Firstly, let me apologize for the lateness of this post. I realize it was supposed to be released last week, but I realized that while lying in bed at a campsite where I would be without internet access for two weeks.
Whoops.
So! You get this a tad late, but it is an AMAZING interview and I’m sure y’all don’t mind a lick. 🙂 Let’s get started, shall we? Introducing… Emily Waldorf, second place winner! *fanfare*
The Interview
Hey there, Emily! Thanks for agreeing to do this interview with me! Let’s kick things off by getting to know you a bit better. 😉 Tell us a bit about yourself – what genre you like to read/write, where we can find you online, and what (assuming you have one) your garden looks like.
Hi Joelle (and everybody reading this)! My name is Emily, as you undoubtedly surmised by the title of this post. 😉 I always freeze a little when someone asks me about genres, because I don’t know! I am currently in the middle of like…4 WIPS, and the genres are: two in low-fantasy, I guess??? I have no idea where to put them; one fairy tale retelling; one contemporary fiction/romance. SO! It would be easier to tell you what I do not write: steam-punk, horror, dystopian. I’ve never written mystery, but I wish I could.
I read anything that’s clean, entertaining, and well written; I’m especially interested in expanding my knowledge of the classics and I hardly read any contemporary authors.
You can’t find me online. I would like to start a blog, but currently have no plans to. I am on Story Embers (where I’ve published 3 poems, hint hint) and Christianwriters.com as Emily Waldorf, if you really want to find me.
My garden is huge. We cut down on tomato plants this year: we only bought 26. We also have lots of peppers, cucumbers, and cole products (comment if you know what those are). Among them we enjoy kohlrabi. Please, please comment if you know what that is!
Annnnd, I use way too many: colons: (parentheses); semicolons;
Why did you go into writing? Do you plan for it to be a hobby or career, or something else?
I went into it because I had a story in my head I wanted to tell. I was very little; I suppose my siblings were writing and I thought it was cool. I never finished that story—let the world rejoice!—but I never looked back.
Right now, I’m okay with it being a hobby. I’m not especially interested in a writing career, honestly. Maybe someday, maybe not.
What was your inspiration for your poem, The Midnight Stallion?
Originally, I wanted to write a short story on Joelle’s fabulous picture prompt, but I was out of time and had no ideas. I did have a concept for a poem that would fit with the ‘riderless’ prompt. I’ve always loved poems that repeat a thought or phrase, especially at the end of the stanza, and The Midnight Stallion started with that. Just one word, “riderless”, repeated over and over. I don’t have a clear idea of where it went from there, but I think the rest of the poem sort of grew out of that, as this one word thundered like horses’ hooves in my mind, chilling me and pushing me to write about a stallion.
What is your favorite thing about writing? Least favorite?
Telling myself stories is my favorite thing! My least favorite is the fact that writing takes work and I’m not good at it.
Ok, don’t hate me for this, but do you have a favorite character? Why or why not?
Of my own? Yes! Avin Merrlesby, Duke of Westlyn. But I’m not going to talk about him, that’s boring. Ask me some other time if you want to hear about him. Of other people’s? The answer is prompt: Sydney Carton (A Tale of Two Cities). Okay, if any of you people reading this have not read AToTC, stop reading this interview and go read it! No, I’m serious. Every writer (and non-writer) must read this. If you aren’t interested in it after the first few pages…well, read it anyway!
I loved Sydney from the first paragraph he appeared in. His personal struggles resonate with me like no other character’s ever have: he knows what is right, but doesn’t do it, and hates himself for it. Even so, he can’t help but be noble, and no ending has ever moved me like the end of AToTC and the climax of Sydney’s story.
Why do you believe stories matter?
God revealed himself through words. Those words form a story and that story is the Bible. I think God has woven story and its structure into the fabric of the universe, like he has with math and physics. When a good story is told, it invariably reflects The Story, because it reflects the story structure God created: the story of redemptive history, where God himself is the MC.
Who is your target audience, and why?
Myself, and sloppy people like me who love fairytales and Hallmark-type shows. Because I write trope-crammed yarns and (figurative) soap operas. 🙂
Would you recommend writing to other people? Why or why not?
If they love writing, absolutely! If they have talent but don’t know it, absolutely! If they don’t care one way or the other, no. Because it really helps to either love it or have talent or both. Without skill, it’s bad writing; without love, it’s dry.
Do you have a favorite trope? If so, do tell. 🙂
1) Boy meets girl, they have problems that aren’t too weird (or are weird!) and live happily ever after. 2) Main male character gets in deadly trouble, but makes it out, usually through some personal sacrifice or injury. (I assume those are tropes. I can never seem to put my finger on what tropes are and are not).
And last but not least, if you were on your deathbed and you could only impart one bit of wisdom to a budding author before you died, what would it be?
Read classics and don’t fall into the trap of thinking you have to be original. There’s a reason cliches are cliches: they work. But above all, read the classics folks…at least the good ones.
Now: What did I tell you (at the beginning) about how many ; () : I use?
God bless and keep you all!
about the Author
Emily Waldorf doesn’t remember when she started to love writing. She enjoys writing both prose and poetry, but poems make her heart sing in a way that prose wasn’t designed for. Her passion for poetry was sparked early on, when her mom recited Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Swing to her while pushing her “up in the air so blue.” Longfellow is her inspiration and the poet she tries to emulate. She write nature and Christian-themed poems and like to experiment with different meters and rhyme schemes. When she’s not writing she enjoy reading, watching movies, and being with her family.
There you have it, folks! What do you think? Do you know what cole products or kohlrabi are? Did you enjoy Emily’s poem? What was your favorite thing that she said?
Until next time,
Take courage, pursue God, and smile while you still have teeth!! 😀
~Joelle & Emily
(P.S. Since I didn’t get Grace’s story out to y’all on Saturday, I’ll try and get it posted today. So keep an eye out for that! ;))
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