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 93rd 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.
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.
