Their digital site has published a piece on me and the writing of Chaos Calling: Book I of The Xenthian Cycle. It’s part of a campaign I’m running to celebrate the novel’s wider release.

You can read the full article, “E. M. Williams Invests in Herself to Write First Book,” on their site.

As the writer notes, I am a marketer. And I have been in marketing for a long time.

I’ve pitched hundreds of profiles like this one for employers and clients. I’ve arranged the interviews, done the follow-up work, and captured the coverage.

It remains surreal now that it’s my work that’s in focus.

What does the Kirkus profile talk about?

If you’re a long-time follower of my books and writing, the points that got mentioned won’t surprise you:

• That believing my creative dream of writing a book had died was a terrible experience.
• My Tedx talk on Women, Superheroes and Power, which contributed to my series.
• I wrote a diverse story. Toronto is one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world. I embraced the process to get Anna’s, Jason’s and Dave’s characters right, which meant a lot of additional testing and feedback from my beta readers and editorial team, including sensitivity readers.
• My long-standing admiration for Guy Gavriel Kay. Reading The Fionavar Tapestry and seeing that it’s possible to write fantasy with Toronto-centric characters had a huge impact on my creative life.
• I wrote the first three drafts of Books I and II of The Xenthian Cycle on my phone using Wattpad, but didn’t publish as I went.

What’s most surprising about it?

Half the fun to doing an interview is remembering to stay on message. You also have to go with the flow and have a good conversation.

Here’s what I forgot I said:

• I wrote My Little Pony fanfiction as a kid. Writing on a desktop in the 1980s meant I never shared that work. I don’t even have a copy of it today.
• Anne McCaffrey provided my introduction to fantasy (specifically, Dragonsong). There’s even an homage to her dragon work in Chapter 21 of Chaos Calling.
• I write with an acute sense of my mortality and always have. It’s one of the things I admire about Lin Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton.

Hope you enjoy it!

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Their review of my book appears on page 181 of 184. It’s the last page of book reviews before the “Seen & Heard” and “In Retrospect” sections that close this special issue.

I’m thrilled with the placement.

How did this Kirkus Magazine showcase happen?

Last week, I got a follow-up email from Kirkus’ editorial team informing me that their review of Chaos Calling would be in the Feb 1 edition. Coincidentally, it’s also their 90th anniversary edition.

You can’t buy that kind of placement: It’s done entirely at their discretion. I’m told less than 10% of indie books get selected for this additional round of marketing.

The magazine’s audience includes publishing professionals (e.g., agents and editors), librarians, book buyers for independent bookstores, translators, foreign rights buyers, and readers who follow the magazine’s recommendations.

The online audience skews even higher toward readers looking for a good read.

As a result, getting a Kirkus review is prestigious and competitive. To avoid being inundated with review requests from independent authors, the process is pay-to-play. I’ve written more about how to navigate it here.

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