Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Interview With Em Garner + Giveaway

Ladies and gentlemen! The time has come to select one courageous young man and woman for the honor of representing District 12 in the 74th annual Hunger Games!

I'm only joking.

Get ready for an awesome interview with Em Garner! :D

Em Garner, Contaminated, The Magic Violinist, signed copy, giveaway,
Check out the awesome purple hair!
Em Garner writes books.
She began writing at a very young age, always preferring the stories about what goes bump in the night. An avid reader of horror, science-fiction and fantasy, she first turned her hand to short stories about the sorts of things that hide under the bed…and she kept right on going.
Now Em spends most of her time in front of her computer, writing away at all the ideas she has swirling around in her head and hoping she can get them into a story before she forgets them.
She loves zombies, unicorns, and rainbows, the color purple and the smell of roses. She hates the smell of lilies, the feeling of corduroy and biting sandpaper. (Well. Who doesn’t?)
She lives at the beach with her family, where she spends a lot of time reading and sticking her feet in the sand. She is afraid of sharks, but that doesn’t stop her from going in the water.




1. Who or what inspired you to write?


I've always told stories, and I've been writing since elementary school. When I was in sixth grade, I figured out that people write books for a living! As a job! And I decided then that's what I wanted to be when I grew up.

2. What are your top three favorite novels?

Imajica, Clive Barker. Boy's Life, Robert McCammon. Kushiel's Dart, Jacqueline Carey.

3. What is your favorite thing about writing?

Being able to tell stories and make stuff up. I love it!

4. Me, too! What inspired you to write Contaminated?

I was driving home from the beach and a line came to me "They keep them in cages. The unclaimed." I'd been tossing around an idea about contaminated protein water that made zombies, and I LOVE zombies, so it all fell into place. I wrote a few pages long hand and finished the rest of the book in a couple weeks.

5. A couple weeks! That's impressive! What is the hardest thing you've had to do in your writing?

Balance my time. I often work and work without taking a break, because it's so hard to finish anything.

6. What is the best piece of advice you could give to teen writers who want to get published?

Write. And write. And write some more. Read what you like. Write what you want to read. Learn how to spell and use proper grammar, but also discover your voice -- that's what will set your writing apart from everyone else's. DREAM BIG.

7. Finally, what is your favorite thing to munch on (or sip) while writing?

Can't live without my Coke Zero!

If you'd like to win a signed copy of Contaminated, check out the Rafflecopter giveaway below! :D Thanks for doing this, Em!
Sorry, USA only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh exciting! I absolutely love her hair! :) And the beach. Oh I'm so jealous!

Boquinha said...

Great interview! She sounds like a lot of fun. :) I love hearing how authors handle their writing schedules and process. Thanks for sharing! How cool that she's/you're doing a book giveaway, too!

Dr. Mark said...

Great interview! I always love hearing the "behind the scenes" stories from authors of all genre.

Keisha Martin Romance Writer said...

Awesome interview love your hair, and also your author voice definitely is not like any other writer, I wish you always so much success because your just too amazing.

CG @ Paper Fury said...

Great interview! I looooved reading Contaminated. Zombies as you haven't seen them before. XD Definite recommend. Woot for having such an awesome author chat with us!

Rich said...

Im only doing this for the 2 points. No, Im joking! :P The book sounds pretty cool! :D

Rich said...

Im only doing this for the 2 points. No, Im joking! :P The book sounds pretty cool! :D

The Magic Violinist said...

Note to everyone: I forgot to mention in the post that Em will be responding to comments/questions. So if you have a question, please speak up! :D

Boquinha said...

Oooh, I have a question! I always wonder if an author majored in creative writing or journalism or some such in college, or if he or she simply got into writing organically (or both). Was a college degree part of your journey in being published? Thanks!

ashley tahg said...

ok. I'm going to compliment her hair because OH MY GOSH THE COLOR. YES. WOW. TOTALLY. LOVE.

I have a special place in my heart for people with unusual hair colors because that makes them 108% more awesome.

Unknown said...

Ok, finally, it looks like I can make comments!

To answer your question, YES. I majored in Journalism. I started off in Communications Media and switched my junior year because I'd always wanted to be a writer, and really figured I should do what I wanted to do.

Unknown said...

However, my feeling about writing is...nobody can teach you to be a writer. Sure, you can learn grammar and spelling and plotting and stuff, but writing itself is an organic thing. It's going to come from inside you. I would never say go to college to be a fiction writer. Go to college to get life experience and major in something that will give you money so you can afford to write until you earn enough money from your writing to quit that job. Ha. But always try to do something you love. Always.

Boquinha said...

Thank you for the response! I think that's fantastic advice. I often tell people that college is good for life experience and meeting people, teaching you to learn/think, and exposing yourself to so much more knowledge. Major in what you love; go on for additional training or schooling beyond that for marketability.

I love what you have to say about it. It IS organic and learning can enhance that, but not necessarily "teach" it. Very inspiring - thank you so much!