Five Questions for Emilie Richards

Most bestselling authors don’t get back to you when you write them asking if they will read your soon-to-be-published book. I know. I’ve tried. It’s an uncomfortable position for new novelists. But we all need to come to terms with it. I wrote to several, thinking I’d be really lucky to hear from any of them. Not that I held it against any of them. Time is a precious commodity for writers—which is one of the reasons I was so touched when Emilie Richards got back to me. But Emilie Richards, bestselling writer of over 60 novels, some of which have become movies, didn’t just get back to me. She read SCRAPBOOK OF SECRETS and wrote a lovely blurb about it—I am so grateful and honored.

Here’s my questions for Emilie:

MB: You’ve written several popular series of books. What is so appealing to writers about crafting a series?
ER: For readers, novels featuring familiar characters are a homecoming.  If a novelist’s done her job right, then she’s created characters readers want to know more about, and storylines they want to see completely resolved.  For authors, series are a joy because we do much of the setup before the first book, then use and reuse it with each subsequent novel.

MB: I’m reading TOUCHING STARS right now. From a reader’s perspective, it’s a wonderful story, great characters, and so on. But looking at it from a writer’s perspective, I am in awe of the way you shift perspective between your characters, even within chapters. Has that been a natural storytelling voice for you? Or is that a technique you work on consciously?
ER: Thanks, Mollie.  I’m particularly careful about point of view, and only switch characters if I start a new scene.  “Head-hopping” can be a problem for clarity and I never want to yank a reader out of the story and back to the real world because they aren’t quite sure who’s thinking what.  But I do love having the different perspectives of multiple characters.

MB: Your newest book is SUNSET BRIDGE and pie plays a part in it. Can you tell us a little about the role of pie your books?
ER: Wanda Gray, probably my “favorite” character in the series because I’m never sure what she’s going to say, relaxes by baking pies.  Eventually her “hobby” turns into her profession, until in the last book, she gains a certain fame and the offer of a fabulous opportunity.  She’s forced to decide what really matters to her.  Meantime, as the author, I got to write about and research pie, and came across your wonderful cookbook as I did.  What fun.

MB: Speaking of pie and food. Your books have a lot of good food in them. I know you have several “Quilting with Emilie” books out, but have you ever thought about a cookbook?
ER: Nope.  I do love to cook, bake all my own bread and do most things from scratch.  But I’m not an original cook.  I find great recipes, like yours.

MB: You knew this question was coming, right? If you could be any kind of pie, what would it be and why?

ER: Chocolate meringue.  A really rich, dark chocolate with possibly a bit of coffee in the mix?  A mile high meringue.  Just for starters, of course. . .

Thanks so much, Emilie, for visiting my blog today. Check out her website at http://www.emilierichards.com