An Interview with Emily McCosh
Hello everyone and welcome to another interview! Today we are joined by Emily McCosh, an Authortuber and fellow writer. She’s known for her short stories and poetry such as the compilation book “All the Woods She Watches: Stories & Poetry” as well as her upcoming book “Under the Earth, Over the Sky”!
Welcome, Emily.
Hello! Happy to be here!
First, I would love to know what got you into writing stories and poetry?
Since I was a kid, I’ve made up stories in my head, but I actually hated writing when I was younger. Essays for school were the only times I wrote, so I thought that’s what writing was. When I was 14, my dad started encouraging me to write down the little things I would daydream about. I drafted a few (bad) attempts at first novels, before becoming interested in poetry because I was listening to a lot of indie music and loved the complexity of the lyrics.
As for the short stories, they began as a way to practice writing since I was struggling with novel-length works. I ended up very involved in the world of short story markets, and wrote nothing but those for a few years.
I find music as an excellent conduit to channel my emotions into my writings and poetry as well. What kind of things did you like to write most?
I’ve always been solidly in the fantasy and sci-fi genres. I grew up on Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Avatar the Last Airbender, etc even before I started writing, so I gravitated toward those early and have never left. Faery tales have also been a huge inspiration for me, and plenty of my work, from short stories to Under the Earth, Over the Sky, and some of my upcoming drafts, are heavily inspired by the atmosphere of faery tales.
We can talk about those things for hours, but let’s talk about Under the Earth, Over the Sky. It is recently involved in a Kickstarter, how is that going?
Yes! The Kickstarter recently wrapped up, and now I’m in the fulfillment stage. As I’m a graphic designer by trade, all the design/art elements are down to me. Cover design and many of the interior illustrations have already been finished, and as we speak I’m finishing up the interior formatting of the book and any left-over art that needs touch-ups.
As I wait for Kickstarter to process the project, I’ll be getting the very first proof copy (I will likely lose my mind a little, haha) and organizing all the other rewards going out (stickers, bookmarks, etc), as well as setting up auditions for the audiobook, since we reached that stretch goal.
Lots of things to do, and my house is about to be filled with books!
How exciting!!! So I’m sure the readers will like to know what the new book is about?
Well, the official blurb I spent too long agonizing over is:
In the woods where human lands meet fae, an ancient king born before the history of men finds a dying baby.
Iohmar will take in the child and care for him until a suitable home in the human realm is found. But best laid plans often go awry in the lands of Látwill, where winds carry fae across the star-strewn sky, the woods ensnare the weak-minded with their sinister song, and even Iohmar, King Beneath the Earth, is susceptible to the will of the immortal mountains.
Magic long tethered to Iohmar’s soul will crumble. Unknown shadows and monsters of mirrored glass will encroach upon the borders of their land. And memories of thousands of years lost will unravel as Iohmar struggles not only to properly rule his fair folk, but protect the fragile human son he never should have saved in the first place.
But I can ramble on about this story for ages. This novel started, as mentioned, with wanting to write a faery tale I don’t see often in novels I pick up—something strange and atmospheric where the “fae” in the story actually stay frightening and uncanny and the world is strange. Reading short fiction for years inspired my style and the vibe I was going for.
I also wanted to write something heartfelt. I’m a sucker for stories involving platonic plotlines, especially parent/child relationships. I feel a lot of things that inspired me growing up came together in this book—faery tales, short stories, heartfelt relationships from the stories that had them and did them well, watching Lord of the Rings 800 times…
You mentioned Lord of the Rings and earlier you named Harry Potter as childhood influences, but were there any influences later in life you drew inspiration from either storytelling or writing styles from?
I feel like the short story industry changed the way I view writing and storytelling. There’s a whole niche world of short fiction out there, and when I became involved with writing short stories, I also read a lot. In a lot of different markets. The top name that comes to mind is KM Ferebee, who writes mainly short fiction. She doesn’t publish much, but when she does, each work is a masterpiece. Her stories at Tor.com (Tom, Thom) and Shimmer Magazine (The Earth and Everything Under) really made me step back and look at how atmospheric writing can be, and how utterly magical stories can become with the correct words.
There are likely dozens of authors I could mention, but they were often published in Tor.com, Shimmer (this is a gem of a magazine that’s no longer live, but the stories remain online to read), Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Clarkesworld, and Uncanny, among others. Those magazines (and publishers, in the case of Tor) have countless amazing short stories and novellas, and I can’t recommend them enough.
Outside of short fiction, some of my favorite authors are Martha Wells (Murderbot Diaries), Leigh Bardugo (Six of Crows Duology), and Amy Harmon (The Bird and the Sword). These days, I struggle a bit to find books I can sit down and enjoy the way I did when I was a kid, and these are some of the few who have really stuck with me.
Awesome! You really do enjoy reading! You seem well versed in fantasy and enchanting worlds, how long did you spend on your own world building?
Under the Earth, Over the Sky is the first novel I’ve written since I was younger and took the years I did to write short fiction. So I partially applied everything I learned from short stories, partially just…wondered if things could work as I was writing and experimented.
I’m not much of a worldbuilding author, actually, I’m more invested in the character aspect of the plot, and worldbuild by wrapping it around the characters’ lives and problems and seeing what I find. So, much of my worldbuilding time is drafting time, because I enjoy plotting my books to a certain extent, but also learning about the characters/world as I go. I find it a nice mix between organization and chaos.
I joke with my writing friends that I write books on the “vibes” of the story, which is half true, but I find that if I have an atmosphere in my head for the book, and the character’s motivations and the core of their backstories, I get my best ideas while I draft.
Let’s talk a bit about your Youtube channel. You have one and you vlog, what about?
Pretty much anything writing-related. The channel started as me wanting to get into “authortube”, which is essentially the writing advice and writing process section of youtube. (I will not blame anyone who has never heard of this, it’s quite niche, haha.) I quickly realized I didn’t want to center the channel around advice, just the proceess. I talk about my ongoing projects, the steps and learning process of writing from outlining to drafting to editing, and now to publishing. They’re all unscripted and unplanned, just an honest video journal of my writing journey.
Under the Earth, Over the Sky was a project I started on the channel, so there are vlogs from the very first ideas of the novel all the way until now while I'm fulfilling the Kickstarter. In Dying Starlight, my web novel on Royal Road, began as a writing challenge to myself for the channel after I had the idea for the series for years, and finally decided it was time to bring the characters to life.
How inspiring, I wish I had done that! Maybe I’ll buy a mic and get a cute attic to vlog in! =3
Hey, I started with a terrible web cam, go for it!!
Before we wrap up, do you have any pearls of wisdom for new writers out there?
Oh gosh, that’s a lot! Writing takes time. I know that might not be the most encouraging thing in the world, but it actually kind of is. The more you write and practice, the more you’ll love it and the better you’ll become, and you’ll get to a point where you start looking back and realizing how awesome you’re doing. Which is good to remember for when impostor syndrome creeps in! I always have to keep that in mind myself. :)
Alright you can find Emily McCosh on Youtube, Tiktok, and her website, I’ll provide links below!
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Emily-McCosh/e/B01GF3WOOK
Web Novel: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/48970/in-dying-starlight-a-cyborg-sci-fi-adventure
Writing Website: http://www.oceansinthesky.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/emilymccosh
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@emilymccosh
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emily_mccosh/
Design Website: http://emilymccoshdesigns.com/