Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a stay at home mom of four and I am always on the lookout for clean reads to pass along to my kids. When my husband was in post-graduate training we had a limited income and I spent a couple days a week at the local library with my little kids because it was totally free. I have always been a voracious reader, but it was during those years I fell in love with young adult literature. I’d take the kids to story time and then spend another half an hour perusing the YA section and taking a stack of books home. Now that I’m a mom of teens my kids and I love recommending books to each other and I am trying to teach them to not just read anything that falls into their hands, but to be selective and learn from the best books that are out there. I believe strongly that books can be entertaining and teach us something about ourselves at the same time.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My book Cecilly in Cinderland was published in October 2016. Two things shaped this book: my love for fairytales and childhood summer trips to Yellowstone National Park. Cecilly is at it’s heart a retelling of Cinderella with an emphasis on families coming together to support each other. The heroine and her sisters travel to a magical land where their wish is granted and the setting is based largely on the Old Faithful Geyser basin. After my third child was born, I stayed in the Old Faithful Inn and wandered the geysers and hot pots at night and read ghost stories about the park on the second floor mezzanine. The park took on a creepy feel viewing it on a cold night with steam all around, listening to the constant burbles and hisses of the fumaroles and geysers. After that trip I wanted to capture the park’s beauty and wild side and spent two more years attempting to get the feeling right in Cecilly in Cinderland.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I do most of my writing in my head when I go to sleep. I had terrible insomnia as a kid and one night after crying about it to my mom she told me to just close my eyes and make up a dream and that would help me fall asleep. So I tried it and stopped caring if I didn’t sleep because I had discovered that I could make stories up and watch them in my head. I see everything before I write it down and I hear all the dialogue and run it over and over for a few nights before typing anything out.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Is there enough space on here to list all the authors? As a young adult I loved Agatha Christie, Mary Higgins Clark, L. M. Montgomery, Robin McKinley, David Eddings, and Charlotte Bronte. As an adult: Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Garth Nix, Robert Jordan, Shannon Hale, and Sarah Eden.
What are you working on now?
I am working on a Beauty and the Beast retelling. It has a sort of nod to the difficult years my husband and I spent getting him through medical school and residency.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am so new at this, I’m still learning.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write because you love it. It sounds weird, but since getting published it’s like I don’t write anymore just for the pure love of it. I’m so busy trying to figure out how to promote books, make visits to schools, figure out sales tax, etc. Block out specific times you’re going to forget everything else and just write a story that speaks to you and enjoy it.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Participate in a critique group! I learned so much about writing from my peers.
What are you reading now?
An oldie, but goodie: And Both Were Young by Madeleine LeEngle.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Some fellow authors from Fire and Ice and I are kicking off a month long author event in April celebrating strong heroines in literature. Check out my facebook page for more details.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
A Tale of Two Cities, Pride and Prejudice, Seeking Persephone by Sarah Eden, and (this is embarrassing to admit because I’m anti vampire) The Host by Stephenie Meyer.
Author Websites and Profiles
Emily S. Deibel Amazon Profile
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