Interview: Emma Shortt

NRR: Can you share with us how you got started into writing?

It was an escape more than anything! I'd dabbled with bits and bobs for years (the early stuff was truly dreadful ) but I reached my early twenties, was working a hideously pressurized job and knew something had to give. I decided to write with a view to publication. I kind of made a conscious decision to step away from my working life, ease off the pressure and try and make it as a writer instead.

It hasn't quite worked out how I planned! The books are coming out now but I still have to keep the pressure-filled day job. The kids do insist on being fed and having toys and stuff. 

NRR: How were you inspired to write The Valentine's Fae?

It came about when Evernight Publishing put a call out for their christmas anthology, 'Twas a Dark and Delicious Christmas. I really wanted to be part of it and within hours the idea for The Christmas Fae came to me. Within a matter of days I was plotting out a series and The Valentine's Fae was next. I loved the idea of fairies out and about in the world, granting wishes, and getting into all sorts of trouble. 

NRR: Who are some of the authors who inspired your writing career?

Nicola Cornick and Kresley Cole. Nicola writes historical romance exactly as I think it should be done and Kresley creates the most amazingly engaging characters. And Philip Pullman, when I read His Dark Materials something clicked in me. I knew, of course I knew, that a writer could let their imagination take them wherever they wanted, but after this it was like my imagination had been cranked open. I wanted to create characters like Lyra and Will, Amy and Josh, Bowen and Mariketa, I wanted to create the sort of love stories that stay with you forever. 

NRR: What is your guilty pleasure?

Cupcakes! I love to bake and I could easily whip up a batch a day... could easily eat them too. 

NRR: What is in your to be read pile?

Sooo much. I grab a bunch of Harlequin historicals every month, they're stacking up and I need to get through them. The next book in the Lessons in Passion series, the latest P.J. Tracey book... dear lord I could go on...

NRR: Can you share with us a little about The Valentine's Fae?

The Valentine's Fae is the second story in the FairyTales series, though it stands alone, you don't need to have read the first to enjoy it! Here's the blurb...

It's Amelia's first year as a Valentine's fairy and she'd been given an impossible task. Gavin Peters wants his ex-girlfriend back but fae magic can’t make people fall in love. If Amelia is to complete her task she’ll have to get creative, and that creativity includes ignoring her own, rapidly developing, feelings for the human she’s been tasked with.

Gavin has pined for his ex-girlfriend for months so when his kooky new secretary Amelia offers him a wish he knows exactly what to request. But when his ex returns Gavin begins to wonder if what he’s wished for is really what he wants. Can his Valentine’s fairy grant him another wish, and if so, will that wish bring them more than either could ever have imagined?

A Valentine's fairy who doesn't believe in love, a human who can't let go... can one wish change them both?

NRR: What is next in the works for you?

I'm working on the next book in the FairyTales series. The Rebel Fae tells the story of Kalen, a fairy hunter, tasked with hunting down rogue fae hiding in the human world. I'm also on final edits of a stand alone novel, The Kiss. This book was inspired by the tale of Cupid and Psyche and is a little creepier than the FairyTale books.