About Emily Huffman:
Emily Huffman is the author of The Shattered Trilogy, an epic fantasy series releasing beginning in March 2022. Before becoming an author, she worked in fraud—but now she leaves stopping the bad guys to her characters. If she’s not writing, you might find her cosplaying at various conventions, playing Dungeons and Dragons, or playing video games/board games!
What inspires you to write?
I love creating things–having something tangible that I can hold and look at and say "Hey, I made this!" I've always had a daydream going in the back of my mind, and writing helps bring that to life.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
I read a lot of nostalgia reads (YA books published when I was back in middle/high school) and new indie authors! Some notable ones are Christopher Paolini, Rick Riordan, and James Patterson.
Tell us about your writing process.
I am a huge pantser–outlining is my nemesis!! I normally go into a draft with a vague idea of 1-2 scenes I'm going to hit and who the main characters are. Past that, I let the words figure themselves out. This can lead to some VERY messy rough drafts, but some of my reader's favorite scenes were things I wrote entirely at random.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Both!! Whenever I hit a block it's not uncommon for me to sit at the computer asking my characters… "What are you thinking? What are you trying to do?" If they would actually talk back to me it would make editing a lot easier!
What advice would you give other writers?
Surround yourself with like minds and form a critique group! My critique group has been a lifesaver for helping me identify both my strengths and weaknesses as a writer, helping brainstorm, and keeping me sane with looming deadlines.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
People always quote how famous authors such as J.K. Rowling, got rejected in traditional publishing so many times before finding the right publisher for them. I know it's meant to be encouraging, but it always had the opposite effect on me. Like wait–getting rejected 12 times is a good outcome?? I couldn't wrap my head around putting my fate in other's hands, and that drew me to self-publishing. It is a lot of work, and I have to work not only on the story itself, but the editing, the covers, the marketing, and everything that goes into a successful release, but I know I am in control of my novels, their releases, and my success!
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
Over a decade ago when I first looked into self-publishing, it was a world of order minimums and aspiring authors with hundreds of copies of their books in the garage gathering dust while they tried to find their audience. Print on demand and online marketing has entirely changed the game and opened up self publishing to so many new authors who may not have been able to publish in the past.
Overall I think which genres/tropes are popular, what readers wants, all of those things will change, but I feel like the next decade will be mostly stable. Books have survived the transition to the digital age and it has only made reading more accessible. I think the industry can only continue to grow and reach more new readers every year until the next technological advance we all have to adapt to 🙂
What genres do you write?: Epic Fantasy; High Fantasy; Sword & Sorcery
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Emily Huffman Home Page Link
Link To Emily Huffman Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Instagram
All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.
