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| Emerald Barnes, Author ENTERTAINING ANGELS |
Emerald Barnes has authored ENTERTAINING ANGELS, described by a
reviewer as an “inspiring story of a
young woman who overcomes her insecurity.” Barnes says she draws on real-life
experiences to tell her story. She likes “to
keep us on the edge of our seats as a reader to make it compelling.”
She considers
herself a “nerdy writer who writes young adult novels.” When she’s not writing,
she is enjoying her nieces and nephews. She lives in Mississippi.
Don't miss the giveaway opportunity at the end of the interview.
Q: One of your reviewers characterizes ENTERTAINING ANGELS as a “spiritual-warfare-romance.” Do you concur? Why?
Or why not?
Emerald Barnes: I do agree with
that. It originally wasn’t meant to be a spiritual warfare novel, but when
there is a good force at work, there is usually an evil one. So, I added in the
demon as well since I have an angel. There is always a spiritual battle, and I
couldn’t have one without the other and have the story, itself, work as a whole,
because I wanted this portrayed realistically.
Q: How do you
develop your protagonist’s character to help readers care what happens to her?
How important is dialogue to character-development?
Emerald Barnes: In this
particular case, I drew on real life experiences. What Madison feels and what
she goes through is a lot like what I felt – and at times still do – during
high school. So, I drew on those feelings, putting a lot of my own emotions
into Madison. As far as dialogue goes, I think it’s extremely important.
Dialogue reveals things about our characters. What they say and how they say it
indicate so much, especially when there is a particularly tense conversation
happening, but the dialogue itself needs to be accompanied by showings of
emotions to really develop the characters themselves.
Q: Does the
concept of “villains” vs “heroes” apply to ENTERTAINING ANGELS? What makes a
hero? What are your favorite characteristics of a villain?
Emerald Barnes: It does, I
believe. Like I said before, you can’t really have a good force without having
an evil one as well. I think a hero is someone who is working for the greater
good, someone who wants to vanquish evil, but not the person doing the evil. A
hero always has a way of seeing the good in people, and they will do whatever
they can to save the villain, even when the villain doesn’t want to be saved.
My favorite characteristics of villains are probably: one, they have a
redeeming quality. I don’t like purely evil villains. I want to feel something
for them besides hatred. And two, they always think outside of the box. I love
when they do something crazy, but it really seems to work – at first. Three, I
love how they just won’t die! You can kill them, but there’s someone else who
has worked for them that can keep their idea going – at least until the
hero(es) can vanquish them for good!
Q: How did you
come up with the title ENTERTAINING ANGELS? (Don’t tell us if it’s a plot
spoiler!)
Emerald Barnes: There’s a Bible
verse, Hebrews 13:2, that says, “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for
thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” As I was reading that and
thinking about my novel as a whole, the “entertained angels unawares” became Entertaining Angels. I can’t really go
into more details than that without completely spoiling the plot.
Q: What do you
consider to be the most important elements of a compelling story?
Emerald Barnes: I think that it
somehow has to keep us on the edge of our seats as a reader to make it
compelling. The main character needs to go through something that is bad, make
it worse, and then let them come through it relatively unscathed but for the
better. I think that’s pretty much my favorite way to tell a story. It keeps me
always wanting more when I read a book like that. Of course, a happy ending –
or mostly happy ending is helpful too!
Q: How helpful
are back-story and setting to telling your story? Could your book have occurred
anywhere at any time?
Emerald Barnes: In all honesty,
in the telling of this particular story, they really aren’t all that helpful. A
little backstory to why Mads is the way she is was necessary, but setting isn’t
important at all – well, aside from the fact that most of her problems revolve
around school. But yes, my book could have taken place anytime, anywhere
because it’s such a common issue in teens these days. It could have taken place
in 1980 or 2050, and the results would be the same.
Q: Do you
develop your stories from an outline and stick to it; or do your characters
push you around?
Emerald Barnes: My characters
are so pushy! They never stick to what I have in mind for them, and I’m totally
fine with that! I want them to direct the story because when I let them move
about freely, the story is always so much better! They, apparently, know
themselves better than I do!
Q: What do you
think contributes to making a writer successful?
Emerald Barnes: There are so
many keys to it. Finding the right opportunity for your novel for one thing,
learning how to properly pitch your novel, learning the ins and outs of
marketing. All of those things help, but I think the most important thing is
perseverance. There’s no giving up, because if you do give up, you certainly
won’t be successful!
Q: What’s next?
What are your goals as a writer?
Emerald Barnes: To keep writing
and putting books out there. I’m counting on being more successful than I am
now, and I can’t do that without writing more books and publishing them. So, I
have some books lined up, even short stories, to publish soon.
Q: Tell us about
Emerald Barnes. What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
Emerald Barnes: I’m just a
nerdy writer who writes young adult novels. I spend most of my time with my
nieces and nephews, and now that my oldest two nieces are in school, I’m busy
going to see them cheer at peewee football games and also watching my youngest
niece (8months old) and nephews (ages three and two) so their mom and dad can
run them to practices and the like. When I’m not helping out with them or
helping my family in general, I’m usually watching TV shows or reading.
About Emerald
Barnes
Emerald
Barnes graduated with a B.A. in English with an emphasis on Creative Writing at
Mississippi University for Women. She resides in a small town in
Mississippi and has the accent to prove it. She mainly writes
suspense/thrillers in the YA genre, but she dabbles in other genres and her
books are enjoyed by all ages!
She's
constantly working on new novels and has more ideas than she knows what to do
with. She is a crazy grammar nazi who also proofreads novels!
She's an
auntie to three beautiful nieces and two handsome nephews. She's a
Whovian, a little bit of a nerd, a reader, a writer, and a family-oriented
person. God is number one in her life, and she thanks Him continuously for His
love and favor.
About ENTERTAINING ANGELS
Madison
Andrews can't face her reflection in the mirror. All she sees is a big, fat
nobody. Yet, deep inside she longs for something more, something that's not
skin deep.
Along comes
Zach, the new guy in school. He's smoking hot and totally out of her
league. She somehow catches his eye, and he makes her feel beautiful for
once. But just as she gets close to Zach, her nerdy best friend, Chase, won't
let Madison doubt her true beauty, no matter how many meals she skips.
Even as
Madison begins to realize that she is more than she thinks, darker forces are
at work, darker than the lies and mocking from her peers, stopping her from
amounting to her full potential. Can Madison find true happiness in her own
skin?
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