I want to welcome Zanna Mackenzie. First I’d love
you to introduce yourself.
I live in the UK on the Derbyshire/Leicestershire border
with my husband, 4 dogs, a vegetable patch that’s home to far too many weeds
and an ever expanding library of books waiting to be read.
Being a freelance writer and editor of business publications
is my ‘day job’ but, at every opportunity, I can be found scribbling down notes
on scenes for whatever novel I’m working on. I love it when the characters in
my novels take on minds of their own and start deviating from the original
plot!
It’s my third novel and it’s called If You Only Knew. It’s based in a village in the Peak District
National Park in an area which is an extreme sports mecca – climbing,
abseiling, white water rafting etc. Faith runs the trendy coffee shop in the
village, catering for all the tourists which visit the area. She’s weary of
getting involved in another relationship after problems in the past, including
getting her heart broken. Zane arrives in the area as one of the new owners of
the Carrdale Extreme Sports Centre. He’s not looking to get involved either thanks
to a complicated past and a commitment to focus on making Carrdale one of the
best activity centers in the UK but he still finds himself drawn to spending
time with Faith. By the time Zane’s business partner Matt arrives a few weeks
later –from Austria where he’s been trying to sort his life out – Zane and
Faith have put aside their various fears and concerns and have started dating.
As soon as Zane introduces Matt to Faith it’s clear something is wrong…. Matt
just happens to be the guy who broke Faith’s heart years ago!
The book explores how Matt and Faith’s past could destroy
Zane and Faith’s relationship.
With Matt out to cause trouble and Zane keeping secrets
Faith’s life is about to get very complicated indeed…
Now I have a few questions for you – I have found readers do
like to know fun things about us writers.
1.) Who is your favorite villain – it can be
from a book (even one of yours), movie or TV show. And why?
I’d say the character Jason Bourne from the
Bourne films. In a way he’s a villain - a trained assassin - but his story and
his past portray him, amazingly, in such a way that you have sympathy for him
and even find yourself rooting for a happy ever after for him.
2.) Who is your favorite character out of your books? Why?
I’d choose Zane from my latest novel If You Only Knew. I
should probably confess that when I was writing the book I developed something
of a crush on him! He’s outdoorsy, strong and determined but he’s not an
arrogant domineering alpha male – far from it. He’s been badly hurt in the past
by various people and is scared of falling in love and being vulnerable again.
When things get complicated with his new girlfriend Faith he tries his hardest
to overcome his fears, do the right thing and make it all work but it isn’t
easy and there’s a lot of hurt and confusion for all concerned, which is when he
begins to think it might be for the best if he just walks away... I think he’s
a total sweetheart and have a special fondness for him.
3.) What genre do you write? What made you pick that one?
I write across a couple of genres at the moment. My first
novel The Love Programme is a contemporary romance. My second book How Do you
Spell Love? is more chick lit with a magical element to it. My latest book If
You Only Knew is romantic comedy / chick lit! I’m also writing a series of
comedy romantic mystery novellas at the moment. The idea for a plot just pops
into my head and then builds into a book, no matter what the genre! I guess I just love writing and telling these
stories.
4.)What are you working on now?
Several things. I can be a bit of an impatient person and
tend to have several projects on the go at once. I have two full length novels with
the first draft of the manuscript written but waiting for my editing process to
start. One is a romantic comedy with a mystery element and the other is more
chick lit. I’m also working on book 2 of my comedy romantic mystery series of
novellas. I’m also working on a non-fiction book. Phew!
5.) What got you to start writing?
I’ve always wanted to write. In school I wanted to be a
journalist but thought I wasn’t outgoing enough for that job so ended up
working in travel. Eventually I got into writing tourism publications and that
resurrected by love of writing. I started a distance learning comprehensive
writing course and then tried my hand at short stories, non-fiction and
eventually novels.
6.) Where do you get your ideas from?
Anywhere and everywhere! Bits of dialogue in a TV programme
or movie, snippets of real life conversation, magazines and newspapers – all
sorts. Sometimes they appear out of
nowhere – just popping into my head whilst I’m making dinner or walking the
dogs.
7.) What would people who read your work be surprised to find out about you?
Ooooh, tricky one. Perhaps …that I’m a bit of a tomboy in
some ways? Maybe this does come across if you read my novels though– I’m not
sure! The lead female characters in my books are often a bit outdoorsy like
myself! I feel most at home out in the garden in scruffy clothes and wellington
boots tending to the vegetable patch, or out in the countryside walking the
dogs with my husband. Some of my
characters share a few of these traits with me - Summer in How Do You Spell
Love? has her own allotment and grows all her own fruit and vegetables, and
Faith in If You Only Knew is a keen countryside rambler when she gets time away
from running her coffee shop.
8.) Do you have any special talents?
No, I don’t think I do! My parents say I’ve inherited ‘green fingers’ from my grandfathers on both sides of the family if that counts!
9.) What was the one piece of advice you received when you
were an aspiring author that has stuck with you? Why?
To write books you would want to read yourself and to enjoy
the writing process.
10.) If you could talk to any famous figure (present, past
or fictional) who would it be and what would you talk about?
I’d probably choose somebody like Jane Austen. I love her
books and have watched the TV and movie adaptations of them too. I think it
would be fascinating to be able to talk about books and writing with her - plus it
seems like she was quite a fun person too!
11.) What song would you say describes your life?
Something like ‘Hall of Fame’ by The Script. It’s a very
inspiring, motivational song about having faith in yourself and what you can
achieve in life. I’ve always had low confidence and poor self-esteem issues,
right through childhood and on into my adult life. My books would never have
been published if it wasn’t for my husband who nagged me to start sending them
off to publishers for consideration. I was convinced I didn’t stand a chance of
getting published but I loved to write so I kept on writing and eventually found
the nerve to send my books out to publishers.
12.) If you could come back as any animal – what would it
be?
As we have four rather spoilt Labrador dogs in our house I
would probably have to say a Labrador dog! Going on long country walks,
relaxing on the rug by the fire… can’t be bad can it?
Excerpt:
“I guess that’s the man you’ve been waiting
for.” Sophie nudged Faith, almost knocking the
fresh-from-the-oven apple pie from her hands, and pointed towards the door.
Faith chose to ignore the double meaning
behind her friend’s words. She wasn’t waiting for any man, not in the romantic
sense anyway, and certainly not a guy who reminded her of Aaron. Her café,
which she had created from scratch six years ago, was hosting the meeting of
the local Tourism Association. And the guy currently making his way towards her
was Zane Ferguson, one half of the new ownership team of the Carrdale Outdoor
Activity & Extreme Sports Centre. She’d reluctantly phoned him a few days
ago when he’d arrived in the UK and invited him to the meeting to give everyone
an update on the Centre.
“Faith, right?” he said, extending his hand
and hopping onto one of the stools in front of the café’s counter. The hand was
firm, slightly rough to the touch and warm. It was strangely comforting. “I’m
Zane. Good to get to put a face to your name at last.”
Faith nodded, even though she was anything
but pleased to put a face to the name of Zane Ferguson. What kind of a name was
Zane anyway? It sounded all-American, as though he should be something like a
baseball player, a superhero, or a cowboy – certainly not an English extreme
sports instructor. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Sophie giving
Zane the once-over. Sophie knew all about Aaron, knew every detail of what had
happened…
------------------
If You Only Knew
Special offer – The ebook of If You Only Knew is on sale for 99p/99c/99c+tax between 20-27 June.
*Amazon UK
*Amazon USA
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Links:
Find out more about Zanna at:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZannaMacKenzie
Facebook: www.facebook.com/zanna.mackenzie
Amazon Author Page - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zanna-Mackenzie/e/B00BKY1A18/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
I cant imagine living in the Uk. It sounds very primative. It was a great excerpt though. Good luck with sale.
ReplyDeletegreat job Barb and Zanna. Thanks to both!
ReplyDelete