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An interview with author Lorraine LoBianco

Today Victoria lynn Weston chats with author Lorraine LoBianco to discuss her newly released book, KORINTH.

Victoria: What inspired you to write Korinth?

Lorraine: I had originally written a murder mystery story called "A Killing in Korinth", in which a guy named Eli Baxter is murdered on his way to file a gold claim.  It seemed the whole town hated him for various reasons.  When my friends and I sat around to play the game they told me I'd taken it way too seriously - I'd essentially written a book, not a campy, fun, game.  So here I was with some characters I really liked and I saw how zombie books were selling, so I married the two.  I also threw into the mix the fact that I had, indeed, gone to Florida to clean out my great-aunt's house for her.  I did find an American Airlines carry-on from the 1960s and I did sell the '82 Oldsmobile to the neighbor. And he did act like he'd bought a Porsche and did run his hand along the oxydized paint, talking about how it "had a mystique all its own."  But there was no book by Eli Baxter.

Victoria: Is this the first zombies in the Old West?
Lorraine: I don't know.  I doubt it.  I've never read a zombie book.  I read the first chapter of the prequel to "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies"  (a free Barnes and Noble download) but then I realized it was a prequel and not the original.  I never got around to reading the book or the original.  Didn't want to be influenced.

Victoria: What does Korinth mean?
Lorraine: It's the tiny, gold-mining town where Eli Baxter and Robert Fontaine go to mine for gold. 

Victoria: Describe to us what a zombie is, exactly?
Lorraine: My only exposure to zombies was watching the original "Night of the Living Dead" way back in film school a million years ago.  All I know for sure about zombies is that they are undead, have a compulsion to eat living people, and the only way to "kill" them is to lop off their heads.  After that, all bets are off and all ideas are valid.

Victoria: Will we be scared?
Lorraine: If I saw an undead coming toward me, I'd need a change of underwear and would cry for my mommy.  I'd be scared.  Of the book, probably not.  Although my mother did think one part was scary.  It's meant to be a fun beach or airplane book.  It's not going to stay in your head too long after you read it.  It won't challenge any long-held beliefs.  It won't introduce new philosophies.  It's just to entertain you for a few hours.  If I've done that, then mission accomplished.

Victoria: A sequel?
Lorraine: Actually, I was thinking of a prequel but not with zombies. I fell in love with my own character of Eli Baxter. (Although, for some reason, his photograph makes my mother laugh uncontrollably...)  I think he's a lot of fun and I'd like to examine his experiences in the Civil War as well as chronicle his flight from his wife across the US in 1869-70.  I think there is a lot of material there.

Victoria: Who is the main character?
Lorraine: Elihu Montgomery Baxter, the heir to the Baxter Fountain Pen Company of Boston.  Civil War veteran and blueblood, he tires of his pink lace and frou-frou wife and his boring life in Boston.  He abandons her and sets out to be guided by the Spirit of Adventure.  He's level-headed and pretty snarky.  His humor is as dry as a bone. (In that, I can identify with him) By the end of the adventure, he has learned a few things about himself, but it's a hard-won lesson.  Eli realizes that he has mythologized his war experiences out of proportion. 

In boring Boston, he yearns for the freedom of his days in the Army.  By the end, he sees that he has forgotten about the death, the blood, the illness, and the harsh realities of war.  One particular experience removes the rose-colored glasses from his memory forever.

Can you share a chapter:

From the first chapter: 

If I had not known Robert Fontaine for the sane, sober, upstanding, and frankly unimaginative individual that he was, I would have thought that the man pounding on my bedroom door and pulling me out of bed, while screaming in such obscene language was either a madman or a drunkard.

For who but such a man would rush about our cabin as though the Hounds of Hell were snapping at his heels and push our rickety table in front of the door? To add to my confusion, he was talking so quickly that I could not comprehend much beyond "dead," "rotting", "ate", and swear words that I had never before heard my friend utter. [click here to read a sample chapter on Amazon]

If you could play a Hollywood actress, who would that be and why?
With my near-phobia of being photographed or appearing on camera, I think that's unlikely.  My favorite Hollywood actress is the late, great Carole Lombard, who was decades before her time, both in real life and onscreen.  Watch her in "Twentieth Century" or "To Be or Not to Be" and you'll see genius at work.  Tragically, she died in a plane crash in 1942.  Her best film, "To Be or Not to Be" was also her last. which leaves us to wonder what might have been.

Lorraine LoBianco is the co-editor of Letters: Jean Renoir, which was short-listed for the British Film Institute's Michael Powell Award for Best British Film Book. Having worked as a Director of Programming for cable and broadcast networks, she is currently a writer for Turner Classic Movies, Gratitude Gourmet, EcoProtection BlogSpot, and MediaQuire. KORINTH is her first fiction book. She is an Addy™ award-winning creative writer and brings fifteen years of experience from the film and television world having worked for Fox Movie Channel, Turner Classic Movies Interactive and The American Film Institute.  LIKE Lorraine LoBianco on Facebook!

Victoria lynn Weston is President & Founder of MediaQuire and recently launched SEGUE, a movie blog.  "Like" us on [Facebook] - Follow on [Twitter]  - Subscribe to MediaQuire Blog [rss feed].   

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Lorraine LoBianco
Posts: 3

Thanks!
Reply #3 on : Sat May 07, 2011, 21:28:18

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Thank you bushytail and Shelley and thank you to MediaQuire!

bushytail
Posts: 3

Re:
Reply #2 on : Mon April 25, 2011, 11:42:55

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ordered the ebook! zombie fan!

Shelley
Posts: 3

Zombies and Zombies!
Reply #1 on : Sat April 16, 2011, 13:06:29

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I'm a natural born zombie lover - looking forward to reading the story.

Nice interview.

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