Psychological Thriller Archives

Sep 24th Interview CJ Zahner Author of Suicide Gene

Give a warm welcome to CJ Zahner author of Suicide Gene release date September 26, 2018. Available for preorder now!

Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate, and let’s find out a little about CJ and Suicide Gene.

Why should we read this book/series and what sets you apart from the rest and makes your book/series unique?

Without giving too much away, read The Suicide Gene to realize you never truly know another human being. This novel is an amalgamation of fiction and reality. There are impossible anomalies mentioned, yet the suicide factor is real and daunting and a great challenge in today’s society.

I have wondered my entire life if there is a suicide gene. With this book, I wanted to create a story that both entertained readers but made them think, so I threaded real emotion into a fictitious story line.

When I began writing this book, suicide was not as common of an issue, but today the media seems enamored by it. Now, Thirteen Reasons Why on Netflix and A Million Little Things on ABC both depict the heart-wrenching aftermath of suicide. My novel takes this hard topic one step further and asks: is this genetic?

Who would you recommend this book to and what should readers be aware of before reading it?

Readers who like complex story lines with underlying meanings should read The Suicide Gene. This novel commands your attention. Chapters are filled with hints of what’s to come and readers must pay attention to repeated phrases, dates, and numbers. There is so much hidden in this book I doubt anyone will uncover all of the buried messages.

I do not believe this book is appropriate for anyone having suicidal thoughts, and I state this in the beginning. I believe people suffering deep depression should NOT read this book or any other book with suicidal events or topics. Chronic depression and suicidal thoughts are not something to take lightly and should be addressed through counseling.

What inspired you to write?

As a child, I was often alone. My only sibling, a brother, was eleven years older than me and married when I was nine years old. My parents both worked several jobs, and so I wiled the hours away creating characters and writing stories.

In high school, an English teacher, Mrs. Patricia Root, catapulted my love of writing into a full-fledged addiction. I entered college majoring in English. My third novel, Within the Setting Sun, was actually begun in my teenage years.

However, the summer before my freshman year I worked in retail beside four women who were English major graduates. Scared, I switched my major to accounting at the last minute and ended up working in the business world, but I always managed to find my way back to writing. I wrote grants and freelance articles for local magazines and newspapers. I blogged. Once you fall in love with words, it’s hard to cure yourself of the writing itch.

And now, everything inspires me. There is a story in everyone.

Where do your story ideas come from? If they come to you in the middle of the night, do you get up and write them all down?

Life incidents and people inspire my stories. Then my crazy imagination catapults those inspirations into full-length novels. But it is my running where I grow my plots. I run five days a week religiously (down from seven days after suffering a stress fracture) and if I’m not running side by side with one of my friends, you can bet I’m dreaming up my next novel. I love plotting and scheming and you can bet there will always be underlying messages in my books. I reuse phrases to give clues to readers. Dates and numbers have meaning. Honestly, I have the most fun putting little clues in my books that may forever remain unnoticed.

SPEED ROUND FOR A LITTLE ADDED FUN:

Speed Round (one word only answer): Yep, I know torture for a writer!<evil laugh>

Favorite scary movie: The Perfect Getaway
Favorite scary book: The Dead Zone by Stephen King
Last scary book read: The Mist by Stephen King
Favorite color: Pink
Stilettos or flipflops or boots: sneakers
Coffee or tea or flaming drink: coffee
Ebook or audiobook or paperback: ebook
Pencil or pen or quill with blood ink jar: pen

Favorite scary song:????

Favorite costume: Belle from beauty and the beast (because she loves to read)

Favorite dessert: chocolate

Favorite junk food: chocolate

Favorite thing to do to relax: Chase bats? run

Champagne or gin or magic potion: champagne

Paranormal or Historical: paranormal

Wonder Woman or Top Model or Witch’s Ball: witch’s ball

Favorite scary TV show: ???

Hot or cold: hot

POV: ???

I’d die if I don’t have: coffee, chocolate, wine and cheese

Review or Not: review

A little about Suicide Gene
She thought they were her siblings. By the time she realized they weren’t, one of them was dead.

Doctor Emma Kerr had no right counseling them. Adopted and her birth records lost, she believed she was born a McKinney. Her face, intelligence, and depression resembled theirs. For years people mistook her for their sister. So she devised a plan. What begins as a scheme to counsel the McKinney family and determine if they are blood relatives, quickly causes Emma to wonder if she had truly done the manipulating. Is someone following her?

Now Emma clamors to escape the McKinney world of domination and deception.

Is she Mathew McKinney’s sister? She can’t be. Is he in love with her? He can’t be. Then how do he and his sisters know more about her than she knows herself? This is a game to them. Is the game Suicide? Or Murder?

Purchase Links: Author website: www.cjzahner.com

The Wild Rose Press: http://bit.ly/WRPCJZSG

Amazon: http://bit.ly/AMSGene

https://www.amazon.com/Suicide-Gene-CJ-Zahner-ebook/dp/B07G6XVMZG/

CJ, I see you’ve brought friends.

Yes, Attorney Gifflord Johnson and Dr. Emma Kerr from Suicide Gene.

Well lets do a quick question and answer for both. Starting with the attorney.

Tells us about the real you—

……What makes you laugh out loud? Little things in life. People who take themselves too seriously. Men who sit down to a poker table thinking they know what they are doing.

……What makes you angry? Relatively little. Yet, I’m protective of the people I love, so I will stand up to anyone who insults or hurts them. But more than likely, that will involve a good debate.

What event in your past has left the most indelible impression on you? My father’s death and my mother’s Alzheimer’s.

What do you most value? People and relationships.

…..What do you sleep in at night? Boxers.

What is the type of woman you want to spend the rest of your life with? For a long time, I believed the perfect woman for me was someone intelligent, lighthearted, fun, and easygoing, but now I know first and utmost, she must challenge me. (And Emma does.)

What do you consider most important in life? Family with career as a close second.

What is your biggest secret? I sneak away to play poker whenever I am able.

Okay Dr. Kerr your turn.

Who are you really? That’s the question I’ve asked myself many times. I’m definitely intelligent and logical. I enjoy running and am addicted to my iPhone. I can be fun in the right company. I tell little white lies, and I’ve suffered from depression most of my life, hence my obsession with identifying my birth family. I’m convinced my depression is genetic, as I have no reason to be depressed. I was adopted by two wonderful people who loved me unconditionally.

……What makes you laugh out loud? Giff’s jokes, Ally’s escapades, and, lately, a good country song.

……What makes you angry? I don’t take criticism well.

……What do you sleep in at night? Running shorts and a sports bra or t-shirt.

Who were the biggest role models in your life? My adoptive parents, hands down.

What kind of man do you want to spend the rest of your life with? Someone caring, compassionate, and intelligent. A person who knows me and loves me as I am.

(or if you don’t want romance – Why not?)

What kind of man would you never choose? Someone superficial. I thought I was in love with that type once. His confidence attracted me. He was smart, poised, and quite self-centered, which I didn’t mind. Taking a backseat to others has never bothered me. But in the end, I couldn’t weather his shallowness.

What is most important to you in life? Helping those suffering with depression.

What is your biggest fear? That there is a suicide gene, and that it runs in my biological family.

How about a sneak peek between the pages of Suicide Gene.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

The Funeral Parlor.

The face in the casket was her own. It nearly freaked her out.

She stood between her brother and sister, knees wobbling. Her high-necked dress clung to her skin, choking her throat, squeezing her long, slender body tighter and tighter until she felt her lungs might explode. Damn panic attacks.

Her siblings moved closer, tightening their grip on her when they heard her struggling to breathe. Together their tall frames—movie-star handsome—melded into a dark mass at the foot of the casket. It took all the energy the three of them could muster to keep her upright.

“Are you okay?” Melanie asked her.

She nodded.

“Try not to embarrass yourself,” Matt whispered.

Again, a nod.

She wasn’t sure she could get through the day without fainting. There were no breaks at a funeral, and she just wanted to get away from the grim whispery-whirrs of the bereaved and the sickeningly-sweet waft of the flowers. But she couldn’t leave. Matt would kill her and, besides, she had no cigarettes. Her sister was her supplier. Now she’s dead.

The parade of mourners stretched out of the room and down the hall and it was only 2:05. Some faces in line she didn’t recognize, which infuriated her. Her sister had no real friends. Nosy bastards. They just want to know what happened.

She tried to ignore surrounding conversations and remain composed. But like Medusa’s venomous mane, muffled words of hand-covered comments serpentined toward her from all directions. She couldn’t block them. They echoed in her head like garbled phrases over a worn intercom. “Why did she do it?” “Like her mother.” “Was it suicide?”

That last question nearly sent her to her knees. Her body sagged. Melanie caught her and Matt pulled her close, so she could lean on him until it passed.

“Don’t look if looking makes you queasy,” Melanie told her, but her glance drifted back to her sister’s pasty face. That’s what I would look like if I were dead.

She, herself, had considered suicide for so long it was hard to believe she still feared death.She hated funerals, could barely walk through the front door of a funeral home without hyperventilating. Yet, she had to go to this one. Her own identical twin sister lie in that ugly copper box, her head sunk low in billowing white silk.

“I’m sorry for the three of you.” Her aunt Carol’s hoarse voice coaxed her attention from the coffin. Notably thinner—grief now topping her midmorning chemotherapy cocktail,— her aunt dabbed a tissue at tear-stained cheeks. She was in the third round with breast cancer and getting her butt kicked. “I can’t believe this is happening to our family again. Did you know she was that bad?”

“Well.” Melanie paused. “She’s always had those tendencies, but we thought—with the counseling—she was doing better.”

“Counseling?” Aunt Carol’s cheeks pinked.

“Yes,” Matt said. “Six months ago we started seeing a psychiatrist—all four of us.”

“We thought a counselor might help,” sweet Melanie continued. “We decided maybe we did have some baggage about Mom’s—” She took a deep breath. Her gaze moved to her sister.

Don’t say it, Mel, don’t say suicide.

“Death.” Melanie looked away.

“How horrible.” Aunt Carol straightened. She appeared appalled. “You should sue him—that counselor.”

“Her.” Matt shook his head, eyes glaring. “She’s a psychiatrist.”

“We will sue her.” The twin’s voice rose, but she stopped, glanced at Matt, and tightened her jaw. “She didn’t give a damn about us. Now my sister is dead. She’ll pay.”

It happened then—at 2:10 p.m. She felt Matt’s piercing gaze and watched as he released his grip on her arm. Her aunt Carol became so emotional that Matt had to help her to the back of the room. Family members congregated there amidst her wild sobs while Matt held her, and a rush of people came toward her and Melanie at the casket. One after another. Melanie let go of her, too, and she had to stand on her own.

For the first time in her life, she was alone.

So CJ, tell us a little about writing Suicide Gene. Was it fun or difficult? Do your characters always act as you expect? Are you a plotter, or fly (write) by the seat of your pants?

Writing The Suicide Gene was both fun and difficult. Fun creating characters and devising impossible yet believable anomalies; however difficult due to the subject. I’ve suffered from depression at different periods during my life. While in my teens, twenties, and thirties I experienced occasional suicidal thoughts before my periods. Fortunately, I recognized it was hormonal. Also, I had loving parents, a supportive husband, and three beautiful children that helped me through my worst times.

Regarding the characters, yes, they absolutely turned my book around. They did not act exactly as I intended.

First of all, Minnie McKinney was the name of my great-great-grandmother. (Who names a child that?) I made her a little crazy not only because her name seems to imply it, but because someone once told me she was the black sheep of our family. Since she was three generations removed, I didn’t think anyone would mind if she wasn’t so sane. I named her twin Mary, and although I never intended to like either twin, I did like Mary.

Secondly, naming a character Gifford was important to me because my grandfather, Frank Gifford (not THE Frank Gifford but Frank Merle Gifford), did attempt unsuccessfully, thank heaven, to commit suicide after his wife died. Hence Giff was named after my grandfather. I intended him to be a minor character; however, I made a mistake. I patterned his personality after my own son’s, and because he was so like my son, of course, I grew to love him and couldn’t bear him taking second fiddle to any other male character in the book. So, he emerged as a main character.

Here is something I learned from character development and something I advise other authors: Never base a character after your child or grandchild. You can’t bring yourself to write anything bad about that character. (Remember Amazing Amy in Gone Girl?) Go ahead and try. I dare you.

Finally, in regard to what type of writer I am, for my first three books, The Suicide Gene, Dream Wide Awake, and my work-in-process, Within the Setting Sun, I flew by the seat of my pants. My fourth novel, The Dream Snatchers, is a sequel to Dream Wide Awake and I’m trying to turn myself around by outlining and plotting. Will see where that leads. From my experience so far, no matter what I do or how determined I am for the story to go as planned, the characters take on a life of their own!

More about the author:

Cyndie “CJ” Zahner is a digital-book hoarder, lover of can’t-put-down books, runner, author, and Mensa wannabe. That last trait explains the inspiration for her first novel, The Suicide Gene. Her second book, Dream Wide Awake, was inspired during long runs on Presque Isle State Park in her hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania. She is a proud mother of three and an even prouder grandmother of one.

Before becoming a novelist, CJ worked as a grant and freelance writer. Her articles varied from business to women’s health to the paranormal.

In 2015, she began looking at life differently when her brother and his wife were diagnosed with dementia and early-onset Alzheimer’s. At that time, her husband pulled her aside and said, “Quit your job. You’re a writer.” After twenty years of service, CJ picked up her purse at work one day and quietly walked away.

Now, she rises before dawn, writes, runs, and smiles much. She completed The Suicide Gene and Dream Wide Awake, and is nearing completion of two other novels, Within the Setting Sun and The Dream Snatchers.

A hard worker and story lover, CJ Zahner is determined to read, write, and run happily ever after…

Author Links:

Author website: www.cjzahner.com www.cyndiezahner.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorcjzahner/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TweetyZ

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cjzahner/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18283247.C_J_Zahner

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-zahner

Athletchic.com blog: https://athletchic.com/

It was wonderful having you with us today. Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with Suicide Gene!