I’m happy to feature a new debut author for you guys today. Kat Zhang was recommended to me by one of the great members of our Roundtable and I am so happy that she was!
Meet Kat Zhang!
Today her first novel, ‘What’s Left of Me’, debuts.
Kat grew up adapting plays for her stuffed animals and thriving in an imaginary world of her own creation. She started her first novel at the age of twelve! Her senior year of high school she starting working on the first book of a trilogy, and at only nineteen years old she, and her agent, sold that trilogy, ‘The Hybrid Chronicles’ to HarperCollins. The first book in that trilogy is ‘What’s Left of Me’.
Isn’t that a gorgeous cover?!
Book summary from Kat’s website:
Eva and Addie started out the same way as everyone else—two souls woven together in one body, taking turns controlling their movements as they learned how to walk, how to sing, how to dance. But as they grew, so did the worried whispers. Why aren’t they settling? Why isn’t one of them fading? The doctors ran tests, the neighbors shied away, and their parents begged for more time. Finally Addie was pronounced healthy and Eva was declared gone. Except, she wasn’t…
For the past three years, Eva has clung to the remnants of her life. Only Addie knows she’s still there, trapped inside their body. Then one day, they discover there may be a way for Eva to move again. The risks are unimaginable–hybrids are considered a threat to society, so if they are caught, Addie and Eva will be locked away with the others. And yet…for a chance to smile, to twirl, to speak, Eva will do anything.
The book trailer is now available on EW:
What’s Left of Me Book Trailer
Here are a couple of the many great reviews of the book:
*What’s Left Of Me Focuses On What It Means to Be Human by Julie A. Carlson on HuffPost Books
*Some Like It Paranormal Book Review
The latter site says that if you like ‘Host’ by Stephenie Meyer, you’ll love this book!
Want to talk about the book or hear what people are saying?
Go to the ‘What’s Left of Me’ room on the Roundtable
or head over to Goodreads
or go buy the book and read reviews on Amazon –
More about the author and a Q & A:
When Kat is not writing, she is an English major at Vanderbilt University. She enjoys performing Spoken Word poetry, raiding local bookstores, and plotting where to travel next. She is super sweet and was willing to let me ask her some of our questions.
I was fortunate enough to have a chance to converse with her via email and get some of your questions answered-
1. How did you get inspired to be a writer at only twelve years old?
I’ve always been a big reader, and I spent most of my childhood making stories up, either just in my head to entertain myself or writing them out in the form of plays for stuffed animals and dolls. I credit the leap at age 12 from just “making stories up” to “I’m going to publish a book” to the internet. I always knew, of course, that somebody had to be writing all those books I was reading, but the idea of an author was nebulous at best. When I started reading stories posted online, I get a much better sense of the writer behind the words, which lead me to wanting to be that writer myself 🙂
2. Is this the first book you’ve ever completed and, if not, what happened to your first story?
No, I finished one book prior to WHAT’S LEFT OF ME, and in fact I started writing WLoM to distract myself from the querying process for that first book. I quickly stopped querying that book, though, as I came to realize it wasn’t really up to snuff. It was very much a practice book, and it’s trunked, now.
3. Do you agree with the decisions that your characters make or do they take on a life of their own?
They often take on a life of their own! I tend to go into stories without much preconceptions of what a character should be like. They come into being on their own over the course of the drafts. Of course, sometimes when the development is stalling, or whatnot, I’ll try to guide a character a certain way.
4. Some people say a book is like your first child in that you become very protective of it. How are you preparing for the acclaim or criticism of your book?
It’s only natural to be personally invested in something you have put so much time and heart into, but despite all the metaphors, a book is not, in the end a child 😛 A child can be hurt–a book can not. Only you, the author, can be hurt by criticisms of your work, so really, there is no need to be protective of your book, only yourself. And the best way I’ve found of “protecting”/preparing myself for all sorts of reviews is by reminding myself that there’s no need or point in getting upset about reviews of any kind.
There are many books that my friends love that I hated and vice versa. Some people will love my book (hopefully!), others will hate it, and others will fall somewhere in between. The only constructive thing I can do is work to make the next book even better than the first 🙂
Luckily for us, there are lots of ways to follow the promising career of this very busy author:
Her website: http://katzhangwriter.com/Home.html
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/katzhangwriter
Twitter: @KatZhang
Her blog: http://katacomb.blogspot.com/
Her other blog, Publishing Crawl, which she co-writes with fellow authors: http://www.publishingcrawl.com/
And, of course, book sites like Reader Roundtable, all of whom I am certain will be talking about her work for years to come!
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