An interview with author, Emma Carolan!!

Meet our guest, Emma Carolan!

Good afternoon, Emma. Where are you from?

Dundalk, Co. Louth, Ireland.

What inspired you to write your first book?

Not really sure if I am honest.  It was something that was in my head and needed to come out it was driving me mad.

I know what you mean. Sometimes the words just demand to be written! So, do you write full-time or part-time? How do you balance your writing life with your family/work life?

Part-time.  I have a full time job. I see my family at the weekend and I write mostly in the evenings and at night time.

What jobs have you held that influence your stories?

I worked in a company called Dunnes Stores for a while when I was 17 and then when I was 18 I worked in the Vodafone call center for 5 years. I was made redundant in January 2012 and in March 2012 I worked for a company called Emerald Isle Collections, they are a debt collection company, in January 2013 I started with a company called Arvato and I worked in the debt collection team there and Currently I am working in a call center for eBay. I have only been there for about 4 weeks now.

Do you have a specific writing style?

I just go with the flow and see what comes out if I like it I keep it if I don’t I delete it.  If I don’t know what’s going to happen next hopefully my readers wont either.

How did you come up with the title?

Well for ages it had the amazing tile of ‘Working Title’ and then I called it ‘Green eyes’ (You’ll have to read it to see why lol) and when I was going over it and editing it ‘Leap of Faith’ just seemed right. I seemed to fit with the story.

It's a great title! Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

 Life is not easy.  You don’t always get what you want.  Just because someone looks happy and smiles does not mean that they are happy and most of all money is not everything, money is nothing without love.

 

How much of the book is realistic?

I would say about 80%-90% of it is, hopefully.

Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

No way! Really my life is nothing like that at all. I have had a really good life and if it was based around my life it would be all sunshine and rainbow and its not at all. There is a big romance in it but its not all sunshine!

What books have most influenced your life most?

This is going to sound a bit silly, but I started to read them when I was 13 and before they got popular, Harry Potter,  I loved J.K Rowling's writing and I loved been taken into a different world  one where magic was a real thing and not just something in my minds eye.

That's not silly at all! Harry Potter is quite addictive. Tell us, if you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

W.B. Yeats. I love his poems and his works, I actually have a collection of his poems in my  hand bag right now. Lol

What book are you reading now?

Well at the moment I have not started one as I am waiting for one to come in the post and I don’t want to start one and have to put it down.  I am waiting for the new Sylvia Day book Entwined With You.

Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?

I like Sylvia Day’s style of writing.

What are your current projects?

Book two of ‘Leap of Faith’ is in the works.

Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.

A friend in America that I emailed random notes to, Elizabeth, She seemed to enjoy my randomness and the fact the she did not know me too well made it that bit better because she was not just saying that she liked my work to be nice, she really liked it.

Do you see writing as a career?

No. The day that I write for money (as a career) is the day that I will stop writing, I write because I love to write I don’t want it to become a chore.

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

I don’t know if I would have the courage to do it again, I mean send it away for someone else to approve of it.  I suppose I would try and get a bit more sleep and not sit up until 3am typing most nights.

Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

I always had an interest in writing, when I was 7 or 8 years old I entered a writing competition in primary school, I remember it was a story about my family and I had to draw a picture at the back of it, well I won that competition and the story was on display in Trinity College in Dublin for a week, its probably in the archives now, I can’t remember what I wrote in it.

Can you share a little of your current work with us?

Well here is a poem that I wrote a few days ago, its just a little something that popped into my head:

The Muse Whispered in my ear.

The muse whispered in my ear, she sways my thoughts, persuades my dreams

The muse whispered in my ear, she showed me what I could be

She showed me that I could float above a sky and shin like a star

She whispers in my ear to tell me how great I can be.

If only I could believe in me as much as she believes in me

If only my fear was not greater than by belief 

The muse whispers in my ear, she sways my thoughts, persuades my dream

She can see beyond my time, she can see how great I could be

She sing like an angel in my ear, she sings like an angel in the night

If only I could show her to the world, she could show them what I could be

If only I could show her to the world she could sway their thoughts of me

The muse whispers in my ear, she sways my thoughts, persuades my dreams

She is part of me, if only I did not hide her from the world, then they could see how great I could be

If only I did not lock her in a cage as soon as people saw  she was me 

If only I could set her free, she could show the world what is inside of  me 

She stays by my side, day and night, never leaving my sight

The muse she whispers in my ear, she sways my thoughts, persuades my dreams

She show my what I could be, if only I could believe in me as much as she believes in me

She sings like an angel in the night, she soars high above the sky, she shines bright in the dark of night.

If only my fear was not stronger than my belief, I could be what I am meant to be

She is part of me, if only I could free her from the cage that she sits patiently 

If only I could show her to the world, she could show them what I could be 

She could sway their hearts, persuade their minds

The muse she whispers in my ear, sways my thoughts persuades my dreams.

The muse she is part of me. She is me.

Lovely! Thanks for sharing, Emma. Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Yes. Stopping when I start. I forget that I need to sleep sometimes.

Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

I don’t really have a favorite, but I like it when an author can take me into their world and get me to think the way they think. When I am glued to a book and can’t put it down, Love that.

Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?

At the moment no. Not at all.

Who designed the covers?

The team at Creative Flight Publishing and I worked together as team to come up with the cover. 

What was the hardest part of writing your book?

Finding the time to write it.

Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?

Yes. That I love writing.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Don’t give up. Keep going. If at once you don’t succeed try, try, try again. Never give up on your dreams. 

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Hopefully they will enjoy reading it as much as I loved writing it, hopefully they will fall in love with the characters as I did.

What were the challenges (research, literary, psychological, and logistical) in bringing it to life?

Well to be honest it was all just in my head and it needed to come out, I did not not do much research at all.

What do you think about e-publishing versus technical publishing?

I think its good to have both the options, but I love having a really book in my hands, I love the smell and fell of new book and the first crack of a new spine is just so divine.

Do you have an agent or publisher? How did you go about finding one?

I have a publisher, no agent, I done a search online and I came across a few and I sent the book to a few places in Ireland and a few places in the U.S.A and Creative Flight Publishing got back to me and said they were interested we talked via email, I liked what I heard and then they sent me over a contract I printed it out and sent back and here we are today.

If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

Miami.  Sunshine all the time. 

That's funny! I'd like to live in Ireland. Let's switch! If you could have any super power, what would it be?

Read peoples minds. So that I could know liars and fakes from the real people in this world

Thanks for visiting Write Like a Wizard this week!