Author interview: Emily Carpenter

EMILY CARPENTER, a former actor, producer, screenwriter, and behind-the-scenes soap opera assistant, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication from Auburn University. Her short fiction has appeared in numerous online literary journals, including Hobo Pancakes, Sweatpants & Coffee, Dogzplot, Wyvern Lit, and LongForm Fiction. Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, she now lives in Georgia with her family. BURYING THE HONEYSUCKLE GIRLS is her first novel. You can visit Emily online at emilycarpenterauthor.com, Facebook and Twitter.

What does a typical day in your writing life look like?
It depends really on what stage I’m in with a book and if my kids are in school or out for the summer. When I’m drafting, and it’s during the school year, I’m an automaton. I write every weekday, usually from the late morning until about 2 or 3, until I reach my word count goal for the day. When I’m editing, it’s a little more hit or miss, but I can go for HOURS. I’m an editing machine. I love it. I lose time doing it. And then, of course, during the summer, all of this goes completely out the window. Even though my husband’s job is really flexible, we’re both sort of on call with three teenage boys.

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What are reading right now?
Just finished a great suspense novel, THE DROWNING GIRLS by Paul Triek DeBoard, and CARRIE by Stephen King (second time through that one). I’m in the middle of about a dozen books, but there are two I really want to finish --I CAPTURE THE CASTLE by Dodie Smith, GENERATION LOSS by Elizabeth Hand. I’m also whizzing through an advanced copy of my friend Loretta Nyhan’s book, ALL THE GOOD PARTS. It’s hilarious.

If Burying the Honeysuckle Girls was made into a movie, who would you want to play Althea, Jinn and Wynn?  
When I was writing the book, I made up a board of movie stars for each role and it really helped me visualize my characters. It’s a great mental shortcut. But now that I’m through the book, I feel differently about who’s right for the roles. And obviously head-casting is dead serious to me. So, I’m going to go with Jennifer Lawrence or Emma Stone for Althea, Michelle Williams for Jinn, and Wynn? Sebastian Stan. I’d like to see the Winter Soldier play southern politico baddie. ​

If you could co-author a book with anyone, who would it be and why? (feel free to time-travel on this one—it can be any author, living or dead)
Stephen King. And I’d travel to Maine to do it. Of course, I’d be frozen by intimidation the entire time. But still….can you imagine?

What’s your favorite line from a book, television show or movie that you wish you’d written?
“You had me at hello.” Or, conversely, “I see dead people.”

The zombie apocalypse has hit (as we all knew it would one day). Which TV or movie characters do you want as part of your crew? (no superheroes…that’s cheating)
My sons all weighed in on this question and pronounced my crew unacceptable. Turns out I had assembled a group that entirely consisted of really good-looking men. (My excuse? The zombie apocalypse is not 24/7 fighting. There is some downtime.) Anyway, here’s my amended list: Tommy Shelby from “Peaky Blinders,” Furiosa from “Mad Max: Fury Road,” Daryl Dixon from “Walking Dead,” and the two main guys from “Shaun of the Dead” for comic relief. ​

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