EMERY FOGG AVAILABLE NOW!
Posted on March 6, 2021
Interviewer: And so begins another interview where you juggle both parts.
Me: Well, these self-interviews are loads of fun.
Interviewer: Are they? Seems like your definition and my definition of fun are separated by a pretty wide gulf of 'that's not funny.'
Me: Au contraire. I found what you just said funny.
Interviewer: Okay, well, maybe readers aren't tuning in for the meta exchange you are having with yourself here. And perhaps refrain from speaking French. Your face bunches up oddly when you attempt that accent. Can we proceed?
Me: I wouldn't have it any other way.
Interviewer: You have a new book out, yet again.
Me: It's a series.
Interviewer: Okay, series. What's so special about this Emery Fogg gal?
Me: What's not special about here?
Interviewer: Stalling tactic. And annoyingly vague. You'd think by now your interviewing skills would be flawless. I mean, you get to cherry-pick what I ask.
Me: Doesn't seem that way. You're quite obstinate.
Interviewer: No, you are.
Me; Okay, let's just move this along.
Interviewer: Not my fault you're a little easily distracted, conversationally.
Me: So Emery Fogg is a new series. It's three books, at least the first season is.
Interviewer: Season?
Me: Yes, my plan is to release them in groups of three. Each book runs between 30,000 and 40,000 words and tells an overarching story. The first trilogy is called "Finding Family."
Interviewer: So you plan on doing more?
Me: Most definitely. Book 2 is written and will be out in early summer and book 3 will close out the first adventure in October. After that, I'll write two books not a part of the Emery Fogg series and then return to books 4-6 in time to publish them in late 2022.
Interviewer: Sound ambitious. What is it about Emery that has you so excited?
Me: Well, a beta reader challenged me to write a book with a female lead. I jumped at the chance and found in doing so that it really spoke to me.
Interviewer: Did you handle it differently than writing about your normal protagonist, a geeky pre-teen boy?
Me: I didn't consciously write with a female perspective in mind. I decided early on to write from a strong character POV. Emery is resourceful, creative, uncertain, caring, plucky, and genuine because of her individuality and not because she's male or female.
Interviewer: And do you think you succeeded in writing a believable heroine?
Me: Yes, she's engaging and you root for her. You feel Emery's pain and you thrill at her successes.
Interviewer: I can tell by how animated you are that you're just one proud papa.
Me: I am and not just of Emery. Her sister and her mom are wonderful cast members that have the reader invested because of how the importance of family runs through the series.
Interviewer: Your books focus a good deal on heart and hope.
Me: I'm an optimistic guy. And with the world the way it is now, we need more of that. Emery Fogg sparks adventure. It flings the reader into a world that is a true magical delight.
Interviewer: You always do so well in making your magical creatures unique. Is that on display in this series as well?
Me: Absolutely. The dragons don't just breathe fire and ice, they can summon warps and travel to other dimensions. And their role in Major Usonia, the magical realm where Emery lives, is complicated.
Interviewer: Because they're evil and kidnap fair maidens?
Me: No, because of their participation on the wrong side in the Great Battle.
Interviewer: And that battle is . . . ?
Me: Is a big event that happened several hundred years ago and still influences Emery's world. She finds little clues that tie her family to that world-shattering fight. I don't want to say too much about the dragons as they feature heavily in the second book. Details of the Great Battle are sprinkled throughout the series as Emery uncovers what happened back then and just how much she's connected to such an ancient struggle.
Interviewer: So, let's hear more about the creatures.
Me: There are merfolk who walk about on land thanks to aqua helms they wear. Trolls run rampant throughout their burrows and eavesdrop on conversations from below. There's an imp and vampires.
Interviewer: Sounds like a lot of species to introduce.
Me: Well, many of the details are tossed here and there as juicy world-building. Vampires are mentioned in book 1, but you meet them officially at the start of the second book. They have a special ability that they resort to in the daytime. And the imp is a key player but meeting his people and understanding why Ligon is different from his fellow imps will be looked at in later books. And the troll burrows, they'll likely get their time in the limelight later as well.
Interviewer: And the merfolk?
Me: More to see of them in future volumes. You can begin to understand why I want to expand the series to more than just the first three adventures. There's just so much potential in Emery's world.
Interviewer: Tell us about the magic. You've got some pretty specific intentions with it.
Me: Definitely. Magic is really divided into three aspects: shadow, light, and prophecy.
Interviewer: But Emery's family doesn't want her to do any of it. They just let her read about magic and forbid her from experiencing it.
Me: Emery's family have a good reason for keeping her away from magic. She learns why in the first book and that sets her on a new path. That, and tragedy get her to move along a magical trajectory.
Interviewer: Tell me about the qualifiers in the titles.
Me: The first three books are: Emery Fogg Takes to Magic (Sort Of), Emery Fogg Conquers the Warp Dragons (Mostly) and Emery Fogg Defeats the Shadow Swarm (Pretty Much). The qualifiers indicate that whatever she sets out to accomplish isn't always resolved in a tidy manner. I like that idea. Good beating back evil happens, but it's messy. I think it tells the reader there are complexities at work in the story, that they're getting a character who gets things done but doesn't always wrap up the story with squeaky-clean triumph.
Interviewer: What is the readership you are hoping to attract?
Me: While my books are primarily MG and YA, I think Emery has wide appeal. It's got intricacies and imagination that adult readers of fantasy will appreciate and memorable characters younger readers will identify with and root for. To give you a sense of how well it's being received, one of my beta readers was a junior in high school. He loved it and wants to read more. Another was a middle-schooler who adores dragons. She was also equally taken by Emery's saga. And my grown-up beta readers were also ensnared by the narrative. I always try to fashion a story that can be received by all ages much like a Pixar film.
Interviewer: And do you have ideas for the next three books?
Me: I do. Book 4 will be Emery Fogg Betrays the Imp Empire (Somewhat). Book 5 will likely be Emery Fogg Breaks the Merfolk (Nearly So). Book 6 might be about the vampires, trolls, or even gorgons. Maybe Emery Fogg Unites the Vampires (Just About) or Emery Fogg Unearths the Troll Nation (More or Less). I want to see how things unfold in the first three books before I map out all of the next three.
Interviewer: Any last pitches to drive readers to grab a copy of the book?
Me: Emery Fogg Takes to Magic (Sort Of) is my 30th novel. I write three books a year. The plan is to write three Emery books, then write two others, and then write three more Emery books. Emery is a quick one to pen since the books are more compact, which makes it easy to produce a trilogy every other year and still work on other properties. I want to see 9-12 books in the series in the next five years and feel readers will love Emery's adventures. She's just such a winning character, mostly.
