Celebrating Debutantes 2017: Zenn Diagram by Wendy Brant (Playlist + Giveaway)

Happy weekend everyone!

I’m thrilled to have wonderful author Wendy Brant today on the blog as part of Celebrating Debutantes 2017 event. She will be sharing a playlist that she made for her debut contemporary novel Zenn Diagram. I’ve read the book few weeks ago and it was so much fun. I finished it in one sitting. Something to pick up if you want a light read or just want to swoon.

Following the playlist are some information about the author, Wendy Brant along with places where to find her online, as well as the book‘s description and where to get copies of Zenn Diagram. So don’t forget to order a copy of this fun and unique book.

Also, there’s a giveaway at the bottom of the post for a chance to win a copy of  the book and a lot of swags such as bookmark and sticker from the author. Just enter the rafflecopter form below to be enter.

Here’s Wendy with Zenn Diagram Playlist. Happy listening!

Zenn Diagram Playlist

While I don’t normally listen to music while I write (I generally like things pretty quiet), I am still inspired by music. I like to imagine certain songs playing during certain scenes in the book, like a soundtrack to a movie. So… here are some songs that I can imagine being in the movie version of Zenn Diagram.

Heavy in your Arms by Florence and the Machine
The lyrics of this song talk about love being “heavy” – maybe because of mental illness or emotional baggage – perhaps too heavy for some people to carry. Eva’s “gift” often feels like more of a curse weighing her down. How heavily she feels everyone’s pain can make her a “heavy” person to love. And Zenn’s baggage makes him a bit heavy as well.

Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked by Cage the Elephant
I picture this being the song playing on homecoming night while Zenn paints Eva’s van. The lyrics talk about the burden of not having enough money, which Zenn deals with every day:

There ain’t no rest for the wicked
Money don’t grow on trees
I got bills to pay, I got mouths to feed
There ain’t nothing in this world for free

I Want to Hold Your Hand (The Beatles), cover by Allison Brustofski
This one is a bit obvious, but all Eva wants to do is just be close to someone, to hold someone’s hand. Sometimes even the most simple, innocent gestures can be the most intimate.

Unsteady by X Ambassadors
When I first heard this song I thought it was about a romantic relationship, but it’s actually about a relationship with parents. Zenn’s relationship with his parents is strained at best, but he knows that they both are dealing with their own history and struggles.

Mother, I know
That you’re tired of being alone
Dad I know you’re trying
To fight when you feel like flying

Plus, the whole repetition of “Hold, hold on to me” speaks to Eva’s inability to touch, and how it makes her yearn for it, and her relationship with Zenn makes them both feel steadier. I picture this one playing when they have their first date at the park, when Zenn tells Eva more about his childhood.

Roll Away Your Stone by Mumford & Sons
I was inspired to write Zenn Diagram when I watched teenagers struggle to be vulnerable and reveal their true selves to their peers … and to themselves. Being vulnerable is difficult, even for adults, but I think it’s the only way to ever really know and understand another person.

Roll away your stone I will roll away mine
Together we can see what we will find
Don’t leave me alone at this time
For I am afraid of what I will discover inside

Beautiful Thing by Grace VanderWaal
I know this song is technically about a sister-sister relationship, but I just love the idea that people can bring out the best in each other, making the “weight of the world feel like a feather”.

Mess is Mine by Vance Joy
In a relationship, people often take on a bit of the other person’s mess. Both Eva and Zenn certainly do. But sharing someone’s burdens can be a beautiful thing.

Hold on, darling
This body is yours, this body is yours and mine
Well hold on, my darling
This mess was yours, now your mess is mine

Hello My Old Heart by The Oh Hellos
I picture this song playing the first time Eva and Zenn “have tea”.

Until meeting Zenn, Eva has made the conscious choice to isolate herself from others, physically and emotionally, indefinitely:

Hello my old heart, How have you been?
How is it, being locked away?
Well don’t you worry, In there, you’re safe
And it’s true, you’ll never beat
But you’ll never break

They’ve both been guarding their hearts for a long time:

And every day I add another stone
To the walls I built around you
To keep you safe

But in the end, both Eva and Zenn learn to risk their “old hearts”

Nothing lasts forever
Some things aren’t meant to be
But you’ll never find the answer
Until you set your old heart free

Your Body is a Wonderland by John Mayer
This might be one of the sexiest songs ever. I think about how freeing it must be for Eva to be able to touch and explore the “wonderland” of Zenn, without fractals getting in the way.

Stubborn Love by The Lumineers
By the end of the story, Eva realizes that learning about other people’s burdens is a privilege, not a curse, something to be embraced, not avoided. I love the Lumineers, and this line of the song is everything:

It’s better to feel pain, than nothing at all
The opposite of love’s indifference
So pay attention now

Happy listening!

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

At age ten, Wendy Brant got her first taste of writing success when she won her school’s Young Authors contest. She went on to study journalism at Northwestern University, completed the Publishing Institute program at the University of Denver, and continued to write adult fiction (albeit unpublished) for 25 years while working and being a mom. But when she started reading the same books as her kids, her attention and passion shifted to Young Adult fiction. Now she likes to write about isolated teenagers who somehow find a way to connect with others, and she’s also a sucker for a little romance.

Wendy lives in ​West Dundee, the best neighborhood in America (as crowned by Good Morning America in 2010) with her husband​, two kids, and ​a couple of guinea pigs​.

Find Wendy

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

---

ABOUT THE BOOK

Book Details:

Title: Zenn Diagram
Author: Wendy Brannt
Publisher: KCP Loft/Kids Can Press
Publication Date: April 04, 2017
Pages: 328
Format: Hardcover, eBook

Eva Walker is a seventeen-year-old math genius. And if that doesn’t do wonders for her popularity, there s another thing that makes it even worse: when she touches another person or anything that belongs to them from clothes to textbooks to cell phones she sees a vision of their emotions. She can read a person’s fears and anxieties, their secrets and loves … and what they have yet to learn about calculus. This is helpful for her work as a math tutor, but it means she can never get close to people. Eva avoids touching anyone and everyone. People think it’s because she s a clean freak with the emphasis on freak but it s all she can do to protect herself from other people’s issues.

Then one day a new student walks into Eva’s life. His jacket gives off so much emotional trauma that she falls to the floor. Eva is instantly drawn to Zenn, a handsome and soulful artist who also has a troubled home life, and her feelings only grow when she realizes that she can touch Zenn’s skin without having visions. But when she discovers the history that links them, the truth threatens to tear the two apart.

Zenn Diagram, Wendy Brant’s sparkling debut novel, offers an irresistible combination of math and romance, with just a hint of the paranormal. Readers will swoon over Zenn and connect instantly with Eva, the most fully drawn prodigy in teen fiction today.

Book Links:

Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | Goodreads | Target

Giveaway:

What’s up for Grab?

• Copy of Zenn Diagram by Wendy Brant
  
• Bookmark and sticker & surprise swags

The Rules:

• Open to all
• There will be one (1) lucky winner
• Winner will be chosen and announced by rafflecopter
• Winner will be contacted thru email & should response within 48 hours
• Ends July 7th, 2017
• Prizes will be sent by the author

To enter fill out the rafflecopter form

Good Luck!!!

Treat yourself to a complete #CelebratingDebutantes2017 experience. Click the image below for the full list of schedule and links to each feature post or check out twitter and facebook using #CelebratingDebutantes2017.