Leave a comment and you could win a copy of her book. I will pick a winner next week.
Lisa B. won a copy of His Reign by Sascha Illyvich. A copy has already been sent to her.
Now on to the interview.
Q1) Welcome to my blog, Zrinka. Can you tell us a little about yourself
One
of the most dreaded questions on job interviews. I never know what they would
want to hear, if I’m volunteering too much info, giving the wrong impression.
But I’m assuming I’m safe here, so here we go. I love to lose myself in a good
book, and I love to lose myself in writing a good book. It’s hard to find time
for both. A full time job takes most of my day, then the house chores, two kids
and if there’s a time at the end of the day, I usually dedicate it to my
writing.
Q2) You're my kind of girl. So, have you always wanted to be an author?
No,
although I love to make up stories and alternate versions of movies or books, I
never put the pen to the paper. Once actually, I wrote the story by hand, in grade seven (I think) and somehow every
girl wanted to read it.
There
are a few famous ones like C.S. Lewis, Arturo Perez Reverte, Danielle Steel
(got me into romances), and I’m still being influenced by some emerging authors
like Liv Rancourt and Sharon Kramer and Debbie Christiana.
Q4) Great authors. Tell us what a typical writing
day for you is like.
Usually a few hours at the end
of the day that I can dedicate to my craft of love. But that doesn’t mean that
I don’t plot and jot things throughout the day.
Q5) Now, let’s talk about your new book. Can you tell us a little about it?
My latest release is
titled “Deck the Halls” just like the song and it’s a Christmas novella with a
shape shifter Zach and a human girl Julie.
Here's the blurb:
It isn’t the string of crappy jobs, or people’s irrational
urge to spend their money, or even his inability to ask Julie out on a date that
Zach can’t get excited about Christmas. It is the fact that today is his last
day he gets to spend in his preferred human form.
When jealous Tia, a wicked sorceress disguised as the pack’s alpha female, tries to force his wolf out a day early, all-consuming anger sends him into a rage against her. She punishes shape shifter Zach, by changing him to a dog. He has 48 hours to save his family and trade his life for someone else’s in order to break the spell—the only problem, Julie’s cat Miss Molly knows who he is and won’t let him near her owner. But Julie’s safety is the greatest importance and he sticks by her side.
Julie can’t resist falling in love with the stray dog she rescues. She prolongs putting a found dog ad in the local newspaper just to keep him for another day. Strange thing is, the animal reminds her of Zach.
Confronted with the woman who stole the man she secretly loves, Julie discovers the truth about Zach. When his dog form proves useless against the powerful alpha werewolf, the help comes from unforeseen allies.
When jealous Tia, a wicked sorceress disguised as the pack’s alpha female, tries to force his wolf out a day early, all-consuming anger sends him into a rage against her. She punishes shape shifter Zach, by changing him to a dog. He has 48 hours to save his family and trade his life for someone else’s in order to break the spell—the only problem, Julie’s cat Miss Molly knows who he is and won’t let him near her owner. But Julie’s safety is the greatest importance and he sticks by her side.
Julie can’t resist falling in love with the stray dog she rescues. She prolongs putting a found dog ad in the local newspaper just to keep him for another day. Strange thing is, the animal reminds her of Zach.
Confronted with the woman who stole the man she secretly loves, Julie discovers the truth about Zach. When his dog form proves useless against the powerful alpha werewolf, the help comes from unforeseen allies.
Q6) How did you come up with the idea for
this story?
This
story spun in my head for some time now, but I didn’t know exactly what’s going
to come out of it until I started writing it down. Then I thought to submit it
to holiday anthology as a short story, but the word count kept going up and by
the time it was done it reached almost 22K.
Q7) Looks good. What's up next for you?
I’m
working on the prequel to “Bonded by Crimson”, titled “Rose of Crimson” For
those of you who read Bonded, I’ll delight you by taking you back to Kate’s
university days when Matthias influenced her to write his story. I know some
readers commented that it wasn’t clear on how he managed to do this, and it was
merely mentioned in Bonded, but once you read the Rose, you’ll see that I
couldn’t spill it all out in Bonded.
Q8) What is the best piece of advice you
would give to a budding writer?
If
you have a very supportive family and friends, you ‘re lucky, but don’t
completely relay on them, because a true reader will come along someone who
doesn’t know you and will post the review as it is. And you may not like it,
truth hurts, but truth doesn’t care. While your family and friends may give you
glowing reviews and praise your work, do take some writing workshops. Familiarize
yourself with guidelines such as POV, telling vs. showing, active vs. passive
voice, proper dialogue, echoing words, grammar and such. It’s very hard for
reader to wade through the script if you’re head hopping. Long paragraphs are a
hurdle to go through. And join some critique group, have someone else read your
work and be open to all critiques. Know that in the draft stages is the time to
make and correct errors. and hopefully learn from mistakes.
Q9) What is the next book on your To Read Pile
that you are dying to jump into?
“Wickedly they Come”
by Cathrina Constantine
Q10) Is there anything else you would like to
add?
Keep
writing, you can only get better at it if you stick by it.
Favorite Quiz
Favorite city: Paris, France, though I
never visited, someday soon, I hope
Favorite beverage: Jasmine tea
Favorite place you’d like to visit: I
guess that would be Paris, France
Favorite place to write: my couch
Favorite hobby: writing, but I do enjoy
crafts like knitting, if only there’s time
Favorite movie: The Wedding Singer
Favorite book: Can’t just name one, too
many to list
About Zrinka
A
member of the Romance Writers of America and its chapter Fantasy Futuristic &Paranormal,
as well as Savvy Authors, Zrinka Jelic writes contemporary fiction—which leans
toward the paranormal—and sometimes adds a pinch of history. Her characters
come from all walks of life, and although she prefers red, romance comes in
many colors. Given Jelic’s love for her native Croatia and the Adriatic Sea, her
characters usually find themselves dealing with a fair amount of sunshine, but
when it rains, it pours.
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