Interview with Mario Zeleny, author of 'Ritual Tea: How the 9 Secrets of Tea Can Transform Your Life'
Mario Zeleny
– Lover of all things tea. Mario spent
15 years in healthcare and social services in clinical and administrative roles
that offered coaching to employees and volunteers. An artist and entrepreneur from an early age,
Mario now brings his love of writing, art, spirit, coaching and ritual together
online at his creative living site, Sancti Spiritus and also from
his transformational art site, Art Spellz.
Mario looks forward to completing his education with Mentor Coach and St.
Clement Seminary. He currently resides in Sacramento with his
husband of 8 years, their children and their domestic sovereign, a pug named
Brigit.
His latest
book is the self-help inspirational, Ritual
Tea: How the 9 Secrets of Tea Can Transform Your Life.
Q: Welcome to
The Writer's Life! Now that your book
has been published, we’d love to find out more about
I was having a Mad
Hatter Tea Party on my blog in July of last year and decided I wanted to offer
something valuable to my partiers. So, I
started writing this little e-book on tea. The partiers were going to be gifted
the book because they signed up for my email list. But, they never got the book because it kept
growing and became a “real” book!
It’s been a real
learning experience and I loved every minute of it… even the challenge (hair
pulling) of converting for print and Kindle.
Just the other day, I contact the people who signed up for that little
e-book from the tea party and they are getting a paperback mailed to them… 9
months later!
Q: How hard was it to write a
book like this and do you have any tips that you could pass on which would make
the journey easier for other writers?
Writing a book
isn’t difficult, editing and making sense is the hard part! As a writer, I must always remain willing to
intimately and completely know my subject, including things I’d rather not
know. Basically, I have a relationship
and I am making a commitment to that relationship until the book is born. This relationship isn’t always fun, does
require some things that feel like work and sometimes my subject wears me
out. I had to make room for it my life
and I had to share it with my spouse. But, for me as a writer, there are big
payoffs in this relationship as well as honor and respect for my subject which
is why I keep my commitment.
Keeping a
schedule is something that also helped me tremendously. It was finding a
schedule that worked for me that was difficult.
Q: Who is your publisher and
how did you find them or did you self-publish?
I am my own
publisher and I would not trade the experience for anything. I guess I am a
person who wants and craves intimacy not only with my subject but with the
entire process of writing and publishing.
I do have to say that being in charge of everything and doing everything
including formatting, graphic design and art for my book cover as well as
converting to different publishing formats can be daunting. But, I have to admit that things are like
that when I am trying to meet a deadline for the first time. And, this was my first time for not only
writing a book, but also publishing one.
Q: Is there anything that
surprised you about getting your first book published?
The only
surprise was believing I found all my errors, only to reread my manuscript to
find more the next day… and, the day after that! It was like some gremlin was putting them in
overnight. I also discovered how quickly and without notice I can screw up my formatting. The best template is one I create myself.
Q: What other books (if any)
are you working on and when will they be published?
I am offering a
free companion class to my book at ArtSpellz.com. I will also be creating subsequent
courses. I am hoping to combine these
courses for another book.
In addition, I
plan on adding photography to my book, as well as personal testimonies and
stories. So, perhaps next year I will
have a new edition of Ritual Tea.
Q: What’s your favorite place
to hang out online?
I am old and
like Facebook!
Q: Finally, what message (if
any) are you trying to get across with your book?
My book is about the
transformational power of tea. Tea has
an incredible, unusual and sacred history which included changing people’s
lives; some lives were not always changed for the better primarily because of
the way they treated tea. But for those who are open, tea can change your life
in wondrous ways.
Most folks believe you
have to be a monk or a tea master to practice a tea ritual; I wanted to
confront that mistaken belief and make tea a transformational practice
approachable by anyone. My book provides
the help and inspiration to get started.
Q: Thank you again for this
interview! Do you have any final words?
Thank you for
your interest. You can find my book at
Amazon and my store www.MarioZeleny.com/shop. This
month I am giving away tea with my book!
You can find me
at:
Leave a Comment