About the Author: Kate Emery
What would you like readers to know about you?
I'm a West Australian journalist, a big reader and a mum to two girls who are way too young to read anything I write. The Not So Chosen One, a YA fantasy novel, is my first book and it came about when I entered a (very shaggy) manuscript in what's known as the Text Prize competition. It was shortlisted and didn't win but Text Publishing offered me a book deal anyway. All of that happened right in the middle of the scariest part of the COVID-19 pandemic so it was a very weird feeling, being giddy about this exciting thing that was happening, while the world was such a frightening place. The Not So Chosen One came out last year and I still duck into every bookshop I pass to see if they have a copy (and sometimes to move it around so it's more on display because I'm a monster).
What music do you listen to (if any) when you write?
I would love to be the kind of author who has a book-themed playlist to listen to while I write but I'm not that organised. Most of my writing happens in short stints at cafes so my background music is whatever the cafe is playing and the conversations of people around me. I try to tune the latter out but it can get distracting if the conversation is juicy enough.
What books or authors inspired you to become a writer?
Fantasy books were probably my first love: Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea books, Raymond E Feist's riftwar saga and everything David Gemmell ever wrote all made me fall in love with the genre. More recently Lev Grossman's The Magicians trilogy and Naomi Novak's Scholarmance series are the books I wish I'd written - I love a good urban fantasy that has a sense of humour but also has real stakes.
Other than straight-up horror, which is rarely my jam, I read pretty much all of the genres out there: I'm a huge Agatha Christie fan and re-read her constantly because I love what she can do with a plot; Rainbow Rowell's books have the best banter and I'm really enjoying the sub-genre of queer YA that seems to be everywhere right now. I just finished F.T. Lukens' So This Is Ever After and I can't imagine a book like this being available when I was a teenager, it's brilliant.
About the Book: The Not So Chosen One
What is your book about for those who haven’t read it?
I used to describe it as like Harry Potter if Harry was a pregnant teenage girl living in Perth, Western Australia, and a bit crap at magic. These days I probably avoid the Potter comparison, given JK Rowling's foray into the trans rights debate, but it's not bad shorthand for an elevator pitch. The Not So Chosen One tells the story of a Perth teenager, Lucy, who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant on the same day she finds out that,not only is magic real, but she can do it and she's being sent off to a magic school to learn all about it. Without getting into spoiler territory, things don't go quite as she'd hoped or planned. There's also a romance sub-plot in there because I do love a good romance.
One reader described the book as a cross between Rainbow Rowell and Naomi Novak and if I could track that reader down I would probably marry them.
What has been your inspiration for writing it?
I had the idea for the book many, many years ago and never quite forgot it. The whole premise of the book is the way I felt as a kid, reading a lot of fantasy and wishing that I could live in those fantasy worlds instead of the real one. I still feel like that sometimes, when the book is good enough. In my head those fantasy worlds are perfect and I'd be a completely different person, someone who saves the day and always gets the last quip in. Of course, in reality no fantasy is as perfect as you imagine it and The Not So Chosen One is all about someone getting to live that dream - magic is real! you can do it! - and finding out it's not what they expected.
What was your favorite scene or part of your book to write?
Probably the scene where Lucy goes to the magic school for the first time. It was just so fun to try and imagine myself in her shoes and how someone like her - ostensibly cynical but also wanting to believe in this amazing thing - would react in the circumstances. I also really enjoyed writing the final scene, which has been quite controversial for some readers, because it's just the kind of ending that I love.
Where can your book be purchased?
The Not So Chosen One is in heaps of bookshops - plus Big W, which gave me quite a thrill - so you might stumble across it in the wild or you can ask your favourite bookshop to order it in. Perth people should visit my favourite bookshop, Rabble Books, in Maylands because they helped me with the book launch and always have it in stock. Otherwise online shops like Book Depository, Amazon, Booktopia and Dymocks are your best bets.
To the Future Writer:
What advice would you give to aspiring authors who want to write a book?
You can't edit a blank page. Just get the manuscript written and don't worry so much about how crap it is and the plot holes because everything can be fixed in a rewrite if you have an interesting enough voice or story. The version of The Not So Chosen One I entered into the Text Prize competition, which ultimately led to my book deal, was so scruffy it's embarrassing but they saw something in it that they liked. If you start to worry too much about every word you'll never finish anything.
I have written another book but it's a bit too early to say what's going to happen with it. It's a bit of a departure to The Not So Chosen One - more like a a YA Agatha Christie - but it was fun to try something a bit different.
Where can we find you:
Twitter- @kirovkate
Website- kateemery.com.au
What’s on your TBR list?
Lisa Unger's Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six because I love a locked-room thriller and Detransition Baby by Torrey Peters are sitting on my bedside table. I recently finished a great Aussie YA book, Tegan Bennett Daylight's Royals, which doesn't officially come out until May but was so much fun I read it in one long day.