Today’s interview is with Emily VanderBent, historical sci-fi novelist.
LQ: Tell me a little bit about yourself.
EV: My name is Emily VanderBent. I graduated undergrad last May with a Bachelor’s in History and have since had my hands in a variety of creative outlets. I have a passion for writing and history (specifically telling the stories of women in the past) and have been able to channel those passions into the creation of my debut novel, Crimson Time, as well as a series of blog posts in the position of Journalism & Marketing Intern for Girl Museum.
I also co-launched a branding business called Makeover Your Brand, where we help businesses and individuals brand themselves through graphic design, web design, logo creation, and visual/written content creation. I am a multi-passionate creative, but I have found that the common thread in all of my passions is story and storytelling. Whether it is writing my novel, crafting a blog post, or branding/graphic design, I am communicating a story through my work.
LQ: What does your writing process look like?
EV: As Crimson Time is my first novel, my writing process has evolved a lot throughout the course of the novel. It has been a very experimental process as I’ve tried a variety of methods to figure out what works for me.
I have found I work best when I set goals and put a structure in place, but also give myself enough wiggle room to change or modify that structure as needed. I sit down and make a broad plan for the month of what needs to get done each day and then outline the specific tasks I need to accomplish each week the weekend before.
I’m very much a visual person, so I write all of that down in a planner and cross tasks off when I complete them. Even if it doesn’t feel like I got much done, it helps to physically see what I actually accomplished.
I tried to follow rigid writing plans I’ve found online, but what I have found to be true about the writing process is that everyone does it differently. What works for me might not work for someone else. It’s all about playing around with methods and seeing what works for you and your writing goals/needs, which I think is half the fun of writing!
LQ: What was your favorite book to write so far?
EV: I have a few poems published in a variety of outlets, but Crimson Time is the first novel I have worked on. Since the other books in the series aren’t written yet, I have nothing to compare it too, but there is something innately special about your first novel. To see it go from an idea to a manuscript to a published work is truly an incredible feeling. I think that feeling remains throughout the process of every book you work on, but I would imagine it still feels slightly different from the first time you go through it.
LQ: Who is your favorite character to write about?
EV: Picking a favorite character to write is so hard because I love them all in a different ways. But, I think Teo has been one of my favorites to write because he surprised me the most. I had outlined and planned his backstory and relationship with my main character, Adelaide, one way before I started writing. But as I began to actually write him, he came to life in his own right and changed much of what I had planned for him and for the overall plot of the series. I hadn’t planned on him being as big of a player as he wanted to be, which goes really well with his personality. Looking back, it makes a lot of sense to me that he evolved the way he did.
LQ: Who are your favorite authors? Have any of them influenced your work?
EV: Some of my favorite authors are JK Rowling, Cassandra Clare, Lynn Austin, Pam Jenoff, Ray Bradbury, Fitzgerald, and Atticus. As you can tell, I read all across the board.
Each of the authors I listed has influenced my work to varying degrees, but of them all, Cassandra Clare has influenced my work the most. Her writing immerses me in the story and world she created in a way I can’t even describe. The way she describes things and the details she includes paints such a vivid picture in my mind. I also love the way she tells her stories in multiple perspectives.
I love reading books where I get to be in everyone’s head and see how each of the characters directly impact each other and the plot. In Crimson Time, I’ve tried to incorporate the beauty and visceral quality of Clare’s descriptions. Even though my novel isn’t told from multiple perspectives, as I write, I try to think about a scene from the perspective of each character and translate their thoughts and feelings into different cues Adelaide and the reader can pick up on to get the other character’s perspective.
LQ: How are you doing during the current pandemic?
EV: I am currently out of work without pay (aside from my freelance) as Covid has placed my part-time job on hold for the time being, so that has been stressful. However, I have been able to use this time to do a lot of work on Crimson Time, co-launch the branding business, and apply for jobs/look into grad schools for History/Museum Studies (possibly a dual program with Creative Writing). I graduated undergrad wanting to work in a museum, but the industry has taken quite a hit with Covid, so I’m in a waiting game to see how things pan out to figure out what my next steps are.
LQ: What are you currently working on?
I am currently working on my debut novel Crimson Time (expected publication July 2020). It is the first book in a series that will follow my main character, Adelaide, as she is thrust into the world of the Red Rose Society: a secret society made up of the descendants of historical figures.
In order to join the RRS and figure out what they know about the deaths of her parents, Adelaide will have to outwit the descendants of some of history’s most famous (and infamous) figures and survive long enough in the past to bring a piece of it back with her. Crimson Time is a Young Adult fiction novel. It is somewhat multi-genre, so I have started calling it a Historical Sci-fi.
Anything else you would like to share?
Crimson Time comes out this July. If you want to stay up to date on news, you can follow my author page on Facebook or my author account on Instagram. I love meeting and collaborating with other creatives, especially authors, so if you have any ideas, questions, or need help expanding on a book idea, I’ll love to connect.