Parlez-nous un peu de vous Emilie Blaine...
D’où vous est venue cette passion
pour l’écriture ? J'écrivais plus jeune, quand j'étais adolescente. Peu à peu, j'ai cessé, quand les études m'ont pris de plus en plus de temps. J'ai fait un bac L, j'aime lire, j'aime me plonger dans un bouquin et "être à fond". Mais j'ai une imagination débordante et parfois je ne trouve pas en lecture ce dont j'ai envie à l'instant T. L'écriture est devenue une sorte d'exutoire : j'écris ce que je ne trouve pas en lecture. Quels sont les auteurs qui vous ont inspiré(e) ? Je ne me sens pas "inspirée" particulièrement. J'écris de la romance et pourtant je ne n'en lis presque pas. J'ai une adoration pour Douglas Kennedy, qui est mon dieu personnel de la littérature. J'aimerais écrire comme lui ;-) Parmi tous vos romans, de quels personnages êtes-vous le plus proche ? Pourquoi ? J'aime particulièrement le personnage de Kathleen dans "Dear You" : je la trouve forte, combative, futée, mais avec cette part de rêve qui la rend "abordable". Paradoxalement, c'est un personnage que j'ai eu du mal à écrire, ayant une préférence en écriture pour les personnages masculins. Comment vous sentez-vous à l’approche de la sortie d’un de vos livres ? Généralement, je me sens "over-booké". J'ai un métier, une famille et avant la sortie d'un livre, il y a les corrections, les retouches, les validations. Je ne suis pas vraiment angoissée, je cherche avant tout à sortir les lecteurs/trices de leur quotidien, je ne m'attends pas à une interprétation philosophique de la chose. Je reste très terre-à-terre. Cependant, le jour J, j'avoue qu'il y a une sorte de libération à voir le livre disponible. Généralement, je me dis "ça, c'est fait !" Comment réagissez-vous face aux critiques négatives ? La plupart des auteurs disent que toute critique est bonne à prendre. Et c'est vrai. Mais il est vrai qu'une critique négative (quand elle est fondée et argumentée) peut blesser. Je dois avoir de la chance, je n'ai pas trop subi de reproches pour le moment ! Mais je note les éléments qui ne vont pas, en essayant de ne pas reproduire les mêmes erreurs dans le prochain. |
Avec quel(s) auteur(s) aimeriez-vous travailler ?
Et bien avec Douglas Kennedy...Et Gilles Legardinier (que je trouve exceptionnel !) Cela a-t-il été compliqué de faire publier votre premier manuscrit et comment cela s’est-il passé ? J'ai eu de la chance. J'ai gagné un concours des éditions Harlequin (concours que je voulais perdre en fait !). Et ensuite, j'ai proposé "Dear You", qui a été accepté (à ma grande surprise !). Maintenant, je propose des manuscrits au fil de l'eau. Avant de publier un livre, le faites-vous lire à des personnes de votre entourage ? J'ai un groupe de relectrices/testeuses qui me lit et qui me donne leur avis. Elles sont assez franches avec moi et nous discutons quand il y a des "points d’achoppement". Ce sont des amies maintenant. Quels sont vos projets ? Pour l'instant, je travaille sur les dernières corrections de "Dear You". J'ai ensuite un nouveau roman qui sortira en Mars 2014 dont le titre n'est pas encore arrête. Et je travaille aussi sur un prochain roman, toujours pour 2014 (j'espère, si j'arrive à m'y remettre sérieusement !) Pour ceux qui ne connaîtraient pas encore votre univers, que leur diriez-vous afin de les inciter à le découvrir ? Que je suis juste là pour une dose d'évasion et de rêve, que mon univers n'est pas le quotidien et que j'espère ne pas écrire de la romance "de comptoir". J'espère qu'un jour, la romance sera mieux "cotée" en France. |
Date de l'interview : Novembre 2013 © Des encres sur le papier
Interview en Version Originale
Where do your passion of writing comes from?
I was brought up surrounded by books. My mother worked in several libraries, and I often went to work with her and enjoyed the privileges of borrowing stacks of books, comics and audiotapes without time limit. I felt really good having all these books around me and still love to be around books. When I started to write it was because I couldn’t help it. Working as a systems developer was not quite the creative endeavour I had expected – even though computer programming is kind of writing very simple stories. But I soon found out that I needed something more, something less constrained, so about ten years ago I started writing short stories, mostly for the internal newsletter in the IT company I was working for at the time. The stories became longer and longer, to the point when I had to try with a novel. That novel became The Library of Shadows. Which authors inspired you? I really like to read Arturo Peréz-Reverte, Stephen King, Paul Auster and Haruki Murakami. I guess the common factor is that they all write about a apparently recognizable world, but a world where everything is not really is as it seems. If you go behind the facade a new world will appear, or a thruth is discovered which makes you look at things differently. For me thats important - that there is more adventure or another truth in the world that meets the eye. Which character in your novels are you most like? In fact there is something of me in all the characters. They are a mix of myself, someone I know or have seen/heard and my imagination. So its difficult to say which one are most like me. Frank from ”Death Sentence” is a writer, but is not like me at all, Katherina from ”The library af shadows” is maybe closer, but is a female … its not easy. If there is a character I would LIKE to be, it would be Mortimer Welles from ”The book of dreams”. How do you feel before the release of your books? I feel a mix between relief and terror. I rewrite a lot, so when the book is finally released I can finally relax – there is nothing more I can do. But its also the worst. When I read my books I always find things I would have liked to have done differently, but its too late. So I rarely read my books after publication. How do you react when you read negative critics about your work? I can get a little tired... I respect that not everyone likes my books, if they had a bad experience, there is nothing I can do about it, but if the review is full of errors, I get tired and disappointed. I have spend years to write the book, so the reviewer should take the time to get the facts right. |
Which author do you like to work with?
I haven't worked with other writers yet, but I would love to work with Stephen King. He ”does the work” - a true professional. I don't like all his books, but his characters are always great, and he has some interesting ideas. Was it complicated to make publish your first manuscript? How did you process? It took almost six years from when I wrote the first sentence to the book’s publication in Denmark. I wrote the first draft in six months, but after a two-month break I was so disappointed with the result that I rewrote the whole thing. It was a massacre: only ten pages or so made it from draft one to draft two, and the rewrite took almost two years because I had a full-time job at the time. After the second draft was finished I sent it to the Danish publishing houses, and that was disappointment number two. They were really slow to reply, and when the rejection came it was a straight ‘No’ rather than a qualified ‘No, because ...’. It was a frustrating journey. In the meantime, I continued to rewrite it and the fifth publishing house I contacted, Aschehoug (now L&R), expressed interest, and we signed a contract five years after I had begun. Before publishing a book, do you ask to family members or friends to read it? I work alone for a long time before anyone sees the manuscript. Around draft number 3 or 4 I get 2 friends to read it, and make changes accordingly. Only after that my editor gets the manuscript, and after many more changes, its ready for publication. I choose my ”first readers” with care, because you won't always get the hard truth from people close to you. Which are your projects? I have just published a small follow up to ”From the book of dreams” called ”Kjærstads Alfabet”. Its an eBook-only project. I'm working on the next book (no title yet) which will be a ghost story(!) from Denmarks oldest insane assylum Sct. Hans. Very different from the other books, I think. For those who would not still know your universe, what would you say to incite them to discover your stories and characters? If you love books, you will love these stories. |