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Blog: Emma Finlayson-Palmer

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Bluesky: Emma Finlayson-Palmer (@finlaysonpalmer.bsky.social) — Bluesky

Skeletal Trees

I couldn't settle down to sleep last night until I'd painted something, and for some reason these skeletal trees were just begging me to paint them...

#ukteenchat Interview with Adam Connors

 #ukteenchat Interview with Adam Connors

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour, I am thrilled to be taking part with the tour for Adam Connors fantastic new book - FIND ME AFTER - out on 4th July 2024. This is the second book by Adam, and equally as brilliant as his first book, THE GIRL WHO BROKE THE SEA.

I'm excited to be sharing my Q&A with Adam, I hope you enjoy it as much as I have...

Could you tell us a little bit about your new YA Thriller Romance, Find Me After, please?

My main character, Kyle, wakes from an epileptic seizure to find that the world is … different. People flicker in and out of sight, buildings tremble and threaten to slip out of existence. In the ordinary world, Kyle is still having a seizure, but his brain activity is spiking and, like a near-death experience, it’s creating an alternative world, another version of reality.

Kyle ends up calling it the Stillness, and the point is that it isn’t a hallucination, it’s just a different rendering of reality. It’s not less real, it’s more real than the world we’re used to.

Was there anything in particular that inspired Find Me After?

I wrote the opening chapter of Find Me After on the kitchen floor, waking up after a seizure. I wanted to capture some of the fraught energy of a seizure, that feeling of “coming back”. The few minutes after a seizure always feels like a kind of hinterland, as if my brain is shifting gears, as if something still has hold of my ankle and is trying to drag me back. That’s where the story starts.

Did you need to research anything for Find Me After?

Lots! I didn’t want to write about a supernatural “afterlife” or purgatory, I felt like that had been done before and it would be too easy to slip into well-trodden territory. I’d been reading about this idea in neuroscience that the brain doesn’t just experience reality, it constructs it. Neuroscience is going through a bit of a renaissance at the moment, new imaging technology and data processing capability is changing the field dramatically.

Neuroscientists talk about our daily experiences as a “controlled hallucination” and there’s a growing body of hard physical evidence to back this up.

So I thought: if this world is partly a hallucination, maybe a traumatised brain could construct a different (but no less real) version of reality.

For me, that kind of background is what gives me the confidence and level of detail I need to make the world feel real, and it opens up lots of directions that I wouldn’t have thought of if I’d just seen the world as something supernatural.

Without being too spoilery, is there a specific scene or character that you really enjoyed writing in Find Me After?

Jonah is by far my favourite character. He’s the main antagonist and he’s kind of a nasty piece of work. But he’s a kind of “take control” which Kyle can’t help but find slightly alluring. He’s a bit of a force of nature, almost animalistic, and that is very much not me, so it was a lot of fun to write.

 

Do you feel your approach to writing or editing has changed the more books you write?

Yes, definitely. I used to get really bogged down on the first chapter (maybe the first page). I used to think: if I can just get this right everything else will fall into place. But it never did, I just wrote and rewrote and never got past the first 20K words.

One day I realised that the best thing I could do was write all the way through to the end. Once I have a dirty first draft, it’s much easier to see what the book is really about, and then go back and write that.

I actually did the maths for my last book, The Girl Who Broke The Sea: I figured out that I wrote about 250K words to get my 80K novel. I basically deleted two words for every word I kept, which is much more efficient than it felt at the time.

I haven’t checked Find Me After but I think the ratio will be smaller.

Have you always written YA, or do you write for other age groups?

I did an MA at City University and wrote an adult book as part of that, but it wasn’t good enough and it didn’t find a home. Then I wrote short-stories for a while because it was easier to fit around two young children. When my son was about 8 or 9 I realised that I was spending all this time writing things that he couldn’t enjoy, so I switched to middle-grade.

My first book was middle-grade and won Undiscovered Voices and allowed me to sign with my agent. My second book started out as middle-grade, but my editor at Scholastic pointed out that I really wanted to write YA, I just hadn’t realised it.

He was right.

For now at least I think YA is my sweet-spot. There’s enough freedom to build in ideas that are sufficiently sophisticated that adult readers can enjoy them as well, but YA also doesn’t take itself too seriously, and there’s still room to put things in that are just … cool.

Besides, my 8 year old is now 16.

Do you have any writing rituals, go to writing snacks, or a favourite place to write?

I have two very, very large monitors. Vast. And I’d have more if my desk would hold them. I like to have my writing document quite small (laptop sized) and then about ten other windows around it with notes and pinterest pages. I share my writing room with my partner so I can’t stick things to the wall, so my screens are my thought palace.

Are you a plotter or pantser?

Mostly a pantser. There’s a line from an old insurance advert I always think about when I’m writing: You don’t know what you’re made of until you’ve had the stuffing knocked out of you.

That’s mostly how I write, I knock the stuffing out of my characters in order to figure out what they’re made of.

That said, I usually have a pretty good idea of where the next third of the book is going and I tend to write that down in note form. The best feeling is when the next block comes into view and something about it surprises me. That’s when I feel like it’s probably good.

Can you tell us anything about what you’re currently working on?

I’d love to write a follow-up to Find Me After. There’s a lot of interesting stuff I’d like to play around with in Kyle and Jonah’s relationship. Imagine, Kyle has always felt controlled by his epilepsy, and in contrast Jonah is almost animalistic in his instinct to dominate the world he’s trapped in. I think Kyle might end up a bit conflicted in that relationship.

There’s a whole science experiment going on in the Stillness as well that needs to be finished off.

Do you have any writing advice or tips you’d like to share?

Hemingway had the right answer: “Writing is rewriting.” I go over and over the words, I delete ruthlessly and rewrite. Every time I sit down to write, I tend to start a page or two back and rewrite the words I wrote the day before. I probably waste a lot of time adding and removing commas, but being willing to rewrite so readily reminds me that the words are actually the least important part of a book — they need to be good enough to get out of the way and not jar the reader out of the illusion, but ideally the reader isn’t thinking about the words, they’re thinking about the characters, and the story, and the world. 

FIND ME AFTER - Out on the 4th July from Scholastic 

Paperback • 9780702331367 • £8.99 • 14+

Available from all bookshops, including: HIVE

Do check out all the other blog stops this week...

#ukteenchat Interview with YA author Rebeka Shaid

 

1, Could you tell us a little bit about your YA debut, Seven Days, please?

‘Seven Days’ can probably be best described as a diverse YA romance about finding love after loss. There’s sassy Noori who bumps into her misunderstood and troubled counterpart, Aamir. Both have recently experienced tragedy in their lives and are trying to figure out who they are and where they belong. While ‘Seven Days’ is about first love, the book delves into other themes such as grief, cultural identity, and family – all told with humour.  

2, Was there anything in particular that inspired Seven Days?

I wanted to write an unconventional love story featuring unconventional characters. Both Noori and Aamir don’t conform to norms and their life choices reflect that. Representation was also important to me as Noori is of mixed heritage and Aamir’s parents are immigrants, which reflects my own upbringing in a way. There aren’t that many YA novels out there that look at what it’s like to grow up between different cultures. My own experience of loss also inspired me to write about two grieving teenagers and their struggles with grief feel very real to me.

3, Did you need to do any research for Seven Days?

The novel didn’t require a lot of research but there were still a few things I needed to look up – about Lahore, the partition of India, Bollywood, and Bristol Zoo. Frankly, it was just very random things I ended up researching. My favourite: cinnamon gum and water bears!

4, What made you decide to set the book across seven days?

I wanted to write a story that is relatively fast-paced and seven days seemed perfect to me. I also like the number seven! Fun fact: initially I wanted to name the novel ‘Severn Days’.   

5, Without any spoilers, is there a particular scene or character you most enjoyed writing?

I enjoyed creating Noori’s character. She’s so bold and passionate about life despite the heartaches she has suffered. Of course she has flaws and is convinced that her life could be turned into a Bollywood movie, but she’s also incredibly kind and has a generous heart. She tries to really understand her pain, using it as an opportunity to grow. In terms of my favourite scene, I’d probably pick the unexpected bathroom encounter between Noori and Aamir in which Noori sees more than she bargained for.

6, Seven Days is dual narrative, did you find one voice easier to get into than the other?

I think it was easier for me to write Noori’s character because she’s a teenage girl and I very much remember what it was like to be that age! But I also had a lot of fun writing from Aamir’s perspective and getting his voice right was key to me. Overall I wanted to create a dual narrative that allows readers to truly connect with both protagonists, including their relationships, conflicts, and realities – and I do hope this comes across to readers.

7, Do you have any writing rituals or a favourite place to write?

I’ve developed some strange writing rituals over the years. For instance I like to wear a special necklace and light a candle before I start a new project or a new chapter. There’s just something calming about gazing at a flickering flame. During a writer’s retreat a few years ago I also learned about the benefits of meditation before starting a writing session, so that’s something I also like to incorporate into my writing.

8, Are you a plotter or pantser?

Definitely a pantser! I admire writers who are plotters as I find it difficult to outline an entire novel in advance. I will say though that being a pantser has its benefits as it allows me to get to know the characters and the plot organically as I write, which can be quite exciting.

9, Can you tell us anything about what you’re currently working on, please?

I’m currently on maternity leave so I feel my main job is changing nappies! But I am planning to write another YA novel and although I’m a pantser I’m in the middle of writing a rough outline for this.

10, Do you have any writing tips or advice for other writers?

Read and write whenever you can. Find your own style and unique voice. And most of all, believe in yourself and your abilities. Oh, and try not to procrastinate – easier said than done!

 

Book credit:

Seven Days by Rebeka Shaid (£8.99, Walker Books) available now.

 

You can follow Rebeka on Instagram, and Seven Days is available now at bookshops, including Hive 📚

My First YA Horror Graphic Novel

I've recently completed a sample for my first YA Horror graphic novel. This has been a great process to bring my writing and art together. I've been exploring new techniques and having fun creating some new illustrations including a new self-portrait, here's a few samples...

 

Illustrations

 A few of my favourite creepy illustrations from last year...

Writing Chapter Books - February Online Course

I have really enjoyed running my previous two WRITING CHAPTER BOOKS courses, so I will be running another from Monday 5th February.

I'm the author of the Autumn Moonbeam chapter book series, and the younger reader book - Mega Merle and the Mega Mystery. I have been editing and mentoring other writers for the best part of a decade now, and love being able to share things I've learnt about writing for children and the children's writing industry. 

I have a special love of writing younger fiction, and I'm really excited to share that passion for fun fiction with other writers.

The Writing Chapter Books course will be Slack based to make is more accessible and flexible for people to attend when it's convenient to them. Including the weekly live session, where people can join in during that hour or throughout the week or beyond, when it best fits your routine and day to day life. 

There will be weekly handouts, plenty of writing exercises, inspiration and weekly discussions that you can join in or add to in your own time. The handouts and the Slack group will remain open after the six weeks for those on the course to access.

Cosmic Illustrated by Heidi Cannon

A few testimonials from writers on the previous courses:

Writing Chapter Books with Emma Finlayson-Palmer is brilliant. After 6 weeks, I have a clearer understanding of this niche area of children's publishing and a solid story idea to build on. The course is well structured to help participants generate compelling characters, playful plots and wonderful worlds to weave them altogether in. The exercises in the live workshops are helpful and Emma is generous with her time and knowledge, answering our many questions and providing supportive resources. I'm thankful to Emma and the other writers - it's a fantastic course and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone curious about creating chapter books.

- Tracy Bullock

I really enjoyed this accessible and informative course that Emma provided. The information was superior and I felt that I learnt everything I needed to know about chapter books.

- Angel Dike

Wonderful children’s writing course. An abundance of material and interaction. Thank you so much Emma, I’ve been plotting & writing daily.

- Sharon Hynes

This course was fabulous. Emma gave us SO much information, which was super helpful. Emma was also extremely quick to reply to any questions, which really helped (even outside of the course times). I liked the way the days of the course varied from week to week. I really can't recommend Emma and this course highly enough.

- Tara Potter

If you're interested in learning how to write a Chapter Book (aimed at ages 5-8) do send me a message so I can send you more information ✍

Seasons of Mist and Writing Fruitfulness

Seasons of Mist and Writing Fruitfulness

Today is Monday the first of January 2024 – It’s always odd writing the date for the first time in a new year. I dare say I’ll spend the coming weeks still writing 23 rather than 24, in much the same way I spend the weeks after the clocks going forward or backwards by an hour saying: “It would have been… INSERT TIME HERE.”

When the clocks last went forward, October 2023, it marked the change from Autumn to Winter in many ways, but also plunged the days into further darkness. I try to see the shorter daylight hours as cosy times to snuggle up at home of an evening – but in reality, I struggle to adjust and hate waking in darkness and my children coming home from school when night has already arrived.

But, as we are now past the Winter Solstice, and the shortest day of the year in terms of daylight hours, it feels as though I am slowly tiptoeing my way back to lighter days, and the happiness I feel as Spring approaches.

Spring is my favourite time of year – I love the crisp, fresh days, when it’s still chilly but the sun is bright and bringing a little more warmth – birds are busy building nests, buds are bursting, and new life is blooming all around.

I love nature, and I always try to bring it into my writing. Whilst the seasons will always come and go, and with them all manner of changes, there is always beauty and inspiration to be found in the world around us. So, even on the darkest of days, both in terms of day versus night, or the darkness of what life has in store, I will look to nature, and spend time outside letting it inspire and heal me, and for it to recharge my creative battery.

I’ll leave this post with a link to a poem I have loved since my teens and one that inspired the title of my post – a poem that feels fitting given the subject matter and themes explored – Ode to Autumn by John Keats, I hope you enjoy it either in reading or listening to the audio available at the link, and find peace and inspiration in the beauty of nature around you.

To Autumn by John Keats | Poetry Foundation