Q&A With Nzondi

Nzondi is an award-winning science fiction and horror author as well as a music producer and songwriter! Nzondi’s work includes Confessions of Sylvia Slasher, Oware Mosaic, Lipstick Asylum, & his recent novel DeathCon. Mickey Mikkelson was kind enough to connect me with Nzondi for this interview! 

Q: Welcome to Book Notions Nzondi! Would you please give a brief description of each of your books beginning with your new release DeathCon? 

A: DeathCon is a horror thriller set aboard a luxury cruise hosting a massive horror convention at sea, where fans gather in full cosplay to celebrate the genre. At the center is Cozy Coleman, a teenage necromancer and leader of a group called the Scream Teens—young performers hired to entertain the crowd through a dark spectacle they call necrotainment.

On the two-year anniversary of her boyfriend’s death, Cozy has no intention of taking the job—but her friends Jess and Squiggy convince her to go. When a real outbreak begins and the line between performance and reality collapses, the ship is thrown into lockdown. Amid the chaos, Cozy is bitten by a shapeshifting beast—and dies. When she awakens, she realizes she’s been resurrected… and something is wrong.

A covert military unit arrives to contain the threat—led by the one-person Cozy never expected to see again. The boyfriend she’s been mourning isn’t dead, but deep undercover. Furious at the lie and still madly in love, Cozy is forced to fight alongside him as the ship descends into chaos—while battling the terrifying possibility that she’s becoming the very monster they’re all there to destroy.

My novel Oware Mosaic is a sci-fi thriller set in a post-cataclysmic Ghana that follows a vampire teen named Feeni Xo, who solves real-life forensic crimes using a neural game known as the House of Oware. Using both real-world forensics and the game, she and her partner uncover evidence of a system breach—someone has infiltrated the neuralverse, releasing a virus capable of accessing neural implants and killing those connected to it. What begins as a single case—where Feeni believes she’s the killer—becomes a race to stop a hidden threat before it spreads beyond control.

Q: What was it that drew you into writing in the science fiction and horror genres? What is your advice for anyone wanting to write in those genres? 

 A: I grew up watching monster movies and enjoying speculative fiction anthologies like the Twilight Zone on TV. Once my father introduced me to comic books, I wanted to be a storyteller. It wasn’t until I hit my mid-thirties that I started pursuing a career in writing. 

My advice for anyone wanting a career will either encourage or deter:

Read all the books you can get your hands on in the genre you want to write. Study the classics and the contemporaries, take classes, workshops, and commit to writing on a schedule like it’s a job. Attend writing conferences, befriend published authors, and write about a million words. After you do those things consistently, you will have a strong foundation developed for building a career in writing. 

Q: How long does it take you to write a book and what are any lessons and reminders you hope readers learn and remember as well as enjoying an entertaining story?

 A: Every book is different. I’ve written books within a year, and I’ve worked on books for nearly four. The thing is: I love to write, and I’m always studying characters and what they do when placed in extraordinary circumstances. I think you must really have a passion for writing or things like rejections will become a hindrance.

Q: Are you currently writing a new standalone novel or will it be a sequel to one of the ones you’ve already written? 

 A: I’m writing a standalone novel set in the same universe with characters appearing across three different novels. 

Q: What’s it like juggling being a music producer and songwriter on top of being an author? What is your advice for anyone wanting to pursue a music career whether it’s producing or songwriting?

A: It’s a nightmare of cataclysmic anxieties. I produced and released 17 songs in a span of six months last year, including releasing the Eaton Canyon Falls – Come Back Home music video, which reached 104,000 views on YouTube and then sizzled out. 

Doing the video was incredible, and I’m proud of the songs I released and the artists I collaborated with, but honestly, I don’t think I’ll ever do that again. I was on my way to needing a therapist and a drawer full of prescription pills after all the stress that came with the expectations, I put on myself. 

Music for me is like that ex-girlfriend you bump into, years later after a breakup, and impulsively ask her out only to realize when you go on a date with her why you broke up. 

My advice: Stick with something you truly love and have the patience to go through the ups and downs with, and for me, that’s writing. 

 Q: Does Hollywood have the rights to your work? If so, who would be the dream cast to play the characters you created? 

 A: No, I own the rights to my IPs. Honestly, I would be thrilled to see it all come together. I’d be happy to see anyone pouring their dramatic artistry into my stories.