Ask the Author: David Zen
Answered Questions (7)
David Zen
Toru Okada and Creta Kano, from The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. I love magical realism, and especially Murakami. The quasi-mystical relationship between these two characters is interesting and exciting.
David Zen
It's very exciting to create characters who come to life. I love the moment when my characters start telling me what they're going to do rather than me telling them.
I'll also admit that David Zen is my pen name, and it's a lot of fun to have this new persona that is similar to but slightly cooler than my old businessman/investor self.
I'll also admit that David Zen is my pen name, and it's a lot of fun to have this new persona that is similar to but slightly cooler than my old businessman/investor self.
David Zen
My books are formed at the intersection of my imagination with my experience as a dealmaker, investor and lawyer. The plots, which are meant to be entertaining, are entirely imagined, and start with a central idea. I create characters and details progressively around the central idea. Underlying the plot is real business experience, so that readers get a picture of what might happen in the real world (or perhaps a slightly more exciting version of it!).
David Zen
As a dealmaker, I had long wanted to write a book about how to do a deal. My girlfriend had the suggestion to write it as a novel, which was brilliant and totally changed the idea. The Deal became much more about characters and plot drivers than about the underlying deal, although I still want it to be a book that shows people without business experience that international dealmaking can be exciting and interesting. Although not always so interesting and dramatic as it appears in The Deal!
David Zen
If you have a good idea for a book, just write. Don't worry about the prose being good -- you can improve that in later drafts, and you will learn as you write.
David Zen
I don't really get writer's block!
David Zen
My agent has recently submitted my second novel Enlightenment Inc. to several publishers. The novel is about a California start-up that develops a rather magical, mystical app, and the consequences that ensue. I am also working on two further novels, the idea for one of which I just submitted to a competition for co-authoring a novel with James Patterson.
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