Hi everyone! I've been on LibraryThing for a few months now, and it's an absolute pleasure to have an opportunity to chat with you.
A few of you might have read
Last Night in Montreal already. Even if you haven't, please feel free to ask questions about the book or about writing.
(Or alternatively, tell me what new fiction you've read recently that you liked -- I'm always looking for recommendations.)
Emily-- First let me say that I loved your book and recommended it highly on Early Reviewers! I don't want to give away anything, but I am haunted by the figure in the black angel outfit with the lopsided wing. Where did you get that idea?
Berly, thanks very much! I really appreciate you recommending my book.
When I lived in Montreal there was a strip club I used to walk by on my way to work (I was working retail, but this was on Rue Ste.-Catherine, which might have the largest concentration of strip clubs of any street in the western world), and the sign featured a neon outline of a rather voluptuous angel.
There was something moving and a little sad to me about the idea of a stripper/gogo dancer wearing wings to emulate the sign, so I went with it. Michaela's not the sanest character you'll ever encounter in fiction, so wearing a pair of child's halloween angel wings seemed in keeping with her character.
Hi Emily!
I just started your book this week and am absolutely loving it! I love your style of writing, it's so fresh. I am from Quebec originally and have lived and spent a lot of time in Montreal so that first off intrigued me but the premise then yanked me in completely. I will post a message here again soon as I can't put the book down!
As for recommendations: I read A Reliable Wife just before starting your book and absolutely loved it.
Cheers,
Clamato
Hi Clamato! Great to hear you're enjoying my book, and thanks very much for the compliment on my writing.
I've heard great things about A Reliable Wife. I think A Reliable Wife and The Gone-Away World might be my next book purchases.
Emily,
What is your favorite part of the writing process (e.g. creating the idea, first draft, editing, seeing the finished product, etc.)?
Drew
Drew,
Seeing the finished product is an unbelievable thrill. But if I had to pick a part of the actual process of writing the book, I'd have to say editing. Writing the first draft from scratch is always the hardest part, at least for me; I find editing easier, because by that point I know what the story is -- and even though I might make drastic changes to the plot between the first and second drafts, I have a framework to work with.
Emily
Seconding the endorsement of
A Reliable Wife! I have no problem editing other people's work, but have a tough time on my own. Interesting to hear your process and... I have to ask you to do it all over again, soon! I look forward to you next book. Any ideas?
That's interesting... I have a much harder time editing other people's work, because I worry about being too harsh and hurting their feelings, and it's so easy to succumb to the temptation to start rewriting their work the way I'd write it if it were mine. Editing my own work is comparatively easy.
I'm excited about the next book. A couple of months back I sold it to Unbridled Books, the house that just published Last Night in Montreal -- it's called The Singer's Gun, and it comes out in spring 2010. Working on final revisions.
Congratulations and way to go Unbridled Books! Can you give us a teaser? What's The Singer's Gun about?
I tend to lose the big picture editing my own stuff (and ponder word choices instead). I try to be nice when I edit other people's work, LOL!
Thanks for the congrats! I'm absolutely thrilled to be working with Unbridled on a second project.
The Singer's Gun is a story about a man who sells social security numbers to illegal aliens in New York. It's a noir-influenced criminal mystery; a story about love, human trafficking, surveillance, and the hazards of family.
Hi Emily, Many congrats on your books! I am very much looking forward to reading them. How do you make time to work on a new book while promoting this one? Any tips?
Hi Emily,
I finished the book yesterday and am at a loss as to what to read next because yours is still so very much on my mind. It was a story that I could not wait to get back to and sorry that it had to come to an end. There were surprises at so many turns and very well crafted and written. I wish you much success with this book and I am looking forward to The Singer's Gun very much. Keep us posted here on LT- you are definitely an author to watch!
Clamato
Clamato,
Thanks very much! I truly appreciate your kind words about Last Night in Montreal.
I have to spend more time on LT... I really like it here.
Best,
Emily
Hi CM! Thanks for the congrats. I'm probably the absolute worst person to give advice on balancing working on a new book and promoting the current one, since I just, um, completely lost myself in the new book and forgot about my Librarything chat for a few days. (Terribly embarrassing.)
I've been trying to promote my book every day, but particularly during the week in the evenings after work (that's when I'm most active on Twitter, etc.) On weekends I've been going all-out on the new book (sometimes for ten hours at a stretch) and I take breaks to do promotional things throughout the day.
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