim Paffenroth

answers the Usual Questions

Kim Paffenroth

Says Kim Paffenroth, "I am a professor of religious studies, and the author of several books on the Bible and theology. Starting in 2006, I had one of those strange midlife things, and turned my analysis towards horror films and literature."

Has your interaction with fans, for example, at conventions, affected your work?

A lot of times fans steered me toward a particular character, or away from one. Lucy (the zombie with a heart of gold) was such a hit, she went from a minor, secondary character, to the main character of the next novel.

Is there any particular incident (a letter, a meeting, a comment that stands out?

Emotional Armageddon from one fan. Also, one fan really liking the gun play in my novels - and I know nothing about guns but just ask my cop and military friends a lot of questions before I write a scene.

Do you have a favourite author or book (or writer or film or series) that has influenced you or that you return to?

Melville and Flannery O'Connor - both Gothic, him more baroque and wordy, her more pithy. Something in them cracks me up, too, with the dark humor.

Who is the person you would most like to be trapped in a lift with? or a spaceship?

I think Lady Gaga would be great - I mean there's the weirdness and flamboyance, but in a lot of photos of her or in her comments, there's this undercurrent of humility or vulnerability and I'd like to see how that plays out.

Who is the person you would most DISlike to be trapped in a lift with? Or a spaceship?

Really can't think of anyone beyond obvious choices like Justin Bieber.

What would you pack for space? (Is there a food, beverage, book, teddy bear, etc that you couldn't do without?)

I guess I have to have coffee. Really haven't gone w/o it for years.

What is the most important thing you would like to get/achieve from your work?

I have some ideas, some ways of looking at the world, that I like to try out in fiction (and even non-fiction) to see how they play out.

What is the special satisfaction of your work?

Meeting fans is fun, as is "meeting" my characters. It's like all these people I wouldn't have known, if I didn't write.

submitted by Kim Paffenroth

3 August 2014

For other answers to The Usual Questions Click here

Just the facts:
Born: Long Island, NY, USA
Resides: Hudson Valley, NY
Bibliography/Awards:
Pale Gods (novel). Permuted Press, 2013.
Closes at Dusk (novel). Belfire Press, 2012.
Dying to Live: Last Rites (novel). Permuted Press, 2011.
Valley of the Dead: The Real Story of Inferno (novel). Limited Edition: Cargo Cult Press, 2009. Trade Paperback: Permuted Press, 2010. Italian edition: Nero Press, 2012.
The World Is Dead, ed. (anthology). Permuted Press, 2009.
Dying to Live: Life Sentence (novel). Permuted Press, 2008.
Orpheus and the Pearl (novelette). Magus Press, 2008. Reprinted by Belfire Press, 2010.
History Is Dead, ed. (anthology). Permuted Press, 2007.
Dying to Live: A Novel of Life among the Undead (novel). Permuted Press, 2007. German edition: Festa Verlag, 2010. Reissued by Simon and Schuster, 2010.
Gospel of the Living Dead: George Romero's Visions of Hell on Earth. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2006.