EJ: What was high school like? Were you in drama, journalism, or yearbook? Or something else?
ZD: I was in a lot of clubs! Honor Society, French club, Spanish club, math club, band, Junior Council on World Affairs, Peer Listeners, Prom planning committee . . . and probably some others I’m not thinking of. What can I say? I have always been and will always be a geek.
EJ: Me too, but we didn't have that many clubs we could join. Sounds like you had fun in high school. So when you went to college, what was your major?
ZD: My undergrad degree is in Anthropology. That lent itself well to becoming a sci-fi/fantasy writer because it gave me a great deal of insight into cultural evolution, cultural relativity, and what stressors shape people as a whole.
EJ: Do your children know what you write? How do they feel about it?
ZD: They haven’t read my work but they want to. I told them in a few more years. Too many adult themes for tender young ones. But I gave them each a bookmark with my book cover and they take very good care of them. They do tend to forget that I have a “real job,” though.
EJ: Where do you get your inspiration?
ZD: Everywhere. Movies, music, people-watching, tv shows, other books I read, experiences I’ve had. Anything and everything can be that spark that ignites a creative furor.
EJ: I struggle with making time for my writing. How do you find the time?
ZD: Sometimes I don’t. But when the kids are at school, it’s “go” time. Evenings can be useful too, though my husband often has dibs on that time. He sometimes likes to actually talk to me when kids aren’t vying for our attention.
EJ: Before we chat about your current project, let's show the readers at home a little about your book.
An earth-like world of high-tech humans faces the reality that their world is not as safe as they thought it was. Five people are thrown together to quietly get to the bottom of an unfathomable event that must stay quiet. If the population of Terath becomes aware of the truth, it will spark a civil war. That war would pit the majority of the population against the powerful minority with the ability to harness and manipulate mana. The resulting cataclysm would decimate the population and tear apart the foundation of society.
The five people chosen for this must reconsider everything they thought they knew about mana, even as they learn to trust one another’s abilities. They must embrace everything they never wanted in order to prevent the devastation of their world. One of them will be forever changed. Love will be denied, badassery will be unleashed, and Terath will never be the same.
Even success comes at a price.
EJ: WOW! That's a great blurb. Very well written. So what are you working on right now? Give us the first paragraph of your current WIP.
ZD: Yikes. Okay. This is Book 3 in my Guardians of Terath series, and I can’t promise it won’t change a bit because I have a lot of work to do yet. But here goes:
ZD: Sometimes I don’t. But when the kids are at school, it’s “go” time. Evenings can be useful too, though my husband often has dibs on that time. He sometimes likes to actually talk to me when kids aren’t vying for our attention.
EJ: Before we chat about your current project, let's show the readers at home a little about your book.
An earth-like world of high-tech humans faces the reality that their world is not as safe as they thought it was. Five people are thrown together to quietly get to the bottom of an unfathomable event that must stay quiet. If the population of Terath becomes aware of the truth, it will spark a civil war. That war would pit the majority of the population against the powerful minority with the ability to harness and manipulate mana. The resulting cataclysm would decimate the population and tear apart the foundation of society.
The five people chosen for this must reconsider everything they thought they knew about mana, even as they learn to trust one another’s abilities. They must embrace everything they never wanted in order to prevent the devastation of their world. One of them will be forever changed. Love will be denied, badassery will be unleashed, and Terath will never be the same.
Even success comes at a price.
EJ: WOW! That's a great blurb. Very well written. So what are you working on right now? Give us the first paragraph of your current WIP.
ZD: Yikes. Okay. This is Book 3 in my Guardians of Terath series, and I can’t promise it won’t change a bit because I have a lot of work to do yet. But here goes:
A man sees the woman he loves standing in the wedding arbor. He thinks about a long and happy life with her. Then he offers his hand to the bride beside him. Arc was pretty sure there was a joke in there about a guy marrying the wrong woman, but he had no further time to consider.
That’s right. There’s a wedding coming up, but you’ll never get me to say who is marrying whom.
EJ: You evil woman! Not even a small spoiler? Fine. I guess I'll have to torture you with my rapid fire questions next. See if you can keep up with me.
Twitter: @ZenDiPietro
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/zendipietro/
https://www.facebook.com/ZenDiPietroauthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24973127-guardians-of-terath?from_search=true
Amazon http://amzn.com/B00UMA9X5Q
EJ: It was really fun getting to know more about you, Zen. Please do come back again and tell us when your next book hits Amazon. See you next time!
Thanks for tuning in today. What's up next for me? I'm taking next week off from the blog so I can tackle those final revisions for Assassin P.I. Can't promise I'll get everything on my to-do editing list checked off, but the only way I'll know is if I duct tape myself to my seat and remove all the batteries from the TV remotes. If all goes well, I should return the following week with another Romance Weekly Blog Hop, a new author to chat with, and a quick recap of my time at the California Dreamin' Writers Conference. See you soon!
EJ: You evil woman! Not even a small spoiler? Fine. I guess I'll have to torture you with my rapid fire questions next. See if you can keep up with me.
Rapid Fire Questions
Salty or Sweet? Sweet
Coffee or Tea? Hot coffee, iced tea
Coke or Pepsi? Neither
Chocolate or Vanilla? Depends on the type of dessert.
Cat or Dog? Cat
Extrovert or Introvert? Way introvert
MEET THE AUTHOR
Zen DiPietro is a lifelong bookworm, a
fantasy/sci-fi writer, a dancer, and a mom of two. Also red-haired,
left-handed, and a vegetarian geek. Absolutely terrible at conforming.
Particular loves include badass heroines, Star Trek, British accents, baba
ganoush, and the smell of Band-Aids. Writing reviews, author interviews, and
fun stuff at www.womenofbadassery.com.
Very active on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
CONNECT WITH ZEN DIPIETRO
Website: http://www.womenofbadassery.comTwitter: @ZenDiPietro
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/zendipietro/
https://www.facebook.com/ZenDiPietroauthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24973127-guardians-of-terath?from_search=true
Amazon http://amzn.com/B00UMA9X5Q
EJ: It was really fun getting to know more about you, Zen. Please do come back again and tell us when your next book hits Amazon. See you next time!
Thanks for tuning in today. What's up next for me? I'm taking next week off from the blog so I can tackle those final revisions for Assassin P.I. Can't promise I'll get everything on my to-do editing list checked off, but the only way I'll know is if I duct tape myself to my seat and remove all the batteries from the TV remotes. If all goes well, I should return the following week with another Romance Weekly Blog Hop, a new author to chat with, and a quick recap of my time at the California Dreamin' Writers Conference. See you soon!