Emmy And Me

Several commenters have mentioned the incredibly weak sauce story blurb I have on the front page. They have said that they gave the story a chance despite the description, certainly not because of it. I will readily admit it lack a certain je ne sais quoi- so I am going to appeal to you, my lovely and talented readers, to help me out on this. Please suggest a better intro description, and I'll pick my favorite (aided by crowd enthusiasm) and use it as the new story description.

So let your creative juices flow, and give me a short non-spoilery paragraph to entice new readers into the fold.

Thanks for your help on this.

Also, fan art! Or even just any pics you've stumbled across that make you think of the story. Post some links if you can and I'll happily make a gallery list. In fact, I'll post some links for some pics that I've found that have either inspired characters or elements of the story, or at least elements thereof.

This could be a lot of fun- but remember, some may be NSFW. That said, let's keep it on the relatively tame end of things. It's not that I mind stuff that might be a bit harder, but please PM me those links and I'll see if they might violate Royals Road's TOS before I post them for all to see.

I'm going to try to break down the story discussion into workable chunks, and each day for a little while will address a specific sub-topic. I thought these two would be fun ways to kick off the conversation.

Thanks, you guys. This whole project would have stalled out quite a while ago if I didn't have you all keeping on track. Really, it means so much to me I can hardly begin to tell you.

Royal Road demands a minimum of 500 words per chapter installment, so I have a bit more to fulfill to meet that. So, let me tell you the genesis of the story of Emmy And Leah.

I have always had very vivid, unusual dreams. My dreams never involve anybody I know from my daily life. Never. I've come to understand that's atypical, but that's all I've ever known. Last night, for example, I dreamt I managed a boxing gym in Indonesia and was irritated by the politics I was getting caught up in, since my dad was running for President. For me, that's a standard sort of dream.

Anyhow, in the dream that inspired me to start writing Emmy And Me, I dreamt of a couple of girls in high school- one, a child of privilege and wealth, the other, a kid of humble means- but both secretly envied the other and resented their own lives' restrictions and limitations. Emmy was a pampered heiress, but otherwise normal. Leah was a kid full of drive, but not athletic in the dream.

Anyhow, I've read a lot of 'paranormal romance' novels- Twilight, Interview With A Vampire (I read that back in the '80s), the Sookie Stackhouse books, Mercy Thompson books, so on. I wanted to write something that seemed to fit the narrative format almost all those books have, but then turn the expectations on their heads.

One of the early reviews of Emmy And Me thrilled me very much because it said that the story was cliched but well done- and at that point (still before Emmy was taken by her parents) that was exactly was I was shooting for.

Obviously the story has moved on from that point, but that is exactly what I wanted the early hook of the story to be.

Anyhow, thanks ever so much for reading my little story. I'm having a blast writing it.