Emily started writing short stories at the ripe age of five. “The first one I remember writing followed the story of a horse who was made fun of for being a different color than the rest of the farmyard animals,” Emily recalls. “I still have the Lisa Frank notebook I wrote it in, and I even illustrated it (quite poorly).”
Emily only writes nonfiction if she has “a message” she wants to explore. She prefers to write poetry and is “trudging along a novel right now that’s been in the works for almost two years.” While Emily doesn’t write in a specific genre “like fantasy or sci-fi,” she “categorizes” her novel as “memoir fiction.” “In it,” Emily explains, “I mainly discuss events that actually happened to me, though I take creative license with the details and throw in some mystical elements for fun.
Despite being passionate for the creative literary arts, Emily graduated with a B.S. in Natural Resource Ecology & Management and a minor in English. Introverted at heart and passionate about the environment, Emily “falsely believed that career in conservation biology would afford” her “a good bit of alone time while contributing to a cause that” she “believed in.” However, Emily soon learned the “wildlife field” is “one of the most social career choices” requiring “collaboration between governments, companies, non-profits, scientists, and citizens.” Because of this, Emily’s interest “shifted” from scientific fieldwork in environmental science to science journalism.
While Emily “tends to read one piece of a writer’s work and then move on,” a few writers she “extensively” reads are “Cormac McCarthy, Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Monique Truong, and Clarissa Pinkola Estes.” “I’m most inspired to write by anything that moves me in my daily life or that I want to understand better,” Emily explains. “I’ve always turned to writing when I need to think through a problem or facilitate a release. Put simply, I just feel a need to write; who knows where it comes from!"
"As the name suggests, I confess quite a bit in “A Personal Journey,” revealing some uncomfortable truths about myself, my family, and my friends,” Emily explains when asked about the inspiration behind her essay. “But the point I was trying to drive home is the heinous normality of sexual assault and the lengths to which people will go to justify it or brush it under the rug.” Initially, she wrote “A Personal Journey in the #MeToo Era” to submit to the Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics Essay Contest. Although she didn’t end up winning—"in fact,” Emily says, “my essay was rejected in the first round"—she believed in the message of her piece and wanted it to be published. Emily says she ultimately decided to send her piece to The Delta “because” she “served as Co-Poetry Editor for The Delta Journal for a couple years and loved the experience,” so she “knew that Delta was where” she “wanted this essay to make its home.”
When asked about the best writing advice she received, Emily says her "high school English teacher Mrs. Deborah Morehead declared, 'Read and write every day.' As simple as it is, this remains the most important piece of writing advice I’ve ever received. I’ve spent a lot of hours sifting through internet articles about structuring novels, proofreading poetry, writing blog posts, increasing efficiency, and a whole lot else. While these external resources can be helpful to a point, they will do nothing for you if you don’t sit down every day and practice your craft. Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely guilty of falling short of this. But when I find myself reading and writing something—anything—daily, my mind continually grows more organized and primed for clarity for when I do sit down to write."
Lately, Emily has been practicing “mindfulness.” “For the past couple weeks, I’ve been meditating daily and doing yoga 3 to 4 times a week in my living room (shout out to Yoga with Adriene on YouTube!). I’m also attending a Vipassana silent meditation retreat in Delaware next month, which will see me meditating 10 hours a day for 10 days." Emily notes Vipassanas are free, providing housing and food. However, you can’t bring your phone and "you’re not even allowed to bring books or journals to the center” either. “Needless to say, I’m both excited for and terrified of this experience.”
Emily moved to Philadelphia after graduating from LSU because her boyfriend “works as a visiting professor at Ursinus College.” At the moment, Emily is "starting a freelance writing side-hustle." “I’m strongly considering getting my master’s in science journalism," she says, "but that won’t be for another couple years or so. After her Vipassana retreat, Emily intends to look for more jobs in writing or publishing.
If you'd like to learn more about Emily, visit her newly launched website, The Present Page, using this link.
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