Q&A with Author Emigh Cannaday

So a little while back, I shared my review of The Flame and the Arrow by the talented Emigh Cannaday. The second book in her Annika Brisby series, The Silver Thread, is available now – it actually has been for awhile. But I’m reviving my mention of her because the much-anticipated (by those of us in the know, who’ve read/are reading the first books!) third book is reportedly (by Emigh herself) due to come out at the end of July/beginning of August. If you haven’t seen my review, check it out. Amazon doesn’t list the new book – The Scarlet Tanager (release date looking to be August 17, according to the delightful Ms. Cannaday) – yet, but check back often – I, for one, am curious to see what kind of trouble Annika finds herself falling into and out of this time ’round… Whether you’re familiar with Emigh or not, check out this interesting set of Q&A – I “borrowed” them from her website (which you should also check out – and with her permission, of course!) because I thought they were interesting in and of themselves. I’m always curious about what goes on in the heads of writers I enjoy – largely because I’m constantly trying to make sense of what’s in my own head, teehee – and thought you might be too. Enjoy, and if you like a healthy dose of elves and bad-ass heroines with your summer reading, definitely check out the Annika Brisby series!

Reprinted with generous permission by Emigh Cannaday; original text (and more!) available here.

WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO BECOME AN INDIE AUTHOR?
I’m a visual artist at heart, and grew up drawing and painting along with scribbling stories for my own amusement. Artistic integrity has always been very important to me, and I swore I would always stay true to those values. After writing my first book I tried traditional publishing for a few years, but had a difficult time getting my foot in the door. Years later, I now believe it was meant to be, because I think I would hate writing if I had editors chop up my beloved stories until they were completely unrecognizable, or publishers dictating what I should write and how I should write it. The reason I started writing was for my own personal enjoyment. I wasn’t finding the kinds of books that I wanted to read, so I wrote exactly what I wanted to read. I don’t write to trends and I’m not sure I ever would, unless it was to make a mockery of it. I’m proud to be an indie author and I deeply value the creative freedom it’s given me to write what I want and stay true to who I am.

WHAT IS THE GREATEST JOY OF WRITING FOR YOU?
There are two particular joys for me. The first one is watching a character come to life and then take on a personality of their own. For example, Talvi was originally supposed to be sweet and somewhat naive, but we know that’s a far cry from who he actually is. It was like he flipped me the bird and told me, “Oh no, no, no, love. I’m not doing that. I know you want me to, but I have other plans…and they’re better than yours.”

When my characters talk back, I listen to them. So far I haven’t been disappointed. I have been surprised, though.

The other greatest joy is when a reader tells me how much they’ve enjoyed a story or how much they love a particular character or scene. When they say they got teary-eyed or laughed out loud, then I’ve done what I meant to do, which was to invoke genuine feelings in others. I’ve heard from readers whose paperback was falling apart from reading it so much, and others have said they want to see my stories in film or on TV. That’s one of the most amazing feelings ever. I seriously have the best fans, and consider myself very lucky.

DO YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST STORY YOU EVER WROTE?
I told stories with pictures since I was old enough to hold crayons, but “Away with Mitzi” is the first one that I officially published. It was in the third grade, and I won my elementary school’s “Outstanding Young Author” award, which I still have.

WHAT IS YOUR WRITING PROCESS?
Since my background is in making fine art, I create stories the same way that I draw pictures: I start with a few sentences as a loose outline of where I want the story to end up…then I keep adding and erasing and adding back in and highlighting certain areas until I’ve pantsed my way from point A to B. That means I venture down a lot of rabbit holes. I used to dream of being a spelunker (cave explorer), so it makes sense that I’m totally ok with this strategy of blindly groping through the dark. 😉 Also, I can’t stand formulaic storytelling, whether it’s in movies or books. I’ve tried to plot things out in a 3-act structure and it wasn’t the magical writing tool for me that it is for some people. I prefer to have a basic plot and then focus on character growth (or demise) and then revise, revise, revise. And then I revise some more. If I didn’t hop around so much and try to cram so many little nuggets into my books, I’d probably write faster, but I don’t know that I’d enjoy the finished product as much.

Another part of my process for the Annika Brisby series is the dreaded cliffhanger. I know some people hate them because they hate waiting. You know who else hates waiting? Small children and animals. I think cliffhangers can be used poorly, as in a cheap sales gimmick to make people buy the next book, but let’s be real here. First, no one can make someone buy a book. Not even college professors. Second, we are talking about a friggin’ book here, not an organ to become available for a transplant. Waiting for a book will not impair your quality of life, whereas waiting for a liver might actually kill you. Third, if all I wanted was to make money I never would’ve gone to college for drawing with charcoal and playing in porcelain mud. For me, having a cliffhanger is the ‘magic feather’ that propels me into the next book. It lets me hit the ground running and gives me direction. Without it, I’m left staring at a blank canvas, which leads to artistic anxiety, which means no words are going on the page, which means you’ll be waiting even longer to read the next book. So maybe that cliffhanger isn’t really so bad.