DK Zier

Young Adult Novel in progress:
Piano Freak

About the Author

DK Zier
(Deanna Kōlīliko Zier)On her tenth birthday, Deanna made a secret wish to understand the mysteries of love, angels, and ghosts. At the end of each decade, she attempted to answer her childhood desire. Close to six decades later, she explores her quest in creative writing.Graduating with high marks from Emerson College with an MFA in Popular Fiction and Publishing, Deanna received a merit-based scholarship for her short story Evergreen. In addition, her short story Utopia 40 is included in the California Writer Club Literary Review for 2020.She is an advocate for animals and nature. Part of her life was spent in the business world, but she continued her love of dance, world religion, and literature. Currently, she is working on Piano Freak and other short stories.Kōlīliko is a Hawaiian name meaning "to sparkle."
Agent inquiries are welcome.Contact DK Zier

DK Zier
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Get to Know DK Zier

  • Dancer of Hula and ballet.

  • Yes, she was a teen in the 80s!

  • Admire the passion of artists, musicians, and writers.

  • Collector of shells, journals, and gems.

  • Left an executive MBA program to pursue creative writing.

  • A supporter of animal welfare.

  • Introvert by nature and an extrovert out of necessity.

  • Fan of Hawaiian culture and world religion.

  • Writes under a pen name.

Writing affiliations:

  • California Writers Club

  • The Slow Novel Lab (Spring 2021)

  • SCBWI

Contact

I'm happy to hear from you:

Novel in Progress: Piano Freak

Young Adult | Mystery / Magical Realism | 60,000 words

No social media, no internet, just your instincts and chance encounters—life played out in real time. Welcome to the '80s.

Cate Smith Cruz, a musician, is drawn to the mysterious things in life, such as the nature of love and the existence of ghosts. Unknowingly, Cate breaks the popular Sloane girls' unspoken rules, thereby casting her as a social pariah. Sophomore year is supposed to be about promising prospects of forever friends, a special someone, and finding one's place. Instead, friendships are shifting, secrets are falling into the wrong hands, and Cate faces life-altering decisions. To escape, she plays a forbidden piano and learns how music can resurrect the past into another dimension. Somehow music will guide Cate through the chaos, becoming the academy's urban legend, the Piano Freak.

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Inside Cate's World:

Watch & Listen:

Tell Me

Lyrics by Cate S. CruzTell me your earliest memory, oh girl,
and I will fathom your life.
The first time you felt love—
though it was doomed.How misleading is the compass of life?
Oh yeah, it’s called the metamorphosis rite.Or what about fear?
The raw form of evil that appears,
yet a child knows it won’t disappear.
Tell me, what you really believe,
and I will try not to grieve.Oh yeah, it’s revealed when we are stripped –
Down – down to the core.
Our loves and fears exposed;
what strange rules in life.How misleading is the compass of life.
Oh girl, it's called the metamorphosis rite.

Other Works by Dk Zier

Short Stories

  • A Girl Named Tina

  • Evergreen (In submission)

  • Sacrificial Ring

  • Society of Eve

  • Thai Takeout

  • Utopia 40 CWC Literary Review

Children's Book Series

  • Cocoa & Yoyo - in progress

Poems

  • Lillian 1910

  • Little Brown Girl (In submission)

Quest in Creative Writing...

"A secret wish to understand the mysteries of love, angels, and ghost."