Barbara Emodi

Story teller from cozy Nova Scotia, a place densely populated with characters and mysteries no one can explain.

[Barbara Emodi @EmodiBarbara]

Well Vanessa it looks like we are close to out of time and I want to make sure to follow up on your writing and to thank you for your time and interesting conversation tonight. It was terrific,
#CozyCornerChat

[Barbara Emodi @EmodiBarbara]

@VanessasPicks It has great pacing and is funny. Only thing that bothered me was a lot of references to what happened in the last book. Made me feel I needed to read it first. Instructive to make a book in a series able to stand alone. But it still was great #cozycornerchat

[Barbara Emodi @EmodiBarbara]

@VanessasPicks Interesting. To me it would be a series where readers were waiting for the next instalment. I would love to think that I was giving someone some enjoyment in the quiet moments of life. To have a reader love a character. #cozycornerchat

[Barbara Emodi @EmodiBarbara]

I love we are having our own book club. Tell me where you want your writing to go? What are your big ambitions? What does success like a writer mean to you #cozycornerchat

[Barbara Emodi @EmodiBarbara]

@VanessasPicks There are so many, I loved The Maid, which surprised me. The characters were great. Finlay Donovan knocks them dead for humour, and Fiona Leitch does a really good job of writing a cozy to market. #cozycornerchat

[Barbara Emodi @EmodiBarbara]

@VanessasPicks Way too many. My mistake. ARC readers are a better idea. Get emails saying loved the book and I am getting better at saying thank you can you also leave a review somewhere? Love my readers. #cozycornerchat

[Barbara Emodi @EmodiBarbara]

Wow editing. I started with Beta readers, had 31 at one point but felt bad they were doing so much for me. I am looking to have only 1-2 and then a separate ARC team who would read pre-publication #cozycornerchat

[Barbara Emodi @EmodiBarbara]

Finally it goes off to a proof-reader (if I self-publish) or to three levels of editors if I am trad publishing. I am completely incapable of catching any typos or doing commas. Can not do it. #cozycornerchat

[Barbara Emodi @EmodiBarbara]

@VanessasPicks @cozymysteryclub Editing. Read several times, usually layer in more detail, description, then cut out my repeat words, stuff that isn't plot helpful, then read it out loud, have a good developmental editor with a nice Catholic grammar education read (husband) #cozycornerchat

[Barbara Emodi @EmodiBarbara]

@VanessasPicks Anything by James Scott Bell and I actually enjoy Becca Symes #cozycornerchat

[Barbara Emodi @EmodiBarbara]

How about you? If you plot tell me how to not do it and be overwhelmed. #cozycornerchat

[Barbara Emodi @EmodiBarbara]

@VanessasPicks Fantastic! Wow what a great experience. I love libraries. Always have them in anything I write. #cozycornerchat

[Barbara Emodi @EmodiBarbara]

@VanessasPicks @cozymysteryclub OK I am about the same. This year though I am fitting in some novellas between books to develop some minor characters. One of those takes about 6 weeks. Now talk to me about your editing process. Doing that now #cozycornerchat

[Barbara Emodi @EmodiBarbara]

@VanessasPicks Really? Where do you teach? That is a real advantage for you, always learn so much when you teach. I used to teach communications as in PR. Took me a while to loosen up #cozycornerchat

[Barbara Emodi @EmodiBarbara]

@VanessasPicks @cozymysteryclub Very interesting. How long do you spend to plot? To write the whole novel in fact? I feel I am slower than most writers. #cozycornerchat

[Barbara Emodi @EmodiBarbara]

@VanessasPicks @cozymysteryclub I have read every plotting book written. Had plotter software. But it's not me. I have a giant grab bag of ideas and reach in and pull one out when I need it. But I do list chapter themes "kill person" "get arrested" "make fool of self."#cozycornerchat

[Barbara Emodi @EmodiBarbara]

@VanessasPicks Ha most impressed by your images. It was a double entry pocket, she had a parachute inside she could get at. I am not making this up. No. I did make it up didn't I? #cozycornerchat

[Barbara Emodi @EmodiBarbara]

I write about an almost fictional place called Gasper's Cove. The main character runs a crafters' co-op out of the family general store. I published a few sewing books before fiction. #cozycornerchat

[Barbara Emodi @EmodiBarbara]

@VanessasPicks @cozymysteryclub Ha funny you should say that. I struggle with rewriting the first chapters forever. But anything that is fun shows in the writing. It reads easier. The flow and the zone show, but tough when you are a fixer upper. #cozycornerchat