Alex Scarrow Interview - Plague Land Reborn ~ JeanBookNerd

Photo Content from Alex Scarrow

Alex Scarrow used to be a rock guitarist.

After ten years in various unsuccessful bands, he ended up working in the computer games industry as a lead games designer.

In 2006 his first adult novel A THOUSAND SUNS was published by Orion. Since then he has been a full time writer. To date he's had 5 thrillers published by Orion.

He is also the author of the bestselling TIMERIDERS series published by Puffin, which has been sold into over 30 foreign territories.

TIMERIDERS was a RedHouse Awards, Catalyst Awards, Hampshire Book winner and a finalist for Galaxy Children's Book of the Year.

Alex lives in in Norwich with his family. In his spare time he snowboards, sails, writes music and walks his yappy jack russell, Max. He is also very active on twitter and Facebook.

What was the greatest thing you learned at school?
Sadly, I wasn’t a very attentive student. But if anything, I learned that nothing good happens unless you put the time and effort in.

What was your favorite book as a child and why?
I read a LOT of Stephen King books when I was younger, my favourite book of his was CARRIE. Why? Because it was a book about Just Revenge taken to the most brutal and horrifying level.

What advice would you give to someone who wanted to have a life in writing?
Read. Read. Read. You learn as much, if not more, from reading than you do from writing. And when you do finally start to write… be original. Remember, publishers have seen books about the most commonly covered genres/subjects…. many, many times over. They’ll be your hardest audience to please.

In your newest book, PLAGUE LAND REBORN (REMADE #2); can you tell my Book Nerd community a little about the novel?
Imagine, one day, tomorrow perhaps… a virus arrives on a piece of space debris. It flutters down out of the sky like a fleck of pollen and lands on the skin of a child. Within hours, that child is dead, and reduced to a puddle of ‘organic soup’. That’s the kind of body-horror you’ll get a lot of in this series.

What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating Leon?
Leon, I think, is a reflection of myself as a young man; troubled, stressed, unable to cope with anything – suddenly thrown into a situation where he has to get a grip, or die.

For those who are unfamiliar with your series; REMADE, how would you introduce it?
In a sentence – It’s about a virus, that can think, plan and communicate.

Aside from Leon, which of your characters do you feel has grown the most since book one and in what way have they changed?
Freya – someone Leon meets on his journey of survival. She’s an MS sufferer, but… someone who has taken a lot of hard knocks in life, who turns out to be tougher, more resilient than pretty much any other characters in the trilogy.

What do you feel is the most significant change since book one?
The virus. Over the series we get to ‘know’ the virus, how it thinks, and why it’s doing what its doing. It has a mission… and actually, when you find out the truth t the end, it’s a noble mission

What are some of your current and future projects that you can share with us?
I’m working on a number of books and scripts. At this stage they’re all at a nebulous stage. But, they’re all big concepts, big ideas. And genre-wise, mostly scifi/thriller.

TEN FACTS ABOUT PLAGUE LAND REBORN

1) It’s been described by one fan as a ‘zombie book that doesn’t have any zombies.’
2) It was inspired by a 1950s horror movie called THE H-MAN.
3) It’s THE THING meets THE PASSAGE meets WORLD WAR Z
4) For the first time with plague story, the virus itself is a thinking character
5) Those few who survive the initial outbreak, survive simply because they were taking a certain type of painkiller.
6) The series deals ultimately with an interesting question - On what scale should intelligent life exist, particularly if we ever hope to meet any beyond our world?
7) The series examines the concept of a biochemical ‘afterlife’
8) Best not read during mealtimes. It’s pretty gross.
9) One particularly unpleasant character was very much based on Donald Trump.
10) The ‘heroes’ in this series are the type of people I like – normal, fallible, prone to mistakes and selfish decisions.

At a movie theater which arm rest is yours?
Left. I’m so lefthanded/right-hemisphere, it hurts.

Who was the last person you slow danced with?
My wife, Debbie. We tend to dance slow, because accidents happen around us when we try and dance faster.

If animals could talk, which would be the rudest?
I think pretty much all species in the animal kingdom have an issue with us now. Humanity is the arrogant, dangerous, thick-headed bully in the playground. If we wiped ourselves out, I’d be sad, of course, but also, a part of me would be relieved for the rest of this world’s flora and fauna.

In one sentence, how would you sum up the internet?
Originally a pretty cool idea, now, largely a complete waste of time, electricity, and silicon.

What were you doing at midnight last night?
Spooning with my three dogs on my sofa while watching reruns of GOT, to get ready for the epic last season.

Which incident in your life that totally changed the way you think today?
Brexit (Britain leaving European Union). It’s turned this country into a nasty place. Political discussion has turned vile. My politics used to be centre-oriented. But the thick-headed thuggish radicalism of the right, has pushed me firmly to the left. Up until a few years ago, I had no interest whatsoever in politics. Now – I’m committed to fighting against the selfish billionaires, the reckless capitalists, greedy executives, pampered elites, racist and homophobic bigots. The last few years have ‘woken me up’. In Matrix terms – I’ve swallowed the Blue Pill, and I now see the shit we’re in.

THEY THOUGHT IT WAS DEAD. THEY WERE WRONG.

Two years ago, a virus hit London, killing thousands of people and driving the rest into hiding. But Leon has somehow survived, making it through two harsh winters. Now he’s living on the fragile hope that the freezing snow and ice of the English climate wiped out the virus for good. Word even reaches Leon of a rescue boat on its way.

But all is not as safe as it seems. The virus has been busy…

Praise for PLAGUE LAND REBORN

"Scarrow's thrilling follow-up to Plague Land (2017) effortlessly welcomes new readers into his vividly rendered wasteland populated with an otherworldly and terrifyingly intelligent organism bent on remaking humanity...who love cinematic, thrill-a-minute apocalyptic horror will be riveted." ―Kirkus

"Scarrow absolutely nails the graphic body horror...this furthers the trilogy and is definitely ramping up to an epic final installment" ―Booklist

You can purchase Plague Land Reborn (ReMade #2) at the following Retailers: