I have heard so many good things about this author from her agent, that I absolutely cannot wait to read her
release: The Sword & Shield.
Emma, welcome.
Tell me about your book
The Sword & Shield is about a man entering the second stage of his life.
He’s thirty, he kills and/or protects people for a living and he has a shit ton of cats. But he’s slipped into a routine and is looking for more out of life.
That’s when a royal envoy reaches out with the offer of riches and a challenge, and Ezra jumps at the chance. This will be my first published work and when I say I poured my blood, sweat, and tears into it, I’m not exaggerating. The Sword & Shield is all about the choices we make and what kind of person we want to be.
I love it! And I'm all over books with characters who love cats. So you'd mentioned blood, sweat, and tears. What is the hardest part of the writing process/writing this book?
Coming back to it after a long time away.
When I look at the time I actually spent writing the book, I’d say it took me a year and a half. But when I look from start to finish, it was actually more like five or six years.
Like many authors, I am plagued with the occasional shiny new toy of an idea that I absolutely have to play with right that second. And when I finally remember I left a perfectly good toy on the shelf, half played with, it takes me a while to get back into the groove of things.
So true! Authors struggle with having too many good ideas at once. Favorite scene to write?
I don’t think there was a favorite scene to write. I loved the whole thing, save for one scene which made me cry. It made some of my beta readers cry, and it made a friend smack me and say, “How could you???”
Then you know you did something right. OK, favorite question. Favorite character?
Hands down the main character, Ezra Toth is my favorite.
I put a lot of myself into his development along with many of my quirks and opinions about life. If a witch asked me for my firstborn she’d be SOL because that would be Ezra and, sadly, he is fictional.
LOL, but we do know that just because they're fictional doesn't mean they aren't real. This interview has gone by too fast, but we're at our final question. Advice for writers?
Don’t give up.
No matter how much you feel like your writing sucks, is boring, or isn’t going to amount to anything, don’t give up. I had all those thoughts about my own writing but I took those evil little voices of doubt and drop kicked them off a cliff and kept writing.
So important! So many writers give up too early into the process. Thank you, Emma, for joining us. Readers, go and order her book and follow her blog for awesome updates.
Bio
Emma Khoury went to Ferris State University for Criminal Justice and currently works as a Client Engagement Specialist in Detroit. She won a Flash Fiction contest in college for her story ‘One for Him, One for Me’. Writing since she was twelve years old, Emma has pursued many original stories as she honed her gift. She is an avid reader, having recently purchased her fifth bookcase. She lives in Michigan with her two cats, Echo and Kira, who were the inspiration for The Sword and Shield.
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BACK COVER BLURB:
Ezra Toth is your typical sword for hire. A dark past, a few secrets, a talent for killing, and a sharp sword and sharper wit. Perhaps his several dozen cats are a bit unique, but other than that… He returns from a typical arduous job to find representatives of the crown waiting for him at his home – not so typical. They bring him to the Crown Prince who has a problem only Ezra can solve. Crown Prince Christophe's brother, and possibly even the King himself, are part of a plot to assassinate him. With no idea who in the palace is truly loyal to who, Ezra must navigate a myriad of potential suspects whilst protecting the heir.