Where Curiosity Meets Imagination
I’ve always had an interest in the unexplained. For many years, I’ve investigated the paranormal, searching for answers to things that don’t always have a reasonable explanation. I’ve also witnessed activity myself, experiences that have stayed with me and left me wondering just how much of this world we truly understand.
But curiosity doesn’t always come with answers. Sometimes it only leads to more questions.
I’ve often wondered what it would be like if there really were an organization dedicated to investigating the strange and unexplained. Not just ghosts or haunted locations, but everything that falls outside our understanding of what should be possible. What if there were people with the resources, technology, and determination to investigate those mysteries without the limitations we face in everyday life?
That’s where my imagination took over.
I couldn’t step into that kind of world myself, so I decided to create one.
That world became Z.E.R.O. — Zero Event Response Organization, an original science-fiction and paranormal horror book series built around a fictional organization that investigates events most people would never believe were possible.
Why I Used My Own First Name
One question that might eventually come up is why I chose to name my main character Ginger Mercer.
The answer is actually quite simple.
It wasn’t an ego trip, and I wasn’t trying to turn myself into some larger-than-life fictional hero. I’ve spent years investigating the paranormal, and creating a character who could explore mysteries far beyond anything I could investigate myself felt like a natural extension of that interest.
Ginger Mercer isn’t me. She has her own background, personality, abilities, and experiences. She’s a fictional character living in a fictional world.
But she carries a name that connects her to the person who imagined that world in the first place.
Perhaps there’s a little wishful thinking in that decision, too. If an organization like Z.E.R.O. really existed, I would love the opportunity to walk through its doors and see what mysteries were waiting to be investigated.
Since I can’t, Ginger Mercer gets to do it instead.
The Freedom of Imagination
One of the wonderful things about writing fiction is that there are no boundaries beyond those you choose to create.
I can imagine an extraordinary headquarters, unusual technology, dedicated investigators, and mysteries that challenge everything we think we know. I can create strange creatures, unexplained phenomena, and situations that would be impossible—or at least unimaginable—in our everyday world.
And then I can ask myself a simple question: What would happen if this were real?
That question opens the door to an entire story.
My own experiences with paranormal investigation helped inspire my curiosity, but Z.E.R.O. isn’t intended to be a record of those experiences. It’s fiction, shaped by imagination, curiosity, and my fascination with the unknown.
The stories give me the freedom to explore possibilities that real life cannot offer.
A World I Would Love to Explore
When I think about Z.E.R.O., I don’t just think about individual stories. I imagine the organization itself: the people working there, the investigations taking place, the equipment being developed, and the mysteries waiting behind doors that haven’t been opened yet.
That’s also why I’ve put so much thought into the Z.E.R.O. website. I want readers to feel as though they’re getting a glimpse inside an organization that exists beyond the pages of the books.
I want them to wonder what’s happening inside headquarters, what the personnel are working on, and what strange discoveries might be waiting in the next case file.
Most of all, I want them to experience a little of the same curiosity that inspired me to create this world.
I’m not writing these stories because I believe I live in Ginger Mercer’s world.
I’m writing them because I wish I could explore it.
And since imagination is the one place where almost anything is possible, I decided to build that world myself.
Ginger Yarbrough
Creator and Author of Z.E.R.O. — Zero Event Response Organization