Guest Author Interview: Diana Ilinca

Please welcome today's guest author Diana Ilinca!  Diana is the author of Nahtaia: A Faery's Tale and Zirconya: The Sage of Aluh'Nehn.

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Diana:   I started writing when I was about twelve or thirteen. Poetry was my passion at first but then I eventually worked my way up from there. When I was a freshman in high school, a girl wrote a poem so much better than mine and read it in class. I felt like a complete failure! (I was easy to take down back then, lol!) I decided I'd try my hand at something bigger. Something that would pull her down from her pedestal! (Yeah, I was a little competitive) I wrote a couple more poems, won a few nominations for contests and stuff, then, sooner or later, I decided I'd try writing a real book. The first attempt didn't turn out so well but the next try was what eventually turned into Zirconya. I don't know what ever became of the other girl.

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

Diana:   Probably my love for creepy, unnatural things. It's always been there since I was little. People with weird abilities or odd-colored skin. (*cough* Nightcrawler *cough*) Scary movies were always fun, too, though, by scary, I mean ghosts and things like that. Not gore.

EJ:  If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?

Diana:   Oh, this is a fun thought! I always thought being able to turn invisible would be the coolest. I would love to be a fly on the wall sometimes, you know? Other than that, definitely control of the elements. (well, gee, how convenient that I write about such a thing)

EJ:  Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.

Diana:  Zirconya: The Sage of Aluh'Nehn is the first book in a trilogy. Though the trilogy is really more in the fantasy genre, the first book is a mixture of paranormal elements with fantastical ones; “psychic” tendencies that link to the fantasy realm of Zirconya, the recollection of an alternate life and creatures spanning from elves to men of dark-magic. It touches on romance of the past, present and future but, the best part of all, it stays pretty realistic throughout.

EJ:  If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles and why?

Diana:   You're lucky I figured all this out years ago! Dakota fanning would be the perfect actress for my lead female character, Caelum, while Alex Pettyfer would be awesome as the leading male role, Maze. Professor Aglahr would be someone like Ian McKellen (best wizard EVER) and Melanya, the Sage of Na'Ur would be played by a younger version of Emmy Rossum.

Zirconya: The Sage of Aluh'Nehn (Zirconya, book 1) by Diana Ilinca.

A young elf named Caelum is forced from her world of Zirconya into an unmagical realm named Earth. Ignorant of the life she left behind, she lives as a normal human being, but nothing could be further from the truth. After seventeen years of unknowing exile, a man from her real world, Maze, comes to escort her back, but without her memories of Zirconya, his tales only convince her of his insanity.

When holes begin tearing through the dimensional fabric between Earth and Zirconya, Caelum must find a way to remember her past life before Zirconya's existence is discovered. But how can she remember something she doesn't even believe has happened? As if surviving high school isn't tough enough, add the constant dogging by an annoying, though hunky, mythical man, and the appearance of a creature from her darkest nightmares, and you've got a troubled teen.


Thank you Diana for joining us here today at From the Shadows!

To learn more about Diana Ilinca and her books, please visit her website.