Blog Tour: Still Waters Author Emma Carlson Berne Interview + Giveaway

Welcome to our stop in Emma Carlson Berne's book tour for Still Waters. Still Waters is due to release on December 20th. You can read my review for Still Waters HERE. Today Emma answered some questions for us and Thanks to Simon & Schuster we have one signed copy of Still Waters to give to one of our readers. 

Emma Carlson Berne Links: Website / Facebook / Goodreads / Twitter

OUaT: Welcome Emma to OUaT. I recently read and loved Still Waters. How did the concept for Still Waters come to you?

Thanks so much for having me! I’m really excited for the release in a couple days.

Basically, I was working on a romantic comedy series before I wrote Still Waters, and the series was canceled. So I needed to think up another book idea if I wanted to keep my writing career going. I played around with a lot of different concepts—maybe another romance, maybe a coming-of-age story. Then, I had the idea suddenly of doing a thriller. This felt right as soon as I thought of it. I spent most of my high school years reading Stephen King and his ilk. And I’ve always loved the dark and macabre.

I started out playing around with “what-if” questions. What if you were. . .? I made a lot of casual notes about what I found scary, just in a fun way. Attics, mental institutions, being alone in the woods at night, etc. One scary thing, I thought, would be trusting someone who was not what he or she seems. What if you were alone with this person? What if this person you knew intimately began acting like someone else? The basic storyline for Still Waters came easily after that.

OUaT: I can see Still Waters being made into a movie, who would you cast as Hannah and Colin?

How about Liam Hemsworth as Colin and Evan Rachel Wood as Hannah?

OUaT: The location of Still Waters does it really exist somewhere in the US? or did a certain location give you the idea for Still Waters?

When I was in college, I made a road trip with my best friend to her grandmother’s vacation home in Michigan. This place had been in her family for generations and for some reason, it really stuck in my memory. It wasn’t nearly as isolated as the house in Still Waters, but I was thinking of that house and location when I wrote the book.

OUaT: I love when book covers match the story inside its cover. Did you have any say in designing or giving input in the cover or title?

The cover is just gorgeous. I feel like I can say that since all of the credit goes to the art department at S&S. One of the most exciting parts of the whole publishing process was getting the pdf of the cover in my email. I was asked if I liked it and if I had any changes, but unless there was some huge issue, the cover image was decided by the art designers and the editorial team.

OUaT: What are you currently working on now?

I just finished going over the copy-edits for my next book, CLOSER (which may soon have a new title for various reasons), which will be out in Fall 2012, also from Simon Pulse. It’s about a twisted love triangle and it’s pretty dark. My editor tells me I’ll get a look at the cover for that one sometime after the holidays. And I’m working with my agent and my editor to develop an idea for a third thriller—I can’t really say anything about that one, but believe me, I’ll be sharing more when I can.

To Enter:

• Fill out the FORM
• Giveaway ends December 30th at midnight
• US Only
• No PO Boxes
• Read our Giveaway policy HERE
• Do not leave email or any personal information below