Author Jeff Zentner visits SHS
On Wednesday, May 2, author Jeff Zentner travelled from Tennessee to talk to students at Solvay High School about reaching their goals and achieving their dreams. With him he brought inspiration, lessons on how to overcome speedbumps in life, how to turn your passions into a career, and plenty of sunshine. Zentner is the author of two books, “The Serpent King” and “Goodbye Days.” His third book, “Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matine,” is set to be released in March 2019.Zentner started his talk by discussing his music career, which he says eventually led him to write his novel. He emphasized that when he was younger, he did not know what he wanted to do when he grew up, something many of the students in the audience could relate to. Zentner described growing up and knowing he had a message he wanted to send, but not knowing how to do that. In exploring what he was passionate about, Zentner took a career path he enjoyed. That path started with music.
“I wanted to make something,” he told the students at SHS. “But writing books was not something that occurred to me, so I decided to go into music.”
Zentner asked the SHS students to raise their hands if they had a form of art – writing, music, drawing, and anything else – that they were passionate about. Numerous hands quickly rose up into the air, providing Zentner with what he needed to launch into a description of his time trying to make a career as a musician. He described the struggles and time involved in this effort, as well as the joy in the process. By the time he reached age 30, Zentner decided he was ready for a change and enrolled in law school. After graduation, Zentner went on to become a prosecutor for the state of Tennessee – a job he holds to this day. He said that he was able to use some of his experience as a prosecutor and musician to translate into stories for his novel.
Zentner eventually decided to write a book featuring the characters that had been forming in his mind over the years. He considered his audience, while thinking of and exploring different characters he wanted to write. He soon began typing away at the novel on his iPhone during his commute to work and on his lunch breaks. After 25 days, he had his first draft – though he credits his years of brainstorming and developing characters in his mind to the quick development of the first draft.
“I wasn’t afraid to fail,” said Zentner, describing his confidence stepping into becoming a published author. Zentner stated that while he had hoped he could make a career out of music, the experience of not being able to do so gave him the courage to take risks.
Throughout his presentation, the theme of courage was repeated and stressed to the students. Zentner focused on how his career path had been shaped by his success and failures. In harnessing his creativity into different forms, Zentner told students that he has been able to have two jobs he loves. Zentner ended his presentation by returning the focus to his hope for the students, showing them that is it okay to have to rebuild yourself, your career, and your plans.
“I had to rebuild my creative life from the ground up in my 30s,” said Zentner. “And in doing that, I am able to do this and able to talk to you guys.”