Interview & Giveaway: Emma Savant

Interview

I’m thrilled to be doing my first interview with the incredible Emma Savant. She is the author of the Glimmers series. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly suggest it. You can read my review of the first book HERE, second book HERE, and third book HERE. This is one of my favorite series! I hope you enjoy the interview, and look below for a giveaway.

1. For someone who hasn’t read any of your Glimmers books, can you describe what they’re like?

The Glimmers series follows a teenage faerie godmother, Olivia, through her internship at Portland’s premier faerie godparenting agency. When her supervisor ends up on the hospital after a flying pumpkin accident, Olivia ends up taking on a new client: Elle, a feisty Cinderella archetype who wants nothing to do with the enchanted prom and Prince Charming that have been assigned to her.

Readers have described the Glimmers books as “witty,” “fresh,” and “realistic.” That last adjective delights me, as the Glimmers books are elbows-deep in magic wands, backfiring spells, hidden palaces, and other accoutrements of enchantment. I’m thrilled people find the characters and stories relatable, even with all the magic!

I can attest that it’s definitely relatable, even though there’s magic. I loved the world that you’ve created.

2. Where did you get the idea for the Glimmers series?

My husband and I moved to Oregon a few years ago. One day, we were driving over one of the many bridges that spans the Willamette River in Portland—Marquam Bridge, I think it was—and I looked over the water and had the distinct thought, “There are mermaids in that water.” I looked out at the skyscrapers that make up the Portland skyline, glittering dull silver in the filtered sunshine, and instantly, I knew there was a secret world of faeries and magicians hidden in rooms and glamoured buildings all throughout the city.

I’d been playing with this modern fairy tale idea for a long time and had started many iterations of stories that combined magical tropes with modern elements, but this was the first time the world I was trying to create crystallized. I got home and started writing, and the first Glimmers novel was finished within a year.

That’s awesome. I love how you created the story from real life. If only there really were mermaids in that water!

3. There are currently three novels and a novella in the Glimmers series, are you planning on writing more books? If so, can you give us a hint what they’re about and when they’ll be released?

The next book in the Glimmers series is set to release sometime this summer, assuming the characters behave themselves and don’t go off on the kind of adventures that require lots of editing. It’s an adult novel that follows a new protagonist: Dior Miller, a Glimmering pop star whose new manager promises to spin her dreams of stardom into gold—for a price. It’s a loose retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, and the villain has been utterly creepy to write.

Oooh, that sounds delectable. I love creepy villains! Can’t wait for it. I’ll cross my fingers the characters behave themselves.

4. What did you edit out of your any of your Glimmers series?

I plot tightly, so there wasn’t a lot to take out. Glimmers of Scales, the second book in the series, ended up requiring more editing than I expected, but that mostly involved rearranging scenes and adding words to be sure character motivations were as clear as I needed them to be. The supporting character Imogen’s journey in that novel is particularly complex and takes place mostly offstage, so clarifying that as much as I could within the constraints of the story was important. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my editor for helping me find and patch all the gaps in Imogen’s character development, because it made for a much stronger book.

That makes a lot of sense after having read the books. Thank goodness for editor’s!

5. If you could tell your younger writer self anything, what would it be?

Write. It’s the advice I think most writers would tell their younger selves—“Write every day!”—but it really is the best I’ve ever come across. A lot of beginning writers, myself included, are full of junk: melodramatic scenes, one-liners that aren’t as clever as they seem, plots that seem original at first but turn out to be horrible cliches. Once you get all that out of your way, which can take thousands upon thousands of words, you’re ready to really start writing—and after all that practice, you have the tools and judgment you need to turn those melodramatic scenes into great ones, and those cliche plots into stories that will keep your readers turning the page.

Of course, I’m still a work in progress as a writer, and my stories don’t always come out exactly as I hope. That’s where a good editor comes in!

That’s such great advice, and I think is so true. Future writers, take note!

6. How many unpublished and half-finished novels do you have?

Dozens. I finished something like six novels before I published the first Glimmers book, and have at least that many half-finished books that got abandoned when I wrote myself into a corner. Out of all of those, there are three stories I’d like to eventually rewrite and publish.

Fascinating! It’s crazy to think of how much work went on behind the scenes before you even got to this series. I hope you are able to rewrite and publish those three stories someday.

7. What is your favorite childhood book?

I was obsessed with Little Women as a child; something about the way Alcott described that domestic world of hard work and womanhood resonated deeply with kid me. Went back and re-read it in adulthood and found myself not nearly as entranced as I’d been at age nine, but that’s probably true about most things I liked at age nine. I also was (and am) crazy about the Harry Potter books; I read the first one thirty-five times before I stopped counting, and I can still recite the first page or two from memory. Rowling’s ability to create an environment in my head that feels more real than the physical world amazes me.

Oh, yes, Little Women is such a classic. It’s funny how things aren’t the same as when when were were kids. Except Harry Potter. Those books are transcendent I think. I can’t believe you read the first one so many times though. That is excellent!

8. What would you like to tell your readers?

I think it is so freaking cool that you’re reading my books, and it’s such an honor that you’ve chosen to spend your time in the Glimmering world. If you want to be the first to hear about any new books that come out, subscribe to my newsletter. I hope you enjoy these stories as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them!

Thank you so much for being here to share your love of books with us!

Giveaway Time!!!

One winner will receive an ecopy of the whole Glimmers trilogy!

A huge thanks to Emma Savant for being willing to provide these books!

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