Emily White
Author of Elemental
Check out her blog: here
Check out Elemental facebook page: here

Welcome Emily! Emily is the author of the upcoming Novel Elemental that will be released on May 1st. Check out this awesome interview and then enter the awesome giveaway to win some Elemental bookmarks AND a pre-order of Elemental!




Favorite animal: chipmunk
Favorite season : spring
Favorite candy: caramels


If you could describe yourself in three words, what words would you use? 

Cute, shy, faithful

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

My official bio goes thus:

I live in NY, wedged between two of the Great Lakes and a few feet of snow and ice.  I've spent most of my life running away from the cold, and even spent a year in Iraq, but now content myself with writing my characters into warm, exotic places in faraway galaxies.  When not tapping away at my computer keys, I can be found reading, reading, and reading some more.  And when I'm not doing that, I'm usually playing video games with my husband, peek-a-boo with my kids, or walking through my garden, wondering why the bugs insist on eating all my vegetables.  My debut YA Sci-fi novel, ELEMENTAL, will be published by Spencer Hill Press in 2012.

But my unofficial "about me in a nutshell" goes like this...

I like to read. I REALLY like to write (probably because I never got over having imaginary friends). And I like to do a million other things that have nothing to do with reading and writing. For instance, I love to make everything from scratch (food-wise). And I'm talking cheese, yogurt, bread, etc. from scratch. I also must must MUST be close to a natural water source (or it's man-made look-a-like) and trees. I am NOT a city girl, even though I currently live in a city (but it's a really tiny city, so it's okay).  Also, I'm an animal lover, but I'm not a poop lover, so I love other people's animals (except for when they poop in my yard). ;)

If you could have any career in the world, would there be anything besides writing you would like to do?

Oh man, there are SO many different careers I dreamed about growing up.  Funny thing is, I started out my college career pursuing a life in politics.  I know. :o  But before that, I wanted to be a paleontologist, a storm chaser, a model/actress, and Empress of the Universe.  Sadly the latter position isn't available.  I found that out the hard way.

Is Elemental your first writing project? Do you already have ideas for future projects?

Elemental is NOT my first writing project.  Oh dear, no.  Wow, I don't even like to think of the horrors that were my first attempts at writing.  They're pretty pathetic (and mainly because I didn't even come close to finishing any of them).  The first book I finished was not Elemental, but it was still pretty bad.  Actually, I wrote Elemental twice.  The first version was done in the Omniscient POV and went in a completely different direction (for instance, I wrote it thinking it was Adult).  After discovering the YA genre (yes, I did skip this genre over growing up--sadly), I realized what Elemental needed to be and burned the first version while dancing around its ashy cinders.  While writing the second version I discovered what "voice" actually was (and smacked myself upside the head for ever missing it in the first place) and discovered what kind of writer I truly am.  You see, I kept trying to be some other writer who'd already written amazing novels (i.e. Tolkien, Lewis).  Yeah, I got over that.  Oh, and I read a lot of YA to help me get over that.  I mean, A LOT (like two books a week).

As for future projects, I currently have one other completed novel (a paranormal romance), a half-completed novel (another sci-fi), and am starting on Elemental #2.  I also have half a dozen other ideas for novels which are pushed way down on the line because I just don't have the time to start them.

In five years is there somewhere you hope to be with your writing career? A goal you hope to achieve by then? 

I'd like to be rich and famous, with a movie deal.  Barring that, I wouldn't mind having won a Nebula Award.

Yes, I am being serious.  I know the popular thing to say is that I'm happy having just written and published a novel, and this is completely true.  But it's also true that I want to keep pushing myself to be the absolute best writer I can be. And the best writer I can be is an award-winning one who has such amazing novels that fans flock to the stores in eager anticipation while begging hollywood for the movie.

Will I be disappointed if it doesn't happen?  No, not really because the act of writing is wonderful and completely fulfilling.  Still, this is my goal.

The main character in your upcoming novel Elemental is Ella, how did you go about picking this name for her?

Hehehehe!  Ah, I love this question.  There are actually two reasons. The first is because everyone in Ella's family-line has El somewhere in their name.  The second reason is because she's crazy.  Get it?  Ella mental.  :P

Ella sounds like a strong character, did anyone or anything inspire the idea of Ella's personality?

Hmmm...that's a tough question.  Ella IS strong in a lot of ways, but she's also unsure of a lot of things.  She's not your typical MC who has all her stuff together.  But she functions through all her doubts and insecurities anyway. That's what I think true strength is--surviving and rising to the occasion despite your weaknesses.  I'd have to say the inspiration for her character came from a desire to write about the kind of heroine I would have needed as a teen who suffered from extremely severe depression.  I love that there are female MCs who know who they are and what they stand for and have this deep-seated confidence in some kind of ability they have, but I wasn't that kind of teen and I know of girls today who aren't those kinds of teens.  So yeah, she is VERY strong, but you get to see her path to finding out just how strong she is.

Elemental seems very different than most YA novels coming out these days, where did you get the idea for Elemental from? 

I LOVE mixing genres, so when I came up with the idea for a race of people who could manipulate the elements, I knew I wanted to write them into a sci-fi.  After that, it was just a matter of figuring out what kind of sci-fi they'd work best in.  And because there are few (if any) subgenres greater than the Space Opera (because, let's face it, if you CAN go bigger and grander, why would you choose not to?), I knew where to go with it. :)

What are you most looking forward to as the days get closer to your novel being released in May?

Reviews.  Of course, I'm also terrified of them. :o  But I hope people fall in love with Elemental as much as I have and I really, REALLY hope I touch someone.

What can your future readers expect from your upcoming novel Elemental?

Don't expect anything!  Because it will all surprise you... Mwahahahahahaha!!!!  Well, DO expect to read the most amazing book ever.  But that's kind of implied. :)

• Giveaway is INTERNATIONAL
• There will be one winner
• The winner will one bookmarks of Elemental AND I will pre-order them a copy of Elemental for when it is released in May
• You must fill out the form to enter
• The more entries you have, the more likely you are to win
• Giveaway will end Aug 27th

• Please keep in mind that Elemental is not released til May 1st, I am Pre-Ordering the copy for you, so when it comes out it will be sent to you