Announcing Bedlam’s release: Meet Samantha Henderson (character interview)

Bedlam is finally available for purchase at Amazon and Smashwords. Happy day! Thank you to my editor, proofreader, army of awesome beta readers, and my awesome boyfriend for making it happen. I’d also like to thank my cats, because they’re fuzzy and cute. I’m also getting great feedback on the cover art. James at Go On Write does my covers now, and he’s amazing. I’d also like to thank my day job, because they’re so great and supportive of this whole writing thing I do.

I’ve decided to interview Samantha “Sammie” Henderson, the protagonist of Bedlam. She’s got quite the story to tell. One thing I’ve noticed is that we’re all the heroes of our own stories. Samantha is no exception.

Thea: Tell us about your job. Why would you want to put down riots for a living?

Samantha: Well, I specialize in Compliance Studies. Is this going to get back to the Captain?

Thea: I won’t tell him if you don’t.

Samantha: Hmm. Well, we do put down riots. But, we do a lot of good and protect lots of innocent people! Before all this craziness began, I was looking for lost kids during a school evacuation. Rioters like to take hostages in schools, you know. So we do more than just look scary and spray down crowds with pacification chemicals.

I always wanted to protect people. You know during the Second Revolt of 2025, about a decade ago? My parents were lost during that. I don’t want to let that happen to anyone else. That’s why I do what I do.

Thea: Why not do something else?

Samantha: It’s not like I could get into art school with no parents or family to act as collateral. You know how it is, your family needs money if you want to go to school at all. Plus, I don’t want to do the mandatory genetic augmentation the rest of the military has. I don’t want to stop being me. So, that left retail or the Peacemakers. Let’s just say I have a face for radio and leave it at that.

Thea: What do you do when you’re not in duty?

Samantha: I run. It sounds silly, I guess, but the world makes sense when I’m out there. Our base is quite large, and I know all the trails. I’m not sure what happened to my bunk mates, but we used to do movie night and hang out. I really miss them.

Thea: There were many missing people after that. How did you survive that first terrible day?

Samantha: I’m honestly not sure. I just stuck to my training and improvised when necessary. Just good luck. I don’t really want to talk about it again.

Thea: What worries you the most about what happened?

Samantha: The rioters were crazy! Nobody should be capable of quartering a grown man with their bare hands, right? I don’t think it’s happening just here, either. I tried calling my brother, and he doesn’t answer. I left him so many messages, at least until I used up my credits. I hope he finds a way to get in touch. The phones are dead now, so it’s like the outside world just vanished.

Thea: If you could do anything, what would it be?

Samantha: I’d paint, I think. I liked art in high school. I definitely wouldn’t be a model or a basketball player.

Thea: How do you get through the day?

Samantha: I just take it one day at a time. My contract is up in three years, so I’ll see where that takes me. If there’s a world left to go back to, at least. Maybe it could even be better than the one we had, once we’re done cleaning it up.

As for surviving, I just listen to my training, and keep myself and my comrades safe. I hope we can rescue some people soon. At least I have a giant stone wall to live behind. They have nothing!

So, that’s Samantha. She kicks zombie butt and takes zombie names. Pick up the Zombie Bedtime Stories if you love zombies, and stories about the people surviving them.

Now, get yourself back to the Indie Block Party: