Scots, Celts, and Headless Chickens with Zora Marie

Posted on May 8, 2019

There is so much more to writing than putting words on paper. It’s also about meeting new people and forging connections. I have met so many talented artists and wordsmiths over the years, all of whom have unique and interesting lives. And so, I thought it would be fun to delve a little deeper into their creative worlds. Let’s meet another, shall we?

If you didn’t write, what would you do for work?

Well, at the moment writing isn’t my main source of income, though I would be living the dream if I ever get to that point. That said, I am a graphic designer with a passion for publication design and branding.

Does your family support your career as a writer?

Well, they don’t hate me for it, but they more or less think of it as a waste of time. I will say that sense they figured out that writing makes me happy, they have been slightly more supportive.

What does your typical day look like?

Depends on what projects I have going on. When college and my part-time jobs don’t have me running around like a headless chicken I like to spend early morning and a bit of the evening writing.

Have you thought about joining with another author to write a book?

Yes, but I am waiting until I am done with my college degree to seek that path out as I know I cannot truly commit myself at the moment.

Do you write listening to music? If so, what music inspired or accompanied this current book?

I do. For the Zelia series, I listen to mainly Celtic music. For the book I am writing at the moment, The Last Swayers, I mainly listen to Scottish music with a bit of Celtic mixed in.

Are you a plotter or a pantster?

I’m somewhere in the middle as I tend to write a loose outline and sometimes the characters toss a chunk of it out the window.

What is your favorite social media site and why?

Facebook and Instagram are my favorites, Facebook for the sense of community and Instagram for its reach with images.

Why did you choose to write in your particular field or genre?

I am a fantasy writer by nature, in part because that is what I love to read. There is something liberating in being able to make your own rules and that’s something I needed in my life when I started writing. That said, I may branch out in the future and if I do the underlying themes in my book about physical and emotional struggles will certainly follow me.

What does success mean to you? What is the definition of success?

Success means a lot of things for me, but anymore I just want to find some sort of peace and be happy with my life. Though if you only mean in terms of writing, I want people to love and appreciate my work. It would also be nice to sell enough to break even and possibly invest in the next book.

If you had to go back and do it all over, is there any aspect of your novel or getting it published that you would change?

Well, I’ve had rather crappy luck with editors so I suppose I would change that… though I don’t know if that would have changed much as I’m still not 100% set on an editor.

What do you owe the real people your characters are based off of?

Uh, well that’s a complicated one sense one of the main characters is based off of myself or rather the part of me that developed through some tough times in my past. In turn, one of the antagonists is based off of someone that a friend of ours would say deserves a bullet and I’m inclined to agree…

Learn more at ZoraMarie.com