Tuesday Special: Interview with Emma Holly!
Author Name: Emma Holly
Website: http://www.emmaholly.com
Genre: very steamy romance and very romantic erotica
Latest book in shops now: I have a mass market reprint of Personal Assets coming out in early September.
Before we begin this interview, I need to check that you’re still grounded and that your head isn’t swollen from all of your success, so with that in mind, what was the last thing you bought on Ebay, and do you know how much a carton of milk costs?
Well, I don't know that my answer will allow me to make any claims about having a normal-sized head, because the only thing I've ever bought on ebay was a book by Gennita Low as part of a fundraiser. (Good writer, BTW.) And I have no idea what a carton of milk costs because I never drink it.
Name your top five favourite books that you read as a child:
The colored fairy books edited by Andrew Lang, The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, and The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I liked plenty more, but those are the ones I'd still re-read today.
{Karen interrupts: I loooooved The Little Princess!}
What does a typical day as a writer consist of?
My day's pretty free-form, but in general: a very little yoga, breakfast, write till I'm tired of writing, then take a jog or a walk to clear my head. I'll often edit in the afternoon.
I don't purposefully write at night, but sometimes I'll just sit down to get what I think is a good line or scene idea on paper, and I'll lift my head a whole scene later. I guess you could say my writer's day is part structured, part led by inspiration.
Name your top five favourite books of all time.
Hm. Pride and Prejudice, I guess, in part, because I relive the miniseries with Colin Firth while I'm reading it. The first Harry Potter. Interview with the Vampire. Dune was an imagination-changing book.. Another book that swept me to a truly cool historical otherworld was Katherine Neville's The Eight. That book had such scope and excitement it really blew me away.
Which authors are you glomming at the moment? (reading a lot of?)
Right now I'm really enjoying Charlaine Harris, Laurell K. Hamilton, and Kim Harrison. All H's. I wonder if that means something . . .
{ummmm… I’ve no idea}
Do you have other close romance writer friends, and if so who are they?
Writers do tend to gravitate to each other, if only to have someone to complain or crow to who really gets what they're talking about. I have a great pair of writing/lunching/crowing buddies in Michele Hauf and Nita Abrams.
When did you realise that you wanted to write books, and who or what inspired you?
I don't remember *not* wanting to write, but I'm sure my favorite books as a kid (see above) gave me the idea that being a writer was a Good Thing.
If you could have a one-to-one conversation with a famous historical figure, who would it be with and what would you talk about?
It might sound weird, but I'd want to talk to Jesus, hear things from the horse's mouth, as it were--what he really said, what he really did, what he thought about Mary Magdalene.
I'm pretty nondenominational myself, and always have been, but that whole story has fascinated me since I was little.
What is your ultimate goal when it comes your writing?
To entertain people and to touch them, to make them feel more excited about being human beings.
What is your favourite food?
Really good chocolate cheesecake. With raspberries.
Which of your books is the dearest to your heart, and why?
Whatever books I've had to fight for tend to become dear to my heart. Courting Midnight, became a bit a wrangle, both between me and my editor, and between me and myself. I'm really proud of the way it turned out, plus it's Lucius's story and he's one of my favorite characters.
Has anything a reviewer or reader said or written about you changed the way you write? Rosie’s Question
No. Or almost no. Once or twice a reader has complained about something I thought was really silly, and I made a point of doing the thing again in another book.
I do realize this might annoy readers to hear, but the only way I can continue being a writer, to continue taking pleasure in the process and staying fresh, is to trust my own vision first and last.
Whether you listen to other people or mainly yourself, it's impossible to write a perfect book, so I follow the path that most sustains my creative energy.
Mind you, I'm okay with readers having opinions about my books--that's part of what makes reading fun--I simply hold the firm belief that only I should determine what goes in them.
When was the last time you went overseas and where did you go?
I went to London and Bath two summers ago with my buddy, Nita Abrams. It was my first time there and lots of fun. (Pictures on my website for the curious.)
{Bath is booootiful!!}
Who’s your favourite romance hero of all time?
Darcy, or if you prefer, Colin Firth's Darcy *g*
{Karen interrupts again: I take it you like Colin Firth then?}
Who’s your favourite romance heroine of all time?
Maybe the heroine in Katherine Neville's The Eight. She was incredibly brainy and grew into being incredibly kick-butt, compassionate and brave. She had a wonderful character arc.
What kind of characters would you say you typically wrote? – Lisa’s question
Well, I'm not fond of characters who are victims, though many of my characters have had rough pasts. I tend toward characters with a dark side, flawed people with some deep inner strength that needs to be brought out.
I like to explore the journey of how they grow as people, how they become braver or more accepting (including of themselves), and how they learn to do the biggest, scariest thing, i.e., open their hearts to someone they love.
If only one person could read your book, who would that be? Rosie’s Question
I hope you don't mean one person, period, cuz I don't think that small! My ambition, aspiration, whatever, is that the people who have the capacity to love my books find them. When push comes to shove, I suspect that's what most writers want.
What was the last movie you saw?
Layer Cake
Name your top five favourite romantic films.
Off the top of my head:
Heaven Can Wait, Casablanca,
Bridget Jones Diary,
Emma Thompson's Sense and Sensibility,
Blade Runner
{Blade Runner? Was that romantic?}
If you could be any other author, who would you be and why?
I wouldn't want to be any other author. I only want to be a better me.
{Good answer}
What was the last book you read?
A Book of Angels by Sophie Burnham
Have you ever written a book that you didn’t particularly care for, and do you cringe if you see people picking it up to read it?
Fortunately, the only books I cringe over are the ones that didn't make it into print.
Finally, when’s your next book due out, and what’s it about?
Courting Midnight is out October 4th. It's the third in my Midnight series and features Lucius from the first two books. It's set in the Regency. I call it "Jane Austen with Teeth." Here's the blurb:
Lucius White is the oldest living vampire in the world, a powerful shape changing upyr. For the last several hundred years, his life has paled to mere existence. That is, until a mystical roadside encounter has him assuming the identity—and the emotions—of a village squire.
The local matchmaking mamas have no idea he isn't what he appears, but their efforts to bag him are for naught. It's poor but spirited Theo Becket who captures his immortal eye. Lucius uses his vampire thrall to seduce her, only to realize he wants to win her heart fair and square.
Sounds like you’ve got another winner on your hands, yay!
Thanks for your time Emma!
Thank you for your interest!
Well folks, I’ll be in Florida, for the next couple of weeks, so there wont be any interviews posted, but when I return, I shall be talking to author, Julie Garwood. BTW, I love the intro on her site, go check it out!
Website: http://www.emmaholly.com
Genre: very steamy romance and very romantic erotica
Latest book in shops now: I have a mass market reprint of Personal Assets coming out in early September.
Before we begin this interview, I need to check that you’re still grounded and that your head isn’t swollen from all of your success, so with that in mind, what was the last thing you bought on Ebay, and do you know how much a carton of milk costs?
Well, I don't know that my answer will allow me to make any claims about having a normal-sized head, because the only thing I've ever bought on ebay was a book by Gennita Low as part of a fundraiser. (Good writer, BTW.) And I have no idea what a carton of milk costs because I never drink it.
Name your top five favourite books that you read as a child:
The colored fairy books edited by Andrew Lang, The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, and The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I liked plenty more, but those are the ones I'd still re-read today.
{Karen interrupts: I loooooved The Little Princess!}
What does a typical day as a writer consist of?
My day's pretty free-form, but in general: a very little yoga, breakfast, write till I'm tired of writing, then take a jog or a walk to clear my head. I'll often edit in the afternoon.
I don't purposefully write at night, but sometimes I'll just sit down to get what I think is a good line or scene idea on paper, and I'll lift my head a whole scene later. I guess you could say my writer's day is part structured, part led by inspiration.
Name your top five favourite books of all time.
Hm. Pride and Prejudice, I guess, in part, because I relive the miniseries with Colin Firth while I'm reading it. The first Harry Potter. Interview with the Vampire. Dune was an imagination-changing book.. Another book that swept me to a truly cool historical otherworld was Katherine Neville's The Eight. That book had such scope and excitement it really blew me away.
Which authors are you glomming at the moment? (reading a lot of?)
Right now I'm really enjoying Charlaine Harris, Laurell K. Hamilton, and Kim Harrison. All H's. I wonder if that means something . . .
{ummmm… I’ve no idea}
Do you have other close romance writer friends, and if so who are they?
Writers do tend to gravitate to each other, if only to have someone to complain or crow to who really gets what they're talking about. I have a great pair of writing/lunching/crowing buddies in Michele Hauf and Nita Abrams.
When did you realise that you wanted to write books, and who or what inspired you?
I don't remember *not* wanting to write, but I'm sure my favorite books as a kid (see above) gave me the idea that being a writer was a Good Thing.
If you could have a one-to-one conversation with a famous historical figure, who would it be with and what would you talk about?
It might sound weird, but I'd want to talk to Jesus, hear things from the horse's mouth, as it were--what he really said, what he really did, what he thought about Mary Magdalene.
I'm pretty nondenominational myself, and always have been, but that whole story has fascinated me since I was little.
What is your ultimate goal when it comes your writing?
To entertain people and to touch them, to make them feel more excited about being human beings.
What is your favourite food?
Really good chocolate cheesecake. With raspberries.
Which of your books is the dearest to your heart, and why?
Whatever books I've had to fight for tend to become dear to my heart. Courting Midnight, became a bit a wrangle, both between me and my editor, and between me and myself. I'm really proud of the way it turned out, plus it's Lucius's story and he's one of my favorite characters.
Has anything a reviewer or reader said or written about you changed the way you write? Rosie’s Question
No. Or almost no. Once or twice a reader has complained about something I thought was really silly, and I made a point of doing the thing again in another book.
I do realize this might annoy readers to hear, but the only way I can continue being a writer, to continue taking pleasure in the process and staying fresh, is to trust my own vision first and last.
Whether you listen to other people or mainly yourself, it's impossible to write a perfect book, so I follow the path that most sustains my creative energy.
Mind you, I'm okay with readers having opinions about my books--that's part of what makes reading fun--I simply hold the firm belief that only I should determine what goes in them.
When was the last time you went overseas and where did you go?
I went to London and Bath two summers ago with my buddy, Nita Abrams. It was my first time there and lots of fun. (Pictures on my website for the curious.)
{Bath is booootiful!!}
Who’s your favourite romance hero of all time?
Darcy, or if you prefer, Colin Firth's Darcy *g*
{Karen interrupts again: I take it you like Colin Firth then?}
Who’s your favourite romance heroine of all time?
Maybe the heroine in Katherine Neville's The Eight. She was incredibly brainy and grew into being incredibly kick-butt, compassionate and brave. She had a wonderful character arc.
What kind of characters would you say you typically wrote? – Lisa’s question
Well, I'm not fond of characters who are victims, though many of my characters have had rough pasts. I tend toward characters with a dark side, flawed people with some deep inner strength that needs to be brought out.
I like to explore the journey of how they grow as people, how they become braver or more accepting (including of themselves), and how they learn to do the biggest, scariest thing, i.e., open their hearts to someone they love.
If only one person could read your book, who would that be? Rosie’s Question
I hope you don't mean one person, period, cuz I don't think that small! My ambition, aspiration, whatever, is that the people who have the capacity to love my books find them. When push comes to shove, I suspect that's what most writers want.
What was the last movie you saw?
Layer Cake
Name your top five favourite romantic films.
Off the top of my head:
Heaven Can Wait, Casablanca,
Bridget Jones Diary,
Emma Thompson's Sense and Sensibility,
Blade Runner
{Blade Runner? Was that romantic?}
If you could be any other author, who would you be and why?
I wouldn't want to be any other author. I only want to be a better me.
{Good answer}
What was the last book you read?
A Book of Angels by Sophie Burnham
Have you ever written a book that you didn’t particularly care for, and do you cringe if you see people picking it up to read it?
Fortunately, the only books I cringe over are the ones that didn't make it into print.
Finally, when’s your next book due out, and what’s it about?
Courting Midnight is out October 4th. It's the third in my Midnight series and features Lucius from the first two books. It's set in the Regency. I call it "Jane Austen with Teeth." Here's the blurb:
Lucius White is the oldest living vampire in the world, a powerful shape changing upyr. For the last several hundred years, his life has paled to mere existence. That is, until a mystical roadside encounter has him assuming the identity—and the emotions—of a village squire.
The local matchmaking mamas have no idea he isn't what he appears, but their efforts to bag him are for naught. It's poor but spirited Theo Becket who captures his immortal eye. Lucius uses his vampire thrall to seduce her, only to realize he wants to win her heart fair and square.
Sounds like you’ve got another winner on your hands, yay!
Thanks for your time Emma!
Thank you for your interest!
Well folks, I’ll be in Florida, for the next couple of weeks, so there wont be any interviews posted, but when I return, I shall be talking to author, Julie Garwood. BTW, I love the intro on her site, go check it out!
posted by Karen Scott at
4:35 pm
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