ZACH MILES

Interviewer: Today, we’re joined by author and entrepreneur Zach Miles to talk about his debut novel Hurricane York, Book One of the Zemblanity Trilogy.

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Zach Miles: Thank you—it’s a pleasure to be here. Hurricane York has been a long time coming, and I’m thrilled to finally share it.

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Interviewer: Your novel draws from a unique period in your life. Can you tell us more about that?

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Zach Miles: Absolutely. The story is rooted in a singular decade I spent in Hong Kong—a time of upheaval, reinvention, and invisible wars. It was a decade divided into three psychological chapters, which is why the story naturally became a trilogy. Each book marks a shift—not just in history, but in how a person sees the world.

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Interviewer: How did your personal experiences shape the narrative?

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Zach Miles: I lived through the tail end of British Hong Kong and watched it transform under global pressures—tech booms, the rise of China, the digitization of power. My experiences allowed me to layer personal truths into the fiction. I never wanted to write a memoir, but I did want to capture the emotional and moral terrain of those years.

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Interviewer: You mentioned Zemblanity as the title of the trilogy. What does that word mean?

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Zach Miles: Zemblanity is the opposite of serendipity. It’s about the discovery of inevitable misfortune—when things fall apart not by accident, but because they were always destined to. That’s what Daniel Sagar, the protagonist, grapples with. He arrives in Hong Kong thinking he’s landed a dream job, but instead he stumbles into a world of hidden agendas, corrupted power, and ghosts that don’t stay buried.

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Interviewer: What is Hurricane York specifically about?

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Zach Miles: It’s a political thriller, a noir love story, and a psychological mystery set against the collapse of British rule in Hong Kong. Daniel uncovers links between a murdered couple, a shadowy cartel of land tycoons, and a dead girl who may be his muse—or his undoing. It's a story of obsession, truth, and dignity in a city caught between empires.

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Interviewer: What’s your background in writing?

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Zach Miles: I spent over 30 years as a copywriter in advertising. I’ve always worked with words—tight ones, persuasive ones—but Hurricane York gave me the freedom to explore deeper waters. This book is raw in places. Personal. But crafted.

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Interviewer: Why write under a pseudonym?

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Zach Miles: To be honest. Some parts of this book touch on real corruption, real grief, real betrayals. Writing as Zach Miles gives me the distance to tell the truth through fiction without filtering it through my personal identity. It lets the story speak louder than the author.

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Interviewer: What sets the Zemblanity Trilogy apart from other thrillers?

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Zach Miles: It’s emotionally honest. It doesn’t rely on plot twists for the sake of cleverness. It’s grounded in character, psychology, atmosphere. Think of it as John le Carré meets In the Mood for Love—gritty and elegant at the same time. And it’s inspired by true events that most people never knew happened.

Interviewer: What’s next?

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Zach Miles: Book Two, Ghost Trap, is already underway. The stakes are higher. The story gets darker. But everything still comes back to Daniel—what he’s willing to sacrifice, and whether love can survive in a city built on lies.

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Interviewer: We’re intrigued. Thank you, Zach, for sharing your time and your story.

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Zach Miles: Thank you. This story has lived in my bones for decades. I’m glad it’s finally breathing.