Meet Emlynn McDermott
My hearts, I’m very pleased to introduce you to my friend Emlynn McDermott.
She is a self-published author specializing in contemporary women’s fiction. She wrote her first novel, Gone in a Flash, purely to entertain family and friends, never intending for the book to have a wider audience. Fortunately, one of her best friends saw the situation differently and encouraged Emlynn to put the book on Amazon. When a total stranger rated it five stars, she immediately got to work on her second novel, The Dark Side of the Wall. Since then, Emlynn has authored the international award-winning title Two Truths and is working on a fourth novel. When she isn’t in front of her computer, you can find her hiking and fishing. She lives in Florida with her husband and a cat who bites her ankles if she sits still for too long.
Emlynn and I met when we were in an online book club together. I loved Two Truths and I even though it’s not romance (my favorite genre, you know well), I asked her to let me interview her. I think you’ll love her and her work.
JEN: Emmy, thank you for letting me interrogate you. Let’s talk about your work!
EMLYNN: Gone in a Flash, my first novel, is probably still best appreciated only by family and friends because it’s based on true events from my life (yes, even the bombing).
JEN: Well, now I need to read that one! And the others?
EMLYNN: The Dark Side of the Wall, my second novel, is still my readers’ favorite. The technology—including Superman—is real.
JEN: Okay, stop. Now I’m dying of curiosity about that one.
EMLYNN: Two Truths, my third novel, is a winner of the international Firebird Book Award for both women’s fiction and magical realism, the Royal Palm Literary Award silver medal for women’s fiction, and an Indie Florida book selection.
JEN: All well deserved.
EMLYNN: Thanks! Dark Desert is my work in progress, which at the rate I’m going will not be available to read for a couple of years.
JEN: I can relate to that. I’ve been picking at my current work in progress for nearly a year. What do you like to read?
EMLYNN: I enjoy reading almost every genre, although I will pass on a horror book that I’m sure will keep me awake for more than one night. If pressed to choose a favorite, I’d have to say historical fiction. I love reading it and wish I had the patience to write it. Instead, I write emotion-filled contemporary women’s fiction. One of my favorite themes is appearance vs reality—and why we should not be so quick to judge others.
When people ask me who my favorite author is, I usually say, "The one I'm currently reading."
JEN: I have said that too. I’m such a mood reader! I fall in love with every book.
EMLYNN: That might sound like pandering, but it's the truth. I love discovering new authors and always go into a book assuming it's great and looking for proof.
As for narrators and cover artists, I don't sell enough books to afford them. I license artwork and then edit it myself to create my own covers. I also tried recording The Dark Side of the Wall as an audiobook, but that didn't go too well. I struggled to voice the different characters, so I scrapped it. I may try again in the future with Two Truths because I wrote it in the first person, so it should be easier to record.
JEN: Oh, that’s a great idea! I’d listen to that!
Let’s talk about your team. Who supports your work?
EMLYNN: I'm close friends with Patti Gordon, who is not only an author but also runs Deepwater Press, an indie publishing house in Atlanta. She published my first two e-books before cutting me loose to publish on my own. I went on to self-publish my third e-book as well as paperback versions of all three novels, but I will be forever grateful to Patti for seeing my potential and giving me my start in the publishing world.
Everyone who reads the back jacket of my books knows I have a cat who bites my ankles when she thinks I need a break from writing, but I don’t talk enough about the support I receive from my husband. He’s an indie filmmaker, and even though he aspires to create a film based on his origin story, he still allowed me to steal it and spin it into my fictional story, Two Truths. I’d say there’s no greater gift he could have given me, and no better way to champion an author than by inspiring her to do her best work.
JEN: That’s beautiful. You’re lucky to have each other. What’s the hardest critique you’ve gotten on your work? And what’s the best compliment?
EMLYNN: I’ve received constructive criticism from fellow authors, and my subsequent books are the better for it. Before the pandemic, I attended a weekly author critique group at my local library. When the group switched to online meetings, I stopped attending because I already felt isolated, and I thought meeting online might make me feel worse. Instead, I reviewed their notes about my first two novels and applied similar edits to the draft of my third novel, Two Truths, which went on to win awards. That would never have been possible without the earlier criticism. As for compliments, I think the best one has been from a reader who thought that the climactic scene in The Dark Side of the Wall was based on a true-life experience. I explained the scene was one-hundred percent fiction, which amazed the reader because it felt so real to him. I think that was the day I finally felt comfortable calling myself an author.
JEN: That’s so flattering, right? That’s amazing.
Tell me about your writing routine.
EMLYNN: Early bird here—I am definitely most creative then. I work best in silence, but for my current WIP I have a rally song. (I need a song because I have not been good about writing--marketing takes up so much of my time!) Since I know you're going to ask, I'll just tell you: the song is Highwayman, and it's about reincarnation, which is central to my latest story.
JEN: The old Jimmy Webb song?
EMLYNN: No. It’s “Highwayman” by The Highwaymen (Kris Kristofferson—whom I once sat next to on a plane when first class was full—Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson). I heard it on Amazon Music’s Thanksgiving playlist when I was drafting Dark Desert and it fit so well with my book’s theme that I immediately downloaded it to listen on repeat.
While we’re talking music, I also want to give a little shout out to all the great indie musicians out there. Whenever I have enough time, instead of using packaged music for my social media reels and videos, I license indie music. It takes a bit more time to find just what I want, but the reward is a post that's truly unique.
JEN: Is there a service you recommend for that?
EMLYNN: I license music from Melodie—they have an extensive collection of tracks from indie musicians, which they are constantly updating, and their search tool is excellent.
JEN: Cool! I’ll put a link in the blog post. Anything else about your routine? What do you eat or drink when you’re working?
EMLYNN: I tend to write in the early morning, and I couldn’t do it without multiple cups of coffee. Later in the day, I'll switch to water, though. No food. That would muck up my keyboard.
JEN: Where are you from? Do you live now where you grew up?
EMLYNN: I’m originally from New Jersey but have lived in many states. I love to set my novels in places where I used to live. That way, when I miss being there, I have only to read my book to travel back. It’s a nice benefit of being an author.
JEN: Oh, yes. I love that. I set part of Holland’s story in the town where I grew up. One of my friends from elementary school wrote me on Facebook to tell me how cool it was to read the name of our little town in a book. Then she remembered it was me who wrote it! It made me giggle. A nice reconnection.
What do you do for fun when you're not writing, Emmy?
EMLYNN: I love any outdoor activities, so I walk or hike almost every day. That’s the reason I have a hat on in almost every photo! Rain doesn’t stop me, but I make an exception for hurricanes. When I’m in the mood for something slower paced, I enjoy fishing. Most of the time I don’t catch anything, but I still have fun.
[Note: We did this interview weeks ago. But I checked on Emlynn and she’s safe from Hurricane Debby!]
JEN: Who, or what, made you want to start writing?
EMLYNN: I’m an avid lifelong reader who always dreamed of writing a book. Some years ago, I signed up on the first day of NaNoWriMo, not realizing that you were supposed to prep beforehand. A month later, I had the draft of my first novel. Of course, it was exceedingly rough, but it was something I could print and hold in my hand, just like any other book. I was smitten and have taken part in NaNo every year since, although I do not write a new draft each time. When I’m not writing from scratch, I adopt the NaNo Rebel label and work on an existing project. It gets crazy around Thanksgiving, but otherwise it’s a tradition I eagerly anticipate each year.
JEN: I think my version of that is summer. Since I’m a schoolteacher, I binge write during the break.
How does writing make you feel? Do you find it energizing or exhausting?
EMLYNN: I find creating energizing. It’s the marketing that exhausts me. Whereas I trust my creativity, I’ve always been shy about promoting my novels. It’s weird because I love to shout about other author’s books, and I have confidence that my writing stands up against the best of theirs, but putting my work out there is difficult. Bookstagram has been a great help to me in that regard, primarily because I was lucky enough to connect with an amazing blogger, Beth, from Beth’s Book Blogs. Beth is a wiz at promotion. Whenever I approach what she’s doing to get my books in front of readers’ eyes, she ups her game and I’m playing catch up again. No one, including me, markets my books better than Beth does.
Other Bookstagrammers who’ve been especially helpful include Patricia Rullo of Speak Up Talk Radio, who runs the international Firebird Book Awards, where entry fees benefit a shelter for women and children; Jennifer Cyphers, an incredible indie author who was the first Bookstagrammer to read Two Truths and has hyped it ever since; Amena Jamali, who writes the most beautiful prose I’ve ever read and also runs an online book club to promote indie authors; Hayley Anderton, who runs Indie Visible, where she offers low-cost services such as book tours and sales events just for indie authors; and Sine Boe, one of my earliest follows, who has done more to bring Florida authors together online than any other person I know.
JEN: Amena is a mutual friend.
[NOTE: I checked. These are all mutual friends! I love our community!]
Thanks for sharing all these all these folks.
Tell me, where do you get the ideas for your novels?
EMLYNN: The amazing thing about being an author is how differently I see the world now. The smallest detail can inspire an entire novel. For example, I lived in the apartment where I set The Dark Side of the Wall. It was a pretty unassuming building, not unlike any other townhouse-style apartment you may have seen, but it had one odd structural detail that I spun into an entire story. I’ve finally learned a thing or two about marketing, so I won’t tell you what that detail was, but I will say that it’s not something I created in order to make the story possible. Architects really designed the building exactly as I describe it in the book, and it was pretty creepy.
JEN: Oh, yes. Don’t spoil it! No spoilers! But yes, I get that too. It’s the quirkiest things that can trigger a story. Emmy, thank you for doing this. It’s been such a pleasure!
My hearts, please take a look at Emlynn McDermott on her website and follow her on Instagram (where she and I met and she says she hangs out). Also, check out YouTube for her book trailers. She’s also got inspiration boards for her books on Pinterest. I’m glad I’m not the only self-published author with content on all those sites! But please check out the coolest thing Emlynn has going… her publishing house: Spellbound Page! That, I do not have.
I hope you’ll read Emlynn’s books and leave her glowing reviews. I started with Two Truths and highly recommend it. Next up for me is The Dark Side of the Wall—too intriguing to miss!
Are you a human author? A human who narrates audiobooks? A human who designs book covers? Or a human who does PR and promotion for other authors? I'd love to interview you, too. Let me know when you’re ready!
