TALKING WITH MARTHA EMMS

Hi everyone. I'd like you to join me as I interview Martha Emms who's volunteer this week to be on the proverbial HOT SEAT as I ask her questions about her novel A Portrait of Our Marriage, her writing, and of course, herself.

Robin Leigh Morgan: Please introduce yourself.

Martha Emms: Hi, I’m Barbie Herrera but I use the pen name, Martha Emms. I chose a pen name to honor my Mom and Aunt, who both suffered with brain tumors. I chose Martha to honor my mother who used to hope I would become a writer. She would say, “If you write, write from your heart.”My Aunt Emma, also wanted me to become a writer, she was an avid reader. She would tell me to stir the pot, when I wrote to get people talking.
 

Robin Leigh: Tell us about your latest published novel.  Martha: My latest and so far only novel is, Portrait of Our Marriage Memoirs of Love, Family, the Internet, and Obsession. While the book is about a couple, it is mostly about one woman’s life. It is her journey of discovering herself, becoming a woman, a wife, a mother, and learning to value her own opinion.   As a couple they have fun, fall in love, and get married. In ‘the online age’ she discovers her husbands once casual interest in porn has become an obsession. It is not only affecting their sex life but changing who both of them are. Passion, sex, romance, and intense drama are woven into the story as the reader follows the couple through years of their marriage. A culmination of dreams, research, and information from 8 women’s lives give the book a flavor of realism.  Entertaining, thought provoking, and blatantly realistic, you will succumb to an emotional rollercoaster ride of love and madness. This is not your fantasy fairy tale romance but an adult story that takes you behind closed doors into the forbidden private world of a couple dealing with an addiction of our time. Portrait of Our Marriage is a fictional memoir that takes on Love versus Addiction.  

Robin Leigh:  What can you tell us about your current writing endeavor?Martha: I am working on a sequel to Portrait of Our Marriage and also a family story that deals with pets.

Robin Leigh:  Can you give us an excerpt from one of your favorite scenes in your latest novel?   Martha:  “Do you know what time it is?” I asked, looking at the clock, not waiting for him to answer, “It’s three in the morning.” This was the sixth time in two weeks that he’d wakened me early in the morning for sex after visiting his online porn sites. “You really have a damn nerve, coming in at this hour expecting sex after the way you ended our last conversation. You sit up all night and morning looking at these sites with naked girls spreading their legs and posing like sluts and then you want me?” Seething, I continued to unload, “Well hell, why shouldn’t I just jump on it? Maybe I should just go for it and ride you like a bull. Give Mr. Commando some mouth-to-mouth? Geez, what’s wrong with you? Why are you doing this to us?”“Nothing is wrong with me, stop saying that!” he yelled. “What’s wrong with you? You’re my wife and I want to make love. You should be here for me, I have needs.”     

I twisted the covers so I could face him even better. “How old is that saying? You have needs? What about my needs?”                                                 

"You’re inaccessible; when I’m ready you’re not. Like now,” he answered with a determined scowl.

Getting out of bed I matched his infuriated gaze, “Good one, well you’re never ready when I’m awake.” The air in the room was cloaked with a rank stench from a digested and soured brew. “You smell of beer.” “So I had a couple of beers. I’m not drunk and I’m here in my own home. So even if I wanted to get drunk, I could. I’m an adult and I want to make love to my wife.” Inebriated and not wishing to argue further, he patted on the bed motioning for me to get back in, then he reached for and grasped my hand. He gave me a pouty look, gushing with his boyish grin. I looked at Brett, fully aware of the man who was and has been a virile lover. A man with a kind and caring heart, but seeing him in that moment, I wondered who this Brett was.

Robin Leigh:  What was the inspiration for your latest novel?   Martha: After watching an episode that was on The Oprah Show, years ago that dealt with the issue of men being addicted to porn, I had a dream. The dream was so vivid it was like watching a movie, and so began the inception of Portrait of Our Marriage. Since I continued to have different dreams about it, I was almost haunted me into writing the story.

Robin Leigh:  How did you decide what the title of this book would be? If this book is part of a series, then the books in the series.   Martha: I kept having dreams of the story, and in my dreams the main character was often looking at pictures on a digital picture display device. She would view the pictures and remember past events from her life. Then parts of her past would play out like a feature film. The title popped in my head after one of those dreams, even before I began writing.

Robin Leigh: Would you consider yourself to be a plotter or a pantser?   Martha: I’m definitely a panster because I am a dreamer. Ideas, stories pop in my head constantly but especially when I’m sleeping or daydreaming. I write something everyday but as far as writing my books I write when it comes to me.

Robin Leigh: What made you decide to become an author? I have always written stories, poems, or songs.   Martha:  Ever since I was very young. They were nothing professional though, just for friends. But, in the 1980s, I wrote a children’s story. I did submit it, but after so many rejections I gave up. The story of Portrait of Our Marriage would not leave me alone and after years of research and gathering very personal information from 8 different women, I had to write this story. I truly believe it needs to be out there. There are many couples dealing with this issue and even though my story isn’t a recommendation of what someone should or should not do, it is a story of what could happen. While I say that, I must also stress the book is in no way a lecture, it is a story.

Robin Leigh: In your latest novel, who’s your favorite character male/female? Tell us why.   Martha: I believe it would be Nicky. She came from a very strict upbringing and when she meets Brett, she really isn’t sure of who she is. Her belief system about herself, is vulnerable. Throughout her marriage we see her as many different women - shy, religious, a sexy seductress, loving, a caring mother, a vixen, in denial, frustrated, and determined. In Nicky, I see parts from all of us, and I like them all.

Robin Leigh: Do you have a set aside a specific amount of time to write, write/answer emails, and marketing. How does anyone handle all this? Martha: This has all been an issue I find myself drowning in. The email issue is unreal. I hate to admit it but I cannot read through them all. I try to, but some days there are just too many to manage. Trying to do social marketing and promote, is another time consuming issue, especially when you have no funds for it. It is difficult to find time to write and manage everything else but I’m finally getting a handle on it.

Robin Leigh: Do you read books outside the genre you write in? What are they?   Martha: Oh yes, I love reading all kinds of books. Some of my favorite authors are Ken Follett, Lawrence Sanders, Tom Clancy, Robyn Carr, Debbie Macomber, Jill Shalvis, Nora Roberts, Stephen King, and Clive Cussler. I need the different authors and genres they write in, for my all my different moods, to fill every void in my life.

Robin Leigh: What must you have around you when you write; food, drink, music, etc?   Martha: Background noise, usually from a crime drama on TV, and iced tea.

Robin Leigh: When you were an aspiring author you needed advice, what advice would you give to those aspiring author in those shoes today?   Martha: First, write for the story not for what’s expected or wanted from others. Stay true to the story you want to tell.      Second, if you’re self publishing, hire professionals to edit and proof read your work.     Third, if you don’t know them, learn about all the social networks before your book comes out.     Fourth, meet other authors, they are amazing and supportive people. You can learn a lot from them.

Robin Leigh: If there’s anything else you’d like to briefly tell us about your book, your writing, or yourself.   Martha: I’m almost 60. I would give a big shout out to others to remember, it isn’t your age that limits you, it is your thinking. Never give up on your dream. It took me a long time but I believe I am finally doing what I love, while also doing what both my mom and aunt wished I would do. I am not rich or famous, but I am living the dream, I have a book out that I think accomplishes what they both wished from me, (except for all the sex, LOL). My book has heart and soul written in it and enough storyline to stir the pot and hopefully get people talking.

GENERAL_INFORMATION

Where can we find your book?
Amazon:  http://tiny.cc/1hgskw
Amazon print: http://tinyurl.com/c7mgdpm
Barnes & Noble: http://tiny.cc/dggskw

Where can we find you on:

BLOG:  http://marthaemms.blogspot.com
FACEBOOK:  http://www.facebook.com/martha.emms
FB  Book:  http://tinyurl.com/bfy82wo
GOODREADS: http://tinyurl.com/9mrku45
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/barbiesway

Are there any other internet sites would you like to tell us about where we can find you?

Pinterest:  http://tinyurl.com/9fqp3rs

THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME, ROBIN!

You're quite welcomed Martha.
If you have any comments or questions for Martha, I'm sure she'll be happy to hear from you or answer your questions.

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