As the author of five bestselling thrillers, Emily Carpenter has earned wide critical acclaim and a devoted readership for her
signature blend of gothic suspense and horror set in the atmospheric South, where she was born and raised. The former actor, producer and screenwriter, who grew up in Alabama and lives in Georgia, has been telling immersive stories all her life, and she’s passionate about exploring resonant and universal themes in her fiction.

What was your first published work?

Technically, the first thing I ever had published was a humorous flash fiction story about a eucalyptus tree in Los Angeles who was accepting an Oscar for playing all these different species of trees in different movies. My first published novel was Burying the Honeysuckle Girls, a Southern Gothic suspense novel. 

Is there a story inside that you have seeds of but can’t seem to connect that’s dying to get out?

Always. I have a rotating roster of ideas that continually roll around in my head waiting to be fully incubated.

How do you handle a rejected story?

I write something else. I always have another idea. 

What does literary success look like to you?

I think about this question a lot, and I think my answer is it always changes. One day it might be getting a good trade review or hitting a bestseller list. Another day it might be that I was able to get 2,000 words on the page. Sometimes it’s getting a book deal, or it could be getting together with another author who can commiserate with the struggles of being in the publishing industry. 

Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?

I read trade reviews and if someone tags me on social media, but, no, I don’t seek them out. I don’t go on Amazon or Goodreads to read reviews at all. The truth is I’m a simple girl: I love good reviews and don’t like bad ones. I get my feelings hurt. I know I’m not a flawless writer. I also know my books aren’t for everyone. No one’s books are. So I don’t feel like there’s any net positive in reading bad reviews and it only messes with my confidence. 

What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

The goal is to have the actual book match the vision I had in my head when I first had the idea. That is the eternal struggle. 

As in most times, the truth is stranger than fiction, what has been the hardest scene or chapter you’ve had to write, if you were channeling personal experience?

The first chapter is always the hardest to write. For me, anyway. Because I know some of the terrible things that are going to happen to these people, and mostly how it’s going to be a disastrous time for them, but I’ve got to set up this kind of innocuous situation. Also the first chapter has to give the reader all the pertinent information without boring them with backstory, so it’s a challenge. 

What inspired your latest work?

An article I read about a small Italian village that was on the verge of becoming a ghost town, offering outsiders massive ancient villas for one euro. I was like, oh, this town is definitely populated by vampires, and they need new blood. Which isn’t exactly the story I wrote, but not far off. 

If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

Find an agent who loves what you write. 

Best advice you’ve ever gotten from a fellow writer?

When a book bombs, don’t worry about it, just go write another one. 

What is your go-to comfort horror/Sci-Fi book?

Carrie by Stephen King. I like a girl who blows shit up with her mind. 

Emily Carpenter is a bestselling author of suspense novels including Burying the Honeysuckle Girls, The Weight of Lies and Gothictown. Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, she graduated from Auburn University and worked in New York City as an actor, producer, screenwriter, and behind-the-scenes assistant for the CBS shows As the World Turns and Guiding Light before returning to her southern roots. She now lives with her family outside Atlanta, Georgia. Visit Emily online at www.EmilyCarpenterAuthor.com
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