Zelly Jordan is an Australian-Croatian mum of one who discovered through pure circumstance that she could write. Had it not been for what she now calls a “blessing in disguise”, she may never have taken herself on this literary path. A believer in karma, in kindness and in the inherent goodness of people, she lives in Melbourne with her son and is just about ready to publish her second book.

What is your dream destination vacation spot?

My dream would be to travel all through Europe. I would absolutely love to see all the ancient ruins and old architecture. History has always been an interest of mine and with all the magnificent buildings and castles throughout Europe I’d be in heaven. Come to think of it, that’s the same reason I’d love to travel through east coast USA. And the U.K. And Scandinavia. The Viking long houses! Oh so much to see!

Therefore, not one favourite destination but lots!

What is your most precious time of the day?

The evening. That is when I’m at my most creative and energetic. That’s also when my characters come to talk to me, oftentimes keeping me awake at night. Mornings have never been my friend and the older I get, that’s even more true.

How much research do you do for your novels?

It varies, depending on the topic. If it involves a subject matter I know nothing about, I will often spend many hours researching the answers and even in some cases, I’ve then interviewed an expert in the field. That’s always fun, in my opinion. I actually enjoy the research involved in writing a novel because I like discovering new things and often that discovery leads to sparks of inspiration. I have a very curious mind and as anyone who knows me would say, I ask a lot of questions. (I chose to take that as a compliment.) But my motto is : “if you don’t ask, how will you know?”

Have you written any other novels in collaboration with other writers?

No, not yet. I’m curious how that would go, whether I had the capacity to collaborate with someone else. Maybe one day, I’ll get the opportunity. As a new author, all the work I’ve done so far has been in my complete control, even to the point that my first book Fractured was written with just me – no editors, no proofreaders or beta readers. I did it all because I thought that’s what all self publishers did.

To collaborate successfully, I imagine you would need to find another author whose writing style works well with your own. Someone who inspires and expands your imagination and who you can affect the same way. I’d love to know from people who’ve done this, how it worked for them.

Why do you write?

Initially I began writing as a way of coping with a stressful situation I was dealing with at the time. I found it quite cathartic and I discovered that people enjoyed what I wrote. I wrote about a show I was watching and fixed up all the errors as I perceived them. I found that I had some ability and that I enjoyed the creative process.

Now I write to develop my abilities, to continue the story I began and to challenge myself and keep me focused on positive things because that stressful situation is still in my life and I’m too stubborn to give up.

Where do the your ideas come from?

From the back of my mind at around 3am, when I should be sleeping. Honestly, it’s ridiculous how my best ideas will spring forth in my head as I lay there desperately trying to quiet my mind so I can sleep. Instead of resting, my brain goes on a meandering trail that has no rhyme or reason, pinging from one thought to another and then whoosh, I’ll get a great idea from out of nowhere – seemingly random but also seemingly dropped into my head by the Literary Angels.

Yet there are other times when I’m steadily writing and suddenly become stuck on a passage or paragraph and it’s basically as difficult and painful as a tooth extraction to get anything to spill out of my mind.

For me, there’s no real pattern to what inspires my ideas. It could be a phrase I hear, a look I see, a movie or book, a tv commercial or those Midnight Literary Angels. They come from many different places.

Maybe other authors have consistent inspirations that they turn to all the time? I’m not sure but for me, it’s very random.

Where can you see yourself in 5 years time?

Hmmm, I’d like to be a highly successful author with loads of books published. And skinny. I’d like to be skinny please.

What is your favourite quote?

I don’t have one. Should I have one?

Maybe I should look up quotes and get one?

I’m partial to : “what goes around, comes around” Mainly because I believe you get what you sow…what you put out into the world is what you’ll get back….and even if you don’t, then karma will take care of it.

Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer just see where an idea takes you?

I have a general outline of what the story will be about – the characters and the basic start and finish and important points in between – that will be worked out first – a sort of A – Z.

Then I’ll just sit and write and see where it takes me as I travel from point to point within the story itself.

What is the easiest thing about writing?

Nothing. Who told you that writing was easy? Whoever it was, they lied. Writing is like pouring your heart, your blood, sweat and tears onto a page and then handing it to the whole world to critique and stare at and judge. It’s like saying: ” here’s my delicate ego, trample on it if you must.”

That’s something that people who don’t write make the mistake of thinking – that’s it’s easy. It’s definitely not.

It’s work, it’s persistence, it’s discipline, it’s all that and more.

But it’s all so rewarding in the end.

Do you ever get writer’s Block?

Yes. It’s awful. It’s frustrating as hell and it sends you down a path of self doubt that you have to fight to the death to recover from.

Or is that just me?

Find Zelly Jordan here:

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Find her books here:

https://amzn.to/2wqkJqi

https://www.xlibris.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-001120306