AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Bowie V. Ibarra

Bowie V. Ibarra has terrified readers with the Down the Road series, thrilled them with his Pit Fighter Books, and kept us on the edge of our seats with titles such as Big Cat and Codename:
La Lechusa. Six Demon Bag was fortunate enough to snag this author for our very first interview.

Hi Bowie and welcome to Six Demon Bag. I’m going to start off with what will be my standard opening question, which you can interpret and answer however you please: if you were in possession of a 6 Demon Bag, what would yours contain?

Two hookers, a 24 pack of beer, a flanged mace, general provisions (food and water), and David von Erich.

With that question out of the way, why don’t you tell our readers a little bit about yourself and your work.　

I’m an artist from Texas just trying to make it happen in the world. I like zombie movies, combat sports, music (classical, oldies, 80s, country, techno, tejano), dancing, and conspiracy theories. Also, long walks on the beach.　

I first became aware of your work through your Permuted Press title, Down The Road. If I remember correctly, Permuted picked this one up around 2006 or 2007. How you do feel you’ve grown as an author since then and what do you feel is the most important element in ensuring a writer’s skills continue to develop?

By leaps and bounds, that’s for sure. "Down the Road" was my tribute to Romero and his works. As I observed my works, I could see what some of my strong points were and some things I needed work on. I took my observations and reviews I received and let them help me grow. Readers will find a distinct evolution from the first entry, "Down the Road", to the third entry, "Down the Road: The Fall of Austin". And I know I’m only getting better.I didn’t think there was much out there in regards to zombie horror. And, truthfully, there wasn’t. But now we’re riding this big zombie wave and you can’t throw a rock without hitting something zombie related. Which is great, and I’m glad that I was part of that big first wave along with Permuted Press.　

Time for another standard 6 Demon question: There’s a train rocketing through the night with nearly a hundred people looking out the windows. The only person actually sitting in their seat is a small child who gazes unwaveringly at the floor. What is going on with these people?

The people are all dead, having been frozen in place forever by an alien force, and the little girl is the only one who is alive. She is too scared to look into the dead faces of her family and the others.

Apocalyptic and zombie authors write about some pretty brutal stuff. Is there anything you’ve ever done to a character that you either felt bad about or regretted once the tale had been published?

No, although many of my readers have. There was a lot of sympathy for the character Misty in DtR, and even for the protagonist, George. But the zombie apocalypse is cruel and unforgiving. Very bad things happen to good people. It’s a lot like real life, in a way. But if George A. Romero taught me anything with "Night of the Living Dead," its that no matter how hard you try, no one makes it out alive in the zombie apocalypse.

Let’s assume the Mayan doomsday prophecies are true and the world actually does go tits up at the end of this year. You are one of the few remaining survivors in a now dead world. What skill sets do you possess that would help ensure your survival in this harsh, new reality and how would you leverage those to your advantage?

Man, at the end of the world, I have few skills at all that would be useful. I could use a firearm, I could help support people. I could fight, I guess. But I’d be more ready to sacrifice myself for the good of my family and friends than anything else. We’ll say ‘take orders’ is my best quality.　

Out of all the characters you’ve created, is there one in particular with whom you most closely identify? What is it about this character that seems to resonate with you and how did he/she come about?

I like "El Aire", El Rey del Cielo, from my upcoming "Pit Fighters" combat sports series. El Aire is everything I used to want to be in my youth: A masked Mexican luchador.

Truth is, when I graduated from college, I wanted to travel to Mexico and train in lucha libre. El Aire was to be my masked persona.

Alas, it was not to be. I blew out my knee roughhousing with some friends of mine and had to have surgery. That pretty much put me on the sidelines for a while.

When I did train very briefly, I never, ever wanted to do it again. Never in my life had my entire body hurt from head to toe from the training that I did. I was also hoping to start a family and get married, and decided to learn to wrestle for very small paydays was not worth it. So I walked.

Instead, I could live through El Aire and have all the fun I imagine a luchador might have in the world of pro-wrestling.

It’s so strange to look back at how it all played out now.　

You’re walking through a cemetery at night and an apparition appears among the labyrinth of headstones. This spirit informs you that that it has the power to grant you a single wish with no unforeseen consequences resulting from said wish. The only stipulation is that you cannot personally benefit from what you ask for. What would that wish be?

Easy. A good and happy life for my daughter.　

You’re from Texas so maybe you can give me an insider’s perspective. Why do you think so many zombie novels have the first outbreaks of an undead uprising occur in that state?

That’s a good point. JL Bourne’s "Day by Day Armageddon" and Joe McKinney’s "Dead City" are just a few that come to mind. It’s a good spot to start a story, I imagine. Lots of fun cities for mayhem. Great culturual diversity as well, so you can get different points of views.　

We’re coming down to the wire now. Are there any questions you wish I would’ve asked but didn’t? And feel free to provide the answer. That’s right. At 6 Demon Bag, we give you the opportunity to interview yourself.

Q – Why have you not given up writing? A – There’s just too many bad ass stories in my head for me to stop.

Q – Tell us about your most recent outings. A- ‘Codename: La Lechusa" is an action/adventure story featuring a single mother who is also an assassin on the side. It’s a great superhero story with a real edge to it.

"Big Cat" is an 80s inspired horror story that revolves around two friends and the conflict that erupts between them when a female friend who was attacked by the cat prompts them into hunting down the beast.

Since you got your feet wet by interviewing yourself on that last so-called question, I’m leaving the wrap up in your capable hands. While I jaunt down to the store for a pack of smokes and microwave burrito, feel free to seize control. Anything at all you want to talk about or promote is fair game; the forum is yours. Ready … GO!

You can network with me via my personal website, ZombieBloodFights.com. There you’ll find my Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube account. Check out the book trailers for all my books at the YouTube page. They are some of the best low (read: no) budget trailers you’ll see on the net.
Also, check out my Blog page for great reviews, interviews, and commentary on all things zombies, blood, and fights. You can find all these links at ZombieBloodFights.com.

Thanks for this opportunity, William!

And thank you, Bowie! It has been a true honor having this opportunity to pick your brain.