Emily Paxman is a fan of musicals, local theater, Pride and Prejudice, Stardew Valley, and exclamation points
We've joked about how nobody cares about your MFA in children's lit. Anything you want to let people know before pursuing an MFA?
Emily Paxman: I actually did love doing my MFA in Creative Writing, despite the way I talk about it! I learned a ton and wouldn’t be the writer I am today without it. What I always want to warn people of is that these degrees really are optional, from a publishing standpoint. Your bio is not what gets you a book deal and very few programs can actually hook you up with industry insiders who can fast-track you towards publication. So I don’t recommend them for that purpose. What you will get out of an MFA is a chance to dedicate yourself to studying your craft with both peers and published experts (your professors).
A quick note about how mine focused in Writing for Children and Youth: I would advise people who write genre fiction and are in an MFA program to take some classes from the Children’s lit side of the department. In my program, those were the people who were publishing the most commercially and using the most “genre” elements (like sci-fi, mystery and fantasy) in their work. I kind of drifted into Children’s lit because of it and it isn’t something I regret at all, even though I ended up writing for adults as a published author.
If Death on the Caldera was a musical, what would be the names of the opening and closing numbers?
Emily Paxman: LOL, this question! So first off, Death on the Caldera would be a very weird musical. I’m not going to say it WOULDN’T work, but it would be tough. I guess there would at least be lots of fun ensemble numbers!
As for opening and closing numbers, I am a big fan of when those mirror each other. So to that end, I’m going to say the opening would be titled: “A Short Trip” and the finale would be: “A Short Trip (reprise).”
Do you have a fancast for any of your characters?
Emily Paxman: I have a few, though I can be a bit fussy about these sorts of things. And unfortunately, I am not super well versed in up and coming stars, so a lot of these are going to be “so and so, but probably like 10 years ago, because they got old.”
Davina is the easiest - if Anya Taylor Joy had simply worn a darker haired wig while playing Emma, you would have Davina incarnate.
Kellen has always been tough because Hollywood doesn’t cast very many tall, stringy men in films. A young Domnhall Gleeson is about the closest I’ve ever found to what I picture for Kellen. The nose and cheekbones are at least right.
Morel is Pearl Harbour era Josh Hartnett. I’ve never actually seen the film, but what a cute boy!
And finally, about the only character I actively DID picture a film star for is Lord Ambrose Carey. He’s Dev Patel.
AC: Yes, Dev Patel! I fully endorse this casting. Get him on the phone!
You're from British Columbia and it's well-known that a big disaster is supposed to be coming to the PNW in the foreseeable future. Did that help to influence the worldbuilding, such as the royal family taking different names to hide from a vengeful volcano god?
Emily Paxman: Possibly? I think my earthquake anxiety shows up more in other books I’ve written, but I do find natural disasters interesting. I think the thing about BC that really influenced the book was the Rocky Mountains. I spent a lot of my childhood driving back and forth between the BC coast and Alberta, where my dad’s extended family lives, and in order to do that, you’ve got to cross the Rockies. When the characters get stranded by a train crash in the mountains, this was the placeI was thinking about. It’s a beautiful and forbidding land where your cellphone still drops service and internet between the little towns dotted along the route.
We gotta know Emmy: what's your favorite character you've ever played on stage?
Emily Paxman: As of right now, Paulette Bonafonte in Legally Blonde! She was an absolute blast.
There are a lot of POV characters in Death on the Caldera. Who was your favorite to write, who surprised you the most, and who did you almost kill off so you'd never have to look at them again and why?
Emily Paxman: Great question! My favorite was probably Davina, which is a good thing, since she’s the main character. I think she would be absolutely miserable to deal with in real life, but that’s what made her fun to write. She’s a tenacious, angry girl and it was always very easy to get her to do things in the story, because she’s so willing to go into harm’s way for what she wants.
For who surprised me most, Emeth took me the longest to really unpack and understand. He’s a quiet, sensitive man who keeps things very close to his vest and I went through several versions of his character before I really felt like I “got” him just right.
As for who I almost killed off so I wouldn’t have to write them again? Um… I mean, I DID kill them off. And that’s all I’ll say about that.
Any tips or tricks for balancing a large cast, especially when word counts are going down?
Emily Paxman: Kill some of the POV characters before the book is done. You don’t have to do a full character arc for every POV character if some of them die.
Okay, okay! In terms of more practical advice, I would say, know WHY you’re using the POVs you’re using. This book is heavily inspired by Agatha Christie and while the aesthetics are largely coming from Murder on the Orient Express, the plot is much more directly inspired by And Then There Were None. One of the things that book does incredibly well is introduce ambiguity by making EVERYONE - including the murderer - a viewpoint character. There’s a degree of unreliability in everyone’s point of view, but also hints that will help you catch the killer, especially on a reread. I used the structure I did because I think it’s incredibly effective. I didn’t want the reader to have the comfort of knowing that just because they were currently “with” a particular character, that meant the character wouldn’t die eventually or wasn’t a killer. To me, that was part of making the mystery fair play.
In terms of overall balance, I would also say that even in a large cast, there probably SHOULD still be a central protagonist. Someone is going to go on the biggest journey. Someone’s growth and choices are going to define the climax. That person’s story should be the organizing principle for all the others. In And Then There Were None, that character is Vera Claythorne. In Death on the Caldera, it’s Davina Linde.
Character, plot, voice/prose, and worldbuilding can all be used to drive a story forward. Which is your favorite way to write and your favorite when you read?
Emily Paxman: I feel like this might be a bit of surprise, but I’m easily a character writer and reader. Character drives all my choices in voice and prose. Worldbuilding to me exists to support the characters and their conflicts. And plot is really just the thing that happens when characters react to external events, then make choices to resolve those situations and likely cause more problems. Character all the way.
Death on the Caldera has been sold and marketed as ‘Murder on the Orient Express with witches.’ What have been the challenges of adapting a classic murder mystery to fantasy?
Emily Paxman: I think the biggest one is that Agatha Christie had the advantage of not needing to do worldbuilding and that allowed her books to be incredibly tight. She leaned heavily on stereotypes and stock characters to get readers into her stories very quickly, then would peel back the facades later on, adding depth to the initial caricatures. But if you remove real world context, a lot of those stock characterizations are kind of flat in fantasy. There’s a big difference between the stereotypes we have in mind for a “police officer” and “a British police officer” and in high fantasy (like my book) you don’t get the advantage of context for those more specific stock characters that Christie used, like “British police officer.” So all while writing Death on the Caldera, I tried to establish the equivalent fantasy context for the reader, so that they could have a Christie-like adventure in a wholly new world. But that cost me words and eventually I realized I would never be able to copy Christie’s pacing the way I wanted. Both Murder on the Orient Express and And Then There Were None are under 60K words. My book is twice that length.
I also purposely made the choice to make my story more character driven than Christie’s. Poirot is what’s known as an “iconic” hero–one who doesn’t change book to book, but rather is the unchanging, constant in a rotating cast of characters. I wanted the Linde family to have more traditional character arcs. That also meant I needed more words. The action couldn’t be fully confined to the mystery because there were character moments to track as well.
Everyone is super hungry for fantasy mysteries after the success of The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett. Do you think it's gonna be the next big trend or is it just gonna be you, RJB, and Antonia Hodgson after publishers try to make fetch happen?
Emily Paxman: I have NO idea! I really wish I could guess. I think it will depend on how much the trend is able to draw people from mystery into fantasy, because that was a huge part of what made Romantasy as big as it became–it wasn’t just that it appealed to fantasy readers, it’s that it actively converted Romance readers to the genre. As of right now, I’m more seeing the mystery trend take off within pre-existing Fantasy circles. These are readers who already read fantasy books who are interested in seeing more mystery elements in their work. That being said, things could change! I’ve actually been pleasantly surprised with how many mystery and thriller book lists, instagrammers, influencers, etc have been interested in Death on the Caldera. The lines between different genres are growing fainter, so who knows?
OK, you have all the money in the world to adapt any book ever, including your own, into any medium you pick. Musical, concept album, movie, ice skating program, anything. What are you adapting and how are you gonna do it?
Emily Paxman: Well okay, if my own is an option, then let’s do Death on the Caldera! I think it would be phenomenal as a TV mini-series. It’s actually got a few elements that would make it a really good property for film and television - the magic is fairly grounded and there aren’t a ton of locations needed for filming and the special effects needed are moderate. Most of the book takes place at a crashed train on a mountain and that’s it. So cost effective! Come buy my rights, Hollywood!
For a “not by me” project, someone needs to adapt Miss Congeniality to a musical and then let me play Grace Hart, thanks. Whoops, you said book. Whatever. I want to sing a little song while beating a man up on stage for my “talent” and I want it now.
AC: And we need to keep the ‘One in a Million’ dance number
As a fellow romance fan, I would love to know what is your favorite trope in the genre and how do you feel about the third act break-up, which has become less common in recent years?
Emily Paxman: I go absolutely wild for marriage of convenience. It’s my favourite romance trope ever, partially because its conflicts largely come from trying to make a relationship work, whereas a lot of other romances seem totally uninterested in the types of conflicts that happen after a relationship has formed. As for the third act break-up… I’m mixed on it. I think in some scenarios, it makes a lot of sense and I don’t mind it at all. But when the characters go through it as a matter of course, it becomes quite grating. I guess I just want whatever conflict is inserted into the third act to feel motivated. Because I agree! We need SOMETHING there to put the happy ending in jeopardy. But it should be something that grows naturally out of the story, not something shoe-horned in for the sake of ticking a box.
I was really impressed with how you wrote Rae. It's hard for a lot of people to nail a child character, especially one that young. What do you suggest people do so they can improve that aspect in their own writing?
Emily Paxman: Treat kids as just as intelligent as you. Kids are making the best choices they can with very limited knowledge about the world they’re in. They’re trying to get what they want and they’re trying to be understood. They are almost never consciously trying to be cute or inspiring or whatever secondary characteristics the adults in their lives ascribe to them.
Also, write from your own self as a child. Rae and I grew up in very different circumstances, but the way she thinks about the world and reasons about it is essentially me at that age. Her questions are the questions I would have asked. She worries about the things that would have concerned me.
You've sold two books but didn't have that ‘sold in three hours for ten bazillion dollars’ experience that takes up a majority of the buzz around publishing deals. Is there anything you want to tell the majority of authors out there who are in the middle of or are about to have a similar experience to you?
Emily Paxman: Mostly, don’t give up hope too soon but also, yes. You need to write the next thing. I’ve got the very good fortune that I wrote my second book long before my first one will come out, and that’s largely because I wrote it while on submission for Death on the Caldera. I can’t tell you how much less stressful it is knowing that I won’t be doing “book 2” syndrome with a book that I have to write totally from scratch during a frantic publishing schedule.
And second, once you’ve sold, don’t make assumptions about what the “ceiling” is for your book. Be easy for your publishing team to deal with, but don’t conflate that with being a doormat. Believe in your work. Advocate for it. Ask for things you don’t think you’ll get. You would be surprised how often someone actually says “yes” to those asks. I feel like even though I didn’t have the buzzy start, we’re in a really good position now with lots of great hype going into the release. My team did end up really throwing their shoulders behind the book and I’m so grateful for that. Overall, it’s been a wonderful experience and I’m so excited to work with Titan on my second book.
You had the very cool chance of including your own artwork in the first edition printing. How did that come about?
Emily Paxman: Yes! I’m so happy about the art cards! The art isn’t in the book itself, of course, but Titan has been sending ARCs out with a gorgeous postcard sized piece of artwork that features all 10 viewpoint characters, staring at a dead arm peeking into the image frame. We’re calling it our suspect line-up, lol!
And this is a perfect example of asking for things, even if you don’t think they’ll happen. During my big, “meet-the-team” call with the publicity and marketing departments, I mentioned how much I would love character art, since that tends to play well on social media, plus as a bit of an artist myself, I just love character art. The big issue, however, was budget, which I completely understand. It costs a lot to commission good quality character art and something featuring all 10 characters??? Get out of town. That would cost a bundle.
But they started batting around the idea of doing something simpler, like silhouettes, and since I’d mentioned that I did art, the team lead suggested I send in some reference sketches, so that they might have something to work off of. When I did, she liked the rough sketch so much, she asked if I would be okay with Titan using my artwork to promote the book. To which I said, “give me a couple weeks” and painted the scene now winging its way to book people the world over!
I’m incredibly proud of it. It’s one of my favourite pieces I’ve ever painted. All those years making comics for fun feels like it’s really culminated in this! I’m excited for people to get to see this comic book style take on what my characters all look like and who knows? Maybe someone else can come up with a better actor reference for Kellen, lol!
AC: There's all kinds of advice out there in regards to the writing process, but I've found that the best thing to do is experiment with a lot of authors' processes until you find a combination that works for you. What's your process like?
Emily Paxman: I consider myself a pantser, in that I don’t really plan out much before starting to write. With Death On the Caldera, there was a bit of an exception, in that I did pick who would have “done” it fairly early on, but it was a bit arbitrary. I really didn’t know their “why” yet and made myself figure it out on the fly.
In recent years, the way I’ve tried to bridge my natural instincts toward writing chaotically from the seat of my pants and building something with a functional structure, is that I usually have some sort of clear “mentor text” I’m working from for the plot, plus a book on plotting at my disposal for clarifying what beats I should be hitting when. In this book’s case, those were the books of Agatha Christie and the craft book Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel by Hallie Ephron.
AC: We talk a lot in writers spaces about how you have to read modern authors to be part of the conversation going on in our genres. What books are your book in conversation with?
Emily Paxman: While Christie is the most obvious one, I think my book also owes a lot to Six of Crows. That book was still relatively new when I started drafting Death on the Caldera and I thought it was one of the best fantasy/genre mash-ups I’d ever read. Since then, The Tainted Cup obviously comes to mind too, though that wasn’t out yet when my book sold to Titan. Instead, it’s an example of how something can kind of be in the air and several different authors are all picking up on the same vibe at the same time!
Author as Brand feels like a big part of being a writer these days. What do you want your Brand to be?
Emily Paxman: Fun, genre blending books. I don’t think I really want to be limited by a more specific brand than that, as is fairly apparent by the differences between Death on the Caldera and the second book I sold to my publisher. Book 2 is a post-apocalyptic romcom and has VERY different vibes from my first book. I feel very lucky that I haven’t been limited by a super specific “brand” and don’t have to treat my persona like a product. I hope I can maintain that with time.
Some authors focus on food, others on clothes. What's your favorite way to worldbuild?
Emily Paxman: Probably plants. I love to garden and while I don’t do it consciously, plants play a huge role in the way I describe physical locations. I spent a lot of time looking up tree varieties that grow in the Rockies while writing Death on the Caldera and my next book has even more local plant knowledge that I just flex on for fun all the time.
What's next on the horizon for you?
Emily Paxman: So as mentioned, Titan just bought a second book from me! It’s not officially announced yet, so I’ll spare any details regarding the title for the time being, but I’m dipping my toes in sci-fi now, with a post-apocalyptic romantic comedy. I LOVE this big, silly book. Can’t wait for people to read it next year!
Are there any writers you wanna give a shout-out to?
Emily Paxman: Christie is the obvious one, but if I were to shout out a couple contemporary favourite authors, it would be Emily Henry for romance, Attica Locke for mystery, Fonda Lee for fantasy and Martha Wells for science fiction. I’m also a massive Hunger Games fan. I refuse to believe Suzanne Collins has ever written a bad book.
Thank you, Emmy!
Death on the Caldera playlist:
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