Author Bio:
EM Kaplan grew up in Tucson, Arizona where there were no sidewalks but plenty of tumbleweeds. She attended Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts where she majored in English Lit with a minor in Philosophy. She later earned an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Arizona.
She’s also been a Girl Scout, trombonist, toilet-cleaner, beginner ninja, and subversive marketeer.
What inspires you to write?
All kinds of things inspire me to write, but mostly funny or interesting situations, whether it’s something I read or see on the internet or even at a store — airports are insanely good places to be inspired. Anywhere I’m watching people or hearing about things sparks ideas for stories in my mind. Even a bit of dialog will get me thinking.
Tell us about your writing process.
I write in all kinds of different ways — if I have a good idea, I’m not going to let a lack of paper or a bad location stop me from capturing the idea, even if I have to write on the back of a barf bag on an airplane, which I’ve done. I wrote half of a novel in a spiral-bound notebook. Another one was entirely on a laptop. If you want to write, don’t let yourself be confined by ritual or method. Otherwise, it becomes an excuse not to write. On the other hand, if you’re stuck in the middle of writing something, outlines can be extremely useful. Any kind of writing tool or exercise (like a 5-minute writing burst in which you write everything in your mind without regard to structure, spelling, grammar, or format, without stopping for 5 minutes) can help.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I don’t talk to or listen to my characters, but I do like to pretend that I AM them at times. Like, what would Mel say in this situation? What would Ott do here? That’s a great exercise. But I don’t really do it in public. Because then the nice people in the white coats would come and take me away.
I just had a thought…if I stuck one of those Bluetooth thingies in my ear, I could talk to myself all I wanted. I’d look really derpy, but it’s a possibility to consider.
What advice would you give other writers?
Never stop writing, even if you think what you write is utter garbage. Sometimes it is. But sometimes, if you go back and read it later, you find it’s pretty darn good.
Also, always, always get other people to read your drafts. Multiple people. Different types of people. Everyone will see different things and have new questions. And don’t discount their input. They might not always be right, but they will see things that your readers will see and wonder about.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I tried for many years to go the conventional route and get an agent. I wrote query letter after query letter. I knew my manuscripts had potential, but I was beginning to suspect that I was the world’s worst query letter writer. I read the Query Shark blog for many years, as well as other blogs. I copied templates and re-did them. I even considered asking someone else to take a stab at it. After all that, I watched my husband self-publish his first book and decided it was time to give that a try. So far, I’m pleased with the outcome. I own my rights. Any publicity comes from me, so I know exactly what is my responsibility — ALL of it.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think we’ll always have staunch supporters of paper books. There’s an irreplaceable visceral aspect to holding a paper-paged book. They feel good. They smell good. They have body and texture. I love my e-reader and have hundreds of books on it, but I know that the versions of books on my e-reader are actually not my property. And that’s a little strange to think about.
Plus, there’s still the zombie apocalypse to think about — what if we don’t have electricity forever? Eventually, those Kindle and Nook batteries will wear down and unless we have solar chargers for them, or chargers that make you spin twenty minutes on a stationary bike or whatever, we’ll be totally out of luck. We’ll go back to chiseling words on stone. And won’t that make you check your spelling more carefully…
What do you use?
Beta Readers
What genres do you write?
Fantasy and mystery
What formats are your books in?
Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
EM Kaplan Home Page Link
Link To EM Kaplan Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7490029.E_M_Kaplan
http://www.facebook.com/emkaplan.author
http://twitter.com/meilaan
http://www.pinterest.com/meilaan
