We chat with author Emma Noyes about Heart of Mischief, which is a thrilling sequel to Soul of Shadow, a contemporary romantasy for fans of Twilight and Teen Wolf where love, magic, gods, and monsters collide with devastating consequences.
Hi, Emma! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hi there! Thank you for asking! I’m an anxious book-lover who grew up in the Midwest. I’m married to a non-anxious Swedish book lover who is my best friend and the beta reader for all of my stories. My hobbies include: drinking too much coffee, going for runs, gymnastics classes (I can backflip!), rewatching my favorite TV shows, and hanging out with my 7-pound Pomeranian .
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I can’t remember one moment of discovery. It was just always there. I first told my mom I wanted to be an author when I was six, and then I presented her with a book titled The Friends. We still have it. It consists entirely of stick figures with word bubbles where all the text is misspelled. There’s no plot. It’s really cute.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: Probably one of The Berenstain Bears books. I had a collection of about 30 of them in my room. I was obsessed.
- The one that made you want to become an author:
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. I’ve read it three times now and I consider it a perfect work of fiction.
Heart of Mischief is the second installment in your Soul of Shadow series and it’s out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
“Beware the ancient danger squirrel”
For those who haven’t picked up Soul of Shadow, what can readers expect?
They can expect a reading experience that feels like watching a show that would have aired on The CW in the 2010s: high school drama mixed with sky-high paranormal stakes. Teens grappling with disappearances and magic, and parents who somehow have no clue what’s going on.
And for those who have, what’s to come in Heart of Mischief?
I loved writing this book. There’s a betrayal at the end of book one, which brought our main characters right back to being enemies at the start of the sequel. I got to dive right back into the I-want-him-even-though-I-shouldn’t vibe that made Soul of Shadow so fun. Expect second chance romance, angst-filled yearning, and a twist ending that will make you want to send me a string of angry Instagram DMs. Also: ancient danger squirrel.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I won’t say too much, but there’s a party sequence toward the end of the book that takes place on a school camping trip and it was a ball to write from start to finish. You’ll just have to read the book to see.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
Always! I’ve written ten complete books now, and every one of them has come with its own unique challenges. For Heart of Mischief, I would say the biggest challenge was its status as a sequel. With sequels, there’s always pressure to live up to the first book—to do what you did well the first time, plus upping the stakes even more. When it’s the second in a trilogy, there’s the added fact that the sequel is a bridge between books one and three. Book one is the introduction, book two is the heightening, and book three is the grand finale. In that progression, book two can often get lost or feel like filler. I didn’t want that to happen here. I wanted Heart of Mischief to stand on its own as a fun story. To do that, I gave the book its own unique antagonist who doesn’t appear in books one or three.
Can you give a little tease of the final installment, Dreams of Ruin?
Yes! Let’s just say this: half of book three takes place in a different world entirely.
What’s next for you?
I announced recently that I’m self-publishing my debut spicy adult romantasy, titled Prince of the Sun. It will actually come out before book three of this trilogy. Prince releases August 4th, and Dreams comes out November 17th. The book is all wrapped up and going through edits, and I’m currently in the process of preparing everything for its publication: choosing a cover artist, designing the interior, commissioning character art, all of that. I’m having a blast!
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up this year?
Holly Black has an illustrated story collection coming out in November that I’m absolutely dying to get my hands on. It’s called A Conspiracy of Charming Monsters (how great is that title?). Outside of fantasy, I’m really looking forward to reading Bad Words by Rioghnach Robinson and Lena Dunham’s new memoir, Famesick.
