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EmmaMaree.com

Scottish Writer of Fantasy & Sci-Fi

Writing

I HAVE AN AGENT!

Location: Over the moon

HOLY SMOKES GUYS BEST NEWS EVER: I HAVE A LITERARY AGENT.
HERE’S A PRESS RELEASE BECAUSE I’M VERY EXCITED AND ALL ABOUT THE ALL-CAPS TODAY.

PRESS RELEASE – EMMA MAREE URQUHART JOINS JJLA

 

Emma Maree Urquhart has joined the John Jarrold Literary Agency. Her new novel ALL THE BROKEN THINGS reads like Pacific Rim with a Scottish mythology kick. It might also be viewed as a twisted SF version of TWILIGHT. Disabled engineer Anna is metal from the waist-down, badass from the toes up, and Scottish through and through. She patches up glossy military war machines built to fight supernatural monsters. When a monster she saves becomes dangerously obsessed with her,  Anna sets out to turn the tables on the increasingly violent Enli. But there are monsters on all sides, and her fight uncovers secrets about the machines that threaten everything she’s been fighting for.

 

Her debut children’s fantasy novel DRAGON TAMERS was self-published in the UK when Emma was 13, with sales of over 35,000 copies and has been traditionally published in Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Swedish, Greek, and Portuguese. Emma is now in her late 20s and is a software tester, spending her days finding creative ways to break websites and apps and her nights finding creative ways to break fictional characters. She lives in the north of Scotland and on the weekends can be found learning roller derby, binge drinking tea and taking long brainstorming walks in the woods.

 

“The immediacy of Emma’s writing grabbed me straight away, from the first page,” said John Jarrold. “There were times I wanted to scream at Anna, others that I wanted to hug her. And the world and creatures that Emma has imagined are totally believable, while the story unwinds in ways that are entirely unexpected and heart stopping.  Brilliant!”

You can also read this press release at John’s site here.

And here’s some questions for folks who are unfamiliar with the writing industry.

What is a literary agent?

A literary agent is a writer’s business partner and advocate throughout the publishing process. Most of the big publishing houses only accept submissions from agents, to avoid being flooded with endless piles of manuscripts. A literary agent knows the tastes of publishing house editors and ensures a manuscript is sent to the editor most likely to love it.

Are agents hard to get?

Oh god, you can’t even imagine.

What does this mean for my writing? What’s next?

With guidance from John, I’m going to give this manuscript another round of edits. After that, it’ll go out on submission to publishers, and we’ll see what happens! While that’s going on, I’ll be writing new books and keeping you up to date with all goings on.

Newsletter subscribers will get the latest directly to their inbox, and blog readers get it right here, or you can follow my Twitter, Facebook author page or Instagram.

Got anything to celebrate? Tell me about it below, and join the party!

Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby (The Great Gatsby movie) toasting the audience

 

How Reading “A Darker Shade of Magic” Helped My Writing

Spring crocus and snowdrops at the entrance to London's Hampstead Heath. Photo by Mary Carson.

This month I’ve been frantically trying to catch up with my March goal of revising the giant robots book. It ran over, but in a really exciting way — the book feels so much stronger after this revision, and I really leveled-up my abilities at crafting a plot, following an outline and incorporating beta reader comments without turning into an anxious puddle. 

It’s been a successful month in health goals too . I’m now -45lbs down (over 3 stone!), and I’m within the ‘normal’ BMI bracket. BMI is a flawed crock of shit, as most of you know, but I’m still glad to hit that goal before my biannual health review at the day job.

What’s Worked for Me

I was feeling a bit guilty in March because I devoted a lot of my time to read-alongs, which I love but which also cut heavily into my writing time. But as it turns out, the read-alongs really helped me improve!

I spent last month discussing and reading the finale of the A Darker Shade of Magic series, ‘A Conjuring of Light‘ . In particular, the awesome Muskedragons reading group was focussed on the arc of Holland: sometimes antagonist, sometimes ally, and always a fully-fleshed-out and flawed part of the world.

Holland by Victoria Ying (click to view more of her fanart)

It got my thinking about the antagonist figure of the giant robots project, and how little I really understood about his past and his goals in the world. 

Victoria Schwab, the ADSOM writer, also posted some tweets at the time which resonated very strongly with me:

(Thread link.)

So I wrote an outline of the book if my antagonist was instead the protagonist, focussed on his goals and motivations. It really changed the book for the better, helping me create a much more balanced and believable conflict.

The next challenge is showing these goals without resorting to too much dialogue-as-exposition. I’m going to need to think of some interesting ways to work it all in.

Which leaves me with a question for all your writer types: how do you flesh out your characters, and how do you give the reader a glimpse of their point of view?

 

My Plan for a More Productive March

February is at an end, and for me it’s mostly been a month of reading. I’ve had my head down and focused on beta reading, read-alongs and NetGalley reviews.

It’s been a really enjoyable way to unwind, and it’s brought me across some really really interesting reads. But I’ve also had various plot-bunnies batting at the edges of my brain, like the DIVIDE novella and an Austen-inspired demon story, that I’d love to be working on. I’d love to be, but I won’t be! 

This month, I’m reminding myself that not only do writers write, writers finish. I’ve been reading John Lee Dumas’s new Mastery Journal and one of his phrases really stuck with me:

F.O.C.U.S: Follow One Course Until Success.

Now, this is just a fancy way of repeating the old writing adage “finish your shit“. But I love the way FOCUS zeroes in on taking things one at a time one project, one course, one task, one book!

I have a habit of jumping between multiple projects, hopping from revision to shiny new draft to exciting plotbunny. And I love that! Ideas are plentiful, wordcount is high, and it all feels like progress… but it gets me no closer to my goals. 

It means I leave things unfinished, and I’m in the process of changing that habit.

So I’m going to try a single goal for this month! And who knows, maybe I’ll finish it early and come back here to let you know what’s up next.

March FOCUS: I am in the process of revising my giant robots project, so that I can send it out to betas. I’m really loving the new witchiness that’s in this draft. I’m so excited to get this done and sent out for my friends to read!

But before I get back to work, I wanted to recognise some of the good things that happened in February…

It snowed again!

Mac has been adorable, as always.
 

For Valentines Day, Dave and I tried out chain restaurant Frankie & Benny’s for the first time. They’ve just opened near us, and we had a lovely time there.

My health has remained steadily on the up-and-up this month! I’m in the process of losing weight so that I can hit normal BMI, and it’s going great. Paired up with my usual 10k-a-day walking habit, and twice weekly spinning classes, I’m feeling better than ever. It’s exciting, and I’m going to keep it up!

I even took a few cute selfies….

And lastly, I read some good articles, particularly Kameron Hurley’s ‘10 Things I Learned from Failure‘ and ‘How to Keep Writing in Times of Political Upheaval’.

Giving up benefits your enemies.

Your enemies love your failures, sure. But what they love even more is to see you brought so low by those failures that you never get up again.

Who doesn’t love ruining the plans of their enemies?

Now, time to get back to work. Have you had a productive February? Are you planning any changes for the month ahead?

Previously… November

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nanowrimo_2016_webbanner_participant

NaNoWriMo month is over! I’m freee! A dozen and one technical issues conspired against this blog — dead wifi drivers, broken mice, and unco-operative web interfaces galore — but it’s here now, and it’s time to see how the month went.

My goals were:

  • Write 50,000 words! Failed, but I got more than halfway with 26,192. And that’s the highest monthly wordcount in a while!
  • Get back on the healthy eating bandwagon.  SMASHED IT.
  • Keep on spinning and walking. Check and cheeeck!
  • Finish the first Game of Thrones book. Done!
  • Try and catch up with my NetGalley reads. Done! But I totally kicked off a new NetGalley addiction that demands more new reads.

Previously in Health

Yeah, that’s right, a new section! I figured since exercising more and losing weight is such a big focus of my year, I better give it a new section. Also, it’s an excuse to post dog walk and hiking photos.

This has been a good month — I got my eating habits back in line after Halloween de-railing and hit the -20lbs mark on my weight loss goals. More importantly in a lot of ways, I’ve been keeping up regular lunchtime walks (the only chance to see the sun in Scottish winter…), bi-weekly indoor cycling/spinning class, and walking at least 10,000 steps most days. My dog is pretty pleased, here he is in his rad safety gear.

Mac in walking gear He looks grumpy because he's in his walk gear and not walking.
Mac in walking gear He looks grumpy because he’s in his walk gear and not walking.

And here’s some pretty scenery from a recent hike in Sanquar Woods, Forres…

Next month is going to be trickier. The ice is going to mess with my usual long walks, and spinning class will close down for the Christmas period. But I’ve ordered a new walking belt for the dog, I’m trying out yoga, and I’m hopeful that if all else fails I can maintain my healthy eating goals… until Christmas week, at least. Eeep.

Previously in Writing

I failed NaNoWriMo, but I’m having a hard time caring because 26,192 words! That’s a lot of words! That’s more words than I’ve written in one month in a whiiiiile!

And importantly, lots of fun story stuff was discovered during this month’s writing. This is a tricky WIP, it has so much history that it’s hard to implement changes, but I’m excited to get it detangled and done.

Previously in Reading

I’m keeping the in/out ratio even, but only juuuuusttt (and only because I’m not facing up to the manga pile, tbh). I need to work on my new NetGalley addiction, but my goodness, there are so many amazing books coming out and I want them all.

Books Added this Month:
TOTAL: 7
The Seventh Bride [eBook]
Windswept [eBook]
Every Body Yoga [NetGalley eBook]
Good Me, Bad Me [NetGalley eBook]
Year of No Cluter [NetGalley eBook]
A Street Cat Named Bob [eBook]
They Mostly Come Out at Night [eBook]

(And a pile of NetGalley Manga Classics titles which I’ll add to the TBR pile next month once I sort out the formatting.)

Books Finished & Removed:
TOTAL:  7

Game of Thrones (ASOIAF, #1) [Paperback]
Seige and Storm (The Grisha, #2) [Audiobook]
Nevernight [NetGalley eBook]
Nina is Not Okay [NetGalley eBook]
Ruin and Rising (The Grisha, #3) [Audiobook]
The One Memory of Flora Banks [NetGalley eBook]
A Map of Bones (The Fire Sermon, #2) [Audiobook]

Next Time in Goals

  • Write 25,000 words
  • Beta read a friend’s awesome book
  • Catch up with the NetGalley reads
  • Play more video games!

There’s not going to be a Previously next month, but I’ll still be back to stay accountable for my goals and my ever-scary TBR pile.

A Word of Advice

Progress is progress. Even if you didn’t meet your goals for this month, you’re further ahead than you were when you started. Keep going!

I’d love to hear how you did this month. Did you hit your writing goals? Are you going to take it easy on December or kick it up a notch?

Oh, and before I go, have a picture of a cute guy and a cute puppy. Here’s my partner, Dave, and Bear the minature poodle.

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Bear and Dave: 19th June vs 26th November

Previously: July 2016

'Previously' banner with teapot

This months goals were:

  • FINISH DIVIDE
  • Keep on studying plot structure
  • Write 20k.
  • Make some art.
  • Keep on reading lots of books (minimum: 8).

Previously in Writing

Again this month, the goal was to finish DIVIDE, send it out to betas, and move on to my next WIP. But the real world, the query trenches, and a business trip, got in the way.

But still, overall, a productive month. It’s looking like I’ll hit 10k by the end of the month, and I read a ton of books.

Previous in Reading

My quest to get the fearsome TBR pile down to a more reasonable amount continues. Let’s see how we’re looking…

Books Finished & Removed:
TOTAL:  12

The Rook [eBook]
The Celts by Barry Cunliffe [Paperback]
Story Engineering by Larry Brooks [eBook]
Throne of Jade (Temeraire #2) [Library]
Stiff [Paperback]
Half Life (Russell’s Attic #2) [eBook]
A Neurological Study on the Effects of Canine Appeal on Psychopathy, or, RIO ADOPTS A PUPPY (Russell’s Attic #2.5) [eBook]
An Examination of Collegial Dynamics as Expressed Through Marksmanship, or, LADIES’ DAY OUT (Russell’s Attic #2.6) [eBook]
Monstress [Netgalley Digital Comic ARC]
Black Butler Vol 1 [Library]
Memory of Water [eBook]
The Fifth Season [Audiobook]

collage of the fifth season, memory of water, the rook and half life

Books Added this Month:
TOTAL: 15

Map of Bones (The Fire Sermon, #2) [Audiobook]
Rivers of London [Audiobook]
Throne of Glass [Audiobook]
Monstress [Netgalley Digital Comic ARC]
Nevernight [Netgalley ARC]
Black Powder War (Temeraire, #3) [Library]
The Novice (Summoner) [eBook]
Prince of Fools (Red Queen’s War, Book 1) [eBook]
The End of the World Running Club [eBook]
Fool’s Assassin (Fitz and the Fool, Book 1) [eBook]
Orange Is the New Black: My Time in a Women’s Prison [eBook]
All the Light We Cannot See [eBook]
Black Box Thinking: The Surprising Truth About Success [eBook]
I Can Make You Hate [eBook]
The Sworn Sword: The Graphic Novel (A Game of Thrones) [Graphic Novel/eBook]

A strong and easy start this month, but I’m still not managing to keep up with my buying-new-books addiction. Yikes.

Still, I got through some books that had been in my currently-reading pile since 2012 and 2014, so overall I’m pleased with how this month went. And god, the books I read were SO GOOD: The Rook (about a British MI5 for supernatural events), Half Life (maths! Murder! Flawed and ‘unlikeable’ female protagonists being amazing!), Monstress (Asian #OwnVoices fantasy comic), Memory of Water (tea dystopia!) and The Fifth Season (diverse and ruthless apocalyptic story) were all mind-blowing reads.

Next Time In Goals

  • Hit my 50 book reading goal for the year/Read at least 5 books.
  • Write 20k.
  • Finish Divide
  • Make progress with my other projects.
  • Make more art.

A Word of Advice

One of the most surprisingly useful, cathartic things I’ve read all month is this guide on How to Cry Effectively. It’s really, really good, and I’d say it’s a must-read for anyone who’s prone to tears.

Setsu’s other post on anger is also really good, and I found this paragraph in particular very useful in regards to my own habits:

Even the self-talk has shifted. Rather than say “fuck!” when I make a mistake, I say “well, that was silly.” Maybe I was silly. Maybe the horse was silly. Maybe the arrow or the target was silly. Blame and negativity aren’t part of the learning experience. Each success is a surprise, and each mistake is hilarious.

On the writing side of the fence, I also really enjoyed Kameron Hurley’s motivational post on Dealing with Professional Jealousy,   and Lilith Saint Crow’s post on the same topic.

Brooke Johnson had a really fascinating by-the-numbers look at her year in the publishing game, comparing her trade published sales to her self-published sales. There’s a lot of interesting factors at play here (and lack of an agent is a BIG one, as is the not-factored-in cost of editing) but it was a really fascinating look into the process.

Lastly, if you haven’t seen Miss Cole’s SHINY NEW IDEA MACHINE, you are missing out! Go go goooo!

Previously: June 2016

PreviouslyTreeBanner

This months goals were:

  • Hit 50k of DIVIDE.
  • FINISH DIVIDE.
  • Make some art.
  • Continue with choir.
  • Continue with exercise.
  • Read lots of books

Let’s take a look at how it all shook out….

  • Hit 50k of DIVIDE.
  • FINISH DIVIDE.
  • Make some art.
  • Continue with choir.
  • Continue with exercise.
  • Read lots of books

Previously in Writing

This month, the goal was to finish DIVIDE, send it out to betas, and move on to my next WIP.

I hit 50k on DIVIDE, hit some plot tangles, and then the whole plan got waylaid by the arrival of some important (and amazing, astonishingly useful) professional critique on an older project from the Emergents group which works hard helping Scottish writers grow their talents and careers.

So I implemented a lot of that critique, learned by the bucketload bucketload, and made notes by the boatload.

Previous in Reading

My quest to get the fearsome TBR pile down to a more reasonable amount continues. Let’s see how we’re looking…

Three favourites: Temeraire, Aristotle & Dante and The Night Circus

Books Added this Month:
TOTAL: 16

The Fifth Season [Audiobook]

False Hearts by Laura Lam [Hardback]

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo [eBook]

Half Life (Russell’s Attic #2) and Root of Unity (#3) by SL Huang [eBook]

Wake of Vultures by Lila Bowen [Paperback]

Cross Stitch (Outlander #1) by Diana Galbadon [Paperback]

Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake #1) by Laurell K. Hamilton [Paperback]

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley [eBook]

 Throne of Jade (Temeraire #2) [Library]

The Flash, Vol. 1: Move Forward [Comic]

The Mighty Thor, Vol. 1: Thunder in Her Veins [Comic]

Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher [Audiobook]

The Mermaid’s Sister [eBook]

Control by Kim Curran [eBook]

Throne of Glass by Sarah J.Mass [eBook]

The Golem and the Djinni [Audiobook]

Books Finished & Removed:
TOTAL: 9

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe [Audiobook/eBook]

His Majesty’s Dragon (Temeraire #1) [eBook]

Rewire Your Anxious Brain [Audiobook]

The Night Circus [eBook]

The Flash, Vol. 1: Move Forward [Comic]

 The Mighty Thor, Vol. 1: Thunder in Her Veins [Comic]

Celtic Beasts: Animal Motifs and Zoomorphic Design in Celtic Art [Library Book]

Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher [Audiobook]

33k Sci-Fi Novella [Beta Read]

Not a good month for reading more than I’m buying, but I’m hoping to make up for that with a strong July of reading and reading and reading.

Next Time In Goals

Next month’s goals:

  • FINISH DIVIDE
  • Keep on studying plot structure
  • Write 20k.
  • Make some art.
  • Keep on reading lots of books (minimum: 8).

A Word of Advice

I really loved Kameron Hurley’s recent blog post about expectations and entitlement. Really recommend it to anyone needing a boost — in Kameron’s typical, wonderful style, it’s there to lift you up without resorting to platitudes or false bravado.

And then I look at my career and I go, “We are just getting started.”

And it is this, this hope, this rally from the depths of doubt and despair, that keeps me going. You must believe in the future. You must believe you can create it. You must believe that endurance, and hard work, and persistence, will carry you through.

I also really enjoyed the article “In Defense of Unlikeable Women“, a copyeditor’s FAQ for beginning writers, and the short story about magical portals, “Not by Wardrobe, Tornado, or Looking Glass“.