 Armand Rosamilia is a New Jersey boy currently living in sunny Florida, where he writes when he's not sleeping. He's happily married to a woman who helps his career and is supportive, which is all he ever wanted in life... He's written over 150 stories that are currently available, including horror, zombies, contemporary fiction, thrillers and more. His goal is to write a good story and not worry about genre labels. He not only runs two successful podcasts... Arm Cast: Dead Sexy Horror Podcast - interviewing fellow authors as well as filmmakers, musicians, etc. The Mando Method Podcast with co-host Chuck Buda - talking about writing and publishing But he owns the network they're on, too! Project Entertainment Network He also loves to talk in third person... because he's really that cool. You can find him at http://armandrosamilia.com for not only his latest releases but interviews and guest posts with other authors he likes! and e-mail him to talk about zombies, baseball and Metal: armandrosamilia@gmail.com THE FIRST HORROR BOOK I REMEMBER READING Phantoms by Dean Koontz. The paperback that got me into reading horror and eventually writing it, too. My mother had a huge collection of horror paperbacks in the eighties and once I discovered them I’d read as many as possible. I loved them all. Couldn’t get enough of serial killers, giant bugs, spiders, aliens, beasts under the bed and in the lake… loved all of it. THE FIRST HORROR FILM I REMEMBER WATCHING Friday the 13th. I watched it with my mother and brother, and I was freaked out by it. In a good way! It really kicked off the love of horror movies when I was a teen. I’d rent anything I could get my hands on at the local video store (you kids will need to Google that) and spend Friday night with a horror movie and a pizza. The reasons I’m fat and write horror now, I guess. THE GREATEST HORROR BOOK OF ALL TIME Jeez. Slap me with the tough questions now. I’ve read hundreds of great horror books over the years. I was initially trying to come up with some classic book. Dracula or Frankenstein. Something along those lines. But truthfully… it might be The Rising by Brian Keene. Why? Because not only is it a fantastic book, but it got me engrossed in the zombie writing part of my career, and that’s a big reason why I’m a full-time author now. It’s a great book and I love the ending, too! THE GREATEST HORROR FILM OF ALL TIME Beaches with Bette Midler. That’s my ongoing joke. The real answer? 1982’s The Thing. It has everything a horror fan could want, and the acting is brilliant. The sense of dread and isolation is amazing. I could watch it over and over. It still holds up, too. THE GREATEST WRITER OF ALL TIME For me this is an easy one. Dean Koontz. He was the first author I ever really started reading everything he released, and luckily for me my mother had a huge Koontz collection of paperbacks from the 70’s and 80’s so I got to read them all. Some might argue he’s not a horror author, but you can then make the same case for King. Right? Koontz got me into reading horror and thriller books and is the main reason I wanted to be a writer. So… thanks, Dean! THE BEST BOOK COVER OF ALL TIME That’s a really tough one. I’ve read so many great books over the years with some fantastic covers. What sticks out right now, off the top of my head, are the Titan Books releases of the H.P. Lovecraft and Others anthologies edited by Stephen Jones. All three covers are striking and you know what you’re going to get. Ask me again tomorrow and it might be something different. So many choices! THE BEST FILM POSTER OFF ALL TIME The original Alien poster. In space no one can hear you scream. Simple. Effective. Brilliant. I saw it on cable with my brother and parents, not knowing what it was going to be about… but I knew it would be scary based on the movie poster and HBO using it as the promo leading up to its cable release. THE BEST BOOK / FILM I HAVE WRITTEN Let’s be honest: everything I write is brilliant. Just ask me. I’ll tell ya. Truthfully, I’d have to say The Enemy Held Near, a haunted house/haunted family book I co-wrote with Jay Wilburn, is a great introduction to my work. If you had to start with something I wrote by myself, it might be Green River Blend. A horror trilogy about coffee. THE WORST BOOK / FILM I HAVE WRITTEN Besides all of the unfinished junk I have, which will never see the light of day, or the original stories I wrote in the 80’s and 90’s (some of which were actually published in zines) I’d say Freehold: Southern Storm, an epic fantasy book from 2006. While the plot and idea are serviceable but very cliché, the writing is awful. I cringe when someone brings it up. It was self-published back when that was a bad thing to do. Only about 75 copies were ever sold, and those were mostly to family and friends. Just awful. THE MOST UNDERRATED FILM OF ALL TIME For horror it would be Blood Sucking Freaks. Look it up. Amazingly bad acting, storyline and action, yet… it was a classic I watched several times as a teen. Not sure why, or if I’d ever watch it again, though… THE MOST UNDERRATED BOOK OF ALL TIME December by Phil Rickman. Really, any of his books. When I mention this author most people have no idea who I’m talking about, especially in the U.S. He’s a great writer and has some really nice moody parts in his novels. THE MOST UNDERRATTED AUTHOR OF ALL TIME Chuck Buda. Not even just saying this because he’s my co-host on The Mando Method Podcast, either. His books are amazing. Raw and fierce is how I’d describe them. He writes with so much emotion and his The Debt Collector series is great. More people should be reading his work. THE BOOK / FILM THAT SACRED ME THE MOST Phantoms by Dean Koontz as a kid. You see a theme here? It freaked me out. The story itself was new at the time, and there’s such a mood Koontz was able to capture with this story. My first real Koontz book I read and still the best. And no, I’ve never seen the movie and don’t want to see it. THE BOOK / FILM I AM WORKING ON NEXT I’m always working on a few projects at once. The ongoing Dirty Deeds crime thriller series (look for Dirty Deeds 7 this summer) as well as wrapping up the Chelsea Avenue horror trilogy, a few monster books for Severed Press, a few horror-themed anthologies and a lot more. Always busy. Always writing. Thanks for your time and I hope you enjoyed the interview! Armand Rosamilia GREEN RIVER BLEND BY ARMAND ROSAMILIA  Nothing exciting ever happens in a small town… Especially in the sleepy Florida beachside stretch known as Hammond Beach, nestled between Daytona Beach and St. Augustine. Free from corporate businesses and a slew of tourists descending upon the quaint former fishing village, Hammond Beach is like a painting. Locals run the businesses on Main Street. Even when a new coffee shop opens, the owner hires only Hammond Beach locals, including manager Betty. She’s born and raised in Hammond Beach and knows everyone. But when the latest and greatest coffee is put out, Green River Blend, strange things begin to happen to the residents of Hammond Beach…    Comments are closed.
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