Author Interview – Sherrie Cronin

What do you consider the most challenging about writing a novel, or about writing in general? For me, it’s not giving up. I’m working on my fourth book now, and with each one I’ve hit at least one point where I had to ask why am I doing this? Shouldn’t I get some chores done instead? There isn’t a good answer to that, you know, and my house is generally a mess. But every time I consider quitting, I don’t. I think I am addicted to the adrenaline high of having my characters surprise me with unexpected twists.

Can you share a little of your current work with us? Of course. y1 is my second novel. My third book z2 will be out in paperback soon, and I am now in the process of writing the fourth novel in this collection. Each book is about a different member of the Zeitman family as he or she discovers the ability to call on extraordinary powers when needed. This fourth novel, c3, concerns the adventures of the youngest in the family, sixteen year old Teddie Zeitman.

How did you come up with the title? I let the geek in me name these books. The first book, x0, is about telepathy and the ways we are all alike and x raised to the power of zero is always one. The second book, y1, is about a real life shape shifter and meant to celebrate the ways we are all unique. Y raised to the power of one is always itself, y. I liked that, because this is a book about being yourself.

Can you tell us about your main character? Zane Zeitman is a young gay male from Texas with a genius IQ, who out of necessity learned early on to camouflage aspects of himself. He carried it further than most would or could by working with small muscle groups to alter his own appearance. Behind the cynical exterior that he uses to keep the jerks of the world at bay, he’s a very sincere and warm-hearted character. While everyone in a novel is of course an amalgamation of real people and the author’s imagination, in Zane’s case he is loosely inspired by my own son.

How did you develop your plot and characters? This is an odd project because it started out as an idea for a single novel and I tried for years to make it work as such. Finally it all started to come together when I realized that I had six interrelated books on my hands, not one. So I now have a rough outline for all six books in this collection, and as I start each new book I expand that part of the outline. Each main character is pretty well developed in my head already from trying to write this all as a single novel.