Candy, Heroine of “Zomprom: A High School Zombie Romance” by Chris Everheart

Interview with Candy, heroine of “ZomProm: a high school zombie romance”
Title: ZomProm: a high school zombie romance
Genre: YA; paranormal; romance
Format: e-book – Kindle and Nook
Length: 57 pages

What is your story?

I liked a boy so much I bit him – or I let our lab rat bite him. The rat had a virus that was about to turn every teenage boy in the world into a zombie – but I swear I didn’t know that!

Who are you?

My name is Candy. I’m in eleventh grade and I’ve had a huge crush on Ryan since long before he became a zomboy.

What is your problem in the story?

When the boys went undead, so did prom. Now I’m in a school full of girls with paid-for prom dresses and no dates. I saw Ryan outside the gate one morning and I’m sure he’s still somehow good. I need to convince him to help me save prom. Otherwise, I might as well be on the other side of wall with the rest of the walking dead.

Do you run from conflict?

I try to run, but trouble keeps shuffling after me!

How do your friends see you?

My friends are mad at me for getting Ryan infected with the zomboy virus that made him bite another boy and give him the virus and so on and so on.

What do you think of yourself?

I feel stupid for ever having believed that my plan to get Ryan’s attention would work.

Do you have a goal?

Make prom work and get everyone off my back – even if all the boys are undead.

Do you have money troubles?

I never have enough money, which is why I drive an old rusty hatchback. But Ryan never made fun of it. It’s one reason I know he’s special.

What do you want?

I want to be Ryan’s date to the prom. The fact that he’s a zomboy now doesn’t mean that he’s not relationship material.

What are you afraid of?

The Crud – a hoard of wild zomboys that attack the outskirts of town every night. I didn’t know about them until I snuck outside the Monster Wall and Ryan explained the war that goes on where the living can’t see.

What do you regret?

I wish I’d had the courage to just talk to Ryan instead of thinking up a scheme to get his undivided attention with a rat bite. The “Nurse Candy” plan sounded good in my head, but obviously it backfired!

Have you ever betrayed anyone?

Does telling my dad that I wouldn’t go into the U.Z. (the Undead Zone) alone at night then doing it anyway count as betrayal? He might think so – even if I explain how badly I needed to talk to Ryan – so I guess that’s a yes.

Are you healthy?

I’m fine! There’s no zom-girl virus that we know of so I’m as healthy as a Ukrainian gymnast. Wait … does love-sick for an undead boy count as an illness?

Who is your true love?

I think it’s Ryan. And I think he could feel the same – alive or undead.

Was there a major turning point in your life?

Seeing my friends so mad at me that they cried and stopped talking to me was the lowest point in my life. That’s the moment I decided to go into the U.Z. and confront the zomboys face-to-face to save prom.

Name five items in your purse, briefcase, or pockets.

In my pockets: a mini-flashlight which I won’t turn on because it will attract zomboys; a tube of lip gloss, strawberry-flavored – Ryan’s favorite, if he even cares anymore; my school ID so if I get eaten by a pack of hungry zomboys the Army will be able to identify my body; a pair of leather gloves for climbing up the rope to get back to the other side of the wall; that reminds me of the fifth item I’m supposed to have – I forgot the rope!

If you were at a store now, what would be in your shopping cart?

A tuxedo – very narrowly cut to fit over Ryan’s bony frame on prom night.

If you had the power to change one thing in the world that didn’t affect you personally, what would it be?

I would eliminate the virus and cure all the zomboys, bring them back to life.

What makes you think that change would be for the better?

Because now I can see that as much as the boys annoyed us when they were alive we really, really miss them.

If you were stranded on a desert island, who would you rather be stranded with, a man or a woman?

Ryan – alive or undead.

Book link: http://chriseverheart.com/zomprom-a-high-school-zombie-romance/