Ah. That is something I hoped wouldn’t need an explanation, but it doesn’t seem to have worked out that way. :D

Don’t read on if you don’t want some minor spoilers for the first chapter of Will’s Hope.

If you haven’t guessed already, I made the authorial choice to spell Zen the way Will was thinking of it at the time of his and Zyn’s first meeting. He even tells Zyn what he thinks the word means in English during their conversation. “Zen is a state of being.” Since the whole book is from Will’s point of view, it made more sense to me.

Now, I actually agonized over whether to leave it that way or not. I got several second opinions, and I’ll be honest, they told me I was wrong. That I shouldn’t spell it Zen in the beginning and then change it to Zyn once Will knows Zyn and would therefore know it’s a name with its own spelling and not just a version of the English word Zen.

I chose to ignore their advice and do it my way. They were probably right. ;D

I have had questions about it, and a few negative reactions to it.

I really hope it didn’t put you off the book, thinking it was a genuine mistake, but alas, I made the choice I made, and I’ve chosen to leave it be.