Please give a warm welcome to author Emma Luna
Tell us a bit about yourself
So my name is Emma and I have an addiction. No wait…that’s the opener to something different – a very bad joke. Apologies, there’s a reason I don’t write rom-com. But actually the start is very true because I am addicted to books; writing, reading, editing – you name it and I like to do it.
I am in my early thirties (can’t stress the importance of the word early enough here!!) and I am originally from East Yorkshire. So yes I do have a northern accent, but I wouldn’t say I have a gravy obsession. Now I live in Cambridgeshire with my long suffering boyfriend, Mr Luna. He is my biggest support and he also helps out with anything technical because that’s not my area of expertise. He created my website as a surprise – I know that’s relationship goals right there!
I have an obsession for buying novelty notebooks and they are scattered all around the new house, filled with book ideas. I use adult colouring books as a way to relax – currently I am completing Alan Robert’s The Beauty of Horror colouring book and it is frickin epic. It’s filled with page after page of gorgeous horror graphics. I have the next two in the series to complete too. But I also have the Disney colouring books to do too. That tells you everything you need to know about me; I love things dark and scary, but you have to have a bit of romance with it. That’s exactly what my books are like. I also drink far too much diet coke, have an amazing yet crazy family and am obsessed with Harry Potter!
Have you always wanted to become an author?
This is a hard question because there has never been a time that I haven’t been a writer but at the same time, I’m not entirely sure I ever saw this as a realistic option until it happened.
When I was a small child and my dad would take me into bed, I would always make him read me a story and pretty soon we had gone through all the stories and so I asked if we could make up our own. We took it in turns saying a line each and creating these funny books. Pretty soon that became my routine and Mum joined in too. Now, this is something that I watch my dad do, and I get to do with my nephew! So creating stories is just in my blood, but I never thought I would be able to publish and be an author. Instead I went down the traditional job route and became a midwife. I worked as a midwife for years and then started doing extra training to teach because that was an area I loved doing. Whilst doing this training I did some editing courses and that sparked a love in me that I didn’t even know I had.
Meanwhile, in my spare time I started integrating into the community and I started my own blog. I met some amazing people; readers, authors and Pa’s. But a couple of them particularly took it upon themselves to push me to do more and so I did.
Unfortunately for health reasons I’m not able to practice midwifery as much as I would like to do and so I threw myself into both writing and editing. I loved it so much that I began to wonder why the hell I hadn’t been doing it all along. But fear and lack of self-confidence can be a real evil and it held me back for too long, until now. And the rest as they say is history.
What was your inspiration for your current book/series?
Honestly, I have no idea. I wish I could tell you some elaborate story as to how I came up with the characters and the plot but I don’t have one. They were just the voices in my head that were shouting the loudest when I sat down to start writing. When I write I have a rough idea of what I want to happen but mostly I just let the characters have free reign and do as they please, which they do love to do.
What are you working on now?
Ohhh, shush, it’s a secret. I am working on a super secret project that I am not allowed to tell anyone about just yet. But I can promise you that when you do find out you will love it. You won’t have long to wait either because I’m going to be dropping hints in The Asylum very soon.
Do you have any quirks while you work?
Yeah, doesn’t everyone haha. So because when I start to write I can go for a while, I like to be comfy because my body does not thank me for it afterwards if not. So, I sit on the sofa with my legs up all relaxed and use a laptop tray desk. It’s not the most conventional desk but it works for me. Then I eat far too many white chocolate chip cookies and drink lots of Diet Coke, while I ignore the world around me.
What are your hopes for the future?
Honestly, right now I feel so incredibly blessed that I am in a position where I am able to write and edit at home, full time. Mr Luna is so supportive of my goals and he works so hard so that I can stay at home and concentrate on my writing and my health. So I want to make him proud and keep writing. I aren’t going to sit here and say I dream of becoming a USA Today Bestseller, although that would be nice. Hell, I would take just an International Bestseller badge and be grateful. But all that I want is for people to read my books and enjoy them. When I read I get transported into a whole different world and I love escaping my own. I want to be able to write worlds that people want to escape into. I would also love if my editing business Moonlight Editing continues to do as well as it is at the moment.
Do you have any advice for new authors about the publishing world?
My biggest piece of advice would be to keep writing. There will be times when you get despondent and times when you think that you can’t do it, but ignore that voice in your head and just keep writing. Don’t publish because you want to make money or because you want to be famous, publish because you want people to read what you have written.
But I also cannot stress the importance of finding a good team to work with. You cannot produce an amazing book all by yourself, you need to have people who can help you. You need alpha or beta readers to go over your words and make sure that a reader will interpret it the way you want them too. You need a kick ass cover designer because people do judge books by their covers. You need to use an editor and/or a proofreader. This is often the step that a lot of people miss out because it can be one of the more expensive steps. But it is also one of the most important. If your book is not grammatically correct with good flow and readability then it doesn’t make a difference how great the plot is, people will not read it. Then you need a team to help spread your name and get people knowing who you are. Having all of these people in place are what will make you a massive success! I am lucky to have a great team and the reason I am here producing this interview is because of all their love and support.
Do you have anything to say to your followers?
I don’t think that there are any words that can accurately describe how grateful I am that you would be interested in following me and my work. It is so humbling to me that you have either read something I have written, seen one of my takeovers, or maybe just stumbled into The Asylum and have decided that you saw something in me that you liked. I hope that I can live upto your expectations. I can promise you that I will continue working hard to bring you lots of new stories that you will love. So the only thing that I can think to say, which by no means is enough, but thank you. Thank you for taking a chance on a newbie author and for listening to me ramble on. Thank you for reading my big, big book and hopefully loving it. Thank you for being a kick ass LUNAtic!! I am very lucky to have each and every one of you as followers.
Bio:
When she’s not adulting or chasing her writing dream she loves dog-napping her Mums shih-tzu Hector, chilling curled up on the sofa with her Boyfriend binge watching the latest series or movie, drinking too much diet coke (it’s her drug of choice), buying too many novelty notebooks, and completing adult colouring books as a form of relaxation. Oh and she is a massive hardcore Harry Potter geek. Ravenclaw for life!
In her spare time she likes to create new worlds and tell the stories of the characters that are constantly shouting in her head. She also loves falling into the worlds created by other authors and escaping for a while through reading.
Emma Luna is a midwife and lecturer who lives in Cambridgeshire, UK, despite her heart still very much being Northern. She lives surrounded by her crazy family; her Mum, who is her best friend and biggest fan; her Dad who helps her remember to always laugh; her Grandparents and Brother who can never read what she writes, her gorgeous Nephew who lights up her world and her long suffering man-child Boyfriend who she couldn’t live without (but don’t tell him that!).
Helle Gade 