APB interview with Trent Zelazny, pt 4: Present and Future

What are you working on now? 

Finishing edits and so forth on my newest novel, Voiceless, which is scheduled for release from Evil Jester Press in May 2014.  Also a bit over a hundred pages into a novel tentatively titled Trust Me.

What can you tell us about Voiceless and Trust Me?

The best way to describe Voiceless is a crime drama, heavier on the drama than crime, I think.  To me, at its core, it’s a story about relationships and inner strength.  Of course there’s death and other tomfoolery as well.

Trust Me, which likely will not be the final title, is a fast-paced thriller, again about relationships, though this time more focused on parent/child relationships.  It moves fast.  Maybe too fast at times.  Guess we’ll see.

Despite negative experiences, what motivates you to keep writing screenplays?

The format.  I enjoy writing in many different formats, prose, stage, screen, comic.  I’ve written in all of those and sometimes a story will only allow itself to come out in another format.  At least initially.  And there’s also the “You never know” aspect of it, though I learned a long time ago to never get your hopes up.

Do you pay attention to the direction your writing is going and try to veer?  Or do you groove on your own style?

I tend to groove on my own style, but that doesn’t mean I never try to veer, or that I never get stuck.  I’m a character writer far more than I am a plot writer, which sometimes makes it easy and sometimes makes it, if I’m not careful… well, boring.  My characters usually know what to do, whether they are being smart or foolish.  But sometimes it takes a while to coax something out of them.  Sometimes they just don’t feel like playing, in which case I think on it, meditate on it, as it were, or try kicking them in the ass or throwing something at them to get them to freaking move.

What don't interviewers ask you about your writing that they should ask?

This is one of the best questions I’ve been asked, and one of the hardest to answer.

Why aren’t your books selling gazillions of copies?

Just kidding.  I don’t really think there’s anything they should ask, but I definitely prefer interviews when we can talk more about me and less about my father.  Maybe that’s a bit egotistical, and I don’t mind it coming up because it’s true.  I’m Roger Zelazny’s son.  But I’ve had that shadow forever, even though I typically write in another genre.  It’s gotten much better, though, and I’m guessing it’s because I’m getting better, or I at least like to think that.  But dealing with it for so long, while I’m comfortable with it, there can be times when even the most harmless little joke can be a bit offensive, though that’s really my issue.

Why aren’t your books selling gazillions of copies?

I’m sure there are many reasons.  Maybe gazillions.  If it was one or two problems, and they were fixable, I would put an awful lot of time and effort into fixing them.


Have you considered writing a memoir?  or Have you been inspired by any particular memoir.

I've often considered writing a memoir. Many times. It's something to add to my bucket list, I guess. Yes, I would very much like to.

Off the top of my head I can think of two rather different memoirs that really inspired me. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl, and Life Is So Good by George Dawson. One is very much observational and quite heartbreaking. While the other has its down moments, for sure, I see it as an amazing piece of feel-good inspiration.  Both are tremendous examples of how anyone can do anything, if they want to, or if they need to. We have more power than we believe.