Interview With Author Z.N. Cruz
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I write stories from the timelines most people only dream of; the ones just to the left of memory, where love lingers and time bends for the right reasons. Rebirth is my debut, the first Episode in The Zepherous Chronicles, and the beginning of a larger universe that spans novels, short fiction, fashion, art, animation, and podcasts. I live in West Hollywood, but my stories come from somewhere further: between realities and across memories, for anyone who’s ever felt like the world wasn’t built for them.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Zepherous Chronicles Episode I: Rebirth.
The inspiration came from a single idea that time doesn’t break; it remembers us all. I wanted to explore how grief, nostalgia, and forgiveness can reshape the way we see reality. The story grew from the feeling of being caught between childhood wonder and loss as an adult, and from the question: what if the moment you tried to forget, or change, was the one that defined every version of you across all realities?
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I tend to write late at night, when the world is quiet enough for the echoes between realities to speak. I also build playlists; soundtracks that match the mood of each chapter. For Rebirth, I listened to 80s and 90s film scores while editing, to capture that nostalgic, cinematic rhythm.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Ray Bradbury for his poetry of memory and Madeleine L’Engle for her courage to make the impossible human. However, most of my influences come from television and cinema, with much props going to Christopher Nolan, for his emotional architecture of time, loss, and the lengths we go to for catharsis.
What are you working on now?
I’m deep in the full-length novel The Zepherous Chronicles Episode II: Cantera, which expands the mythos and explores the consequences of the fracture that began in Rebirth. At the same time, I’m producing The Echo Between Realities, a podcast that blurs fiction and my own philosophy through short transmissions.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Everything begins at zncruz.com, which serves as the archive of The Zepherous Universe. I also share transmissions and visual fragments on Instagram and Pinterest: short, cinematic glimpses that draw readers into the world rather than just the book. My team and I are hard at work on zepherous.com , which will feature the entire Zepherous Universe in one place, including all art, merch, podcasts, books, and much more to come.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write what you can’t stop remembering. The story that haunts you is the one that will haunt others. Don’t chase trends; chase truth. And even if you believe no one will ever read it, it’s worth writing if only to reach one single soul: yours.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Time doesn’t heal. It only teaches us to live with what we have lost and can never regain.”
That line became the emotional core of everything I’ve written.
What are you reading now?
I’m revisiting The Time Traveler’s Wife and Klara and the Sun. Both capture the ache of human connection through speculative lenses, which is the kind of storytelling I live for.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Building The Zepherous Universe into a full multi-media experience: fiction, visuals, and audio woven together so readers can not only read it but inhabit it.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, and a blank journal; because even on an island, stories find their way out.
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