CM: Tell us about how you began writing.
EM: Writing has always been with me. As a child I would cut out pictures from magazines, paste them onto construction paper, and write in descriptions next to them. I would write dialogue and put the lines in word balloons by the peoples and animals faces. When I think back I was always writing down stories and story ideas. When I was ten years old I wrote a story about a penny that escaped from the U.S. Mint. I bought little blank booklets, hand wrote copies of my story, and sold them to my friends for a penny. I was a little independent author very early on.
I was, and still am, a voracious reader. Another sign of a writer in the making. I also have a love of music, movies, and all things theatrical. Those are all forms of storytelling. Music taught me that the rhythm of the tale is important. From film I learned structure drives the plot. Theatre always reminds me that there’s an audience out there in the dark. I like to tell good stories. The story, the rhythm, the structure, and the effect words have on a reader are everything. I like stories with twists throughout. I enjoy taking my readers along for a grand adventure.
CM: Your books have very interesting premises! It Is Said, the first book in the Mathias Bootmaker and the Keepers of the Sandbox trilogy, is a dark fantasy, steampunk adventure with a lot of mystery. A Murder of Crows, Adventures of the X Pirates, is also a dark fantasy, steampunk adventure that gives the reader a unique look into the pirate legends. Were you always a fan of steampunk?
EM: Ever since I was a child reading Jules Verne. Steampunk as a movement is still a relatively new and beautiful thing but its pedigree is long, deep and rich. I’m drawn to the style and feel of the genre. I’m drawn to the inventors and inventions of that world. Then there’s the romance of it all and the true desire for optimism to triumph over pessimism. Good steampunk is full of big adventure and epic heroes.
My books have the steampunk flavor but they exist outside of the traditional settings. It Is Said is set in a world of high fantasy in the moment just before the release of the big bang. It explores science, imagination, creativity and tells us how everything we know in the universe came to be. A Murder of Crows is set in a world entirely populated with animals. Not a human being in sight. And yet they’re there. Those animals behave like we do and it’s not always pretty. I figured if it was good enough for George Orwell then it’s good enough for me.
CM: You also delve into other genres with your short stories. Awilda is an urban paranormal story about a huntress of a unique type of vampire. The public tends to categorize authors into one genre and associates any book that that author releases into that genre. But more and more authors are releasing works in various genres. Do you feel that the public is changing its views on this?
EM: I think it’s more a case of author’s changing their views. Independence means creative freedom. There is no box to keep writers in anymore. Good stories come in many forms and cross every genre. Writers should feel free to explore. If there’s a genre that drives you then follow that path. If you wake up one morning with a great story in mind, but it doesn’t fit in your norm, then step off the path for a bit and write away.
There are many traditionally published authors who do just that all the time. Two of my favorites, King and Poe, do just that. Stephen King is known for horror but not all his work fits neatly in that category. Some of his works are just wonderfully deep character studies and if you think you know King and haven’t read his YA book Dragon’s Eyes then you have quite the surprise coming. As for Poe, the man originated several genres all on his own throughout his career. I really don’t think he was consciously doing it. He was just writing what he wanted to write. What he needed to write. We should all do that. It would make the world a much more interesting place.
CM: You write, direct, and produce off- and off-off Broadway plays. How different is it writing plays to writing novels? Do you find that you favor writing one over the other?
EM: One would think that plays are easier. All dialogue. Some would think novels are easier. You have all that room for narrative. Others would think it’s the opposite for both. Too much dialogue. Too much narrative. My thing is the story is all that matters. If it’s a good story it can be told in many ways.
I have a very good friend in the music business. He’s had quite the amazing career. He told me his secret to finding a great song was to find one that sounded amazing fully produced but also sounded equally amazing being played on one instrument and unplugged. To him that was the difference between a hit song and a classic.
A good story should flourish with great narrative but it should also sing if it’s reduced down to the whisper of a private conversation. I love doing both.
CM: You have announced that you are writing a play for Off Broadway called Four Days with Edgar A. Poe—A 19th Century Mystery, A 21st Century Crime. A big fan of Edgar Allan Poe myself, tell us why you decided to take on this challenge.
EM: Poe fascinates me. Mysteries fascinate me. For as long as I can remember I have loved his work. Then I started learning about the man, the woman in his life, and the way the world, and time, had created and rose to the level of myth, the circumstances of his life. About a year ago I came across an article containing the last words of famous figures in history. Edgar’s was there. I realized I had not a clue of how he died. There were four mysterious days that no one can account for that played a role in taking the life of a brilliant and tortured genius.
The challenge was how does one tell a story about an incident that has no record of occurrence. My solution was to create a story with a contemporary mystery that has its roots in what may or may not have happened during those four days so long ago. I can use his stories and words to paint a picture of his life as it’s reflected in the life of another. I can use a modern day crime to explore what drives a person to madness and heartbreak.
Poe’s last words were “Lord help my poor soul!” Or was it, as some have reported, one word, “Reynolds!’ Or was it misunderstood. Was it really, “Renounced!” Like I said, I love a good mystery.
CM: As a bestselling author and a kind-hearted person, you are someone to look up to. Do you have any advice for writers out there just starting?
EM: Read. Write. Create. Dream. Always be open to learning. Don’t be afraid. Find a story you love. Stick with it. Finish it. Edit. Edit. Edit. Now that it’s really finished get it out there. Buck the system. Be a proud independent author. Find your audience. Help them find your work. Respect their support. Support your fellow authors because we are most assuredly all in this together. Then repeat it all again with your next story, and the next, and the next. And remember to enjoy your life while you do it.
I thank you for those kind words you said about me. I’m far from perfect and I prefer that people look each other in the eye. I’m here in New York, and out there with my stories, slugging it out like other hard working creative types. I really try to conduct myself in the way I was raised by my mother and my grandmother. Be fair. Care about other people. Believe that different is good and special. Try and help when you can and sometimes when you can’t. Work hard and be true to who you are no matter what. It took me a long time to become the person I am. It took me a long time to put together everything they taught me. I’m pretty happy with the way I turned out, and if that makes other people happy then I say join the party, the more the merrier.
CM: How do you picture yourself in the future?
EM: In a boat, on a river, with tangerine trees, and marmalade skies. I’d like to thank you for this interview. It was fun. I’d like to thank your fans by giving them an excerpt, and a link to a free copy, of my short story Awilda. It’s my Halloween treat. I hope they enjoy.