We chat with author Emily Krempholtz about Prudence Marsh Is Not a Nobody Anymore, which follows a musician who leaves her quaint town in search of a bigger life, only to get tangled up with a mischievous bandit and a royal heist in this delightful and poignant new cozy fantasy romance.
Hi, Emily! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hello, hello! I’m Emily, and I write cozy fantasy romances full of heart, whimsy, and magic. I have been a lifelong reader (and writer!) and live in Denver, Colorado.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I’m one of those obnoxious kids who knew I wanted to be an author when I was five years old. I made “books” constantly and eventually graduated to writing chapter books in notebooks and printing out pages of half-finished novels for my friends to read in high school. I’ve always been book-obsessed too—reading under the covers, in the backseat of the family minivan (back in the days before I knew what being carsick was!), and at every chance I could.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: As a little kid I memorized Each Peach Pear Plum and was extremely proud of it. But one of my earliest specific memories of reading was in my school library as a first grader, when the librarians introduced me to Nancy Drew and I really fell head over heels for a series for the first time, inhaling every installment they had on the shelves.
- The one that made you want to become an author: I don’t know if I can pinpoint which book made me want to become an author, but I can say with certainty that some of the books that built me over the years include Tamora Pierce’s Tortall books, Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, Robin McKinley’s fairy tale retellings, Holes by Louis Sachar, and Tithe by Holly Black.
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Earlier this year I read Morfran, Dark Lord Reformed by SB West and I had the absolute best time. I’ve been recommending it all year.
Your latest novel, Prudence Marsh Is Not a Nobody Anymore, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Banter, travel, shenanigans, heist, people-pleasers (we’re hyphenating it, so it counts!)
What can readers expect?
Readers can expect a fun, romantic adventure with some deeper emotional layers beneath it. Pru is a cozy fantasy road trip heist romcom (say that five times fast), but it’s also a story about following your dreams, the intricacies of longterm friendships, breaking the cycle of your own past behaviors, becoming aware of expectations vs reality, and what it’s like to be truly seen by someone when you’re used to wearing a mask.
Where did the inspiration for Prudence Marsh Is Not a Nobody Anymore come from?
So many places. Violet Thistlewaite has such an insular setting, which works for both Violet and Nathaniel as characters, but as soon as I knew I was going to write about Pru, I knew she needed more from the world.
I relate to her a lot because I’m much the same. Like Pru, I grew up in a small town and always dreamt of something more, a Big Life Dream I’d held onto since I was a child. Like Pru, I set off on my own and built a life for myself the way I wanted—and like Pru, I discovered along the road to my dreams that reality could be a lot different from what I expected.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
Writing in Callum’s voice was a delight. He’s funny and silly but with this deep river of pain and anxiety that he hides beneath the surface, and I kept discovering more about him through the writing process.
In particular, there’s a scene very early in the book where Callum steals a pair of boots right off a man’s feet that was really fun to write. It generally takes me a second while drafting to figure out how I want each character to sound, and what their voice is like, but I credit this scene with unlocking Callum’s voice for me—it happened so suddenly, like he was waiting for me.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
This was the first time I’d written a book with pre-existing characters! I thought Pru would be a breeze to write because I knew her well from writing Violet Thistlewaite, but she proved to be a little tricky in the beginning of my drafting process because I wasn’t doing the same work I do with other (new) characters to get to know them!
Another challenge was Vale, Callum’s best friend and partner in crime. It became apparent to me pretty early on that Vale was kind of a linchpin—he has such a powerful effect on the story from both a character and a plot standpoint, but he’s not one of the two POV characters. I swear, there were times that trying to crack Vale made me want to throw my laptop out the window. I spent a lot of post-it notes, spreadsheets, and journal entries trying to figure out how he fit in with everything, and how to build him as a nuanced character in the ways I wanted him to be. It was a lot of trial and error, and each draft my editor and I would say, “He’s not quite there yet!” but I remember the sense of relief after I finished the draft where he came into himself in the right way. I knew I had finally gotten him right, and I felt so accomplished about it.
What’s next for you?
Next year I have one more book coming in this world, and it’s about everybody’s favorite stabby pothos, Bartleby! (Don’t worry, you’ll figure out how it comes together once you read Prudence Marsh.)
Aurora Bartleby Is Not a Damsel Anymore is a cozy fantasy romance about second chances, kidnapping, and second chances at kidnapping. And that’s all I’ll say about that for now!
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up soon? Any you’ve got your eye on that are releasing in 2027?
How much time do you have?
I’m so excited to stand over the shoulders of everyone I know and make them purchase Julie Leong’s Isle of Lonely Monsters, which I had the privilege of reading earlier this year. I’m also incredibly excited about a debut called A Swindler’s Song by Lindsey Bowen, which is another cozy(ish) romantasy heist, so if you like Pru, keep your eye out for that one!
