His Ship, Her Fantasy - Emma Lai

Please welcome my special guest today, the lovely Emma Lai, who's celebrating the release of her debut Faery Rose, His Ship, Her Fantasy, which is available from The Wild Rose Press!

Here's a little bit about Emma:

Emma has not always been a writer, but she has always been interested in relationships, not only between people, but also between countries. She has completed her studies for a Masters in International Relations and has plans to pursue a Doctorate.

She uses her writing as an outlet for the myriad of thoughts that crowd her overactive mind. In addition to Mates of the Guardians, a series of short stories focusing on a mysterious group of individuals on a quest to save the universe and their search for love, she is working on a contemporary romance book and a science fiction/fantasy book series. She also has more plans for the Guardians. However, there is no telling what else she will literally dream up.

Wow, Emma, Mates of the Guardians sounds an awesome concept. Can you tell us a little about the first short story in this series, His Ship, Her Fantasy?

His Ship, Her Fantasy is a short story (about 7500 words).

Blurb:

Ellie Woods is in love…with a ship. When an argument with the ship results in a bump on the head, she finds herself in the strong arms of Alastair. But, who is he, and where did he come from?

Alastair has loved Ellie from afar for years, but duty has kept him from revealing himself to her. When a grave threat reveals his true identity, he hopes that Ellie will choose reality over fantasy.

This blurb has intrigued me from the moment I first read it! How did the idea for the plot come about?

I had this scene stuck in my head of a woman arguing with her spaceship. I started with that and it evolved from there. It actually took a slightly different path then I originally pictured, but who am I to argue with my characters?

Very true! Our characters can be very stubborn, can't they!

I love sale stories (ok I am just nosy!!) so can you tell us about your road to publication - and your call story?

After I finished the coursework for my Masters in International Relations in May 2008, I decided to take the month of June to relax. For me, relaxing means reading. I got to get caught up on the pile of books I’d been accumulating.

Sometime during all my reading, an idea started to form, and it just wouldn’t go away. I’d close my eyes at night and find myself in this whole other world. I decided the only way to get it out of my head was to put it on paper, and that was the beginning. It seemed once I opened the door it refused to be shut.

Suddenly all of these stories demanded to be told. I ended up with the beginnings of two books. My mother-in-law, who happens to be familiar with the publishing industry, came for a visit in July. She read what I wrote and encouraged me to start sending things out to work on getting publishing credentials.

I had to put writing on hold for a few months so that I could study for my comprehensives, but after I finished them at the beginning of November, I couldn’t resist the call of my characters. I ended up writing His Ship, Her Fantasy in two days. After having my trusty readers critique it and a few edits, I sent it off to The Wild Rose Press. They immediately requested the manuscript and within a month, we had completed edits and I had my first contract!

What an amazing sale story! As you know, we 're all about the love here, so please share your fave books, movies, TV shows or current fantasy squeeze (it's all in the line of research!)

I read a lot of books in all types of genres. I tend to fall in love with series. My current fantasy series is The Malazan Books of the Fallen by Steven Erikson. My current mystery series follows Pepper Martin and is written by Casey Daniels. For fantasy romance, I’m reading The Nine Kingdoms Series by Lynn Kurland. For time travel romance, I’m working on The Time Guardian Series by Skyhe Moncrief. I also like Regency, Victorian, and Western romances, and my list of authors is long.

I also watch a lot of movies. My favorites include Princess Bride, The Little Mermaid, Starship Troopers, The Lord of the Rings, Love Actually, and White Christmas.

Lots of my favourites in there too! Can you give us a teaser as to what you're working on now?

I’m still working on finishing my two original stories, which are a young adult fantasy and a contemporary romance. However, His Ship, Her Fantasy inspired a slew of other shorts. I’ve contracted the next short in the series, His Hope, Her Salvation, and have three other shorts that need to be finished. There is also a novella/novel inspired by the series that is in progress. I’ve also got a fairy tale, a paranormal, a contemporary, and a Regency time travel all started.

Lots more for us to look forward to! How can readers keep up with your writing and books?

Readers can find updates on my books at my website…http://www.emmalaiwrites.com. They can also see what I’m reading and thinking about by following my blog…http://emmalaiwrites.blogspot.com.