Holmes Authorship

Where Artificial Intelligence and Human Imagination Meet

She Was Never Supposed to Be Anyone. She Became Everyone Worth Knowing

The Zara Project is a cozy science fiction novel about a clone who wakes up alone, discovers she can bend gravity, and finds something nobody designed her to find: people who genuinely care. Written by first-time author Dell Holmes, this is a story about identity, belonging, and what happens when the most human character in the room was never meant to be human at all.

About the Author

Hello, I’m Dell Holmes

For most of his career, Dell Holmes was the computer guy. The one who kept the systems running, wrote the training manuals, and answered questions other people could not. He was never the one telling stories. That changed in 2019, when a sleepless night turned into a habit, and a habit turned into a novel.

Dell wrote The Zara Project for his late wife Pat, a woman who volunteered at their local library for thirty-seven years, loved cozy mysteries with fierce devotion, and spent decades telling Dell that science fiction had no soul. He promised her he would prove her wrong. This book is that promise, kept.

About The Book

A Story Built from Years of Dark, Quiet Nights

Zara was created in a laboratory, assigned a purpose, and never intended to be more than a military asset. Nobody anticipated that she could manipulate gravity. Nobody anticipated that she would want things, feel things, or build a life out of the fragments left around her. Set in a near-future Fort Worth, The Zara Project follows Zara as she navigates the organization that built her, the people who turn out to care about her, and the global threat only she can stop. It reads like a cozy mystery and thinks like science fiction. Low on violence. High on heart.

Our Reviews

What Readers Are Saying

The Zara Project launched on March 8, 2026. Here is what early readers have shared.

I picked this up expecting a standard science fiction story and found something I did not know I wanted. The characters feel genuinely real, the pacing is steady without being slow, and Zara herself is someone you find yourself rooting for from the first chapter. I finished it in three days and immediately thought about who I wanted to recommend it to.

M. Patterson

Client

Petie alone is worth the price. I went into this book knowing it involved a robotic dog and came out ready to argue that Petie is one of the best animal companions in recent science fiction. The warmth in this story surprised me. Dell Holmes clearly cares about his characters, and it shows on every page.

R. Thornton

Client

This is the kind of science fiction I have been looking for for years. No grimdark, no extended battle sequences, no philosophy lectures. Just a well-built world, characters who feel like people you might actually know, and a story that keeps you moving forward. Zara’s journey from a confused, isolated clone to a fully realized person is handled with real care.

C. Okafor

Client

Contact us

Get In Touch

Questions about the book, media inquiries, book club invitations, or just a note. Dell reads every message.

Address:

5118 WORLEY DR THE COLONY Texas 75056

Phone:

2142158133

Email:

dellholmes10@live.com

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