The Masked Songbird: Guest Post with Emmie Mears
I first connected with Emmie Mears when we were in one of Kristen Lamb’s blogging classes, and over the last couple years have celebrated her milestones: signing with an agent, accepting her contract offer, & her gorgeous cover reveal. Today she’s here for an interview, and I am thrilled and proud and pleased and excited to be able to help her celebrate the release of her novel…
LR: What’s the most compelling thing about The Masked Songbird, the thing that’s kept your butt in the chair through hours of writing and revising?
EM: I think for me it was Gwen’s tenacity. She’s dealt a hand she never wanted or expected, and while it gives her some fantastic things, it also strips from her certain dreams she’d had. Her ability to keep going when no one would have expected her to is what kept me coming back to her.
LR: Edinburgh. Sigh. One of my best friends just got back from there, and said it was the coolest city she’d ever been to. How did you decide on Edinburgh for your setting, and what did that specific place bring to your story?
EM: Having lived in Scotland for a while, I knew I wanted to set it in the capital, especially considering the political backdrop of the story. It wouldn’t have had the same effect if it had been set in say, Ullapool or Aberdeen. Edinburgh is such a rich city, full of winding streets and hidden closes, and it allowed for a certain amount of exploration for a fledgling superhero that I couldn’t resist.
LR: Which book or author has influenced you the most? What is it about their work that grabs you?
EM: Oh, man. My first attempt at a novel was such a David Eddings retread that it’s kind of adorable. I always really loved his quirk and humor in the midst of serious situations, and I think the main aspect of his influence that I’ve kept with me as I grew into my own voice as an author was that need to make people laugh and cry in the same book.
LR: Do you have any writerly advice for my readers, maybe something you wish you had known early on in the game?
EM: A couple of things I learned pushed me farther faster, I think. The first is that criticism is vital, and if you want to make it in this business, you have to make your peace with it. Sure, it can hurt for someone to tell you your characters are flat or your structure is erm…too creative for the story to be marketable. But this IS ultimately a business, and you will encounter criticism at every single level, whether you self-publish and deal directly with readers or if you go traditional and have to hurdle agents and editors. Hands down the best thing anyone ever said to me about my first manuscript was the fabulous NYT bestselling author Julie Kenner, who told me point blank that it wasn’t submission ready. She was gentler than that, but I needed to hear that more than anything. She was right. I’d felt it for a long time. It freed me to write something new…and that something was THE MASKED SONGBIRD.
The other is that you have to know yourself. I forget who it was who said, “Find out who you are, and do it on purpose.” That is a fantastic quote to live by, and applying it to the craft and business of writing, it means that you’re not required to accept every bit of writing advice out there. Find out what works for you, what sort of cycle and schedule fits your personal needs and then do it. Be deliberate about it. And be persistent. Keep at it. I know plenty of people who wrote multiple novels before any sold, and that’s fine. I’m one of them. Do your thing, improve your craft, take criticism as gracefully as you can, and use it all to keep getting better and better.
LR: Having followed you on FB & Twitter for the last few years, I know you’re a woman of many passions. You’ve got your RPGs, your SPN, your Buffy…and more seriously, your support of the Scottish Independence movement. But what’s your favorite downtime activity? Like, are you a closet yoga fiend? Could you macramé a plant hanger if you had to?
EM: HA! You do indeed know me…pahaha. In my downtime I’m pretty boring. I like to swim when I can (after dark is preferable, because I’m the incandescent white of a newly painted wall), visit museums, and honestly, sit quietly and daydream. I love daydreaming. I’ve been known to sit in bed for an hour at a time and just float away somewhere. I feel like it helps me process the world, and I’m such an introvert that I’m most at home inside my own head.
Thank you so much for having me!
And thank you so much for visiting, Emmie! I hope you’ll come back again 
Blurb:
Mildly hapless Edinburgh accountant Gwenllian Maule is surviving. She’s got a boyfriend, a rescued pet bird and a flatmate to share rent. Gwen’s biggest challenges: stretching her last twenty quid until payday and not antagonizing her terrifying boss.
Then Gwen mistakenly drinks a mysterious beverage that gives her heightened senses, accelerated healing powers and astonishing strength. All of which come in handy the night she rescues her activist neighbour from a beat-down by political thugs.
Now Gwen must figure out what else the serum has done to her body, who else is interested and how her boss is involved. Finally—and most mysteriously—she must uncover how this whole debacle is connected to the looming referendum on Scottish independence.
Gwen’s hunt for answers will test her superpowers and endanger her family, her friends—even her country.
Bio:
Emmie Mears was born in Austin, Texas, where the Lone Star state promptly spat her out at the tender age of three months. After a childhood spent mostly in Alaska, Oregon, and Montana, she became a proper vagabond and spent most of her time at university devising ways to leave the country.
Except for an ill-fated space opera she attempted at age nine, most of Emmie’s childhood was spent reading books instead of writing them. Growing up she yearned to see girls in books doing awesome things, and struggled to find stories in her beloved fantasy genre that showed female heroes saving people and hunting things. Mid-way through high school, she decided the best way to see those stories was to write them herself. She now scribbles her way through the fantasy genre, most loving to pen stories about flawed characters and gritty situations lightened with the occasional quirky humor.
Emmie now lives in her eighth US state, still yearning for a return to Scotland. She inhabits a cozy domicile outside DC with two felines who think they’re lions and tigers.
You can preorder THE MASKED SONGBIRD here (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JD7TWZK)! Released in a box set, you get four great paranormal and urban fantasy books for less than $4!
Follow Emmie on Twitter @EmmieMears and join her on Facebook!
