Welcome to my interview with Jonathan Fesmire, author of Bodacious Creed: A Steampunk Zombie Western. I recently shared an extract of his work which you can see here. Jonathan was kind enough to answer a few questions about his work, his inspirations and where he plans to take the series. Thank you for stopping by to check out more information about this genre uniting piece of epic fiction.
Welcome to my interview with Jonathan Fesmire, author of Bodacious Creed: A Steampunk Zombie Western. I recently shared an extract of his work which you can see here. Jonathan was kind enough to answer a few questions about his work, his inspirations and where he plans to take the series. Thank you for stopping by to check out more information about this genre uniting piece of epic fiction.
About Jonathan Fesmire
Author Jonathan Fesmire, originally from Santa Cruz, California, now lives in Southern California with his son. By day, he’s a copywriter, by evening a steampunk author, and at all times, a dedicated dad.
Though Jonathan started out writing fantasy, he has moved completely to steampunk, enchanted with its aesthetics, possibilities, and implications. He’s a fan of the stories, the art, and the gadgets, and enjoys interacting with the community. In fact, Jonathan regularly interviews popular members of the steampunk community for his The Wild Steampunk Blog.
His first steampunk novel, Bodacious Creed: a Steampunk Zombie Western, is available on Amazon.
Jonathan’s Media: Personal Website / Twitter / Facebook / Instagram
Official Synopsis for Bodacious Creed: A Steampunk Zombie Western
U.S. Marshal James Creed has known loss, starting from the untimely death of his wife and daughter in a sudden fire. His work, chasing down and arresting outlaws across the Wild West, is all he has left to live for. Then one day, in 1876, the infamous killer Corwin Blake catches Creed by surprise and guns him down/.
Creed awakes after a mysterious young woman resurrects him in a basement laboratory beneath a brothel. Half alive, Creed feels torn between his need for justice and his desire to fall back into the peace of death. Creed’s instincts drive him to protect the city of Santa Cruz, California, from the outlaws it harbors while searching for Blake.
He uncovers a secret criminal organization, likely protecting Blake, determined to use resurrection technology for its own ends. The former marshal, now faster, stronger, and a more deadly shot than ever before, must work with a brothel madam, a bounty hunter, and the remaining marshals to uncover the criminal syndicate before they can misuse the machines of rebirth and create more mindless zombies. Meanwhile, he must also stop Blake, before the outlaw kills the only people he cares about.
His own death can wait.
Q&A with Jonathan Fesmire
Thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions about Bodacious Creed: a Steampunk Zombie Western. Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m Jonathan Fesmire, and I lucky enough that I’m able to write for a living. That includes a steady job as a copywriter, in addition to writing novels and blogging. I live in Anaheim, the home of Disneyland, with my son. I’m not a fan of the hot weather here, but being so close to the House of the Mouse is amazing.
When I first started writing stories, I was all about fantasy. Since 2010, though, I’ve been a big fan of steampunk, so I’m focused on my steampunk western series, of which Bodacious Creed: a Steampunk Zombie Western is the first novel.
Could you give us your own personal overview of Bodacious Creed: a Steampunk Zombie Western and what we can expect?
I think I described it best in the book blurb, so first, here’s that:
U.S. Marshal James Creed has known loss, starting from the untimely death of his wife and daughter in a sudden fire. His work, chasing down and arresting outlaws across the Wild West, is all he has left to live for. Then one day, in 1876, the infamous killer Corwin Blake catches Creed by surprise and guns him down.
Creed awakes after a mysterious young woman resurrects him in a basement laboratory beneath a brothel. Half alive, Creed feels torn between his need for justice and his desire to fall back into the peace of death. Creed’s instincts drive him to protect the city of Santa Cruz, California, from the outlaws it harbors while searching for Blake.
He uncovers a secret criminal organization, likely protecting Blake, determined to use resurrection technology for its own ends. The former marshal, now faster, stronger, and a more deadly shot than ever before, must work with a brothel madam, a bounty hunter, and the remaining marshals to uncover the criminal syndicate before they can misuse the machines of rebirth and create more mindless zombies. Meanwhile, he must also stop Blake, before the outlaw kills the only people he cares about.
His own death can wait.
This is a story about family, the value of life, and justice. If it were made into a movie, it would be rated R for profanity, violence, and mild nudity, basically at the level you might expect from a Stephen King or George R.R. Martin novel.
I love the blend of westerns with science fiction, and that’s what readers get here.
What was the original source of inspiration for the novel?
I earned my MFA in Animation and Visual Effects in 2011. At the beginning of the second half of my studies, we began our thesis projects, and for A&VE majors, that meant creating a demo reel. My focus was 3D modeling, so that meant coming up with things to model.
I decided on a western steampunk theme, because I like both of those. My initial idea was to create a western gunfighter and a young brothel madam. My instructor, Vince DeQuattro, urged me to push the idea further, so I decided that the gunfighter would be undead, resurrected by the brothel madam using steampunk technology. I later added a steampunk cyborg coyote and a train to the mix. Anyway, one morning I woke up with the words “Bodacious Creed” in my mind and thought that would make a great name for the gunfighter.
Already a writer, I also knew it would make a great story, but I didn’t start working on the novel until 2013.
Incidentally, you can demo reel on my website, at https://www.jonathanfesmire.com/demo-reel.
How long did it roughly take to finish the book from draft to finished novel?
It took about four years. The novel ended up longer than I expected. The first draft was 140,000 words, and after revisions, it came in at 120,000. It’s 370 pages long in trade paperback, and would be about 500 pages in a mass market paperback. Much of that involved developing the world, so I’m hoping the sequel won’t take as long to complete.
I am always intrigued when I hear the term Steampunk, what attracted you to this genre?
What’s not to like? It’s science fiction with an incredible aesthetic. It’s a look at the future, or the present, through the lens of the past.
It sounds like there is a lot going on in Bodacious Creed: a Steampunk Zombie Western, was it tough juggling all those genres?
They actually work together organically. Although most people probably think England when they hear “steampunk,” wild west steampunk has been around for a long time. If a steampunk world existed, the technology would be nearly everywhere. The zombie aspect arose from the steampunk technology, which is used to bring Creed (and others, but I’m not saying more than that) back from the dead. So, the mechanism is different than in other zombie stories, being neither magic nor a virus or other illness. In that sense, it’s akin to Frankenstein.
Who would you say influenced your writing of Bodacious Creed?
As far as writers go, Stephen King and George R.R. Martin, definitely. I like stories with surprises, including unexpected deaths, and I learned that reading their work.
Bodacious Creed wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for Stephen King’s Dark Tower Cycle. Reading the Gunslinger many years ago, I realized how much I liked the western aesthetic and its potential for adventure.
Do you have an idea of how many books you are going to include in the series?
I honestly don’t. At this point, I’m seeing where the story takes me. I’m ecstatic to have created a setting I love so much, though, and want to stick with it for a long time.
What do you do to wind down from your work/writing?
I generally get distracted online. I’ll check Facebook and Twitter, watch some YouTube videos, or catch up on my shows. Most of my reading time is at night for an hour or so before I go to sleep.
What do you typically do to celebrate finishing a book?
I don’t really do any celebrating, but I might reward myself by purchasing something I’ve been wanting, like, well, a book!
I know it is a bit soon, but do you have any other upcoming projects we should know about yet?
I am doing research and outlining for the sequel to Bodacious Creed. I also post every week or so, and sometimes more often, on my blog, and I occasionally make a YouTube video about steampunk or writing.0
Have you read a book/article recently that you would recommend to the readers of this Q&A?
If you’re no longer a beginning writer, but at an intermediate or advanced level, I would recommend any of the Writer’s Craft books by Rayne Hall. They’re available in paperback and Kindle formats. I’ve been writing seriously for more than thirty years, and that series has helped me
Thank you to Jonathan Fesmire for all of his time putting together extracts and answers for questions. I have had a great time featuring his work here on Always Trust In Books. His genre blending antics are certainly memorable and I have already had a overly positive response to the extract I shared earlier today. Thanks for stopping by to show you support for indie authors!
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