First off, hi to Lexie and to the Poisoned Rationality contingent. Thanks for letting me and Zenn drop by.  

You’re right: exoveterinarians aren’t a common career choice for most YA heroines. The quick story: I’ve been involved with various animal causes for a number of years; which brought me into the company of some dedicated, uber-skilled veterinarians who work with a number of really interesting exotic species. I’m also a marrow-deep sci fi geek. Mix these elements and you get a novel featuring a teen girl trying to pass – and survive – her first year of exoveterinarian training. So, basically, Zenn-as-exovet just showed up in my SF/animal-inclined frontal lobes one day, more or less pre-formed as a character. Then, it was my job to give her a world to inhabit, creatures to take care of and challenges to overcome.

Good question, and very tough for a pan-species guy like me. On the smaller, personal critter level, I really do enjoy Katie’s company. She’s a rikkaset, about the size of a house cat, kind of like a cross between a raccoon, a Kit fox and a lemur, with the mental abilities of a two-or-three year-old human child and dexterous fingers that allow her to express her spunky self with sign language. On larger end of the spectrum, the Lithohippus indra, or Stonehorse, with an adult size reaching 700 feet, is also a fave. They’ve evolved the ability to “tunnel” through the fabric of space-time, and so they’re used to take massive starships with them when they burrow through the universe. These are amazing creatures, and pretty handy to have around for someone interested in star travel.

The only rule in this respect was to try and provide the reader some “handle” with which to latch onto a creature’s description/traits. Humans as a species are pattern-makers. We automatically try to relate new phenomena to something that’s familiar to us, fit it into known patterns somehow. That’s one of the ways our brain works in order to help us make sense of novel experiences. So, no matter how “alien” a creature may appear on first view, humans will generally attempt to link its physical appearance to something they’re already familiar with. In this case, even tho Zenn lives on Mars, much of her background for understanding and relating to alien animals is necessarily based on her heritage as a human from distant-yet-still-Earthly origins, and that includes relying on Earther animals for comparisons when thinking about her alien patients.

You’re right. In the sequel (due out early next year) some of the issues hinted at in the first book will expand to involved Zenn in larger, “meta-plot” points including, dare I say it, saving civilization as we know it! No, really, she’ll do that and it’s gonna be one heck of a ride, if I say so myself.   :D

Yes, no real surprise here… in general, when they’ve finished the book, I hope readers will feel like they’ve spent some time with a character worth knowing. I’d hope they found Zenn’s world sufficiently intriguing to engage their interest, and in the process, discover things about our own world, and its people, cultures, preconceptions and biases, in a new and revealing light. That’s one of the things that science fiction as a genre is particularly good at. And, in the end, I hope the whole experience of the first book will draw readers back for return visits as the series, and Zenn herself, continues to grow and progress.