Interview with Author Emily Golus
Emily’s first book, Escape to Vindor, begins your journey to a new world and is a Selah Award Winner. Escape to Vindor will be our book of the week, so check back on Wednesday for a review. I’m excited to finish reading this fantasy book and explore Vindor.
She’s been dreaming up fantasy worlds since she could write her name. Emily is a New England transplant now living in the Deep South. Culture and the way it shapes how individuals see the world fascinates Emily. Golus aims to create stories that engage, inspire, and reassure readers that the small choices of everyday life matters. She lives in Upstate South Carolina with her woodworking husband, an awkward cat, and the world’s most talkative baby.
Escape to Vindor
Emily, tell readers a few things about yourself.
I’m the author of two young adult fantasy novels, Escape to Vindor and Mists of Paracosmia. I’m also a newlywed (2 years this June) and a mother of a 10-month-old boy. I love hiking in the mountains and cooking healthy food, and I’m a bit obsessed with plants. I have an overambitious vegetable garden that is being munched on by insects as we speak.
What book are you currently working on or just released?
Mists of Paracosmia, the sequel to my first fantasy novel, released in April of this year (2019). It’s a deeper and slightly darker revisiting of Vindor.
Mists of Paracosmia
Where do you get your inspiration to write fantasy novels?
I’m very curious about the world and I read a lot of non-fiction about culture and psychology. Often story ideas come from me trying to explore different sides of culture conflicts. I’m always trying to understand why people think the way they do, and what happens when someone approaches them with an opposite perspective.
Most of Vindor’s fantasy settings are taken from the real world–either places I’ve read about or natural settings I’ve hiked through. I’ve come to believe that the real world is far stranger and more wonderful than anything I could invent!
What do you want your readers to take away from your books/writing?
In my first book, my main message is that you matter–and in a deeper, more significant way than just mattering to yourself. There are cosmic forces at play that reach far beyond just shallow self-love.
In my second book, my message is that everyone matters, and that you have to look beyond your own perspective in order to understand and treat others the way you would want to be treated.
Did you always want to write?
Yes, I’ve been making up stories–lots and lots of them–since I was five. Before I could write, I drew them as comics on notebook paper.
Emily, that is fascinating. What advice do you have for young writers?
Keep at it, even when you don’t see progress. This was my experience:
- At 19, I started working on Escape to Vindor, my first serious novel.
- Through my 20s and 30s, I was a single girl, working full-time and laboring to learn the craft of writing, all the while rewriting and revising my book. Sometimes it felt that life would never change.
- At 34, I married, published the first novel, and wrote a second one.
- And at 35, I had a baby.
- At 36, My second novel published.
So…wherever you are in the process, keep working. I couldn’t have handled this recent whirlwind of changes if I hadn’t gone through that slow and quiet decade. God can change your circumstances quickly, so be faithful in what He’s given you to do right now.
One last question just because I find it interesting to see how other writers work, Do you write in silence or with background noise/music?
Sometimes, I can listen to music, but without lyrics–words throw me off and make it extremely hard to write. Electronic, science-fiction music tends to work well, such as the soundtrack to Interstellar (one of my all-time favorite films). Other times I like the background noise of a coffee shop. Now that I have a baby, I’m less picky about my environment–as long as the baby is napping. I’m ready to go, music or not.
Reader friends, you can connect with Author Emily Golus via her author page, facebook, and instagram.
Let’s not forget World of Vindor’s book website. Please visit for yourself the fascinating World of Vindor.
