A Conversation with Emilya Naymark
Q: For most of your career, you have been a web developer and designer, an illustrator, and an artist. What pulled you toward writing and to fiction, in particular?
Emilya: I always wrote for fun, and reading has been a way of life since I was about eight. Over the years, I took writing workshops and enjoyed them, but I was too busy with my career and living a very social life to settle into writing seriously. After having my son, I barely had time for anything, yet reading continued to be not just a way of life but a necessity.
Eventually, I realized that painting no longer fulfilled my need for creative output, and I had a bit of a crisis/epiphany, emerging on the other side determined to make a go of becoming a professional author.
Not having studied writing or even literature in college, save for a few fringe courses on subjects that interested me, I had to start from zero. However, a lifetime of reading voraciously (obsessively) gave me enough of a jump start so that the first short story I workshopped landed in an anthology. And that gave me enough confidence to keep going.
Q: The main character in Hide in Place, Laney Bird, is an ex-cop and a single mom. What were some of the influences behind her character?
Emilya: This is an easy one. My husband was a detective in the NYPD, and unlike many cops, was happy to share stories of his adventures with me. For the few years he worked undercover. His stories approached a level of crazy an author can only dream of. When it came time to create a character, I realized that in addition to having absorbed cop lingo and internalized certain mindsets and behaviors, I also had a very handy fact-checker at my elbow.
As for making Laney a single mom, there is something about a hero having to face danger alone that makes for the most fraught conflict. Where the hero is young, he or she is often an orphan or is separated from their family. With a hero nearing middle age, being alone is easier to construct, but adding the challenge of responsibility for another human raises the stakes. Besides, is there a more primal fear than losing your child? Other than being responsible for losing your child?
Q: Do you have a favorite scene or character in the novel? Can you tell us about it?
Emilya: Well… yes, but those might be spoilers. I’ll tell you about what was most fun to research (other than the Russian mob, which was a demented level of fun).
One of my characters develops a fire obsession and teaches himself fire breathing. To make sure I got it right, I spent months watching instructional videos and reading fire breathing blogs. Personally, fire scares the bejeesus out of me, so getting into the head of a character who had that kind of bravery was exciting. I learned a lot about fire effects (Cotton balls and lighter fluid, anyone?) and homemade flamethrowers.
Q: Does your own history–your flight from the former Soviet Union, your years in Italy, your journey to the United States, which is now home–influence your writing? If so, how?
Emilya: The central case that my detective works is a racketeering case against the Russian mob. The details of how a racketeering case is built owe a heavy debt to one of my husband’s cases years ago, but deciding to make it Russian and set it in Brighton Beach was all me. Brighton Beach, which is directly next door to Coney Island, is still commonly known as Little Odessa. Throughout my life, I spent summer weekends there, visited the specialty shops to stock up on Russian food, patronized Russian restaurants. I can’t claim I understand the mindset of a Russian mobster—or any mobster—but I understand the culture that makes them.
Q: How do you write? For instance, do you write every day and in the same place, or do you write in bursts where and when you can?
Emilya: I try to write every day. Note the word “try” though. It doesn’t always work out. I have a job and a family, and sometimes it simply doesn’t happen. I do try for something writing related every day, even if it’s beta reading, research, or keeping up with social media.
Q: Is there a second novel in the works? If so, can you tell us about it?
Emilya: There is! Book 2 picks up a year after the end of Hide in Place and follows Laney as she tries to navigate a new career, personal relationships (or lack thereof), a strange case at a youth home, and a spectacularly explosive incident involving her best friend.
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