Author Zann Renn Shares About Our Hope for the Future in this Exclusive Interview

Zann Renn has just released the futuristic novel Away From.  The story centers on two American families who decide to flee their homeland in the wake of new laws that limit their religious freedoms. The futuristic page-turner is already garnering strong reader reviews online. Zann Renn was born in the 1960's and grew up in a small Indiana town. The budding author was brought up in a Christian family, where the creative atmosphere included music and lively discussions that were the norm. Renn attended a liberal arts college for undergraduate work in English, and graduated with a Master's Degree in English from Ball State University in Muncie, IN. The author is married, has two grown children, and lives in a rural area near Nashville, TN. 

We are so honored to be able to catch up with this bidding writer for this exclusive Hallels' interview.

Hallels:  Zann, congratulations on the release of your new book "Away From."  For our readers who may not be familiar with the book, can you give us a brief synopsis of what the book is about?

Away From is a story set in the not so distant future, which chronicles the emigration of a group of rag-tag Christians from the United States, who are forced to escape by whatever means are available to them, antiquated or dangerous though they may be.  The novel is also about the relationships between believers from very different backgrounds and ideologies, trying to find enough common ground between them to work together and get along.  Thematically, the novel focuses on the marginalization of a group of people by a government that is supposed to represent them but fails to do so.  

 Hallels:  Why did you decide to write a futuristic novel?  

Any futuristic writer, whether it is Orwell, Wells, Bradbury or Huxley, is trying in some way to give his or her readers a glimpse of a possible future.  Most of the time these 'glimpses' in futuristic fiction are not all that idyllic, so this kind of writing becomes somewhat of a warning to those who might be considering heading down certain paths.  This novel deals in particular with marginalizing groups of people through semantics, majority rule, and popular politics.  At the least, I hope this book will provoke thought and discussion about how we can protect and preserve the rights of all people. 

Hallels: Did it take you a long time to write this novel? What's the most enjoyable part in writing this book? 

I have been a writer for many years under different names and in various genres.  However, Away From was my first attempt at fiction.  This particular book idea came to me literally in its entirety in the middle of the night.  Fleshing out the characters and plot details took much longer, years actually, but it proved to be an invigorating process.  The most enjoyable part in the writing for me was introducing new characters who join the emigrants along the way.  All of these characters were bits and pieces of people I actually know or have encountered in my own life.  Making them come alive on the page was both challenging and exciting.

Hallels:  Though it is a novel, the book does touch on themes that can be traced in the Bible.  How do you think this book can be of help to Christians?  

I think that we should never forget that as Christians we are called to be counter-culture pilgrims, that we are called to make hard choices that might cost us our livelihoods, our status, and our stability. I think we should always remember that though for the present time, being a Christian in America is relatively easy, that may not always be the case. The novel also challenges Christians to focus on the bond of love that we are called to have between us and not on the theological trivialities that divide us. 

Hallels:  And how does this book relate to non-Christians?   

I'm hoping that non-Christians, whether atheist, agnostic or people of other faiths, will relate on some level to the ease with which either government or the controlling majority can marginalize groups of people simply by not considering their moral and ethical positions as valid.  My Jewish friends will certainly agree that some of this marginalization is what occurred in Nazi Germany leading up to the Holocaust-it didn't happen overnight, but little by little and decision by decision. 

Hallels:  One of the things that struck me about the book is that the future can be scary.  Personally, what gives you the hope and peace as you face the future?  

In the movie "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," the hotel manager, an optimistic kid who sees the hope in the most bleak situations, keeps making the statement: "Everything will be alright in the end.  If it is not alright, then it is not yet the end."

 

 

 

 

 

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