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Author: Anthony Dobranski
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An interview with Zarabeth
AD: Hi! I’m Anthony Dobranski, author of the modern fantasy novel The Demon in Business Class. Today we’re talking to Zarabeth Battrie, the main character, about her life and her story. Zarabeth, welcome!
ZB: Hi. Thanks for having me. Also, writing me. For the most part. You could have left a few things out.
AD: I wanted the audience to share the whole experience. Before we get into the novel, tell us a little about yourself. What do you like to do when you’re not the main character of a novel? Any interests, any hobbies?
ZB: Causing trouble.
AD: Seriously.
ZB: Seriously! I don’t read, I don’t watch movies. Some TV if I’m bored, but that gets boring fast. A few drinks out, a little clubbing. More weed than I probably should.
I like to work. I like to make things happen. I don’t socialize but I love to collaborate, if that makes sense. I love travel but hate vacations. If there’s nothing to do, I get into trouble. I cause trouble. I’m a trouble magnet.
AD: Which is good in a main character! Did you like being the main character?
ZB: Hmm. Sort of. I’m more a behind-the-scenes person, honestly. Also, it was intense! I’m not complaining. Given that I start out the book pretty sure I’m going to be fired from my job —
AD: Downsized.
ZB: Not a lot of difference, in the job market of 2008.
AD: 2020’s worse, actually.
ZB: Not my problem. Anyway. Given where I start the book, international travel and shady conspiracies was a good outcome. As was, I have to say, being taken seriously again. That mattered a lot to me.
AD: Even if it was by a villain using you to start a war?
ZB: At least I flew business class! OK, fine, I’m being flippant. As people will learn, I didn’t have a lot growing up. My dad died when I was young, and my mom … well, people can read about that. In the book I learn a few new things about my past, as it turns out —
AD: No spoilers!
ZB: Sorry. As I was saying, respect for my abilities isn’t something I’m used to. So it’s compelling when someone finally appreciates me. I think we all want that, and the chance to earn it. Not a free ride, not a participation trophy. Just, a shot. A chance to shine.
ZB: As it happened, my shining time came with a demon that let me speak all languages.
AD: I am jealous of that.
ZB: It’s not all upside. Oh, who am I kidding? It’s amazing! To go all around this big world, and be… well, not at home exactly, but enabled, connected, able to take part. I can speak Italian. Chinese. Russian. Arabic. I can speak sign language. It’s incredible. Especially in your time, with everyone stuck at home — you have to read it. It’s a wild journey. And with me, you’re in the front seat.
AD: Your perspective starts and ends the novel, but you share your story with Gabriel Archer. What can you tell me about him?
ZB: What can I — after all we go through… Wow. I’m not sure. Which is why it works, maybe. If Gabriel were easy, if I could have gamed how it would play out… it would be a very different book, wouldn’t it? On the surface it seems straightforward. Girl meets boy, in a hotel bar. Of course I have a pet demon, but, I don’t need that to interest a guy.
Except Gabriel’s not at all what I expect. He has a story as strange as mine. Repressed psychic powers? Recruited to work for a guy who dreams future events? That’s original. No surprise, he’s got issues.
AD: Is that all right?
ZB: It’s not boring! The trick of it is, neither one of us is perfect. Way far from that. People talk about feeling connected, about completion, about matching. Gabriel and I connect … like Velcro. It shouldn’t work. But it does, stronger than either of us are prepared for. Sometimes it’s enough to be with another person who is also way far from perfect, and knows it. So long as we both respect what we are and what we have. Which is hard for me, and hard for him. When it works … Like I said about my demon: to feel connected, to share, to take part.
AD: The three of you must have been happy together.
ZB: Gabriel and the demon? No. Ha. Sigh. No. That’s the second half of the book, when it gets really complicated. A lot of that was hard to go through. I know people reading and listening will find it one heck of a ride.
AD: Along with Gabriel and your demon, you also have a friend, Missy Devereaux —
ZB: I’m not supposed to talk about her being a witch.
AD: I was going to ask about your friendship.
ZB: Oh! Oops. Yes, we’re friends. She’s very different from me. Wealthy, educated, and she got plenty of that respect thing. She has every advantage. Turns out, despite all that, she still has to prove herself. Or maybe because of it. That’s why Missy and I get along. We’re very different but we both want more. Neither one of us is a sidekick. Maybe you should write a book about her.
AD: Not a bad idea!
ZB: Are you writing a book about her?
AD: No…
ZB: You sure?
AD: You sound jealous.
ZB: I do not.
AD: Moving on. One last question. In the novel, you often take a look ahead, as it were, with a special Tarot deck.
ZB: My deck is really cool! It’s called Business Class Tarot. It’s focused on work and professional issues, and it looks like modern life, with representation for all people. Of course it’s still a Tarot, and totally woo-woo. But it works for me.
So, we done?
AD: Um… yeah, I guess.
ZB: Good. I have problems to cause. Nice chatting. Bye!
AD: Wait! I — OK. Well. I probably should have expected that. Even though she ditched me, you can enjoy more of Zarabeth’s intense adventures in my novel, The Demon in Business Class!
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Demon Character Profiles
Meet the principal characters of The Demon in Business Class!
ZARABETH BATTRIE
She would be a dragon. Make them clear a path.
Zarabeth Battrie is a short, slender, brown woman in her late 20s. Sharp and aggressive, she likes travel, not vacation; she doesn’t socialize but enjoys collaborating. No interest in culture, art, reading, or movies. Music is a background for her. She likes to look good, to attract positive attention, but she isn’t showy. Her relaxation is sex, sleep or intoxicants – but her mother is an alcoholic so she knows the buzz can turn on her. Maybe that’s part of the fun. She trusts her body more than her brain. Touch and feel are her sixth sense.
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GABRIEL ARCHER
Last year, the picture of forthrightness. Now he fronted anything.
Gabriel Archer is a medium-height white brunet man in his early 30s. Despite a decade of sobriety, he still feels his angry brawling youth, and a sense of missing something from it. Purpose? Satisfaction? Maybe both. He isn’t motivated by money or by leisure, but the world of the spirit always sounds empty to him. He longs for problems to fix. He believes in the social good of business, the value of exchange, of laws and rules. He likes speed, pushing himself on his bike, driving fast cars on empty roads — but, under control. He mistrusts his body, even when it’s right. Smell is his sixth sense.
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MISSY DEVEREAUX
I have studied power for decades. Why don’t I feel ready?
Missy Devereaux is a tall, white, heavily-freckled white woman in her late 20s, currently with red hair. She’s a wealthy town-and-country gal who loves cities, but her hidden truth is older and stranger: she’s the future ruler of an ancient matriarchal witch coven. This defines her life, but, she’s not excited about it. She likes business, likes winning without sorcery and not by decree. She seeks a new path, with just the power and none of the responsibility. She only has five senses, all very sharp, especially when the moon is out.
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WALT WISNIEWSKI
I wish to feel my peak again. Not just caffeinated but energized.
Walt Wisniewski is a big, tall, deeply-tanned white man in his late 30s. The tech business he built and sold gave him wealth and leisure, showing him the world then letting him live atop it. Now life is fun, with sports and parties, but maybe too easy. He wants to use his skills and drive in a new way. Someone to do it with, too. Plenty of people look good. Few impress him. Nature abhors a vacuum, he knows that. He doesn’t know he’s the vacuum. He has no sixth sense, but he has luck.
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MAGDA CRANE
‘Win-win.’ I hate that phrase. It’s not winning if no one loses.
Magda Crane is a tall, pale white woman, apparently in her early 70s. Sometimes she seems younger, sometimes far older. Though old for the corporate world, she is still vigorous, determined, and powerful. Also, shady. She dresses well, but doesn’t try to look young. She comes off as a little quaint and dotty, before she guts you. She’s well ahead of you. Hearing is her sixth sense.
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BILL THORN
I’m a very tense fellow. I go to church twice a week, the shooting range more.
Bill Thorn is a medium-height, fit Black man in his 40s. He has a measured approach, cautious, like he is the bull in his own china shop. He knows a lot, but plays his knowledge close to his vest. Is it a lack of trust, or simply that he knows others have to come to understanding without being told? Sight is his sixth sense. He has seen a lot with it. Maybe too much.
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THE POLYGLOT DEMON
Any roadside convenience store has a sign in the window: GIRL MISSING.
It lives inside Zarabeth, and lets her speak all languages. It was made from a woman’s soul. But it’s just an app now. Really.
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Excerpt – Chapter 31
In this excerpt from The Demon in Business Class, Zarabeth is sent to Las Vegas after surviving an encounter with angels. Turns out, there are side effects — but an immortal is willing to guide Zarabeth to her next adventure…
from Chapter 31 – Las Vegas
At eight-thirty Zarabeth sat at a small piano bar off the casino lobby. Dark eyeliner, red skirt-suit, tall black heels, cheap watches. The bartender lit her cigarettes. Fun to be classy. Two drinks later she wore the feeling out of the bar like a psychic fur stole. She stood outside to scan taxis and town cars.
“Zazzy Boots!” Out the back window of a limousine, a familiar face. Toothy smile and long heavy nose, a black derby on her curly black hair. “Get over here!”
The vanity pictures in Janice Goldman’s glass Los Angeles office dated to Zarabeth’s childhood, movie stars with permed curls and narrow ties. Janice had the same face in all of them. Soon after, Missy had shown her a picture of Great-Grandmother Johnson as a single young flapper, arm in arm with Janice. “A different name back then,” Missy had said.
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Your Next Read is Now Boarding
A crisp, tense, international modern fantasy! In print, ebook, and audiobook
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About me
I’m from Washington DC, USA, and I live in the city now with my family. I’m the only child of Polish immigrants. The USA is my home culture, but I felt incompletely connected to it growing up, and had to find my own ways to bridge the gap. I suppose this has made me open to bridging, and also open to gaps. Social / loner, classicist / punk, contented / bored. That slash is the attractor I orbit, calmly / uncomfortably.
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BIG NEWS! A new edition of The Demon in Business Class!
Despite its reputation, Friday the 13th treats me well — maybe because 13 is a rare number, evenly divisible in a Tarot deck’s 78 cards.
Certainly this Friday the 13th is a great day to share some love — and, BIG NEWS!
The Demon in Business Class gets a gorgeous new edition this spring!
New cover, new layout, with illustrations! In hardback, paperback, ebook and – for the first time – an incredible audiobook edition, narrated by the amazing Laura Petersen.
(If the novel is new to you, this is a great time to discover it — click here to learn more!)
A lot has gone into this, and there’s a lot more ahead…
… but I need your help to make it happen.
The link below – and on the ad above – is to sign up for the new edition’s Advance Review Copy. From now until the end of April, you can order an Advance Review Copy in paperback (US addresses only), ebook, or audiobook.
Advance Review Copies are FREE…
If you pledge, scouts’ honor, to read it (or listen to it), and leave an honest review on your favorite site.
In modern literary life, reviews are incredibly important. If everyone reading the ARC leaves an honest review, it’s a huge boost to the Demon relaunch.
Want a free ARC copy? Sign up here!
I’ll be sending the ARCs out in early April – ebooks will arrive faster, of course 🙂
Official pre-orders begin on April 26 — exactly 6 months from the first edition’s October 26 release date. (Also, double-13, and another Tarot factor!)
That’s also when I reveal the full cover (unless you’re an email subscriber). The retail launch date will be May 26!*
Signing up for the ARC also signs you up for my mailing list – including: an early cover reveal on April 13, sample chapters, audiobook samples, and interviews with the amazing professionals behind the launch; plus, some very early passages from my second novel, The White Lake, a literary science-fiction tale unlike anything you’ve ever read. It’s very different from Demon, yet completely my style.
BIG CHANGES AHEAD! I am sweating the details and you’ll see them in the coming weeks. I know they will delight you!
*May 26 isn’t a significant day for me, but Tuesday is a traditional book release day. Also, it is one day after the original release of Star Wars – May 25, 1977. So, that’s cool.
