I first met Emilia Zeeland when we both wrote on the online platform Wattpad back around 2011. We were part of an amazing collective of SiFi authors called SciKick, where we hope to inspire more people to read and write SciFi. I’m so excited to welcome her as the first author interview on my humble little blog.

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She’s the author of the STAR Academy trilogy, a SciFi series set in the future where humans have colonised the Solar System. Her latest series, the Elmwick Academy, is an Urban Fantasy academy story featuring supernatural students! Now I best not get carried away and let you guys get to know her through this interview:

Hi Emilia, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you started writing?

Sure! Thanks for having me on your blog.

I’m an international wanderer. I lived all over Europe for the past maaany years, which is probably why I tend to write and enjoy stories with an international cast. I’m definitely a bit of a foodie (because there is nothing quite as good as brunch), and I love dresses.

As for getting started with writing, I have always loved sci-fi, especially the TV series about space. I was desperately searching for a book with teens on a mission in space, who might not get along perfectly. Back in 2010, I couldn’t find a series like that, so I wrote my own!

Tell us about your books – I’m a huge fan of your STAR Academy Series!

Thank you so much for saying that and for reading my work. It still blows my mind every time I hear it.

I really like how my readers describe the STAR Academy series: 

Yalena is a smart and determined girl with an unknown origin who enters the world of an elite space academy. She’ll meet the star students, the plucky pilots, the geniuses, and she might even discover her own talents along the way. And not a second too soon! There’s a mystery in space only she can untie.

My second series is another academy – Elmwick Academy. It’s a completely different vibe and genre. It’s best described as Teen Wolf meets Vampire Academy. 

Cami O’Brien returns to the town of Elmwick to tame the destructive power of her voice. But if she hopes to prevent a war with the human hunters, Cami must keep her abilities hidden from the boy next door before their attraction sparks the powder keg.

We met on Wattpad (that felt like a lifetime ago)! Can you tell us about your jump into self-publishing?

Certainly! Wattpad was invaluable for me. My readers’ encouragement and feedback kept me working on the story consistently until I had two full books on the platform. 

At that point, I realized I wanted to do major updates to the books – mostly in terms of worldbuilding, conflict escalation, and technology feasibility. I knew I’d have to scrap huge parts of the books, so it made more sense to take them down, rework them completely, and then present the finished product to the world, not just on Wattpad. And it has been an incredible journey!

How do you get inspiration for your stories?

I watch a bunch of TV like any self-respecting millennial out there

But actually what helps me the most is rewatching favorite TV shows because that way I study the characters’ evolution over time and learn from it. My ideas often start with a single character, so focusing on why certain characters on TV are my favorites helps me continuously develop my own characters into fleshed out human beings.

Which book or scene has been your favourite to write – without giving spoilers if you can!

My favorite book will probably always be The Truth Hunters. There’s just something so special about all the characters’ growth, the romance, the stakes, and the absolutely shocking twists. I wrote The Truth Hunters asking myself, what would I expect the answer to the mystery to be? Okay, then think of something wilder. The twists I came up with blew my own mind. That’s why I adore that book.

My favorite scene to write was the Spring Gala chapter in The Unsound Theory! So many little shocks, all carefully planted beforehand, finally came crashing down on my characters. So exciting!

Can you tell us your favourite book(s) and why?

I can probably try to narrow it down to a top five. In no specific order, that would be Gemina (The Illuminae Files), Ready Player One, The Falconer, The Final Six, Winter (The Lunar Chronicles).

As you can see, I lean heavily toward sci-fi, though I love fantasy too. I like stories with a wide cast of characters, where everybody has their own talent and a distinct personality. The lovely, unique, yet relatable characters in these books are probably why I love them so much.

If you could live in a fictional world, which one would it be? (It can be your own!)

I would probably want to live in the STAR Academy universe, just because I’d know the little places that I can escape to from all the terrible conflicts. Though I’d probably be very tempted to go to STAR Academy and get mixed up in it all.

And let’s not forget, I’d get to meet the gang!

You create such intricate worlds – how do you do it?

World building is a very time-consuming but very rewarding process for me. Some parts I imagine, others I research, still others I discuss with my trusted alpha reader (my sister!) until something clicks.

What I find most helpful is to constantly ask myself questions about the world. And I don’t mean questions like, How would so and so work? I mean questions like, How would people take advantage of this set-up? Who would hate the status quo? What would I do if I lived here?

Who is your favourite character from each of your series?

Yalena and Alec are my undisputed STAR Academy favorites, though it is a close call with Heidi and Natalia. I like the humility both Alec and Yalena have and their undying desire to do right by everyone around them.

From my Elmwick Academy series, my favorites are probably the quirky characters like Vanessa and Jester, though Jean has been an absolute delight to write – the ice queen herself.

Do you write in the SFF (SciFi Fantasy) genre only? Have you considered writing in other genres?

I have considered writing a contemporary rom-com with a Bachelor-type contest. That project is sitting at 10 000 words, and I probably won’t get to work on it again soon. I’m just enthralled by all the SFF ideas swirling in my head.

What is your writing process like?

I do a fair bit of visualization and general idea & character brainstorming before I write anything, even an outline. This way, once I start working on the project, it has a soul and a concept that I’m excited to bring to life.

I outline using my own blend of outlining strategies from books like The Story Grid, Save the Cat Writes a Novel, and Take Off Your Pants. Then, I first draft, often swerving away from the outline. I’m not too fussy about that because once the first draft is done, I read it and replot it against my method to find elements that I missed or that need strengthening. Armed with that knowledge, I rewrite big chunks of the book until it’s ready for minor edits and then publication.

Tell us how to find you!

You can find me on www.emiliazeeland.com and on Instagram where I’m quite active @emilia.zeeland 

Thanks for having me, it was a pleasure!

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