Zombie Week: Interview with Sam Cheever, Author of the Apocalyptic Series

Welcome to the Compelling Beasts Blog, Sam!

Thanks so much for letting me crash your wonderful blog to talk about my favorite paranormal creatures!

Your Apocalyptic series features zombie characters who aren’t necessarily what you’d expect zombies to be. Would you tell us a bit about the series?

Absolutely! It’s a futuristic sci-fi romance series with zombies, witches, and magic wielding bounty hunters. Moving through time and space, from post-apocalyptic Earth to spaceships flitting through galaxies, these stories are fast-paced adventures with larger than life heroes and strong, self-reliant heroines. The romance is sizzling, the magic is fun and inventive, and the zombies…well…some of them are the usual ooey, gooey type zombies, but others are beautiful and strong, enhanced by death magic to make them look like humans.

What inspired you to write this series?

I LOVE apocalyptic heroes! Nothing creates an over the top hero like dropping him into an apocalyptic world. In a world plunged into chaos, where there are no rules to influence his actions…no guidelines for how to live…an apocalyptic hero unerringly finds his way along the right path even as his domain explodes around him.

Great physical strength, a finely tuned sense of right and wrong, and a soft heart hidden beneath a rock hard exterior…these attributes have even more significance in a deadly environment where it would be oh so easy to take the wrong course. Worse, in a world where everyone is fighting to survive, it’s a constant battle not to abuse power, succumbing to greed, hate, and selfishness. The true hero…the one with his moral compass firmly tuned toward North…is not only easy to love. He’s impossible to resist.

Your character, Yeira, from Tall, Dark & Apocalyptic, is a zombie. What was the most difficult part of creating her?

Yeira is a good person who finds herself tied to an ugly world. She immerses herself in that world because she intends to take the stain out of it, or die trying. Unfortunately, her proximity makes her vulnerable in many ways, and there are those, Audie Kord included, who try to tie her to that world, despite what their eyes and hearts tell them about her.

How would the hero, Audie, describe Yeira?

Beautiful, tainted, heroic

What’s one characteristic of a traditional zombie that you didn’t want Yeira to have?

The decaying aspect. Yeira was enhanced by special, death magic, but she was never a moldering corpse. I think it’s really hard to make somebody likeable and sexy when they spend part of their time slimy and gooey. LOL

How about one characteristic that you needed her to have to be a convincing zombie?

With special care and magic, she can recover from even the worst injuries. Death magic has made her very hard to kill. Under the right circumstances, she can even heal large holes in her torso.

Would you share an excerpt from Tall, Dark & Apocalyptic?

Of course! #:0):

The man was impossible! Yeira fought to hold her emotions in check as his lips and tongue performed a delicious invasion, teasing an unsettling amount of heat and responsiveness from her. She longed to step away…to run away…from the things he was doing to her body. Not just the building passion of the kiss they shared, but the warmth and tightness his touch was creating between her legs…the knot of need twisting inside her belly.

Worse, even as her mind told her she should get away from him, her traitorous body moved closer. Her breasts pressed against the broad planes of his chest, her nipples tender against the fabric of her shirt.

Her sexual core clenched under the building heat, her magic-entrapped hands fought to reach him. Not to push him away, but to drag him closer. Suddenly the energy binding her arms loosened and she fell forward, her hands twining in the cool lapels of his leather coat, twisting there to pull him near.

Their kiss deepened, hunger raging as tongues lashed and teeth clashed. A low sound of lust throbbed at the base of Yeira’s throat. She was horrified by the sound but unable to stop it from escaping in a deep moan.

The hunter responded by spreading his hand over her buttocks, pressing her closer, until she couldn’t ignore the huge, hard ridge beneath his leather battle pants. His heated breath fanned her face, his taste pure ambrosia on her tongue. She inhaled his addictive scent—a mix of clean sweat and leather—and her pussy pulsed with exquisite expectation.

She wanted him.

Needed him.

She’d denied it to herself from the very beginning—ignored the way his presence pulled at her and the way his sexy gaze raked her with fire. They were enemies, opponents in an epic war, but when they shared the same space lust exploded between them, an impossible-to-resist attraction wrapping her in a fiery embrace.

Slowly, as his hands found the bottom of her shirt and slipped underneath, skimming gently calloused heat over her nerve-drenched skin, Yeira felt the first stirrings of fear.

They couldn’t do what they were doing! She couldn’t do it. Their path was ugly, the war they were about to engage in dangerous and difficult. If they had feelings for each other—

Yeira shoved against his chest, pushing him back just enough to break the kiss and not much more.

He held her lower half against a solid erection, his big hands a warm wall against her back, and frowned down at her. “What is it, Yeira?”

She dragged a hand over her swollen lips. Her breath heaved in and out of her chest. The place between her legs where she wanted him most throbbed with desire. She shook her head, pushing backward.

He finally released her but the inferno of his dark blue gaze held her, like a moth to flame, compelling her to answer.

“I can’t do this. We…can’t do this.”

The hunter scrubbed a hand over his jaw, looking angry. She wasn’t sure if he was mad at her or himself. “You’re right. I apologize. It won’t happen again.” He turned away and stalked toward the distant line of hills.

Yeira stood rooted to the spot, watching him go. Regret was a sour taste in her mouth. She’d done the right thing. She knew she had.

But that didn’t make the loss of his addictive touch any easier to take.

Do you have any favorite zombie movies or TV shows?

I’d like to say I’m dancing to my own drummer on this but I have to admit that, like millions of other people, I’m a diehard Walking Dead fan! I absolutely LOVE the show. I understand The Strain is also really good but haven’t had a chance to check that out yet.

Is there anything you’d like to add about the Apocalyptic series?

If you really don’t mind…grin…I’d like to include blurbs and links for the 3 currently available books. I hope to have Book 4 available before the end of the year.

Book 1: Apocalyptic Mojo

He’s a man who likes control. She’s a woman who’ll never give it.

The Epoch Mages and the Sorceri Bounty Hunters are ALWAYS on opposite sides of any issue. They H-A-T-E each other. But when a rogue witch decides to take over the world using flesh-eating zombies, Ardith and Draigh have to work together to stop her. And though they’ve twisted themselves inside out trying to deny their blistering desire for each other, they soon learn they’ll need to work together to accomplish what many before them have failed to do. Yep, it’s all gonna be uphill from there!

Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OU6O9XE/?tag=wwwsamcheever-20

Amazon.de: http://www.amazon.de/Apocalyptic-Mojo-English-Sam-Cheever-ebook/dp/B00OU6O9XE

Amazon.ca: http://www.amazon.ca/Apocalyptic-Mojo-Sam-Cheever-ebook/dp/B00OU6O9XE/?tag=wwwsamcheev0d-20

Amazon.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Apocalyptic-Mojo-Sam-Cheever-ebook/dp/B00OU6O9XE/?tag=wwwsamcheever-21

Amazon.com.au: http://www.amazon.com.au/Apocalyptic-Mojo-Sam-Cheever-ebook/dp/B00OU6O9XE

All Romance eBook: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-apocalypticmojo-1722001-153.html

Barnes & Noble US: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/apocalyptic-mojo-sam-cheever/1121027684?ean=2940150237537

Barnes & Noble UK: http://www.nook.com/gb/ebooks/apocalyptic-mojo-by-sam-cheever/2940150237537

Kobo books: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/apocalyptic-mojo-1

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Sam_Cheever_Apocalyptic_Mojo?id=94huBgAAQBAJ

Book 2: Tall, Dark & Apocalyptic

Apart they are pain and death… apocalyptic. Together they are fire and magic… destiny.

He’s a warrior, a bounty hunter in a world turned upside down. She’s his latest bounty… a creature of dark power. As everything in their world implodes, they must work together to set it right, while the fire burning between them threatens to consume everything in its path.

Watch the video

Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L5OIT0I/?tag=wwwsamcheever-20

Amazon.uk:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tall-Dark-Apocalyptic-Sam-Cheever-ebook/dp/B00L5OIT0I/?tag=wwwsamcheever-21

Amazon.ca: http://www.amazon.ca/Tall-Dark-Apocalyptic-Sam-Cheever-ebook/dp/B00L5OIT0I/?tag=wwwsamcheev0d-20

Paperback:

http://www.amazon.com/Tall-Dark-Apocalyptic-Sam-Cheever/dp/149950697X

All Romance eBooks:

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-talldarkapocalyptic-1554223-140.html

Barnes & Noble US:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tall-dark-apocalyptic-sam-cheever/1119583053?ean=2940045959100

Barnes & Noble UK:

http://www.nook.com/gb/ebooks/tall-dark-apocalyptic-by-sam-cheever/2940150663039

Kobo Books:

http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/tall-dark-apocalyptic-1

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Sam_Cheever_Tall_Dark_Apocalyptic?id=IZduBgAAQBAJ

Book 3: An Apocalyptic Need

She might be the enemy. He might have to take her down. But all he really wants to do is make slow, sweet love to her.

Grimm Forbes has been captured by sexy spaceship Captain Cari Pascale and turned into her sex vassal. But, as alliances conspire to take down his old friends at the Authority, Grimm worries that the woman who ignites his sexual fantasies might be at the epicenter of the treachery. It’s possible he’ll have to make a choice between his friends and the woman he wants in his bed. He only prays he has the strength to make the right decision, because the consequences of making the wrong one will be apocalyptic.

Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PUP0U6E/?tag=wwwsamcheever-20

Amazon.ca:

http://www.amazon.ca/Apocalyptic-Need-3-ebook/dp/B00PUP0U6E/?tag=wwwsamcheev0d-20

Amazon.uk:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Apocalyptic-Need-3-ebook/dp/B00PUP0U6E/?tag=wwwsamcheever-21

Amazon.de:

http://www.amazon.de/Apocalyptic-Need-English-ebook/dp/B00PUP0U6E

Amazon.au:

http://www.amazon.com.au/Apocalyptic-Need-3-ebook/dp/B00PUP0U6E

Barnes & Noble US:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/an-apocalyptic-need-sam-cheever/1120799369?ean=2940046412840