Welcome Guest Blogger: Author Wren Emerson

First off, I’d like to thank Natasha for having me on her blog today. It feels like such an honor to wreak havoc on someone else’s blog.
 
I’ve been asked about where I came up with the characters in my debut novel, I Wish… That seems like a fun topic so that’s what I’m going to write about.
 
For those who haven’t read I Wish… it’s about a 17 year old girl named Thistle Nettlebottom who grew up traveling the country in an RV with her mother and crazy overbearing grandmother who is a best selling novelist. She’s been trained in all sorts of interesting skills over the years by people her grandmother hires for research for her books.
 
One day they get a call to return back home to a town named Desire. A town that Thistle has never heard anyone mention. She soon finds out that there’s a lot about herself and her family she never knew, the most shocking is that they and everyone else in the town of Desire, are witches and that Thistle has a magic ability that allows her to wish things into existence (or out of it). As she comes to terms with this revelation she also has to figure out who is trying to kill her in a town full of people who’d all love to see her dead.
 
Desire has a woman dominated society because only the women have magical powers. In a reversal of the typical “trophy wife” scenario, it’s the men in Desire who are chosen to be married based on how powerful their Family bloodlines are.
 
The idea isn’t a new one. I first started playing around with it a couple of years ago. I imagined a town where all the women had a magic talent that was almost like a superpower. In fact, one of my favorite characters, Olivia, was based on my interest in Rogue from the XMen comics. I’ve always thought Rogue has one of the most tragic stories I’ve ever read. Imagine never being able to touch someone you love. So I took pity on Olivia and gave her a grandmother who she could touch without killing. And so I created Elizabeth Fletcher and her super regeneration.
 
Thistle is based on me if I were about a thousand times cooler. I was careful not to get too carried away and make her perfect. She still makes stupid mistakes and has unrequited crushes on cute boys the way any teenaged girl does, but she maintains inner strength through the story and faces her problems with humor. I really enjoyed writing about such a strange town through her eyes.
 
Ramona is based a lot on my own grandma. Grandma was a huge influence when I was growing up. She always did things that were typically “guy” things like fishing and camping and bowling. She was truly the matriarch of our family. Every holiday revolved around the plans she made for everyone. She was also a little emotionally distant and didn’t often show a lot of physical affection, but I have no doubt that she loves me in her way. She’s a character, but I’m grateful to have had her in my life. She taught me not to blindly accept typical gender roles, something that’s served me well since all my minions are boys.
 
And then there are the two sexy boys that make up the love triangle. I adore love triangles. Until the main character picks the wrong boy, of course, LOL. Evan is the perfect boy for Thistle in her new life, he comes from a powerful Family, he’s sweet, and ridiculously good looking. Then there’s Ben. He’s an outsider and he’s hard to read… sometimes he’s distant and other times he stops fighting his feelings for Thistle and they have amazing chemistry. They represent two entirely different ways of thinking and as the story progresses you see her attraction grow stronger for each of them.
 
The sequel should be out at some point this summer and I’m really looking forward to some of the minor characters getting more screen time. We find out a lot more about Ben’s history and how the Coven works. I’m really excited about it and I hope everyone enjoys what I have planned.
 
I keep a blog that focuses on indie publishing and offers glimpses into my everyday life at http://wrenemerson.wordpress.com. I’m also extremely active on twitter as @wrenem.  Thanks again, Natasha, for inviting me to share with your readers today. 


*Wren Emerson was born on the mean streets of small town Kansas 30*mumble* years ago. She first put pen to paper at the tender age of 12 and wrote an epicly awful story. She then became publisher and editor in chief of a family newspaper which included articles written by indentured servants/siblings. It got rave reviews from all 8 members of her family.

Now in adulthood, Wren still enjoys bossing people around so she became overlord to a small army of minions; her true love, kids, a cat, and a dog. When she's not plotting to form a dictatorship she writes. When she's not writing, she plays video games, reads books, practices her iphoneography skills, and spends way too much time hanging out in #pubwrite on Twitter.