I was interviewed this morning by Bruce Newbury of WADK as part of the RI Authors series. I think it went well. It will also be a podcast. I’ll post the link as soon as I have it. It’s always nice to talk to Bruce and I hope you’ll enjoy the interview as much as I did.
You can always contact me on this website. I’d love to hear from you.
I’m doing my best to get my books out there. I know they’re good books, but there are many books vying for your attention. I’ve learned that most people I meet want to write and we all have stories to tell, either from our lives or our imagination. I hate saying that means there’s a lot of competition, but if I have to be honest, I must say there’s a lot of competition. So I’ve asked myself what sets a book apart from others. There are only so many things to write about. No matter the place, real or imaginary, the setting or what the struggle is about, what separates books are the characters. It’s always the characters that draw me into a book. I’ve written and frequently rewritten, my people. Unfortunately, I’ve recycled a lot of paper bringing them to life. I won’t call them characters, for they are people. Marcus is someone who’s suffered abuse, many of us do. He’s also known love. Gregor knew abuse but never love. When these men are put together it isn’t just a struggle for their lives, it is the fight of good versus evil, right verses wrong, choosing who they want to be. Those struggles are ones we all face and there will be an emotional connection to their struggle. Their emotional journey, is ours. Kahill, Peter, Becarra, Becky and all the other people who populate my Sister World trilogy are people you’ve seen in the world, those we’re drawn too or those we pull away from. No matter who they are, people you meet in those pages will make you feel something. I want them to bring you into their world, not just have you look through a window, but see through their eyes. I’ll end this post saying that I hope you read my books, but whether you read mine or another’s, I hope you get the emotional journey you deserve.
ITS TIME TO CHECK THEM OUT. THE ARRIVAL IS AVAILABLE AT WAKEFIELD BOOKS. BUY ONE AND WE CAN TALK ABOUT GETTING IT SIGNED.
IT’S LIVE TODAY
JUST IN CASE IT GOT LOST I’M REPOSTING THE LINK.
https://author-elomaa.blogspot.com/2026/03/introducing-deb-zannelli-author-of-dark.html
I very much enjoyed the entire interview process and hope you’ll enjoy the interview. For those who already checked it out, if you don’t know me already, the answer is yes I am small, but other than needing a stool in every room, I’ve never truly found it to be a major disadvantage. Having to ask for help to reach the items I want to purchase, has gotten me into some interesting conversations and even found me a couple of friends. I go back to what I have often said, don’t stop trying to fulfill your dreams. It hurts when things don’t work out, but the rewards are far greater.
Cynthia Di Filippo Elomaa interviewed me for her blog, “THE INTERVIEW & BOOK REVIEW”
Cynthia, an excellent author herself, will be interviewing authors and reviewing their books on a regular basis. Please tune into my interview on April 7th. It will go live at 12:00 AM. Here’s the link.
https://author-elomaa.blogspot.com/2026/03/introducing-deb-zannelli-author-of-dark.html
And once again, here’s the link to my video trailer for Dark Night Of The soul.
This was my mother’s favorite one of my books. I created a world I wish I could live in, even with all the dangers, there’s a life to each page. A person, or animal you want to get to know. ‘There are characters you’ll remember long after you close the book. Now, as the author you may expect me to say it, but as a person who fell in love with words before I could read them, I really mean this. I hope, if you read the books, you’ll agree. These are the things that make me feel the hours spent alone, dreaming of places and thinking of the people you know, are worthwhile.
Sister World: The Arrival
Debra Zannelli
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (2019)
ISBN: 978-1727643992
Reviewed by Julie Grayson for Reader Views (08/2025)
5*- Great start to a new series!!
Imagine a world in an alternate universe that’s a mirror image of Earth. What if an evil leader on
that Alt Earth decides to quietly take it over? That’s the premise of Debra Zannelli’s Sister
World: The Arrival. This is Book 1 of the new Sister World trilogy, a story that takes place
across parallel planets.
Welcome to Terah, a world that basically mirrors Earth, but is ruled by an authoritarian regime
under the tyrant Frauliege. She decides to come to Earth because ruling one planet must not be enough.
When siblings Kahill and Cara hear about the evil plot to invade Earth, they escape Terah through a
wormhole that connects the two planets. Their goal is to find their counterparts on Earth, siblings Peter and
Becky, and their scientist father, Dr. Samuel Benjamin.
One of the coolest aspects of this story is TEV, an ingenious device that translates animal speech,
allowing humans to understand them. Suddenly, the creatures of Earth have the potential to be its
biggest allies. From bats stealing weapons to rats swarming enemy soldiers, they bring an
entirely new concept to warfare.
The characters here show great emotional complexity. Kahill is a young man broken by the
cruelty of Terah. His counterpart, Peter, has suffered great trauma. Readers will also meet
Jenny, a character who will be forced to make a brutal decision.
The animal kingdom, thanks to TEV, also plays its part with some amazing characters, including
Bentwing, leader of the bats, and a dog named Spirit. But perhaps the most profound moments
with the animals involve the eagles, who mourn their dead, allowing us to reflect upon our
connection to Earth’s animals.
Sister World: The Arrival is a story of survival, resilience, and unity. Environmental themes
occasionally play out, as evidenced by the delicate beauty of Earth contrasting with the scorched
desolation of Terah.
Some readers may want more on Terah’s backstory, or Frauliege’s motives, and the adult
characters (as compelling as they are) can sometimes get overshadowed by the perils facing the
youth. However, these gaps don’t seem to be the result of careless editing. Instead, they seem to
echo the narrative’s message that the future belongs to the young, the brave, and the
underestimated.
Open this novel and prepare to be taken in by a revolution we never saw coming. In which the
slightest of voices is set to make the most noise. Debra Zannelli’s Sister World: The Arrival is a
tale of speculative fiction offering all the thrills of a swashbuckling adventure as well as themes
of stewardship and sacrifice.
This review was followed by an award by Readers Views
I wrote this poem when I was in the fifth grade. I was listening to the days news, all the mean things people did to each other. Then I put on a movie. It was supposed to be a comedy about two old men. I don’t remember the name of the movie. All I remember is how sad they were. They talked about some of the things they did when they were kids. Some of them were funny. Mostly they were sad. They missed the people they pushed away, the chances they had to help their friends. They had money but it was only numbers in a book. Numbers don’t enter your room and give you a hug. I don’t know how it ended. It was too sad to watch it to the end.
I always turn to writing when I’m sad. I write a lot of poems, most I don’t remember and have to read them from my diary, or the computer now, but I remember this one. I’m older now, which means I know a lot of elderly people. Please I beg you, don’t call me elderly. Ma’am is bad enough. What I hear a lot of from sons and daughters is: I should have told mom I loved her more often, I should have taken dad golfing, spent more time with my parents. I heard one woman say she realizes that she talks to her mother more now that she’s passed away than she did when they were together. I hear husbands talk about the times they should have been there, how they spent so much time working to give their children a better life that they weren’t there were when they were needed. One man spoke of saving money for the day when he retired and could do all the things he wanted to when he was young. Of course he waited too long. He became bitter. Now he’s alone.
When I wrote this poem I thought it was about other people, made up characters in the movies. Now I realize it’s about us. Sorry if this post is sad, but some days are like that.
HOW QUICKLY RUN THE HOURS
How quickly run the hours
that decide our fate
from happy birth to showers
we find our faults too late
Before we really live
our light begins to fade
when we finally learn to give
Goodbye to all we bade
The last book in the Sister World Series took the longest to write but I am so proud of the responses. Thank you to everyone who took the time to review the book; thank you Ameila
| Aurelia Hulls | Sun, Feb 15, 9:00 PM (14 hours ago) | ||
to me | |||
I just got the reviews posted and thanks for writing your book.
Living with the aftermath of a disappointing Super Bowl. I was sorry the Patriots lost, though just getting to the Super Bowl is a big deal. What I really hoped for was a more exciting game. There’s always next year. Cudos to the Seahawks. They played a great game. I have to say that going to a friend’s house to watch the game and eat all the things I don’t usually eat is a lot of fun, whether we win or lose. Segway, writing a book and seeing it published gives this author a great feeling of accomplishment and though I’d like to be a bestselling author, I’m happy to have been able to write and publish my books. It’s not easy and lots of love and hours went into them. I love my word children.
Debra Zannelli Author 