Made in NH– Authors: Emma Leigh Reed
By Amy Ray
This is the seventh in a series of ten-question interviews of authors who represented NHWP at the Made in New Hampshire Expo booth.
Do you believe in second chances? In Emma Leigh Reed’s romantic suspense novel, Second Chances, Kira shut herself off from love until Grant returned. Together, they share a growing spark and many secrets. Can love heal broken trust?
Emma Leigh will be at the New England Authors Expo (Danversport Yacht Club, Danvers, MA) on Wednesday, July 29th from 4pm - 9 pm.
Amy Ray: What inspired you to become a writer?
Emma Leigh Reed: Being an avid reader all my life, it just seemed the next logical step to turn to writing. There were so many stories turning in my head.
AR: What is the most challenging aspect of writing for you?
ELR: Staying focused on one story. I have ideas for another eleven books so it’s hard to stay focused on the story you are writing when your mind doesn’t shut off.
AR: There are many typewriter fans here at the Writers’ Project. How do you write: computer, typewriter, longhand, dictation…?
ELR: I typically write on my laptop, but I carry notebooks and pens with me and have been known to write anywhere. My first book I wrote the majority of it sitting at my son’s baseball games and writing longhand.
AR: Plotter or Pantser? (Do you plot ahead of time or fly by the seat of your pants?)
ELR: I have a seed of an idea and I just run with it. I can’t plot as my stories are very much character driven and every time I try to plot them, my characters fight me..
AR: What was your path to publication: agent with traditional publisher, small press, indie publishing or self-publishing?
ELR: I started with a small press and have since indie published three of my books. I am still doing an agent search and would love to get in with a big traditional publisher. However, I think I would stay hybrid and still do some self-publishing along with the traditional route.
AR: How long did it take you to get from your initial inspiration to the finished product?
ELR: Typically I will have an idea and within a year have a finished product. For me, writing is the fast part. I can write a book in six to eight weeks and then the editing and fleshing out of the barebones draft comes.
AR: How do you market your books?
ELR: I have participated in giveaways, Facebook launch parties, blog tours and am in the process of setting a book tour with readings throughout New Hampshire at local libraries and bookstores.
AR: Do you have any advice for other writers?
ELR: Keep writing. And don’t be afraid of writing a crappy first draft. You need something to edit and your first draft will never be great. So throw it all out there in your first draft and then edit, edit, and edit some more. And find a good editor to work with when you have done your multiple rounds of edits yourself.
AR: Are you working on a new writing project?
ELR: I have another release scheduled for September (A Time To Heal), am finishing up another one (A Fine Line) that will be released in February, 2016. After that, I’m diving into another book (Finally Home) that has been burning to get out.
AR: What are you reading now?
ELR: I just finished reading the first two books of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children. They were excellent. My Kindle is full of books to be read ranging anywhere from thrillers to romance. I have Lisa Olech’s Rock Solid on my nightstand.
Amy Ray’s book, Dangerous Denial, is a Silver Falchion nominee in the category of Best First Novel: Thriller/Mystery. Ray also has a short story in the New Hampshire Pulp Fiction anthology, Love Free or Die. She lives on the seacoast and is a longtime member of NHWP.