What's Fresh with Diana Rodriguez Wallach's short fiction Reflecting Emmy

Meet Emmy, Nara, Luke, Echo, and very infamous great grandmother, GiGi.

Eighteen-year-old Emmy is in the family business-trapping vapid narcissistic souls into her silver compact mirror for all eternity. It's what the Rhamnusia family has been doing for thousands of years, all under the direction of Great Grandmother. Only Emmy's latest assignment, Nara, is about to prove more challenging than she ever expected.

Gorgeous and self-absorbed, Nara is unflinchingly cruel to her classmates. Even her boyfriend, Luke, can no longer tolerate her actions--much to Emmy's relief since she finds Luke a little more than intriguing. But when Emmy tricks Nara into gazing into her mystical mirror, what she finds there is not what she's expecting.

Reflecting Emmy is the first short story in the Mirror, Mirror series followed by Nara Gazing, and Shattering GiGi.

Hi Diana, great to chat with you again! Please tell us What was the main inspiration for your story "Reflecting Emmy"?

Diana: Reflecting Emmy is the first short story in my Mirror, Mirror trilogy, which is based on the myth of Narcissus. I wanted to reimagine a myth that most people, and teens, would know very well. And honestly, within seconds of my brain contemplating Narcissus, I came up with the idea of a paranormal organization that traps Narcissistic souls by judging their reflections in mirrors. I wish I could pinpoint what part of my brain came up with this idea and how it happened so quickly, because there are times when I’m slugging through a revision and would love to manually click that switch.

Who would you cast if your story was made into a movie?

Diana: For Emmy, the paranormal secret agent who traps teen Narcissistic souls for a living, I’d cast Vanessa Hudgens. Emmy’s Greek, a decedent of the goddess Nemesis, and I think Vanessa has that Mediterranean look. For Nara, the shallow, narcissistic girl whom Emmy is targeting, I’d cast Molly Quinn (the daughter from Castle). Nara is a strawberry blond beauty just like the actress.

Please share with us what your writing process is like?

Diana: I’m the working mom of a toddler, so it’s hard to say I even get traditional “writing process” anymore. Ahh, memories. But most weeks, I have a nanny who comes three days and I immediately leave the house and write in my community’s makeshift library/game room. While I’m there, I write nonstop, completely focused. Honestly. That’s the biggest difference now that I’m a mom, when I have time to write, I WRITE. Facebook is for after dinner while I’m watching the So You Think You Can Dance.

Thanks again for sharing, Diana! Good luck with your Mirror, Mirror Trilogy! Are there any contests or upcoming events you’d like to share with us?

Diana: Reflecting Emmy is the first short story in my Mirror, Mirror trilogy. It’s different from your typical book release. Each of my short stories—Reflecting Emmy, Nara Gazing, and Shattering GiGi—will be released individually as ebooks in September, October, and November, respectively. Then they will be compiled together to create the Mirror, Mirror trilogy, which will be released in December. THEN, my stories will be added with two other authors—Jammie Kern and Magda Knight—to create the Mythology High anthology in January 2014. Whew, that’s a lot of releases. So keep an eye out for all of them!

Diana Rodriguez Wallach is the author of Mirror, Mirror, a short-story collection based on the Narcissus myth, that includes Reflecting Emmy, Nara Gazing, and Shattering GiGi (Buzz Books 2013). She is also the author of three award-winning YA novels: Amor and Summer Secrets, Amigas and School Scandals, and Adios to All The Drama (Kensington Books). In 2011, she published a highly regarded essay in Dear Bully: 70 Authors Tell Their Stories (HarperCollins), and in 2013, she will be featured in the anthology Latina Authors and Their Muses (Twilight Times Books). In 2010 Diana was named one of the Top Ten New Latino Authors to Watch by LatinoStories.com, and she placed second in the International Latino Book Awards. She hold a B.S. in Journalism from Boston University, and currently lives in Philadelphia with her husband and daughter. Visit her website www.dianarodriguezwallach.com.