Review and Interview: Without Wings by Erin Zarro

Love is as beautiful as it is raw, and the most intense passion can sour into apathy and remorse.  It's never more raw than it is in "Without Wings," a poetry chapbook by Erin Zarro about the darker sides of love.


Her poetry has a way of painting pictures with negative space-- that is to say, the things she withholds from the poems, rather than what she puts in them.  She dives right into the depths of emotion without hesitancy, and she has arranged the poems within to create a rhythm throughout the chapbook that flows as well as her poetry itself.  As she moves further into the breakup, where you begin to question everything that happened in the past, the poems become scattered and wordier.  Sometimes the lines are long, like prose, and at times like little shards of glass.


Erin has captured all the loneliness, the disappointment, and regret of divorce in "Without Wings."  It's not an easy read.  She does close with a little glimmer of hope -- the idea that she has truly healed and found herself -- but the eternal romantic in me would have appreciated one more poem about finding new love.  Nevertheless, it's powerful in its brevity and anyone with a broken heart may find catharsis in its empathy.


Erin was kind enough to be the first to respond to my "Indie Six" questions in an interview.

Tell us a little about yourself!

My name is Erin Zarro and I am a poet, aspiring novelist, and fine art photographer living in Michigan.  I work as an office manager by day and by night, I weave words into poetry and stories.  I've been writing poetry since the age of 11 and have had my poems published in various literary magazines and online.  I love all things dark and creepy, from vampires to mind control to dystopian future worlds and conspiracy theories, and I'm *very* hard to scare.  Writing has always been in my blood -- my grandmother, who passed away when I was 11, was a poet and newspaper columnist.  I feel that she's living on through me and the words I write. 

  

What are your current projects?

*chuckles* Well, I'm revising my novel-in-progress, Pirouette, which is about a Faerie Princess who's forced to marry her sworn enemy, the King of the vampiric Moroii. I hope to have it done within the next few months so I can start looking for an agent.  I have a third poetry chapbook swimming around my head right now, based on some pretty difficult subject matter.  Also, I've got a few ideas I'm kicking around.  One is a psychological thriller and the other is a dark fantasy. 

Where do you see the future of independent publishing going? 

I believe it will grow.  I know a lot of writers get frustrated with the traditional publishing process and indie publishing provides another possibility.  And, having done it twice now, I have to say it's simple to get your work out there if that's what you want to accomplish.  I think we'll see even more indie authors as we go on.

Which authors and books are your greatest influences?

Oh, gosh, it's hard to even narrow it down, so I'll toss out a few: Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth novels, Karen Marie Moning's Fever series, S.L. Viehl's Stardoc series, Holly Lisle's Talyn, Hawkspar, and the World Gates trilogy, Lynn Viehl's Darkyn and Kyndred novels, and Dean Koontz's books.

  

To continue that question, which indie authors do you most admire?

I don't know many indie authors, but I'll say you and KD Sarge.  You, because you're just awesome like that and you're putting yourself out there.  It's a brave thing.  And KD Sarge, who is also part of Turtleduck Press, because she's not afraid to take risks in her writing. 

  

Aw, shucks.  Thanks.  What's the deepest, darkest secret you're willing to share? 

Well, I've been clinically depressed since I can remember and have been suicidal 6 times.  I was in denial.  The sixth time, I decided that my two choices were either get help or die.  I got help, and have been feeling pretty good since then.  I have times where I backslide, but they are few and far between.  Sometimes it's still there, just in a corner of my head, ready to pounce.  I believe I've become stronger as a person and as a writer after having experienced what I call the "dance with depression."  What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

Thank you, Erin!

"Without Wings" is published by Turtleduck Press and available from Amazon.com.  You can find Erin's website and blog here.