Katie Zaber knows the best way to decide who is cooking dinner is with a Nerf gun fight in the living room. Her boyfriend is an exceptional cook. When she isn’t baking, reading, or going to wine tastings, she’s busy planning her next trip to Six Flags Great Adventure or Long Beach Island, New Jersey. As a child, her parents would read stories about Atlantis and other fictional places that she dreamed of exploring, fueling her love of history, adventure, and fantasy. These days, she finds herself captivated by her many projects and enjoys quiet nights at home.
1. Tell us a bit about yourself! Where do you call home and what do you write?
I live in North New Jersey where I am an hour away from everything I love. Going to the beach, spending the day in New York City, and enjoying nature in the mountains—I love it here. I have two series out. An epic fantasy series called Dalya and a paranormal romance series called DNA Demons N Angels.
2. What drew you to that particular genre?
I love anything that isn’t normal. Anything that isn’t fantasy, sci-fi, or paranormal is too mundane for me. I need something to take me away from this world and the problems we have, which is also what I write. I write on the edgier side and not for children or young teens. Mostly I write for women in their mid-twenties and thirties.
3. What’s your best known work?
I just released DNA Demons N Angels, a paranormal romance on Septemer 5th. It’s about a woman named Evie who mysteriously becomes pregnant and her husband, who she loves, isn’t the father. The book follows Evie on her pregnancy journey, starting at five weeks and ending at birth. During that time, she realizes her pregnancy isn’t normal, that her symptoms aren’t what other expecting mothers have.
You can download the first five chapters for free here.
My other series, Dalya, is about a group of friends who go on a hike and end up in another world. While trying to survive this new world, Megan learns she might be connected to Dalya in ways she never imagined.
Both are series and I plan to have at least six books, if not more, in the Dalya series and three in the DNA Demons N Angels series.
4. What inspired you to write them?
A recurring nightmare inspired DNA Demons. It’s weird, I know. But I kept having a dream that out of the blue I was pregnant and that it was a demon. One day, I played around with the idea of what it would be like to be the mother of something different. The story grew from there.
5. Tell us about your writing process. Are you a plotter, panster or somewhere in between? How do you research?
Both. I have planned out every book in the Dalya series to a degree. I’ve even written a few scenes that I know will be in the third and fourth book. Also, I know how I want the last scene in the last book. I’ve envisioned it since I finished the first book. However, I also don’t have more than a simple outline of major events when I write. So I have a lot of blanks to fill in as I’m going.
With DNA, I needed new information for every chapter. Every chapter is a week in Evie’s pregnancy. So I had to make sure all the changes were accurate and that all the medical procedures were correct. I watched endless videos. I really wanted to write the book and sound like I have been pregnant, even though I have no children. So that was a challenge. Thankfully, my best friend was pregnant when I was writing, so she helped me with all the personal experiences.
6. What’s the strangest or most interesting thing you’ve researched for your writing?
One of my characters makes a comment about how they don’t want to be worm food when they die. Which made me wonder about decomposition… I honestly wish I didn’t go down that rabbit hole.
7. Who are your literary influences? In what way?
There are a few authors. I’d say Margaret Atwood, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Chuck Palahniuk are some of the biggest influencers. I love Margaret Atwood’s writing style, Tolkien’s story building is inspiring, and well, I’d like to think that some of the nonsense and craziness is contributed from Chuck Palahniuk’s books. However, I’d like to think I’ve absorbed a little bit from every book I’ve read.
8. What books are on your bedside table right now?
I just finished beta reading an epic fantasy, The Curse of Broken Shadows by Laura Winter. I’m about to read a fae fantasy, Vale Born by Lorin Petrazilka. After that I have The Weary Traveler by A.K. Caggiano, then I’m going to enjoy Blood Drawn by one of my favorite authors, John Conroe.
9. Last and most important, where can we find your books/stories?
You can find all of my books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Katie-Zaber/e/B087YXPDF2
DNA Demons N Angels series
Dalya series
Thank you for having me!
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