Welcome back to the blog! Pull up a seat and get comfortable because today we have an exciting author to talk to. If you’ve never heard of Scott M Baker, you’re about to!
Me: Tell us a little about yourself. Are you married? Do you have any children?
Scott: I’m a native Bostonian, born and raised in its suburbs. I spent twenty-three years working for the CIA, spending seventeen years in northern Virginia and six in Okinawa and South Korea. I now live in southern New Hampshire with my two cats (Archer and Michonne) and Fred, my Beagle-Bassett mix, who is the biggest distraction to my writing. I teach full-time at a public charter school in Manchester, New Hampshire. I’ve been married twice and divorced twice, which explains my fascination with horror. My only child is my stepdaughter, who loves me more than her biological father.
Me: I can relate to that. Of my seven kids, my ‘step’ son looks the most like me. I should have adopted that kid when he was little.
Scott: I’ve been interested in writing since I was a kid, but I only started doing it professionally in 1989. Back then, I wrote techno-thrillers. My first book sucked so bad that I’ve never allowed anyone to read it. The second was much better but never got published. My third thriller, about North Korea acquiring nuclear weapons and threatening to use them against the United States, was sitting with a big publisher in New York who was drafting a contract when 9/11 occurred. The market for techno-thrillers dried up overnight.
Me: Yeah, I can definitely see that happening. Talk about bad timing. Still, would you be the writer you are today, specifically, the genres you work in, if that hadn’t happened?
Scott: After the Gulf War was over, I wanted to get back to writing, but did not know in what genre. A friend and I went to see Van Helsing with Hugh Jackson. Afterwards, she asked what I thought about the movie. I replied that it was fun, but I could write better than that. She smiled and asked, “Why don’t you?” Six years later, my first novel – The Vampire Hunters – was published, and I have not stopped writing since then.
Me: Isn’t it crazy what can trip that trigger to start things rolling? What do you do for relaxation?
Scott: What is this strange word of which you speak? I’m a writer and a teacher. Relaxation is a rarity. When I do get a few minutes to myself, I enjoy reading, watching bad horror movies (I live on Tubi), and spending time with friends. When I do finally take extended relaxation time for myself (usually when I get writer’s block), I play video games, which lasts until I get into a boss fight I can’t win, then I say screw it and go back to writing. I’m addicted to the Fallout and Metro franchise.
Me: Okay, I can relate. For me it’s Rainbow Six. Who is your favorite author(s) (and is there a reason why)?
Scott: Topping the list is Graham Masterton. When I was a kid, my mother let me read horror, not caring about the genre as long as I was reading. I started with the classics (Shelley, Poe, Wells, Stoker). When I was ten, my mother bought me The Manitou for Christmas. I stayed up all night reading that book and have been hooked on modern horror ever since.
There are so many other great writers I love. Ed Lee, whose books are over-the-top gore (his Infernal series about hell is brilliant). Robert Lumley’s Necroscope saga, which features the most unique vampires. World War Z by Max Brooks, one of the most brilliant and innovative zombie novels I’ve ever read. Also within the zombie realm are Camille Picott’s Zommunist Invasion series (Red Dawn meets Night of the Living Dead), Allen Gamboa’s Dead Island series (zombies with an 80s action movie flair), and Jeff Thomson’s Guardians of the Apocalypse, which has the Coast Guard battling zombies that have taken over Oahu (it’s zombie killing porn).
Me: There are some authors in that list that I haven’t heard of. I’m so glad that Google is my friend! Are there similarities between you and any of the above-mentioned authors?
Scott: Just that we all love writing and enjoy putting different spins on the genre to keep it alive. Allen, Jeff, and I have twisted minds that make drafting bizarre plots so much easier.
Me: And it’s that twisted sense of humor that I think readers love. Why do you write?
Scott: Because I love it. Writing is a major part of my life. No matter how bad my day is (and as a teacher, I have really bad days), an hour in front of my laptop living in a make-believe world sets me right.
Me: Escapism. I get it. I really do. So, what is a typical working day like for you?
Scott: During the school year, I wake up, drag myself to work, try not to murder sixth- and seventh-graders, drive home, reevaluate my decision to teach, then go to bed and dream of becoming a best-selling writer so I can quit.
Me: Yeah, I’m nearly thirteen years into trying to be an overnight success, so I feel you on that one.
Scott: On those days I’m not a teacher, I spend the late morning and early afternoon writing. After dinner, I work on updating my social media and marketing.
Me: I hate that part. I really thought that the hardest part would be writing the book. Pft…boy was I wrong. So, when and where do you write?
Scott: I prefer to write outside. I love the fresh air and, where I live, the neighborhood is full of critters. There are no distractions, so I actually get work done. I bring with me a black iced coffee (as I tell the kids at school, I like my coffee as I like my soul – cold and dark) and two cigars. I write until the cigars are burned out, an average of a thousand words in one sitting. On those days when it’s too wet or cold to be outside, I usually go to the local cigar bar.
Me: Okay. That sounds peaceful. What kind of research do you do for your books?
Scott: A lot. In my latest post-apocalyptic book, A World Gone Dark, I conducted extensive research on EMPs and solar flares, prepper techniques for staying alive, and how to handle a nuclear reactor meltdown. Getting things accurate is vital. I could publish the most extraordinary novel ever written, but if I miscount the number of rounds in a weapon or get a geographic location wrong, I lose my readers.
Me: I know what you mean. I hate reading books where the author didn’t even bother to look at the difference in a revolver and an automatic. Their character ‘throws a new clip’ into his revolver and…yeah. I’m done. How do you conceive your plot ideas? Any tricks I should know about or could steal from you?
Scott: With an overactive and twisted imagination. What makes my books stand out is that I always add an interesting yet believable twist to my plots. In The Vampire Hunters, I make the masters major characters with back stories and histories so they’re not merely monsters. My first zombie series, the Rotter World saga, follows humans and vampires as they overcome their hatred to survive the zombie apocalypse. I’m a World War II history buff, and my second wife made me watch every episode of Ancient Aliens, which prompted me to create Operation Majestic, which has the tagline Raiders of the Lost Ark meets Back to the Future – with aliens. Sometimes I get my ideas from others. When my stepdaughter was fourteen, she responded to every dad joke with an eyeroll, saying, “This is why we can’t have nice things.” A few years later, I wrote This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things During the Zombie Apocalypse, a story about a living-dead outbreak told from a teenager’s perspective.
Me: Again, isn’t it crazy where our inspiration can come from? I got the idea for Sinful at a softball game because a high school boy sitting next to me couldn’t stop staring at a girl’s butt. I’m not going to elaborate. So, when naming your characters, do you give any thought to the actual meaning?
Scott: Only on a few occasions. Most of the time, I give my main characters names that fit their profile. My secondary characters are loosely based on people I know. For example, the prepper community one of my MCs stumbles upon in my latest novel is loosely based on my colleagues at school. All the animals in my books are based on my pets or those of my family and friends, which is one reason they seem so realistic.
Me: I base many of my characters on people I know. It’s just easier to give them all a unique voice. So, what are the major themes of your work? How long on average does it take you to write a book?
Scott: Except for The Deadliest Breed of Assassins, my only published techno-thriller, all my books fall into the horror or Sci-Fi genres. I’ve written three zombie series and one paranormal series, plus other stuff in the horror genre.
When I’m able to write full-time, it usually takes me three months to draft a book and another three to edit the manuscript and get it published.
Me: As a writer, you can most surely weave an internal struggle into your storyline, and the reader may not realize it until the end. That’s when your audience has that sudden realization: Oh yeah, I didn’t see that coming. Do you know what I mean? Is that something you do often? Is that a writing style you prefer? Or are your stories an “open book” so to speak?
Scott: My novels are all “open books.” I weave personal struggles and growth into the plot so that when the characters make life-or-death decisions, the reader is on the edge of their seat, wondering what will happen next. I hate books where, at the last minute, you find out the main character is “the chosen one.” That’s poor writing. I also throw in plot twists, but most of the time I foreshadow them so the reader can say, “I should have seen that coming.”
Me: And I don’t think readers truly understand just how hard that is to do. To successfully pull that off, you have to always be thinking of how and where you can drop those little hints for the big reveal to make sense. Who are your target readers?
Scott: Most of the readers for my zombie and paranormal novels are single women aged twenty-five to forty-five. That’s why Nurse Alissa vs. the Zombies and the Tatyana paranormal series are my most popular books because the main characters appeal to that audience.
Me: What do you think readers search for in a book?
Scott: Readers love characters they can relate to. One of the reasons A World Gone Dark is so popular is that I show how ordinary people will cope with a solar flare that wipes out all electronics worldwide.
Me: And I thought seriously of tapping into that very same idea. How do people get their insulin if there’s no power? The struggle to find clean water, safe food, etc. What is your favorite part of a book?
Scott: The action scenes. I hate books where you read through two hundred pages and the climax is only three pages long. When I write my books, I want to fill them with so much action that the readers can’t put them down. However, the hardest part is coming up with action sequences that are realistic yet more action-packed than the books that came before, and that feature unique zombie kills.
Me: It can’t be easy to always try to top the previous fight scene. Eventually you feel like you’ve written yourself into a corner (at least, that’s what it’s like for me). What is the hardest part of writing for you?
Scott: Editing. I know it’s an integral part of being a writer. What frustrates me is that I have two Beta readers pick apart my manuscript, edit it two or three times, and run spell-check and grammar-check. Yet, after it’s published, I still find spelling and grammatical errors.
Me: Oh man, I know what you mean. I’ve got a pretty savvy editor, and she’s really good at what she does. But even still, sometimes afterward, I’ll find some tiny little thing, and I’m left wondering how in the world it was missed. What is the best thing about being an author?
Scott: Being a storyteller. I don’t write about politics, religion, or social issues. I want to entertain my readers and help them escape reality. The best compliment I can get is when someone tells me they read the book in one sitting because they couldn’t put it down.
I also love attending conventions and chatting with horror fans, even if they don’t buy the book. I just love sharing stories about things we both love.
Me: I like that. Do you listen to music while you write?
Scott: No. I prefer no distractions.
Me: I need some kind of music in the background. White noise, if nothing else, but I prefer epic movie scores or Viking battle music. I think it helps to stir the emotions when writing an action scene. What and/or who inspires you?
Scott: Everything. Many times, I’ve turned a news story or an off-the-cuff comment into a story/novel. Years ago, I was challenged by someone to write a tentacle sex short story for an anthology he was publishing as a fundraiser for an oceanographic institute he represented. I didn’t want to write about a young Japanese girl being molested by an octopus, so I drafted a story about a sexually frustrated, middle-aged housewife who had a consensual affair with a giant starfish in the Caribbean. What broke me up was that he rejected my story, telling me I was a pervert.
Me: >bursts out laughing< I had to laugh at that. I’m sorry. People are so weird sometimes. Have you ever collaborated on a book? If so, who was the other author? How did you collaborate with that author? What writing process did you use?
Scott: I did once. The Collector, which is still available on Amazon. It was about a demon who arrives in Haddonfield, Illinois, around the time Michael Myers was born and induces people to commit violent crimes, collecting the souls of the innocents who died. Each of us wrote one chapter and passed it to the writer in the lineup. The best part was that each writer tried to outdo the previous one in terms of violence and gore. I loved that collaboration effort.
Me: That sounds like fun. So, if you wrote a book about your life, what would the title be?
Scott: I don’t think I ever would. The only part of my life that would be interesting is my time with the CIA, but most of that book would be censored by the Agency.
Me: And I wish I had known you when I was penning Bobby Bridger’s first book. It would be the little things that I’d want to pick your brain on to make the story feel more realistic. Maybe another time. So, what question have you always wanted to be asked in an interview, but never have?
Scott: Who would I want to portray me if my life were made into a movie? Chris Pratt has my sense of humor and would play me well, though he’s younger and a lot more handsome than I am.
Me: Yeah, I’d have to have John Candy play me, I think. What have you written? And what are you working on at the moment? What’s it about?
Scott: I’ve written primarily about zombies, but I’ve also created a paranormal series, a young adult series about a scientist whose experiment blows open portals between Earth and Hell and her sixteen-year-old son who goes around the world attempting to close them (the Shattered World saga), a 1950s style big monster novel (It Came From the Desert), time traveling Nazis (Operation Majestic), Allied intelligence officers battling Nazi occultism during World War II (OSS: Office of Supernatural Services), and a dystopian/post-apocalypse novel (Frozen World).
The series I’m working on now, and which I think is one of my best works, is A World Gone Dark. It’s part of the Ravaged Skies saga, in which thirteen writers represent the same event—a massive solar flare that immobilizes all electronics across the globe—from different perspectives. The books are fantastic and recently dominated last month’s Written Apocalypse Book Battle Royale. I’m making the final edits on A World Gone Dark II: Survival and hope to publish it in January 2026.
Me: Sounds like you’ve been busy! Where can we buy or see them?
Scott: All my books are available on Amazon in Kindle/Kindle Unlimited formats, as well as in print. You can find them at https://www.amazon.com/stores/Scott-M.-Baker/author/B003N4U9BK.
M: What advice would you give to your younger self?
Scott: To just hang in there and enjoy yourself. Some great things are heading your way.
Me: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Scott: Write. I know so many would-be writers who have filled notebooks with character development and world-building but never put a word of their story on paper. If you write one word a day every day for a year, you will have a full-length novel ready to publish.
Me: Is there anything that you would like to add?
Scott: I want to thank all my readers who follow me and patiently wait for my next book. I hope readers of this interview give my books a try and become fans. As long as you keep on reading my books, I’ll keep writing them.
Me: Last question, what do you consider your best accomplishment?
Scott: That’s hard to say. I’ve lived a good life. I served my country and had the opportunity to travel throughout Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. I’ve been a good stepparent and hopefully a good son. I’ve had a positive impact on several of the students at my school. And I’ve entertained thousands of people over the past sixteen years. I’ve been fortunate with what life has given me, and I hope I can continue to contribute for the next 20 or 30 years.
Thanks to everyone who read this interview. I wish you all the best in life and hope many of you will become fans of my books.
Me: And there you have it, folks. Scott M Baker. Novelist, storyteller, CIA super spy, teacher, purveyor of fine cigars, and an overall awesome guy. With the different stories this guy has shared, there has to be something in his stable that trips your trigger. I invite you all to check out his offerings and let the world know that you enjoyed his writings. Reviews, people. Leave reviews. It’s probably the single biggest make-or-break for authors.
As I close out this interview, here are the links to where you can find more about Scott. I wish we had touched more on his extensive YouTube offerings. There’s a lot there to go through.
Thanks for dropping by!
blog: http://scottmbakerauthor.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/397749347486177/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/vampire_hunters
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottmbakerwriter/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5AyCVrEAncr2E0N5XoyUdg/playlists
Heath Stallcup Author 