An Interview with Zrinka Jelic

Please help me welcome Jrinka Jelic to my blog today. Zrinka is giving away a $4 Amazon gift card to one lucky commentor, so be sure and leave her a comment.

Have you had other careers before becoming a writer?
Many, I’ve worked as a waitress, a nanny, I’ve been a day care teacher, in accounting and finance, credit and collection, cosmetic store, and found myself in writing.

Are you a full time writer or do you have a “day job”?
I’ve been a full time writer, but unfortunately had to go out and find a day job. I don’t like not having the energy at the end of the day to work on my wip, but I try to at least get as many words on the page as I can and it’s hard with my eyes closing on me.

How many books have you written? Do you have a favorite?
I have two that are published, one that is submitted to various publishers and awaiting on its fate. I’m working on the fourth one that’s planned to be a short novella, will see about that, and I have a prequel to my debut novel, “Bonded by Crimson” that I’m about five chapters in, but keep putting it on the back burner as new ideas keep disrupting me. Oh, and I must not forget my “training wheels” novel, where I learned about writing and made all of the beginner’s mistakes. I’m planning to go back to it one day and edit it.

What inspired your latest book?
It was all the ladies I encountered through the various work places. Those single ones, who devoted their lives to corporations and have nothing to show for in the end. I felt their disapproving stares on my back as I dashed out at 5 pm sharp to pick up my kids from day cares or babysitters. I wanted to convey there’s a lot more life out there than working.

Where do you get the ideas for your stories?
Just from everyday life, it does write novels. What is your favorite part of writing? Brainstorming and coming up with new twists, what if I do this or change that character to that. It’s quite interesting and challenging because it doesn’t always work out the way I imagine it.

What is your least favorite part of writing?
Writing a dreaded synopsis, it seems if there’s a limit of words I have to put in, I have nothing to say.

How does your family feel about your writing career?
I hope they’re proud of my achievement, but you know how families are, just as all people they seem to see the value of it through the money not the satisfaction of written story other enjoy.

How likely are people you meet to end up in your next book?
Very likely, not necessarily as themselves, but I may “steal” something from the person like a name, or physical appearance or a personality quirk or something that strikes me.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?
Definitely a punster. But I do try to plot or at least map out the story. I most likely never refer back to it, but at least if I put something down, not in the great detail, just to keep me on track.

How far do you plan ahead?
My next book, as soon as I write THE END of one book, I start working on my next one.

What did you want to be when you were a child? Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?
Not even close! I wanted to be many things, and although I always liked to write, I never realized that until recently. It was just easier to express my feelings and thoughts through writing. I kept journals and diaries and jotted things all the time. Writing as a career was far from my mind. But I gave it a shot and what to my surprised I’ve got published.

Having achieved your goal to be a published author, what is the most rewarding thing?
Raving reviews of course. It’s great when a reader really connects with me and understands what I wanted to relay.

BIO
Zrinka Jelic lives in Ontario, Canada, with her husband and two children. A member of the Romance Writers of America and its chapter Fantasy Futuristic &Paranormal, as well as Savvy Authors, she writes contemporary fiction—which leans toward the paranormal—and 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 that’s about the only break they get. “Alas,” Jelic says, with a grin. “Some rain must fall in everyone’s life.”