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WORK TITLE: Piper, Once and Again
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S): Zani, Caroline Elena
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.carolinezani.com/
CITY:
STATE: MA
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married.
EDUCATION:Holds master’s degree.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Educator and writer. Middle-school teacher for eighteen years; medium.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Novelist Caroline E. Zani published her debut, Piper, Once & Again, in 2016. The book deals with reincarnation, loss, personal discovery, unconditional love, and redemption. Zani describes herself as an “intuitive medium” who teaches intuition development, card reading, and vision-board classes. She delivers messages from spirits to her clients and guides people on their journey of connecting with their loved ones in spirit. Professionally, she also holds a master’s degree in education and has taught middle school for eighteen years.
Piper, Once & Again is the story of twenty-first-century equine insurance agent Piper, living in Massachusetts, who experiences “scent-aches,” random smells that remind her of places and other lives. When she was seven, she had an invisible friend named Vander who vanished as she grew older. She also had an uncanny affinity for horses. As an adult, she relishes being alone and loves spending time with her horses. However, she has trouble with human relationships.
In alternating chapters, Zani presents another Piper, a nineteenth-century girl in rural France who loses her mother at a young age. Her best friend is a boy named Vander whom she grows up with and eventually marries. Unlike the modern Piper, who struggles with her feelings and has a content but passionless marriage, the past Piper is loving and happy being married and having children, despite traumatic events. Twenty-first-century Piper slowly comes to believe that she lived a past life in France, that she can learn from her earlier life, and that it has a profound effect on her life in the present.
Commenting on the two Pipers, a Kirkus Reviews contributor noted that modern Piper “is sometimes a rather self-centered, irritating character,” while Zani’s language style used in the past “feels a bit stilted and anachronistic.” Nevertheless, the story presents “an unsettling and haunting tale of two heroines that lingers after the telling,” according to the Kirkus Reviews writer. In an interview with Melanie Rockett online at Proof Positive, Zani explained modern-day Piper: “What she doesn’t know is that there is a piece of her missing. That is, her ability to connect with her own intuition. … Piper has to go through some very difficult losses and lessons before she is truly open to following the path that she came here to walk.” A Publishers Weekly writer suggested that the novel presents an unfulfilled promise, that “the present-day story isn’t nearly as compelling as that of her previous incarnation,” and that the story’s twist is too little, too late.
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 2016, review of Piper, Once & Again.
Publishers Weekly, April 25, 2016, review of Piper, Once & Again, p. 75.
ONLINE
Caroline E. Zani Home Page, http://www.carolinezani.com (March 1, 2017).
Proof Positive, http://proofpositive.com/ (March 1, 2017), Melanie Rockett, author interview.
I Am...
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There are many ways to finish a sentence that begins with I am. We are all so much more than we first realize. It is truly a lifelong journey we must experience before we can really finish that sentence. Thus far, I can say that I am:
An intuitive medium, author, teacher, mother, daugther, friend, soulmate who has been called to guide others on their journey. This calling wasn't one I expected or welcomed though I have always been in a helping, humanitarian role. For me the calling was not an awakening, an epiphany or a dream as it is for some. Mine came through a very traumatic experience that split me wide open. It was , without question, the moment that separated my life into before and after. What occurred just prior to this life-altering experience is what I now recognize as intuition - something I thought I was born without. Many years later I look back and think how obvious it is that not only did I have very strong intuition but that my life could have been richer, smoother and less painful had I known I possessed intuition and more importantly, how to use it.
It's with great joy that I now walk a path that allows me to guide you as you walk yours. There is nothing Spirit cannot help us with. They need only be asked.
When Life brings us the unthinkable, the unfathomable, the unbearable we are asked to turn inside, to silence the noise in our minds and listen to what our heart, our intuition is telling us. This is challenging to say the least and often times we think and we doubt and we ruminate.
This is when people come to me - for clarity, for comfort and for peace. And I am honored beyond words to be able to help with this process, this healing and lending of hope.
"The wound is the place where the Light enters you."
-Rumi
Caroline E Zani – Author
I absolutely love books that involve “past lives.” When I saw some of the amazing reviews for Piper, Once & Again I was intrigued at the interesting twist and captured by the emotional journey. I was also captivated by the snippets I found out about the author, Caroline E Zani, and had to find out more about the woman behind the book as well as the woman IN the book!
Melanie Rockett: On your website you call yourself an “intuitive medium.” Since your background seems to be strongly tied to your book I’d love to know a bit more about your background and what it is you do for a living.
Caroline-E-ZaniCaroline E Zani: I never really like the word psychic because of the stigma of the old woman with the black cat and crystal ball. So I guess I just prefer the word intuitive to psychic. I’m often asked if I’m a witch. Depending on my mood I usually answer with , “Only when my husband tracks mud across the kitchen floor.” There was a time when I used to get upset about the question but realize it’s just ignorance on the part of the inquirer. Wicca is a religion and I do not practice a religion. I grew up Catholic and was never exposed to anything but that so when it became clear that my path was that of a medium I was actually quite scared. I didn’t know what that meant for me or how I could blend the two worlds. I call my business Bridging The Gap for that reason – everything I grew up with and everything I’ve learned since.
People often ask if I was psychic as a child. All children are, all adults too. It’s just that our society and many religions are not accepting of that so most people call their intuition coincidence or luck and they never really learn to develop the skills. I think it’s more comfortable for them to believe in coincidence. Part of what I do is show people the power of their own god given intuition. Some come to me for a psychic reading about what’s going on in their lives and what the future holds, others come for a medium session where I deliver messages from their loved ones in Spirit. I really have thought about having a sign in my office that reads: Don’t Shoot the Messenger!
I also teach intuition development, card reading and vision board classes which dispel a lot of the common beliefs about this work. I hold a Master’s Degree in Education and taught middle school for 18 years so I feel that gives me some credibility. I don’t have a crystal ball and I’m allergic to cats which most people find funny.
What I find most interesting about all of this is that when I wrote Piper, Once and Again in 2008 I hadn’t yet discovered ( or uncovered ) my gifts yet. I had a traumatic life-altering event that split me wide open about a year after finishing the book. It was then that I realized the book was given to me to write and it was also my responsibility to find it a home in the publishing world so that others can be given hope through its messages.
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Melanie Rockett: Piper, Once & Again is your first novel. Can you tell us how you came to write it?
Caroline E Zani: Well, it all started at a pocketbook party in 2008. I begrudgingly dragged myself to the party intending only to purchase the least expensive wristlet, have a glass of wine and leave. When I arrived I was told there was a psychic in the den and for $30 I could get a reading. Being Catholic and not believing in any of that at the time I said, “No thanks.” When I was about to make my escape a woman approached and asked if I was writing a book. I told her no but I’ve always wanted to. She insisted that she saw me writing a book and that it was being given to me to write. She also said that it would be important because there was a message for others in it and people needed it. “It will change your life and will catapult you to where you are supposed to be.” It was then that I realized she was the card reader from the den. I was taken aback because she looked so normal. I laugh at that now all these years later because people say that to me now. She gave me her business card and I thought that I would never be contacting her and I left. I went home that night and was determined to prove that woman wrong because I was NOT writing a book. I opened a blank Word document and boom! It was all there in my mind. Names, faces, scents, dates, places – all of it was there and seemingly waiting for me. I typed and typed and typed until I couldn’t see straight. The next night I sat down and continued because I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. It was an experience like no other and I realized that woman at the party was right. For 76 consecutive evenings I sat and wrote what was there, what was being shown to me. On the last evening when I finished the book I cried, sobbed actually. It was like saying good-bye to a good friend.
Melanie Rockett: What is the premise of Piper, Once & Again?
Caroline E Zani: Piper is a somewhat “normal” modern 21st century woman striving to get ahead in the business world, find a decent man and have a good relationship but she lacks patience. She also lacks empathy and is a bit self-centered. She has lessons to learn as we all do. What she doesn’t know is that there is a piece of her missing. That is, her ability to connect with her own intuition. Her god fearing parents were quite disturbed by her “imaginary” friend and went to great lengths to stop their conversations. Piper has to go through some very difficult losses and lessons before she is truly open to following the path that she came here to walk. If only those phantom scents of lavender and burnt raisins made sense to her, she might have had some insight into what she needed to pay attention to.
Piper is also a wife and mother in 19th century southern France who left the world with some great accomplishments under her belt but also some deep heartache.
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Melanie Rockett: Many first time writers struggle with the mechanics of writing and with the challenge of getting their thoughts and emotions down onto paper. Since distilling emotions and articulating the unspoken are among your daily tools, did you struggle to write? What was your process? Did you write daily or only when inspired?
Caroline E Zani: It’s so funny because I think that if I researched the publishing process and the ideas of agents and publishers and the chances of actually getting a contract with either one, I probably would not have even attempted to write. I think that would have seemed insurmountable. Luckily, Spirit had my back! I was guided in a fun sort of way, almost a challenge in a sense. The woman at the party intrigued me and piqued my interest and that got me to sit at the computer. Honestly the words just came flowing through me as odd as that sounds. There was very little rewriting but a LOT of editing. It’s funny how many errors your tired eyes do not pick up on. I have to say the struggle was with what I needed to do next (find an agent and publisher ) not with the writing itself. I did write nightly, with one glass of wine at hand. I truly couldn’t wait to see what happened each night as I had no idea until I sat down.
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Melanie Rockett: You have received numerous RAVE reviews from some very significant sources. I for one am hoping that you will continue writing novels along the same lines as Piper? Do you have plans for more books? Fiction or Nonfiction?
Caroline E Zani: Thank-you, I was quite surprised and very happy with the reviews. My publisher Nancy Cleary is my biggest cheerleader and told me not to expect much from the industry insiders, that they can be brutal. She and I were quite ecstatic to read what was written about my debut novel.
I hadn’t planned on a sequel to Piper but many people have said they are eagerly awaiting a follow up. I have an idea where that story will take me now that I am actually doing the intuitive work and understand it so much better now. I plan to continue with Piper between lives and see how she fares giving messages, rather than receiving them.
Many people think that the story behind the story is equally interesting and I have to say I do too. My life has changed so much that it’s barely recognizable from before my trauma. I can honestly say that sometimes we do get to see why things happen to us and that there is a silver lining. So yes, a nonfiction work is definitely on the horizon though I sometimes say my life, in book form, would probably have to be marketed as fiction. (Laughing!)
Zani, Caroline E.: Piper, Once and Again
Kirkus Reviews.
(June 1, 2016):
COPYRIGHT 2016 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Zani, Caroline E. PIPER, ONCE AND AGAIN WyattMacKenzie Publishing (Indie Fiction) $14.95 7, 11 ISBN: 978
1942545118
Scent memories, momentary visions, and spiritual entities that travel through time and space mingle in this fictional
account of reincarnation. Zani, who defines herself on her website as an "intuitive medium," makes her debut with a
mystical, romantic fantasy that breaches the line separating life and death. Moving back and forth between the story of
her presentday heroine, Piper, and that of a 19thcentury woman named Piper, Zani weaves two intersecting tales. For
the first seven years of her life, Piper had an "imaginary" friend, Vander. But he vanished, along with her memory of
him. What remains is her curious affinity for the letter V. A precocious child, she grows into an independent young
woman who has difficulty forming close relationships. She experiences "scentaches," not quite a memory but rather
the actual hint of an aroma that is triggered by something other than her physical surroundings. Her greatest passion
involves her horses, and she has a fierce need for alone time. She is sometimes a rather selfcentered, irritating
character. As Zani tracks the events in Piper's life, she intersperses chapters revolving around the earlier Piper, a sweet
girl who tragically lost her mother when she was still a child and who grew to be a loving, and beloved, daughter, wife,
and mother. These visits to the past story slowly reveal to the reader the sources of the smellaches, clues that remain
hidden to presentday Piper for most of the novel. When Zani's chapters switch to the 1800s, her phrasing becomes
archaic: "when she was in her twelfth summer, Vander his fourteenth...." The language feels a bit stilted and
anachronistic. And although the author's prose is reasonably smooth, her paragraphs frequently are so long that one is
tempted to just move on. They would be more forceful if they were broken into two or three bites. While the
suspension of disbelief is required to become fully engaged in this narrative about a love that reaches across the great
divide, the reward is the guilty pleasure of gradually unraveling the puzzle that defines a ravenhaired beauty who
struggles with the feeling that she is somehow "different." An unsettling and haunting tale of two heroines that lingers
after the telling.
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"Zani, Caroline E.: Piper, Once and Again." Kirkus Reviews, 1 June 2016. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA454176900&it=r&asid=2165c7622edef58189b4dea6b16a34ef.
Accessed 5 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A454176900
2/5/2017 General OneFile Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1486336934001 2/2
Piper, Once & Again
Publishers Weekly.
263.17 (Apr. 25, 2016): p75.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Piper, Once & Again
Caroline E. Zani. WyattMacKenzie, $14.95 trade paper (282p) ISBN 9781942545118
Zani's romantic debut novel about reincarnation shows promise that goes unfulfilled. Piper suffers from what she calls
scentaches, moments consisting of occasional phantom whiffs of lavender or burnt raisins. Random and inexplicable,
they hint at a previous incarnation so traumatic that its lessons, loves, and scents have lingered beyond lives. Besides
these scentaches, Piper possesses an uncanny knowledge of horses and an eerily realistic invisible friend she calls
Vander. As she grows up, she seeks answers to questions on which she has only the most tenuous grasp. Meanwhile,
her marriage is happy but lacks passion. A second story line that takes place in 19thcentury rural France follows best
friends Piper and Vander, who grow up together and eventually marry. Unfortunately, the presentday story isn't nearly
as compelling as that of her previous incarnation, and the big plot twist is too little, too late. Agent: Devra Jacobs,
Dancing Word Group. (July)
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"Piper, Once & Again." Publishers Weekly, 25 Apr. 2016, p. 75+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA450904572&it=r&asid=8e2b16f31d66d343c0ce9e9c03d30787.
Accessed 5 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A450904572