"Who in their right mind wouldn't want to read a book by Mark Barry!" (Mary Quallo, St Louis)

"Who in their right mind wouldn't want to read a book by Mark Barry!"  (Mary Quallo, St Louis)
Coming next week - Carla Eatherington

Friday 10 August 2012

An Interview with Emma Edwards



The stunning Catherine Deneuve - 
classic ageless Sanguinarian in "The Hunger"


Sanguinary  

adjective
1.     accompanied by much bloodshed
2.     bloodthirsty
3.     consisting of, flowing, or stained with blood (Collins English Dictionary)

Sanguinarian - Blood Drinker 



Last week, Wizardwatchers had the pleasure of visiting Honolulu. This week, we turn our navigational gaze to the cold,windswept and mysterious land of the Ancient Britons, Wales, and the much vaunted work of neo-Gothic crime and horror writer Emma Edwards  whose first book, Sanguinary has been chilling the bones and freezing the blood of those who have read it. 

Wiz stocked up on garlic and silver bullets and - from the safety of the Wizphone Callbox - spoke to Emma about her highly rated first novel and matters criminal, literary, bloody and dark


Emma Edwards - 
hot new neo-gothic wordsmith behind "Sanguinary"
Hi Emma! Tell us a bit about yourself. Where do you live? Do you work? Are you married? Kids? 

Hi Wiz!! Home is Cwmbran, South Wales.  It was my 15th wedding anniversary on Thursday.  15 years?  Oh dear, now that makes me sound old!  I have two gorgeous children.  The rest of the household is made up of two Westies (one called Luci-Fur, she's a bit naughty but as my cousin once said to me, what do you expect when you name your dog Luci-fur?), two hamsters and a leopard gecko.  I work from home, my husband is self-employed and I help out his business when needed and when not needed I write!

Tell Wizardwatchers about "Sanguinary."
  
Sanguinary is, I would hope, a different sort of vampire novel.  Rather than being about traditional vampires my book is about 'real vampires' or otherwise 'normal' people who need to drink blood.  The idea started when I saw a documentary about people who claimed to drink blood and it ran from there really.  

Sanguinary has elements of horror, vampirism and romance all set to a rock n’ roll backdrop. 

Striking cover to Emma Edward's "Sanguinary"



Great cover, Emma. Where does the idea come from? I personally think roses are an absorbing emblem. Did you design it yourself?

Thank you. The roses are very symbolic throughout the Sanguinary series, to me and the characters.  I've even got the tattoo!  There is a part in the book where the character Ash describes what the rose means to him.  It's a symbol of awakening, discovering and the colour is always red, for blood.  Cover design was a joint effort between my husband and I, fortunately for me he is quite handy at these things.  We took the photo ourselves, which involved him having to buy me some roses, believe me flower buying is not a regular occurrence in the Edwards household!  We played about with lighting until we got the perfect picture, I have to say I love the cover!



The book melds crime and horror - which fields the stronger impetus behind your work?

I read both genres but I'm more of a horror girl at heart.  I feel that the vampire element and the relationship between Ash and Angel is the main plot to Sanguinary, the crime is the sub-plot.

The quintessential Count Dracula; and the
quintessential blood drinking scene: From frigid spinster
to blood drenched nymphomanic in one sanguine sip. (Dracula, Prince of Darkness, 1966)


How do you write? Longhand into Word? Straight into the PC? Are you methodical or freeform? Are you a 2k a day woman or a mad binge writer?

I write straight onto the PC.  There is absolutely no method to it, only madness!  Usually I will have a beginning and an end and the rest just comes after.  I'm not strict with myself about writing a certain amount a day, when it flows, it flows!   When the writing is really under my skin I'll be constantly thinking about what comes next, whatever I'm doing and I will form the scene in my head.  Except then the scene will loop around and around in my head until I can get it out, via my fingers onto the screen in front of me, only then will I be able to stop thinking about it.  Like I said, madness.  But I guess the methodical side does kick in when I am editing and I get a bit OCD then.


Three books, two CD's and one DVD for your desert island marooning, please, Emma.

Tricky, so hard to narrow it down, but here goes....

Books:
Killing me softly by Nicci French

Vaunted Nicci French obsession thriller


I would also have to take It by Stephen King with me, and From the corner of his eye by Dean Koontz too.

For music, I'd take Artwork by The Used

Rebels and mischief makers, "The Used"

and the classic The Path of Totality by Korn




My sole DVD would be close between The Lost Boys and The Crow but I guess it has to be The Lost Boys, after all it was my introduction to the world of vampires in my younger years.

A night out with a writer, a comedian and a musician. Where would you go and what would you eat?

The writer would be Stephen King, I have admired him since I started reading his books when I was a teenager.  

Genius writer of "The Shining"



The comedian would be Eddie Izzard and the musician would be Bert McCraken of The Used.  So much to do, so little time!  

Actually, I'd take them to the little beach by the Gwendraeth river, where we could talk and laugh.  I can see it now, us sitting around a campfire, with Bert playing his acoustic guitar.  As for eating, despite all the blood and gore, I'm actually a vegetarian and as we're on the beach it would probably be a picnic, champagne and strawberries sounds good.

Bridge over the Gwendraeth River
Does Wales play a big role in your books? Does the Welsh environment play a part in your ideas and writing?

I find it's easier to write about what I know.  Sanguinary is set in Cardiff, whose streets are very familiar to me.   I worked for about five years in an office block just on the outskirts of the city centre.  Every lunchtime I would end up in the city centre, usually spending all the money I had spent the day earning, this was in my single days before kids arrived to spend all my money for me. 

Back Street Cardiff: Capital City of blood drinkers

So I have maps planned out in my head of where the characters live and the routes they take throughout the book. I also spend a lot of time in West Wales, it has to be said the view of Gwendraeth river can be very inspiring.  

  
What do fans of the brilliantly titled Sanguinary and Emma Edwards have to look forward to in the coming year?

The second part of Sanguinary is almost there, I can exclusively reveal to you that the working title is 

'The Slayer'.   

I am working on editing at the moment, so hopefully this will be finished within the next few weeks.  

I have also just published a short story, just a bite sized taster of my writing, it's called Upon Reflection and is available now!




After that I have several other novels in the works and there will also be a third part to the Sanguinary Trilogy.

Emma, it's been a privilege and an honour to talk to you and I know Wizardwatchers will want me to wish you every success with your novels.

Thanks, Wiz. Loved it!!

Contact Emma at: www.emmaedwards.net


Buy "Sanguinary" at:


Chat with Emma on Facebook: 

www.facebook.com/sanguinaryseries

Tweet with Emma at: 

Twitter: @Emledwards

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