Since I've been posting my stories and poems online. I've met a lot of wonderful writers. That is why I have decided to do an author/poet spotlight whenever I meet a truly remarkable individual over the web. I'll do an online interview with them,  post some of their work, and links so you can read more of their stuff.

Today's author is Emily T. I physically sat down with Emily and asked her a few questions.
NOTE: this is a transcribed face-to-face interview. If you would like to listen to the recording, please click here.

All comments from Rosi (myself) are in red.

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Okay, well, thanks for coming Emily! Super excited, I love your poetry. As you—as you know.

Thank you.

So let's just jump in right now. What does your writing process look like?

My writing process is very, very hectic. It's—um—people always say that inspiration comes at like the most random of times and that is completely and totally accurate. I'll be sitting in, like, the middle of a math class, and all of a sudden, in my head, I'll like notice the way the like teacher is writing something on the board, and I'm just like that looks really cool. Then all of a sudden, my math notes start turning into like little versus and like poems, over and over and over.

And so—if you actually look at the back of all my notebooks, like, you actually—like I write my actual notes in print and my poetry in cursive, so I can tell which is which, just, like, on a glance. 'Cause it really just—whenever, just, like, the mood strikes me I have to write poetry, right then and right there and right now. And if I actually try to like plan it, and sit down, I'm never going to write anything down. And I'll never get anything down.

Yeah, I have—I mean, I do the same thing with writing. I just have notebooks filled with, ya know, thoughts and ideas and—Ooh! So many things. 

*Laughter*

Hmm, cool. So do you, um, have any strange writing habits then? Like standing on your head or writing in the shower?

Let's see...strange writing habits. I think...*blows out a breath*. I think the only strange writing habit I can think of is that whenever I get writers block in the middle of a poem—like, if I'm on a roll and all of a sudden I just stop, I'll sketch eyes. In the margins of my paper. It's the only thing I can draw

Huh.

And like, so they'll just be eyes randomly in the middle of the paper just like—I'll like try drawing different ones and do different shadings and like I said, I'm a horrible drawer, but just like, there are these eyeballs everywhere on my paper. It's the freakiest thing, but that'll be like my strangest habit.

Very cool.

*Both burst out laughing*

I mean, I haven't heard that one yet. 

I swear I have no idea where it comes from, it's just a bunch of eyeballs. I tried to write a poem about it once, but it just lead to more eyes.

*More laughing (we had fun!)*

So, that's very cool. So! Just as you inspire other poets and poems inspire you, what poets have inspired you?!

Ah, the very first poet that inspired me was Emily Dickinson.

*Awh*

Uh, my mom actually named me after her. My namesakes after Emily Dickinson.

Very cool.

And emily Bronte as well. She's my mom's—it's cause my mom loved Wuthering Heights. Um, I—When I was in seventh grade, I found a book of her poetry randomly on the table. And I started reading it. And the rhythm of all of her lines really stuck with me, and I started writing with this rhythm. And Emily Dickinson is why I wrote my first poem. And when I showed it to my teacher—my teacher asked me if I copied it down from the book.

*Laughter* And I was just like, "No, but I think that's good right?"

*Burst of laughter* 

So, um, I love Emily Dickinson. Um, Sylvia Plath. As much as morbid as it is.

I love Sylvia Plath too. Ariel—

Yes!

—After my heart. 

Oh, she is absolutely fabulous. I love everything about her work. She is one of my inspirations and role models. Uh, I mean, other than—*laughter* 

But, I also love prose writer that write like poetry.

Mm-hmm.

Like F. Scott Fitzgerald. The images in like The Great Gatsby are phenomenal. And just like—when you're able to get that much depth it is like writing poetry in the form of prose.

Yes.

And I think that is fantastic. Um, Robert Jackson Bennett is a contemporary author. He wrote, um, The Troupe. And it's this fantastic, fantastic novel that just like—after every chapter I have to pause because just the images are so dense and the plot was so intense, it was just like really sticks out at you.

So I think as of now, those would be the people who just—

Just are—

I worship them! Worship the ground the walk on.

*Rosi's laughter*

Awesome, all right. So, what do you consider to be your best accomplishment?

Ooh! Best accomplishment...? In all honesty, I think becoming part of the Jimenez Porter Writers' House. I think a lot of times, no matter how many times people may say they like something, there is always gonna be that little bit of self doubt there. I think that no matter what you do, and no matter what you write, there's always going to be times when you look and you wonder if what you're doing is, like, really good.

So...by getting into the University of Maryland's Writers' House and having someone say, "You know what? Not only is your work good, but we think your work is good enough to be with other writer and to share your writing and to help your writing with them. I was really honored by that. I think that maybe one of the things I'm most proud of, thus far.

Yeah. I mean it really is an achievement. As you know, it's an honors program, very specific, very special. Um, that is really—that is really a great achievement. 

So then, where do you see yourself in ten years?

In a perfect world, I just wanna be writing.

*Mutual laughter*

I was actually talking to my friend about this the other day. I was talking to her—we were talking about career paths. And I'm just like, "You know the strangest thing? I've never seen a future where I'm not writing in some way, shape, or form." So, in a perfect life I'd like to have like published a few things.

Yeah.

I love poetry. I love prose. I love all that. Um, but I also am really into editing. So, I would love to be in a really great position with, like, a magazine or something like that. I absolutely love—um, not only reading people's work, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgzlp... I love giving them constructive criticism. I love, just like being able to have—'cause like art is a dialogue.

It is...


More from Emily's interview will be transcribed soon. If you want to listen to the recording please click here! You can read some of Emily's work here.