Zita Christian

Zita Christian, romance writer and wedding officiant

Descended from a lineage of storytellers and healers, Zita Christian draws on her heritage to spin tales of magic in the lives of ordinary people. She has written three historical romance novels originally published by Harper for their Monogram imprint. All three will be released as e-books by Samhain Publishing in 2013: BAND OF GOLD in May, FIRST AND FOREVER in July, and JUST A MIRACLE in September.

As Zelena Winters, Zita is the author of “Tambourine Moon,” a paranormal novella in the WORDS OF THE WITCHES anthology published by Berkley. She has also written articles for several magazines (Hooked On The Outdoors, Imagine, Romance Writers Report).

Zita is co-writer for the play WARRIORS DON'T CRY based on the memoir of the same title by Dr. Melba Pattillo Beals, one of the Little Rock Nine who integrated Central High School in 1957. The play was produced by The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford, Connecticut, and performed in Connecticut and New York in 2010. It toured New England in 2012 and enjoyed its first nationwide tour in 2013. For more information and a video summary, see www.holdenarts.org

In the summer of 2008, Zita organized a group of six writers to complete the manuscript of her friend Liz Aleshire, who had just undergone emergency open-heart surgery. Zita also wrote the foreword for the book, 101 WAYS YOU CAN HELP: HOW TO OFFER COMFORT AND SUPPORT TO THOSE WHO ARE GRIEVING. Liz Aleshire died in October 2008. Her book was published by Sourcebooks in May 2009 and continues to fulfill the mission embodied in its title.

Every year from 1996 through 2012, Zita taught a week-long course in writing popular fiction at the annual summer conference of the International Women’s Writing Guild < www.iwwg.org > She has also taught the course at the former Hartford College for Women.

Zita also hosts and produces two weekly television shows that air on various public access channels in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Full Bloom launched in 2001. It is the winner of twelve national Pegasus Awards for amateur video, covers subjects of general interest. Guests have included internationally known forensic scientist Dr. Henry Lee, Bill Berloni who trains animals for live theater, award-winning comedian Nancy Tucker, psychic detective Nancy Weber, holistic esthetician Laurie Neronha, Guatemalan artist Balam Soto, Karen Goodrow of the Connecticut Innocence Project with James Calvin Tillman, the man imprisoned for 18 years until exonerated by DNA evidence.

In 2004, Zita launched Page 1, a show featuring interviews with writers, editors, booksellers, and others connected with the craft of writing, the business of publishing, and the joy of reading. It is the winner of eight Pegasus Awards. Among her guests have been actor-writer-producer Chris Lemon, New York Times, bestselling romance author Carla Neggers, fantasy author Diana L. Paxson, Random House Director of Acquisitions Dorothy Harris, suspense authors Michele Martinez and Pam Lewis, YA authors Paul Cantonese, Laura Williams, and Peggy Dietz Shea, award-winning lesbian author Carren Strock, and actor Lou Campbell Harmon as Edgar Allan Poe. To see selected interviews, please see www.youtube.com/​zita3x3

Zita is a member of the Authors’ Guild, Novelists, Inc., Romance Writers of America, Charter Oak Romance Writers, and the International Women’s Writing Guild. She is working on two projects:
• BY MAGICK BOUND is a contemporary novel about a witch whose love spell backfires
• PRICE OF A HERO is a historical biography about Captain Matthew Batson (1866-1917), recipient of the Medal of Honor, whose true glory came nearly a hundred years after his death when the Army acknowledged the groundbreaking efforts that laid the foundation for what later became Special Forces.

As a wedding officiant and certified Life-Cycle Celebrant, Zita brings "Happily Ever After" to life. As she says to her couples, "Who better than a romance writer to tell your love story?" Please visit her wedding website www.MoonRiverRituals.com

Zita lives in Connecticut with Dick Christian, her husband of more than thirty years.

Zita is represented by:

Charles Schlessiger
Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents, Inc.
1501 Broadway
New York, NY 10036
Tel: 212-840-5760
Fax: 212-840-5776
Email: cschlessiger@​bromasite.com