Welcome Guest Blogger - Emily Bryan!!
I'm always excited to welcome guests to my blog, and this is no exception. Emily Bryan is a good friend and fellow chapter-mate, though she moved East a few years ago. I interviewed her the other day, and here's what she's had to say.:
EB: I’ve mentioned on my blog tour that I was previously published as Diana Groe, writing my Dark Ages Viking romances, but we haven’t explored it very deeply.
Me: What prompted the switch? Was it the market? A desire to try something new? Your editor or agent?
EB: It was all of those things. I had just finished the manuscript for SILK DREAMS. It’s a harem tale set in 11th century Constantinople and not for the faint of heart. Some of my most complex characters live in that story—most notably Damian, the eunuch spymaster that many of my readers had a love/hate relationship with.
And I killed off a character I really liked. Of course, it had to happen that way. I will not cheat on the needs of the story. But I wept while I did it. I love SILK DREAMS. It’s a “thinking” book, a book that readers have told me stayed with them long after they finished it, but it is not a “safe” story.
I owed Dorchester another book (SILK DREAMS being the first of a two book contract) so I was toying with the idea of trying to write a comedy. I feared it would be like a hippo trying to waltz, but I wanted to give it a go. Artemisia, the artistic duchess in DISTRACTING THE DUCHESS, had begun to take shape in my mind. She started whispering her secrets to me.
About then, my editor called.
It seems the American market is not terribly friendly to historicals that aren’t set in Regency England or Scotland and the closest my Vikings ever got to Britain was the monasteries they looted. When I told my editor I was thinking about writing a light-hearted story set in the early Victorian era, I could almost hear her doing back-flips over the phone.
Me: Do you have fun writing in this new voice?
EB: Oh, yes! I wake up each morning wondering what strange situation I’ll put my characters in so I can work in some witty repartee or unexpected twist. As you may know, Erin, I used to sing professionally. I’ve often compared my Diana Groe books to Grand Opera, full of angst and drama. My Emily Bryan titles are more Gilbert & Sullivan . . . with sex! I used to sing both dramatic and comedic roles. Why wouldn’t I write both?
And actually, I’ve combined my Emily and Diana styles in my upcoming release, VEXING THE VISCOUNT. The primary love story between Daisy Drake and her viscount is set in 1731 London, Emily’s playground. The secondary love story between a Caius Meritus, a freedman, and a Celtic slave girl takes place in Roman Britain, 405 AD—pure Diana Groe.
Me: Is it more of a challenge for you?
EB: The biggest challenge is the comedy. It’s much easier to make a reader cry than laugh. Physical humor, the kind we’re used to seeing in sitcoms is hard to make funny on paper.
I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. In my stagework, the comedic moments required much more rehearsal than the dramatic ones. It’s all about timing. Once I had to sing a duet while running around the stage, timing my movements so I could surprise the audience by leaping out the window at the last moment. I threw myself over the pretend sill to land on a well-placed, if not very thick, pad off-stage.
Another time, I had to throw a pie in someone’s face. This is not as easy as it looks. Choreographing our movements so the event appeared spontaneous, even accidental, required hours of practice. And I was ever so glad to be the “pie-er,” not the “pie-ee.”
So the comedy was a steep learning curve. But I think something must be working with my switch to light-hearted stories. DISTRACTING THE DUCHESS has just been nominated for an RT Reviewers Choice Award!
Me: What was the hardest part about switching subgenres?
EB: I had to research another historical period, but I enjoy that sort of work.
The hardest part is making sure my more serious Diana voice doesn’t sneak into my light-hearted Emily stories. Yes, I still sometimes kill characters off, but in the words of Harry Renquist from TRUE LIES, “Yeah, but they were all BAD!”
EB: It was all of those things. I had just finished the manuscript for SILK DREAMS. It’s a harem tale set in 11th century Constantinople and not for the faint of heart. Some of my most complex characters live in that story—most notably Damian, the eunuch spymaster that many of my readers had a love/hate relationship with.
And I killed off a character I really liked. Of course, it had to happen that way. I will not cheat on the needs of the story. But I wept while I did it. I love SILK DREAMS. It’s a “thinking” book, a book that readers have told me stayed with them long after they finished it, but it is not a “safe” story.
I owed Dorchester another book (SILK DREAMS being the first of a two book contract) so I was toying with the idea of trying to write a comedy. I feared it would be like a hippo trying to waltz, but I wanted to give it a go. Artemisia, the artistic duchess in DISTRACTING THE DUCHESS, had begun to take shape in my mind. She started whispering her secrets to me.
About then, my editor called.
It seems the American market is not terribly friendly to historicals that aren’t set in Regency England or Scotland and the closest my Vikings ever got to Britain was the monasteries they looted. When I told my editor I was thinking about writing a light-hearted story set in the early Victorian era, I could almost hear her doing back-flips over the phone.
Me: Do you have fun writing in this new voice?
EB: Oh, yes! I wake up each morning wondering what strange situation I’ll put my characters in so I can work in some witty repartee or unexpected twist. As you may know, Erin, I used to sing professionally. I’ve often compared my Diana Groe books to Grand Opera, full of angst and drama. My Emily Bryan titles are more Gilbert & Sullivan . . . with sex! I used to sing both dramatic and comedic roles. Why wouldn’t I write both?
And actually, I’ve combined my Emily and Diana styles in my upcoming release, VEXING THE VISCOUNT. The primary love story between Daisy Drake and her viscount is set in 1731 London, Emily’s playground. The secondary love story between a Caius Meritus, a freedman, and a Celtic slave girl takes place in Roman Britain, 405 AD—pure Diana Groe.
Me: Is it more of a challenge for you?
EB: The biggest challenge is the comedy. It’s much easier to make a reader cry than laugh. Physical humor, the kind we’re used to seeing in sitcoms is hard to make funny on paper.
I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. In my stagework, the comedic moments required much more rehearsal than the dramatic ones. It’s all about timing. Once I had to sing a duet while running around the stage, timing my movements so I could surprise the audience by leaping out the window at the last moment. I threw myself over the pretend sill to land on a well-placed, if not very thick, pad off-stage.
Another time, I had to throw a pie in someone’s face. This is not as easy as it looks. Choreographing our movements so the event appeared spontaneous, even accidental, required hours of practice. And I was ever so glad to be the “pie-er,” not the “pie-ee.”
So the comedy was a steep learning curve. But I think something must be working with my switch to light-hearted stories. DISTRACTING THE DUCHESS has just been nominated for an RT Reviewers Choice Award!
Me: What was the hardest part about switching subgenres?
EB: I had to research another historical period, but I enjoy that sort of work.
The hardest part is making sure my more serious Diana voice doesn’t sneak into my light-hearted Emily stories. Yes, I still sometimes kill characters off, but in the words of Harry Renquist from TRUE LIES, “Yeah, but they were all BAD!”
Me: Have you ever considered writing contemporary?
EB: Actually, I have written a romantic suspense which is being considered at a major house. The editor loves it and kicked it as far as marketing, where it seems to have stalled. We’ll just have to wait and see. Publishing wheels grind with glacial slowness. Patience is a required character trait for authors.
ME: Does contemporary work well with your voice?
EB: It hasn’t quite sold yet. At the risk of sounding like Sybil, I think I have a third voice that comes out in the contemporary manuscript. Clean, crisp and brief.
Have you ever read Crichton’s EATERS OF THE DEAD? The movie called The 13th Warrior with Antonio Banderas was based on this story. The tale is told from the POV of Antonio’s Arab character and the voice is entirely different from any of Crichton’s other books.
Like everything else, the author’s voice is an element which must serve the story. That means it is malleable.
What is voice? Word choices? Yes, but it’s more. It’s the unique way the author has chosen to tell the story and I think the nature of the story itself dictates how that happens. Thus, voice is something that changes depending on the needs of the story.
Thanks for letting me visit with your readers, Erin. If any of them would like to try my many voices, I invite them to visit http://www.emilybryan.com and http://www.dianagroe.com. I’m looking forward to being in Seattle March 10th. I’ll be giving my NEUROTICA workshop about adding comedy to your prose to EASTSIDE RWA! Can’t wait.
EB: Actually, I have written a romantic suspense which is being considered at a major house. The editor loves it and kicked it as far as marketing, where it seems to have stalled. We’ll just have to wait and see. Publishing wheels grind with glacial slowness. Patience is a required character trait for authors.
ME: Does contemporary work well with your voice?
EB: It hasn’t quite sold yet. At the risk of sounding like Sybil, I think I have a third voice that comes out in the contemporary manuscript. Clean, crisp and brief.
Have you ever read Crichton’s EATERS OF THE DEAD? The movie called The 13th Warrior with Antonio Banderas was based on this story. The tale is told from the POV of Antonio’s Arab character and the voice is entirely different from any of Crichton’s other books.
Like everything else, the author’s voice is an element which must serve the story. That means it is malleable.
What is voice? Word choices? Yes, but it’s more. It’s the unique way the author has chosen to tell the story and I think the nature of the story itself dictates how that happens. Thus, voice is something that changes depending on the needs of the story.
Thanks for letting me visit with your readers, Erin. If any of them would like to try my many voices, I invite them to visit http://www.emilybryan.com and http://www.dianagroe.com. I’m looking forward to being in Seattle March 10th. I’ll be giving my NEUROTICA workshop about adding comedy to your prose to EASTSIDE RWA! Can’t wait.
Me: Neither can I!
EB: And please leave a comment or question here. I’ll be giving away a signed copy of VEXING THE VISCOUNT to someone who lets me know they’ve stopped by!
EB: And please leave a comment or question here. I’ll be giving away a signed copy of VEXING THE VISCOUNT to someone who lets me know they’ve stopped by!
**Well, you heard the woman! Leave us a note letting us know you stopped by, and you just might win. And as always, stop back soon.
Labels: guest blogger, writers aren't crazy, writing
posted by Erin @ 6:06 AM
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