Today we’d like to introduce you to Sharon Emmerichs

Hi Sharon, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?

I’ve always been a writer–literally since before I could write. As a tiny child I would create “books” (scribbles with crayon drawings) and ask my librarian mother to put them in the library. An old family friend recently told me, “You were always writing stories as a child–always” and I have shelves of notebooks full of really awful and derivative stories I wrote when I should have been paying attention in my high school classes. So writing is as much a part of my selfhood as my body, my breath, and my blood.

I had the idea for Shield Maiden in my head for nearly two decades, but I was afraid to write it. I loved the idea so much, I worried that I didn’t have the talent or ability to do it justice. But, it kept demanding to come out, so finally I applied for an MFA program. I figured, if I didn’t have the knowledge or talent to write it, I could perhaps learn enough to make it possible. (I would like to categorically state, however, that I do NOT believe everyone needs a degree to be a writer. But I do think that I did.) Shield Maiden became my creative thesis for my MFA, and I benefitted so much from my professors, my mentors, and my classmates’ feedback. My first year I wrote the first draft; second year I revised it; and third year I spent querying literary agents and publishers.

I was so lucky–I landed an incredible agent who sold the book an incredible publisher, Head of Zeus in London, UK. I loved my editor, Rosie de Courcy, and Head of Zeus put a lot of effort into publicity and marketing, so when the book was published in February of 2023, within five days it became a Sunday Times top-ten bestseller. No one was more surprised than I when that happened!

Now I have about ten more book ideas, so I’m working with my agent to figure out what to write and when. I’m excited about my new book project, and hope to have it finished by the new year.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

Absolutely not. Shield Maiden is my fourth full-length novel manuscript, and only the first to be published. I am definitely not one of those writers who managed a slam-dunk on her first novel! I needed a lot of work and practice. I could come up with a good story, and I’ve always been a “good” writer, but my MFA program taught me about staging and pacing and characterization and story arcs–things I can recognize as a reader, but couldn’t necessarily do as a writer.

This is one of the reasons it took until I was in my early 50s before my first novel was published. But I’m living proof that it’s never too late to chase your dreams!

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?

I have an MA and a PhD in early modern and medieval British literature from the University of Missouri. I’ve been teaching for 25 years now, and ten years ago I applied for a got a tenure-track assistant professor position at the University of Alaska Anchorage. So I packed up my life, my car, and my dog and drove halfway across the world to Alaska to start a new phase of my professional life.

I absolutely love it. I love teaching Shakespeare and medieval and world literature. I teach critical theory and writing and intro to literature courses. In 2021, when I received my MFA, I started teaching creative writing courses for universities such as UAA and Alaska Pacific University, and for community organizations like 49 Writers. I ran a creative writing summer camp for high school students this past summer, and I’ve been invited onto author panels at book conferences and festivals in the UK and Scotland. My professional life, both academic and creative, is deeply fulfilling (if often insanely busy and stressful!).

I’m really proud of the work I do for The Renaissance Society of America–I’ve been a mentor to new faculty and graduate students there for years, and I present papers at their annual conferences. In 2023 I ran a workshop for The British Shakespeare Association at the University of Liverpool, and my scholarly articles have been published in peer-reviewed journals all over the world.

But I’m definitely proudest of Shield Maiden. The title of “International bestselling author” always seemed like an unrealistic dream, but now it’s something no one can ever take away from me.

How do you think about luck?

I know I’ve worked hard for what I have, but I also acknowledge that there has been a lot of “right place, right time” luck at play as well. I participated in a Twitter pitch contest (where you tweet pitches of your book using a specific hashtag and agents and editors read them) and my incredible agent just happened to see one of my pitches and liked it. The first time we submitted Shield Maiden to Orbit US, they passed on it, but the second time it landed on the desk of an editor who just happened to love Norse mythology and stories, and she fell in love with the novel. I happened to get two cover artists (three, if you count the Italian edition) who created brilliant and beautiful covers for the book, and I lucked into an incredible team of publicists and marketing professionals who led me through the sometimes befuddling process of becoming a traditionally published author.

I’ve been incredibly fortunate in so many ways, and I know my success has had a lot to do with that. Looking forward, I very much hope that my luck holds out!

Pricing:

• $4.99 right now on Kindle
• $13.00 for the paperback
• $17.00 for the audiobook

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sharonemmerichs.com/index.html
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dragonwriter01/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SharonEmmerichs/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharon-emmerichs-26538624/
• Twitter: https://x.com/Dragonwriter1
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@dragonwriter01

Image Credits

Kevin Hedin