Interview with the author…

Emma Brattin answers questions from Amy Midgett and Bailey Roberts regarding her upcoming novel and various other topics.

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Most writers at some point are asked where they get their ideas. What are your thoughts on why you get your ideas? 

I never really know how it happens. Sometimes, like for Rocky Road, it was as simple as I'm on a walk and an old, decrepit pickup truck careens by with an equally old man that looks like he's trying to strangle the steering wheel. Suddenly I have the whole story in my head and go home and write it in one draft.

Your two favorite fictional characters meet in one novel. What's that story about?

Oh, I love this question! Nancy Drew of Nancy Drew Mysteries meets Abed from Community. She uses him to decipher clues that lead them through an old Hollywood legend. Every once in a while, Ned gets jealous of their interactions but Troy pops in and teaches him to rap, successfully distracting him (okay, that's a stretch, but I can still see it happening!).

A publisher offers you a deal to write a ten-book series, but the stories must take place in the distant future or the distant past. Which timeframe do you choose, and why? 

Heavy question! There is so much I love about the freedom of writing for the future -- nobody knows how it should be. The creative allowance is huge! 

Writing about the distance past... Heart Pins (draft expected August 2025), is written in the early 1990's. Is that considered distance past? Ha. If so, that is my ideal time frame. There is little--if emerging--technologies that allow full character development, with no interference. Person must speak to person face-to-face. Detective must travel to location to research. Travel plans happen at the airport ticket counter. A phone call is attached to a wall or walking to a nearby town to find a phone. I like having to write all this detail.

How do you choose your characters' names?

Another great question. I love the name choosing question. Although, naming my own children was the hardest part of planning a new kid. You must consider how it sounds as a baby, a toddler, starting school, a teenager, on a resume, as an adult, as a grandparent. Does it sound like something else that it shouldn't? Mature? Young enough? Easy to pronounce?

Then taking all those ideas and tossing it aside if I like something else. Hermoine of Harry Potter is a great example. I had no idea how to pronounce it when reading the book. But the movie--and the perfect casting--I couldn't image her with any other name now. 

Charlie is the lead of Heart Pins. I went a little tomboy, which felt right for her character.

What is your ideal writing environment and is it available to you now?

I have to be alone to write. I need time to enter that zone of writing. It's a total separate state of mind. I can't write without that zone. Sometimes I have the opportunity, often I do not. I take a lot of notes on Notes in my iPhone, too, then utilize them when I do have the time to focus.

Are you a published writer? If so, how was that process. If not, what are your concerns about the process?

While I have photography published, I am not yet a published writer. As far as concerns? Two things keep me going. First, I love to write. My highly creative mind requires an output, and writing comes naturally. So much validation in completing an assignment! Second, I plan to graduate with my MFA. This will be my fourth degree. When I want to graduate, I do. In order to graduate with this degree, I am required to have a fully completed novel. What better confidence can I get that I will succeed with my novel? 

What is the most difficult part of writing for you? 

Time constraints and illness are the biggest manifestation of interruption in my life. I have three children and am sick often. My children are the best thing that have ever happened to me, so they are priority over a lot in my life. But thank goodness they're understanding with deadlines and, with my illness, what I call "dumb days", when I can barely formulate a sentence… they're 99% of my inspiration. 

To you, what makes a great story? 

To me, a great story has intrigue, suspicion, a little romance, characters that become human, and total resolution. 

How do you handle writer's block? 

A legitimate question. I've tried a few things but lately I've been opening up to my husband more when I have bad days (whether related to writer's block or "dumb days" or just stress). The conversation often spurs my creativity and releases my mind from holding onto whatever was blocking my writing.

Writing is rarely blocked in its own right--check out other things that are in the mind, likely be able to work past it. 

Think of Dan Rydell in Sports Night. He had writer's block and was required to write his evening script as a sportscaster on tv but couldn't even write a single thoughtful sentence. What cured his writer's block? He was stuck on a totally different topic and needed Casey to be patient with him as he worked through it all.

Do you experience imposter syndrome as a writer? If so, how do you push past these negative thoughts? 

I struggled with imposter syndrome for several months. But like I said up above, by the end of this degree, I will have a full novel. That is something in itself--that is a huge accomplishment. Maybe it won't find a Big Five, but you know? The ability to write an entire book makes me a writer. 

I also have a wooden block on my desk that says, "stop acting so small, you are a writer". I glance at it when I need a reminder. I don't have time to doubt myself. I use that energy to focus on my writing. 

Thank you, Amy and Bailey, for your participation!

-Emma