FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions! If you have a question that isn't answered below, you can ask it over here.

About Me

Q. How do you pronounce your name?

A. Emma Maree Urquhart = Em-ah Mah-ree Erk-hart. The 'EMaree/E.Maree' username is Eee Mah-ree.

Q. Do you prefer to be called Emma or Emma Maree?

A. Emma is fine. :)

Q. How old were you when you wrote your first book?

A. 12 when writing it, 13 at the time of publication.

Q. Are you rich, then?

A. No.

Q. Where's your accent from?

A. I've lived in Inverness for most of my life - currently living in Nairn but that hasn't really affected my accent. Some time in Stornoway's left its mark, though, and I tend to switch between Scottish, old-fashioned British and American English phrases a lot. Let's just call it a Scottish accent and leave it there.

Q. Where can I buy your books?

A. The best deals are available directly from me, at my shop.

Q. I'm a book blogger/book reviewer and I'd like to review your books. Who do I contact?

A. For "Dragon Tamers", contact me directly -- UK book bloggers only, because postage is expensive.

Q. Will you do a signing at my school/library/bookshop/etc?

A. Please get the person in charge - a shop owner, librarian or teacher for example - to contact me.

Q. Can you appear at/talk at/sign at/donate items to my charity event?

A. Get in touch. Depending on how busy I am, I'll do my best to help out - I don't charge for anything other than traveling costs for charity events.

Q. Can I write fanfiction set in your worlds or using your characters?

A. By all means, go right ahead. I'm a big supporter of fanfiction. There two two conditions, though.
1. Don't try to make money out of your fanfiction. Don't sell it, or sell any products linked to it. You can only produce it for free (e.g., putting it up online). Otherwise I'll have to bring in the lawyers.
2. Don't link me to it or ask me to read it. No matter how wonderful it is. Really. Unfortunately, I put myself at risk of legal trouble if I read your fanfiction.

Q. What about fan art/craft/videos/music/cosplay and other awesome stuff I want to make using your word or characters?

A. Again, knock yourself out, but don't try to make money out of it. You can also send me your fan work (emma[at]emmamaree[dot]com) and I'll try to post it on the blog or in the fan sections. Unlike fanfiction, I *can* look at your work without getting into trouble, so please send it for me to see.

Q. Do you have any piercings or tattoos?

A. Two pierced earlobes and a tattoo on my upper right arm. You can read about me getting my first tattoo here. 

Q. Do you have any pets?

A. Two female ferrets (Tea & Coffee) who are far too clever and a labrador with a few brain cells missing.

About Writing

Q. Where do you get your ideas from?

A. Sometimes ideas come randomly, but occasionally I'll see an idea in a TV show, book, song or movie that I like and I'll expand on that idea and rework it to my own tastes until it becomes a plot idea forms out of it. It can be literally anything - a way a character speaks, a lyric, a line of dialogue, a way I would have liked a TV show to go but it didn't. Most plots are formed from a big mash-up of these various little things I pick up.

Q. How do you find the time to write?

A. Nobody has 'the time' to write. You have to make it yourself, carving it out of your busy days any way you can.
So I steal it. Writers write, writers read, and writers steal time. I give up time that could be spent watching TV, playing games, browsing the internet or sleeping and I use it for writing instead. This is the only way I get anything done.

Q. How do you avoid writer's block?

A. Some tips and tricks are over here.

Q. Will you be writing more 'Dragon Tamers' books?

A. Not at the moment, but keep an eye on the website and blog for news on my current projects.