Introducing New York Author and Poet EMMA EDEN RAMOS

Today I have the great pleasure of presenting Emma Eden Ramos, a fellow Muse author and talented poet.

Emma's YA Fantasy novel "The Realm of the Lost" will be released by Museitup Publishing in September. But Emma is already a well known author of “Three Women: A Poetic Triptych and Selected Poems” 

Emma, welcome to my blog. Thanks for being here today.

Other than ‘author’ what are three words you would use to describe yourself?

Reader, daydreamer, introvert.

Do they influence you as a writer? Or the genre you write?

I am certain that being a voracious reader affects my writing in terms of both genre and style. Perhaps this isn’t true for some writers, but I find it difficult, when writing in a particular genre, to read anything remotely similar. When I’m writing a young adult or middle grade story I may read poetry, literary fiction and/or memoirs. When writing poetry or literary fiction, I’ll find myself reading YA or MG literature. 

I don’t know if being a daydreamer has helped me as a writer. It certainly got me into trouble as a grade school student. Being able to transport oneself into an alternate reality can certainly be useful practice for a writer. But it can also be a distraction. If you find yourself talking to the ghost of Janis Joplin while trying to write a poem about flowers, you’ve got a slight problem. Learning to be a disciplined daydreamer seems to be the most productive option. How is that attained? I haven’t the faintest idea.

Daydreaming as a discipline sound like a subject I could enjoy. J

You are an accomplished poet as well as author. What is it about poetry that fires up your muse?

Generally, I’m more comfortable writing prose, but good poetry is as inspiring as any other artistic medium. What’s so wonderful about contemporary poetry is that it has split off into different subgenres. Free verse is still very much alive and, though I’ve never been able to write it, it is wonderful to read. Prose poetry kick-starts my creative engine (or muse) like nothing else. I reread Vladimir Nabokov’s Pale Fire last summer, and it inspired me to write a long, character-driven prose poem of my own.

You are about to be published with Museitup Publishing, what inspired your story ‘The Realm of the Lost’?

I wrote The Realm of the Lost both as a tribute to the people in my life who suddenly passed away and as a way of understanding my own mortality. The idea for The Realm of the Lost came to me in 2010 while I was at a family wedding. This was the first event our family had attended since the death of my grandfather, and the wedding was held on what would have been his 93^rd birthday. My grandfather’s death was not a tragedy because he lived a full life.  There are people in my life, however, who have died too soon and under tragic circumstances. I began thinking about my grandfather’s death and the way in which my memory of it differed from my memory of the others. Do the circumstances surrounding someone’s death dictate whether or not they rest peacefully? Does going to your grave as a result of an accident change your trajectory, or is that just a perception that we, the living, have?  I began asking these questions and found myself writing The Realm of the Lost on the plane ride home from the wedding.

Amazing place to be penning a novel, but it has obviously worked.  I remember reading J K Rowling said she came up with the idea for Harry Potter while travelling on a train.Your motivation behind Realm of the Lost sounds fascinating.

Previously you published “ThreeWomen: A Poetic Triptych and Selected Poems” telling a compelling story through poetry. Please tell us more about this fascinating project.

In March 2011, while attempting to confront some personal demons, I started writing poetry for the first time in years. Given my state of mind, the poems were dark and angry. One poem caught an editor’s attention and he asked me to write a chapbook. I decided to write a longer piece in which I told three different stories in three parts.

Three Women: A Poetic Triptych tells the story of three women: Annette, a British-American psychoanalyst whose son committed suicide just before his seventeenth birthday; Julia, an angry and rebellious sixteen year old who is grieving the loss of her brother; and Milena, a Croatian Immigrant whose father committed suicide not long after fleeing his country before The Croatian War of Independence. The three characters are personally connected in a way that is revealed at the end of the triptych.

Interesting subject. I look forward to discovering how they are connected.  

Do you have a regime when writing? A special place, time, mood or do you snatch opportunities to pen ideas or write a few lines?

I try to set aside time every morning and every evening. During the summer I like to write outside in Central Park. I live in New York City.

I could only ever day dream living in a city of that size. What material the atmosphere would provide for your stories. I am tempted to say WOW. LOL. Makes me sound easy to impress. Hmm... Then again, I am. J

Does your Muse follow rules and plot lines or does she offer ideas on a whim?

My muse is generally happy to offer ideas, though she does find me a bit difficult to work with. As I stated earlier, I am a daydreamer. There are moments when my “muse” screams, “quit thinking about moving to Finland and concentrate!” On the occasions that my muse has stopped me in my tracks to offer an idea, I’ve had to be careful to write it down immediately. The herds of people in Time Square don’t generally appreciate it when someone comes to a halt, whips out a journal and begins to scribble. But some ideas are worth getting knocked over for.

I am not going to ask… why Finland… another day maybe. I will watch for your sudden halts if I ever have the pleasure of visiting New York.

What are the most dramatic changes you have made to a story you have written? What prompted the change?

There have been a few occasions when I’ve changed the main character’s name in the middle of a story. It’s strange, but names do make an enormous difference when creating a character. 

So true, choosing names is important. 

Who  published Three Women: A Poetic Triptych and Selected Poems?

Three Women: A Poetic Triptych and Selected Poems was published by Heavy Hands Ink.

Where can we get this book?

Three Women can be found on Lulu at http://www.lulu.com/shop/emma-eden-ramos/three-women-a-poetic-triptych-and-selected-poems/paperback/product-16811308.html. It’s also on Goodreads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12513712-three-women.

Recently I was honored to be a guest on your blog, at Emma Eden Ramos. You have some great guests and posts there. Well worth a visit and keeping in touch with. Now, the exciting news is your new book is only a few months away.

September sees ‘The Realm of the Lost’ released through Muse. Where can we follow your career and find you on the internet?

My website is http://emmaedenramos.weebly.com/. I can also be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Emma-Eden-Ramos-Author/271172469591291. Thank you so much for having me!

Thanks for participating Emma, it is wonderful to have you here today.