Tell about yourself, family, pets, favorite foods, hobbies, where you grew up, etc., and 1-3 things about yourself that have nothing to do with writing.
Hello Bonnie! Thank you for having me as your
guest. It is an honor to be here. My name is Penny Zeller and I am a wife, a
mom of two, a Christian romance author, group fitness instructor, blogger, and
volunteer. My hobbies include spending time with my family and camping, hiking,
canoeing, biking, reading, running, gardening, and playing volleyball. Favorite
foods…I am generally a health freak, but I do have a fondness for pizza and
Mexican food on occasion. I grew up in a small town with my parents and
siblings. I was blessed to have my grandparents and numerous cousins within
walking distance. Two things about me that have nothing to do with writing
would be that I dedicated my life to Jesus at a church camp at the age of
16 and rededicated my life to him at the age of 27. And I am a flower fanatic
and am known for rescuing orphan plants at our local store and bringing them
home to rehab them.
What genre(s) do you write?
I write Christian romance mainly historical, but also contemporary.
Are you Indy, traditionally published, or both?
I am both a traditionally and indie published author.
Do you read outside of your genre? If so, what other genres do you like to read?
Yes. I love Christian romantic
suspense as well as Christian historical and contemporary.
Did the first book you wrote get published? How long were you writing before you were published?
Before
I wrote fiction, I wrote two nonfiction books for two different publishers and
a children’s book. My first fiction book I’ve written is waiting patiently for
me to someday go back and read and edit and, I’m sure, completely redo it! It’s
pretty rough. Once I started writing, I was published fairly quickly when God
opened the door for the publication of the first book in my Montana Skies
Series, McKenzie.
When you are writing, do you like complete silence, or do you like to listen to music? If so, what kind of music do you like? What are your favorite writing snacks?
I actually
like complete silence when I’m writing, but I love to listen to Christian music
the rest of the time. I find that if I have the music on while I’m writing, I
tend to start singing along and am unable to focus on creating scenes. 😊
Which do you prefer, writing or editing? Why?
That is a super easy question to answer! I love
writing, I strongly dislike editing. I love the creation of characters,
settings, and plots. Editing is my least favorite writerly task because it’s
tedious and I’m always concerned I will miss something.
How long have you wanted to be a writer?
At
seven-years-old, I was bitten by the writing bug, and began penning stories
about a dog’s adventures. For a writing assignment, I wrote my own second grade
Bible story commentary of sorts for “kids.” In fourth grade, I “published” my
fictional stories in homemade wallpaper-covered cardboard books. A poem
published in a national magazine and a Young Author’s Award sealed the deal,
and thus began my dream of becoming an author.
How many books have you written, and which is your favorite?
I have lost count of how many I
have written, but I have had 17 of my books published. As for a favorite…I
don’t have an absolute favorite, but I do have favorites for different reasons.
For instance, McKenzie is my favorite because I wrote it during a
particularly rough time in my life after a car accident and God took something
difficult and turned it into good. Love in Disguise is my favorite
because I loved creating Emilie’s spunky character; Forgotten Memories is
my favorite because it was the book God used to relaunch my career; and Love
in the Headlines is my favorite because it’s just super fun and was such a
joy to write.
If you could be mentored by a famous author, who would it be?
I would love to mentored by Robin
Lee Hatcher or Terri Blackstock. My genres are similar to Robin Lee Hatcher’s,
but I do have a couple of romantic suspense novels written that I hope to
someday have published.
Thank you again, Bonnie, for having me as your guest!
Learn more about Penny and her writing here:
Website: www.pennyzeller.com
Blog: www.pennyzeller.
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.
Facebook: https://www.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
Instagram: https://www.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/
Pinterest: https://www.
Hello, Bonnie! It is such an honor to be a guest on your blog today. Thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteThank you for doing this! I loved learning that you rescue plants from store. My daughter does the same thing and has a small jungle as a result.
ReplyDeleteHa ha! I love your comment about your daughter having a small jungle as a result. She and I would get along well. :)
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