From an early age, Emlyn Chand has counted books among her best friends. She loves to hear and tell stories and emerged from the womb with a fountain pen grasped firmly in her left hand (true story). Her affinity for the written word extends to absolutely every area of her life: she has written two-and-a-half novels, leads a classics book group with over three hundred members, and, of course, runs the whole shebang at Novel Publicity, where she contributes her business and marketing savvy as well as her writing and web design talents. The book that changed Emlyn’s life is Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crocket Johnson. It opened her eyes to the world that could exist if only she was willing to create it—a lesson she has never forgotten. She now reads an average of one book per week. While she enjoys all types of novels, her greatest loves are literary fiction and YA. Her first novel, Farsighted, will be available in October 2011.
For more info on Emlyn, visit her site:
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:: GUEST POST ::
1) Emlyn, what inspired you to write Farsighted?
EC: Everything started with a single image—my face in these tacky oversized sunglasses reflecting out at me from the car’s side mirror. I was daydreaming while my husband drove us across Michigan for my sister’s wedding. Something about my image really struck me in an almost horrific way. I felt the glasses made me look blind but found it so weird that there was still a clear image within them; it seemed so contradictory. At the time, my book club was reading The Odyssey, which features the blind Theban prophet, Tieresias. I started thinking about what it would be like to have non-visual visions of the future and began forming a modern Tieresias in my mind. Lo and behold, Alex Kosmitoras was born. I didn’t want him to be alone in his psychic subculture, so I found other characters with other powers to keep him company. Thank God for my poor fashion sense. :)
2) If you could go back and rename your title, what would you choose?
EC: I wouldn’t. I spent a lot of time pondering over the title and think Farsighted captures its content perfectly. It’s a book that, among other things, is about the ways we see the world around us. Take Alex’s blindness, his psychic powers, his misunderstandings, and we have “farsighted.”
3) Who was the easiest and hardest character to come up with?
EC: The easiest character to write was Shapri Teak; she came to me fully formed and is also my favorite. The daughter of the local palmist, Shapri is in denial about her own psychic powers. Not only is she the most fun of all my characters, but she’s also the kind of the person I wish I could have been like when I was younger. She’s strong, always true to herself, and won’t let anyone disrespect her. Sure, she has fears, but we all do. Shapri is the kind of girl I would love to be friends with. You know she’ll always go to bat for you when you’re too tired to step up to the plate.
The most difficult character to write was Shapri’s mother, Miss Teak, the local palmist and a mentor to the main character Alex although he’s never really quite sure if he can trust her. She was a challenge, because I completed decided to revamp her character midway through to add a layer to the story and get out of cliché territory.
4) Are you currently working on any other projects?
EC: Farsighted is a 5-book series. Each book will be told from a different character’s point-of-view, so in book #2, we’ll actually be able to see what Grandon looks like! Next up is Open Heart. I hope to have that ready by the middle of next year.
5) Besides writing, what do you like to do in your spare time?
EC: I like to work, haha. No, seriously. I run my own company, and I love my job. Work is relaxing. When I’ve worked too hard and have to call it quits for the day, I like reading on my Kindle, taking bubble baths, and watching Glee. I also have 5 birds, a dog, and a husband.
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:: ABOUT THE BOOK ::
Alex Kosmitoras’s life has never been easy. The only other student who will talk to him is the school bully, his parents are dead-broke and insanely overprotective, and to complicate matters even more, he’s blind. Just when he thinks he’ll never have a shot at a normal life, a new girl from India moves into town. Simmi is smart, nice, and actually wants to be friends with Alex. Plus she smells like an Almond Joy bar. Yes, sophomore year might not be so bad after all. Unfortunately, Alex is in store for another new arrival—an unexpected and often embarrassing ability to “see” the future. Try as he may, Alex is unable to ignore his visions, especially when they begin to suggest that Simmi is in danger. With the help of the mysterious psychic next door and new friends who come bearing gifts of their own, Alex must embark on a journey to change his future.
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