Interview with Author Emily White

You can find out more about Emily by following her blog (here)

Emily lives in NY with her husband and two boys while writing YA Sci-fi that's out of this world. ;) Her debut novel, ELEMENTAL, will be published by Spencer Hill Press in 2012. (Countdown widget in side bar for exact date)

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1.       What made you decide to start writing?

I've always wanted to write. I honestly can't remember a time when I didn't. So I don't really know the catalyst. It's just something that always was.

2.       How did you come up with the characters for your book?

I'm one of those writers who just lets the story take form. The characters kind of introduce themselves to me as I go. Except, of course, the MC. For those characters, I usually think of a plot first and the best kind of person to handle it.

3.       Did you put any personal experiences in your book?

There's a place I describe that's based off of Kuwait. I remember one morning during my deployment when we were all on a convoy to a shooting range. We left when it was still dark out, but as we drove along, the sun started coming up. Kuwait is essentially flat land. You can see straight to the horizon. That sunrise was the most vibrant, beautiful thing I'd ever seen. I literally gasped as I watched it happen.

4.       How long did elemental take you from idea to publication?

About three years.

5.       What did you think when you snagged your agent and they said elemental was going to be published?

Well, I actually have a very curious story. I don't have an agent and I'd been in the process of self-publishing when Spencer Hill Press made the offer. In fact, I was about one month away from releasing Elemental when it happened. An author and very wonderful lady at SHP visited my blog, saw I was self-publishing, and offered any assistance she could give (including a blurb). I sent an electronic copy of my book and two days later, I got the offer. Obviously, I was just overwhelmed and ecstatic. I really didn't know what to think. Even now, I have a hard time believing it happened.

6.       What made you get into the sci-fi genre?

I love big ideas and big plots and big explosions. Sci-fi has that and then some. It's like a puzzle you get to create straight from the beginning. I get to create a world and the rules to that world. It's amazing.

7.       How do you like living in New York?

I love New York. It is gorgeous. I grew up in a very remote part of it right on Lake Ontario, but the town is close to Buffalo and Niagara Falls, so you get country life with city conveniences (when you want them).

8.       Where is your favorite place to go to relax?

In the woods. I love the filtered light through the leaves, the birds, the way the wind sounds. I could live the rest of my life lost in the woods.

9.       Do you read a lot?

I read CONSTANTLY. I'm always reading at least one book, sometimes two or three.

10.   What is your favorite type of books to read and your favorite authors?

I love magic realism, paranormal, and sci-fi. But I also love contemporary and classics. My favorite author is C.S. Lewis. I don't really have any living favorite authors. There are so many I love, like Becca Fitzpatrick, James Dashner, Laurie Halse Anderson, Aprilynne Pike. But I love them all equally. I can't really claim they're my favorites.

11.   Would you read a new authors book?

I LOVE reading books by new authors.

12.   Do you have any hobbies?

I like to knit (not very good at it, though), bake, draw, sew. A lot of things that involve creating something.

13.   If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go?

Hmm...tough question. There are so many places I'm dying to go to! Probably the bottom of the ocean or Antarctica. I love the idea of seeing something no one else (or only a few people) have seen.

14.   If you could spend the day with someone who would it be? (Dead or Alive)

Jesus.

15.   What advice would you give to other people who want to become authors?

Just keep writing. Even on the bad days when you're sure you suck. Just do it. And don't expect brilliance your first time around. In fact, allow yourself to write crap and revise later.