5 Fun Facts
by E. Van Lowe
(author of Never Slow Dance With A Zombie)
1) When I wrote NSDWAZ I was in the early stages of writing something else—a story about a girl whose family was on the witness protection program. But this silly zombie story kept popping into my head. I never went back to that other book.
2) Margot’s manifesto is the result of something that happened to me. When I graduated from junior high school, I was very unhappy with my social standing. I promised myself that in high school I was going to be a totally different person. This is exactly how Margot felt. Unlike Margot, I was too chicken to write a manifesto.
3) Principal Taft’s daily sayings “Marvelous Monday” “Terrific Tuesday” are based on a guy I worked with several years ago. He was a bit older, and every morning he came into the office full of energy, and saying things like “What a wonderful Wednesday it is.” I thought the sayings were corny, but somehow cool. When I was looking for something to make Principal Taft sound unique, I thought of my old friend.
4) I am afraid of bridges. I know this has nothing to do with NSDWAZ, but this is something I never talk about, and so now you know something very personal about me. Every time I cross a bridge I get the feeling it’s going to fall down. It’s worse when I am driving. When I am in a car with others I pretend everything is okay, but on the inside I am screaming “The bridge is falling down! The bridge is falling down!”
5) Originally I called the book Getting By At Zombie High. I knew there was a better title. I worked on the title for quite a while, and after many, many months I came up with NSDWAZ. I’m glad I put the work in. I love the title—don’t you?
