Author Interview - Zrinka Jelic

Today, I'm excited to have an author interview on my blog with Zrinka Jelic, a writer of a variety of romance genres from historical to time travel. She's answered some of my questions about writing and her latest book, Love Remains.

1. What is the best thing for you about being a writer?
To write, to let my fingers fly over the keyboard and let the story come out on the page. I do like to edit as well. It gives me the chance to go over that first draft and flesh out the scenes, the characters. Each time I edit, the story and its characters come more alive and jump off the page.

2. What is the hardest thing for you about being a writer?
It’s hard to keep the story interesting and with each chapter, to keep it turning up instead of down. That is why it’s important to map the story out before starting. Not necessarily plot it out in every detail, but just to get the main points down. If stuck, I take a break from it. I know that the direction of where to take it next will spring before me and when it does, then I move on. There’s nothing worse than trying to force the story out. I need to wait until the ideas pop in my head. So far it hasn’t disappointed.

3. What genre/s do you write and what genre is your latest release?
I write romances and within that, there are many subgenres. My debut novel, Bonded by Crimson, is a paranormal romance. My second novel, Treasured Chest, is a historical romance, and my newest release, Love Remains, is a time travel romance, but with a different twist. In time travels, the hero/heroine usually travel back in time, but in Love Remains my heroine goes forward where she is shown the way her life would be if she gave the love a fair chance. Would she learn her lesson and sacrifice her promising career for family when she is returned to her time?

4. What essential things have you learned about writing in the last year?
Writing requires lots of research and it could be distracting once you set on the journey to research one topic only to end up someplace you never intended to go. But that’s the internet, I suppose.

5. Who is your favourite heroine from your books and why?
It would be hard to single out one of them and not mention the others. I like Kate in Bonded by Crimson for her determination. Sirena (Carmen) in Treasured Chest is a bad ass pirate, got to love her. And Olivia in Love Remains is a hard cookie, corporate ladder climber, but with her back firmly pressed against the wall, she can adapt to any situation, even changing diapers.

6. What type of hero do you like? Super alpha, wounded or somewhere in between? Or even something totally different? You could give an example from a movie or well-known book.
I’d say a combination of both, but I do try to make them to be totally different. I mean, super alpha is nice and wounded soul is all right, but there are so many books out there with characters like these. I want to give it a fresh voice. Matthias in Bonded by Crimson is not entirely immortal and not a vampire, but after he struggled to figure out what he is and where he fits, he just learned to accept it and move on. Captain Marko in Treasured Chest is legendary for his seduction skills, but he dreams of a woman who’d put his skills to the test and he finds her — in a pirate. Tom in Love Remains is just a typical fatherly man, he cooks and cleans, and is amazing in bed.

7. Tell us about your journey in writing your book.

The inspiration came after I’d been laid off jobs solely due to the fact that I had to stay home with my sick children, and I was not offered the position, nor the extension of the contract after I informed my employer that I was having a baby. I understand the struggle between having to stay at home with young children and going to work to earn that pay check. Often there’s no choice and the stress of leaving your child with a stranger(s) is stomach wrenching. But the employers make things even more difficult by scrutinizing you for taking a day off here and there to deal with a sick child.

Love Remains
Olivia Owen, a busy, single, high-functioning, corporate executive officer, is not afraid to die a spinster for the sake of her career. But in an alternate reality world, bridged by the angel of her sister with Down syndrome, she meets Tom Medar, a dedicated, Croatian defense attorney who dreams of the right woman, but never has time to find her. Together, they foil an adulterous murder plot while discovering there’s room for love and family in their busy lives - but not before they are separated again.

When they awaken from their alternate world, will they be able to cross countries to find each other again?

You can buy Love Remains at Amazon, Amazon UK and Crimson Romance from the 15th July.