29 August, 2012

SPECIAL FEATURE :: An #Interview with Emlyn Chand


*** SPECIAL FEATURE - August'12 ***

This month we have Emlyn Chand as our Special Feature Author.  Here's a Recap of the Features so far...


Click Here : for a recap on Author Bio & Her Books
Click Here : for a recap on Excerpt, Fun Facts, FAQs & Character Quiz from Farsighted
Click Here : for a recap on Excerpt, Fun Facts, & Full first Chapter from Open Heart
Click Here : For Fun Character Interviews & the 'Ideal Open Heart Boyfriend' Quiz

Click on the Banners to Read My Reviews 

Now join in my chat with Emlyn Chand



Tell us a little bit about yourself. 
I’m Emlyn, a 27-year old YA, kids’ book, and women’s fiction author. I am also the president of Novel Publicity and a crazy bird lady too. And, oh yeah, I emerged from the womb with a fountain pen grasped firmly in my left hand (at least that’s what my Twitter bio says).

Photo1: Pegasus & Ducky                               Photo2: Ducky on... well a ducky!

What got you into writing?   
I believe writers are born into the craft—we haven’t got much choice, but it’s a great calling to have. As a child, I always had a story to tell. I also loved illustrating my own books and comics. I first became a writer writer when I began doing a book review column for the local paper. That taught me the importance of deadlines and letting the words flow out even when I had no idea what direction they’d take me in. 

What is the hardest part about writing?  
Honestly? Finding the time to get all my ideas down. I refuse to put out a story before its ready, so it takes me time to research the world, get to know the characters, write the first draft, and revise, revise, revise. I usually get at least a dozen shiny new ideas while I’m working on any given novel, and sometimes it’s incredibly difficult to ignore them. Writers must not chase shiny ideas! Otherwise, we’d never get anything done.

Tell us about the Farsighted Series.
Farsighted is a 5-book series about a group of high school students in Grandon, Michigan (a fictional town). Each is struggling with his or her own psychic power while trying to balance the everyday reality of being a teenager. The books change point-of-view, which means every character has one book to tell his or her piece of the story. Still, we have one cohesive story in the end. And I know how it ends, and you don’t—nah nah na boo boo! :-P

Who is your favourite character? (One of your own creation – published / unpublished)
Definitely Shapri. Not only is she the most fun of all my characters, but she’s also the kind of the person I wish I could have been like back when I was younger. She’s strong, always true to herself, and won’t let anyone disrespect her. Sure, she has fears, but we all do. Shapri is the kind of girl I would love to be friends with. You know she’ll always go to bat for you when you’re too tired to step up to the plate.

Tell us about Novel Publicity.
Novel Publicity is my business, and it provides services to authors in the form of social media marketing, blog tours, editing, and graphic and web design. We also have a kick-butt blog, which gets a ton of traffic. I started it about a year and a half ago and now have 20 employees. It’s just nuts how quickly it’s grown, and I’m ever grateful for the way bloggers and authors have accepted NP, enabling me to live out my two greatest dreams—working for myself and being a full time author.

Who is your favourite author & which is your favourite book? I know it is beyond difficult, but you can name only one in each category!
Favorite author—JK Rowling. Nobody rivals her creativity and skill for dialogue and world-building. NOBODY! Favorite book—A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. It’s such a touching story and the characterization is flawless. 

Do any of your favourite Authors influence your writing style? If yes, then who and how?
Um, um, um... I’m not sure any authors directly influence my style, but there are certainly some that I look to as exemplary masters of the craft. They would be JK Rowling for dialogue-writing, Suzanne Collins for suspense, Vladimir Nabokov for prose, Victor Hugo for thematic resonance, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez for character relationships.

One advice for bloggers.
Always remember, blogging is a hobby, not a job. Don’t let authors bully you around, and don’t let your blogging experience be anything but fun and rewarding. There are a million jillon (maybe even more than that) authors whose lives you have changed for the better, and you are just pure awesome-sauce :-)

One advice for authors.
Have fun with your writing. Don’t put pressure on yourself or your story and don’t try to fit either into some type of mold. Not every work HAS to be published, but every work will teach you something, and it will make you a better writer. Find the joy in writing, and you won’t go wrong.

Enough of serious talks… tell us 5 Random Funny things about you and your life.
Dirr! Okay... 
I love show tunes and still toy with the idea of joining a theater company one of these days. 
I’m addicted to scarves—pashminas in particular. 
I like to write stories that push me to the brink of sanity (examples:  Open Heart and Torn Together). 
I am a mega-caffiene-aholic and routinely have 2-3 energy drinks per day.
I have 2 dogs—a golden retriever and a shih tzu; their names are Polo and Rugby.
  
Rugby & Polo                                  Polo                                     Rugby

Quick Choices:-
Fiction or Non-fiction   :  Fiction
Book or Movie           :  Book
Beach or Hills             :  Hills
Dusk or Dawn            :  Dawn
Pasta or Pizza             :  Pizza

If Farsighted series was to be turned into a movie - which Actor/Actress would you like to see playing the characters?
Taylor Lautner is Alex or the movie’s not getting made, okay? As far as the others are concerned, I’m not super obsessed with any particular actors playing them. My friend Haley at YA-Aholic did an awesome dream cast for Farsighted, so I’m going to link straight over to her.

http://www.ya-aholic.com/2012/02/farsighted-by-emlyn-chand-my-movie-cast.html

What’s brewing? What can we expect from you next? 
I’m working on a 12-book time travel series! The first 3 are called Fall Back, Spring Forward, and Leap Year. The protag Terra Wade falls into the Grand Canyon and back to the year 1852. She’s taken in by a kindly Hopi tribe and a hunka-chunka Hopi brave named Wick. There’s also a super cool cowboy named Zimmer. That’s just the first book. The second takes us to the 25th century, and I have plans to visit prehistoric times as well. This series is taking a while, since I have to do a lot of planning to hit a 12-book story arc, and it calls for a crazy amount of research! I’m excited though :-D

Anything else you would like to say to your readers/fans? 
Thank you for being my readers/ fans. If you would’ve told me three years ago that there would be people out there who absolutely loved my books, I never would have believed it. You guys have one-million-percent made my dreams come true!


Buy Her Books:





Giveaway
Now for the most amazing news! The Giveaway! Ms.Emlyn has very kindly agreed to Giveaway - One Winner will win Signed copies of Farsighted & Open Heart! Yay!! This is so exciting, I wish I could enter this myself... What are you waiting for??? Go Enter NOW!!

Rules:
1. There's only two compulsory entry to qualify for this Giveaway. 
2. If the compulsory entries are not completed properly, additional entries of that person will not count.
3. The Giveaway is open Internationally.
4. I will be selecting the winner through Random.org every Saturday and will be sending an e-mail. They have to reply with their mailing address/e-mail id within 48 hours, or I will select another winner.
5. Please do not leave your e-mail id in the comment section.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

4 comments:

  1. Hi Emlyn - let me congtratulate you on your fab interview and your success in your business and books.

    It is evident how hard you have worked! I love your driving ambition to go to higher places!

    I also love your birds and dogs!!

    Go Girl!

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  2. Thanks, Debdatta and Malika. It was a fun interview--especially since it included pictures of my gorgeous fur and feather babies. Did you two see the huge news posted on my blog today? Well, did ya? ;-)

    Em

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  3. What a great Interview; for both Emlyn and Debdatta. I love a prayer for Owen Meany, but then again I am a HUGE John Irving fan. I agree that writiers were born to write.
    BRAVO to you both,
    M.C.V. Egan

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  4. Superb interview, it is nice to find out more about our favourite authors.

    ReplyDelete