Interview with K.A. Emmons Author of The Blood Race
That’s an excellent question. I truly think that what defines me as a person and as a writer are definitely one and the same… for me, writing is simply part of who I am. It’s how I understand myself and the world around me. Writing is how I think and live. It helps me in every imaginable way. I’m a very faith-oriented person, and my writing is much the same; the stories I weave create themselves, springing from this idea that anything is possible, and that we are innately powerful beings with limitless potential. It’s ideas like these that totally power me as a person, and as a writer.
Did you tell friends and family that you were writing a book? Or did it take a while to come out and tell friends and family you were a writer?
I’ve been writing seriously since I was around 11 years old, and my family was actually instrumental in inspiring and encouraging me to write. I have incredibly inspiring artists for parents, and they were always motivating me to find my own path and pursue my dreams in unconventional ways. On top of that, my sister and I have always been very close. She’s a writer herself, and we spent most of our childhood sitting around our family’s dining room table with pots of tea and ink on our fingers; scribbling away at some new story idea.
What do you want your readers to take away from your books?
If even one of my readers takes away this idea that we are powerful and made for so much, well, I’d be thrilled. In my stories and characters I see a common race toward something bigger – a concept that fills me: that we are far more powerful than we realize, and that, no matter who we are, or where we come from, there is a warrior inside each and every single one of us, just waiting to break out.
Where do your story ideas come from? If they come to you in the middle of the night, do you get up and write them all down?
Ideas typically come flying at me like a rabid goose from out of left field, and I’m frightfully notorious for never writing anything down. I’m a brooder, so I typically just spend 90% of my time and energy thinking about the story and turning it round in my mind like a gem until the story is written and finished. I’ve always been fascinated by the illusive randomness of inspiration, actually – and how it often does come out of “nowhere”.
A peek between the pages of The Blood Race, Book One:
where I was or who I was really speaking to, in fact. Up until the car
incident, Sensei had simply been “the crazy old guy next door.” Now he was
beginning to feel like my only connection to sanity. I had no reason to trust
him, but something in me gravitated towards it.
you know about me?” I asked. “Hawk said that you’ve been watching me—how did
you find me? How did you know about my powers?”
eyes studied my face. “You still have not answered the question.”
for a moment, then let go of a sigh. “I don’t know the answer to your question.
I don’t even know who I am.”
to know who you are?” I nodded slightly.
the answer to the question,” he said. “You wish to learn who you really are.
Where you have come from. And it is for that reason that you have been brought
here.”
asked.
were created to protect that which is to come, Ion.”
it for a moment before shaking my head. “I don’t get it.” “Every generation to
walk the earth has, hidden within its repetition and
who will resist. A few who will realize that they are inherently different from
others,” Sensei replied. “Most will follow the pattern cut through the density
of the forest, because they are afraid to stray from that which is familiar.
But a few will stray—the anomalies. Those who recognize their own powers and
allow their abilities to guide them.”
word again. The word that had provoked me to the point of driving a knife
through Hawk’s hand only hours before. Coming from him, though, it didn’t have
the same effect.
dimension to protect you. Because you are the only ones who have awakened to
protect the future from what it has become.”
what the future is going to be like?” I asked. “You talk about it like it
already exists.”
said, “I have seen it.” “You’ve seen the future?”
I looked for the right word. “Dimension. You created it?”
“Wait, what?”
Hawk, when you altered reality with your very thoughts, you projected that
which is within you into that which is without. When you practice that for
eternity, this,” he gestured towards our surroundings, “is the result.”
every one of us… every one of the anomalies?” “From past, present, and future.”
starting to hurt.
one who fixed my face, weren’t you.” It wasn’t a question. Sensei nodded. “I
could imagine how much it hurt.”
imagined correctly.” I laughed mirthlessly. “God, this is
choice to make, Ion. Hawk will teach you how to utilize the portals, and you
may come and go.” He folded his hands. “Or you may return to your world
permanently—but you must tell no one what we have discussed or what you have
seen here.”
stay,” I said, without hesitation, surprising myself.
A peek between the pages of Worlds Beneath, Book Two:
if I said I wasn’t scared. The very things that were potential beacons of hope
were also bright red warning flags. There was no way for me to know what I was
walking into.
nightfall. Until the sky was dark and the stars were like sparkling pinpricks
in satin overhead. I watched him light a fresh fire after failing to rekindle
the last, using two rocks. It reminded me of my own newly acquired ability to
channel fire. When I thought about it, I could practically feel the heat
tingling in the tips of my wings.
cross-legged, by the fire, and the black wolves dispersed into the woods,
seeming on edge as the starlight flickered down through the trees. I heard
distant howls on occasion.
features were illuminated by the crackling fire. He seemed to have all but
forgotten I was there. He held a small journal in his hand and seemed to be
writing or making a sketch with charcoal.
again and went inside the shelter, and the opportunity for me to make my
entrance presented itself.
branch and flew several yards into the forest. I landed softly on the ground
below and transformed back into my human form. I didn’t want him to know I
could shift; that had to remain a secret.
my clothes and took a shaky breath.
halt at the very edge of the clearing, waiting to see if and when he would
emerge from the shelter. When he didn’t, I finally stepped forward into the
clearing.
in towards the flickering shades of yellow and orange. The snap of a twig under
my foot disrupted the chorus of crickets and the distant, occasional howls. It
was enough to cause an audible stir from within the shelter. A moment later the
curtain parted. The dark eyes met mine from across the flames. He stared at me
like someone who hadn’t seen another living soul in a hundred years.
completely. The connection between our eyes didn’t falter.
he asked, in a curious voice edged with an accent. “Where did you come from?”
deep breath, debating what kind of cover story to give.
replied slowly. “I followed one of the black wolves, and it led me here.”
watching his expression closely. “Where exactly is this place?” I asked.
for a moment longer, seeming puzzled by the question, and then he looked around
us. “Must everything have a name?” He seemed to be musing more than asking. “It
is reality. I know nothing beyond it.”
questioned. “You’ve always lived here?” He nodded. “It certainly feels like
it.”
here?” He nodded again. “How is that possible?”
turning his attention back to me. “Could I not ask the same of you?”
come up with something to say.
place like this, but covered in snow.” I thought back to the tunnel in the
embankment. “And then the wolf led me here. The wolves you talk to.”
moment longer and then smiled. “I talk to them because they are mine.”
the fire, picking up the journal and closing it. “It is hard for you to
understand, but if you stay, you will learn that no one knows where exactly
this place is.”
pick up a stick with which he began prodding the fire. “And no one knows how to
leave,” he said, seeming to muse once more to himself. “Or should I say,
escape.”
for a moment. “I don’t want to stay.” “You wish to find your way home, then?”
It was wonderful having you with us today. Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with The Blood Race Trilogy!
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged KA Emmons, Paranormal, SciFi, The Blood Race, The Blood Race Trilogy and Worlds Beneath, Urband Fantsay Time Travel, Young Adult by Tena Stetler with comments disabled.