I'm excited to introduce Emily Devereux, an Alberta-based author whose passion for storytelling ignited at a young age. Her journey began with her first published story featured in the Isabel Miller Young Writers Award Anthology. As a queer woman, Emily champions diverse representation and strives to challenge stereotypes in her work.
Emily's debut novel, Death's Emissary, is the first installment in the Crossworld: Ascension series. The story follows sixteen-year-old Scarlet, who, after a near-fatal encounter with a tyrannical god, binds herself in service to the goddess Death. Gaining newfound strength as a fire mage, Scarlet embarks on a quest to rescue her mother and confront the gods of Quintras.
Beyond writing, Emily's life is filled with "nerdery," from playing Dungeons & Dragons and video games to her day job as a chemical technologist working in environmental research.
In our conversation, we'll delve into Emily's creative process, her experiences in self-publishing, and the inspirations behind her captivating stories. Whether you're a fan of epic fantasy or intrigued by tales of mortals battling gods, Emily's work offers a unique blend of both.
Reboots – a great idea or a lack of creativity?
A bit of column A, a bit of column B… I think reboots can be great, but often are not. It can be really interesting to see a story from a new perspective or lens, or to breathe new life into something that’s cool but outdated or ended before its time. Too often it feels like a pointless or lifeless money grab because it can be a “safe” option to reboot something popular, when it would be more interesting to make something totally new. I have a lot of respect for stories that tell their story and then end before it has stayed past its welcome.
Coffee, tea, or cacao?
Tea all the way! You can occasionally catch me writing at a café with a chai latte in hand, or more often at home with an earl gray. My cupboard is also stuffed with a variety of other teas that I should really remember to make, sometime… I definitely drink more in the cold months, though I’ve been making iced tea in the summer more often now.
What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?
My writing time is rather erratic. I find myself writing 12,000 words in a week, and then writing nothing for the next two weeks after that. I find my life and my energy comes in cycles—working full-time, having lots of hobbies, friends, family… sometimes my focus shifts heavily in one direction or another, based on necessity or what I’m hyper focusing on at the time!
When did you write your first book and how old were you?
The idea for my first book has existed since I was a teen, but I didn’t successfully write it until my mid-20s, when I committed hard and wrote the first draft in seven months. My editing efforts were flummoxed by the distraction of going back to school, but I eventually finished and released it on my 31st birthday.
What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
I’m a huge nerd, so lots of video games, tabletop RPGs (like D&D but mostly not actual D&D these days, I’m too burnt out on it and am all in on weird indie games now), and I’ve finally gotten back more into the reading groove and been catching up on some fantasy books. I’ve also gotten really into rock climbing and recently signed up to work with a personal fitness training student to get stronger for it! I spend a lot of time with my friends, family, and partner, they’re super important to me.
What do you think makes a good story?
Personally, I like stories that make me feel something. Like, yeah, make me cry! A bittersweet ending is my favorite. Compelling characters and a mystery I desperately want an answer to are the things that draw me into devouring a story.
As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
I actually think the first thing I wanted to be was an author! I was an avid Neopets player, and dreamed of having a series in the Neopian Times. That never happened, but hey, here I am a couple decades later as a published author, so it worked out in the end.
I like telling this story because I think it’s very funny: when I was a kid, I got really frustrated with these watercolor paints, and declared that the one thing I DIDN’T want to be when I grew up was an artist. I later went to art school. Life goes directions sometimes.
My career has definitely taken some interesting turns—I have a diploma in digital illustration, worked as a glassblower for 5 years, then went back to school and now I work in STEM doing environmental research and write fantasy books on the side!
What is the first book that made you cry?
I can’t remember the first one, but I can definitely tell you about the one that made me cry the most when I was a kid. I read this book called Ragweed that I absolutely loved, it was about a country mouse that goes to the big city for adventure. It captured my little kiddo heart, and I quickly rushed off to the library to get another book in the series.
Spoilers incoming
In this next book I read, the main character from the previous book gets eaten by an owl on like, page 8, and then the rest of the book is about his brother who ends up getting together with his love interest. I can’t tell you how mad I was, and I cried for two days, and I will never forgive this author. (Please forgive me if you’ve read this series and I’ve gotten any details wrong, I was literally a child when I read it… but I’m still mad.)
What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?
My editor, Hannah Brown, is my best writing friend! She was so instrumental in polishing my first book, as well as simply helping getting it done. We often get together for writing dates on Sundays and work on projects together, which has been super helpful and productive. There’s a couple of other friends of ours that join us, now, too! Finding a community of writers can be very cool, I highly recommend that writers connect with other writers. I was lucky enough to have a writing club with my friends when I was young and also got to go to writing camp as a teen, so I’ve been fortunate to be surrounded by creative and supportive people.
Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you building a body of work with connections between each book?
My favorite author is Robin Hobb, so I’ve been somewhat inspired by her format of interconnected trilogies, where each trilogy can stand on its own but have varying levels of connections between them. I have a trilogy and a prequel trilogy (of novellas, probably) planned out and then I have some thoughts of other things in different parts of the same world that I might tackle afterward. The prequels are the origin stories of important but not point-of-view characters from the main series, but I’m designing them to be readable as standalones as well.
Are you traditionally or self published? Or both? Do you feel there are advantages to one over the other?
Self-published all the way! I didn’t submit to any traditional publishers before going down the self-pub route. I respect both routes, different things are right for different people, but I decided that for me, going in solo was the best option. I didn’t want to be stuck waiting for years for a gatekeeper to accept or reject my work—even if a book is good, it can still be turned down by publishers if it’s not what they think they can market, which is a downer. With most publishers, I also hear you’re expected to do your own marketing, have a social media presence, etc. So, if I’m very likely going to be doing all this work anyway… I want to retain creative control and get paid dollars per book, not cents per book.
I also have a weird amalgamation of experience and skills that put me in a strangely good position to take on a lot of self-publishing tasks, so it’s a good fit for me overall. There’s pros and cons to everything—for example, I’m unlikely to ever see my books physically in a big bookstore—but my book is out in the world on my own terms and that was my priority.
What’s the best way to market your books?
No idea. If anyone knows the one true secret, hit me up. In all seriousness though, different things are going to work for different people and books, so everyone is going to have to figure out what works for them. Right now, I’m just a fledgling little author and just trying to connect with readers on a personal level as much as I can. I thought I would hate writing newsletters, but I think I might actually like it?! So come join my newsletter and chat with me, please! But yep, connections and also the strategy of Writing the Next Book are my focus right now.
What do you have coming next?
First and foremost, the second book in my trilogy—Inferno Incarnate. Progress is coming along, and I’m hoping to get it out into the world late 2024 or early 2025! After that, I was thinking about taking a brief side quest and writing a novella prequel from the perspective of the main villain of the trilogy. But I’m trying to wrap up the trilogy as soon as possible to not keep my lovely readers waiting! Beyond all that… let’s just say I have some other ideas brewing, but I’ll hold those closer to my chest for now 😉
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