Contributor Spotlight on Emily Schultz
by Dan Froid
Emily Schultz’s first novel, Joyland was published in 2006 by a small press (ECW). In 2013, Stephen King also published a novel called Joyland. Because his book was initially published in paperback only—not as an ebook—several readers bought Schultz’s book by mistake. As a result, Schultz received a few negative Amazon reviews but, on the plus side, a spike in sales and a sweet royalty check. Schultz chronicles how she spent the royalty money at Spending the Stephen King Money. Schultz got car repairs, a Macbook Air, and some new books out of the deal. As for King, he called Emily Schultz his new hero and told Entertainment Weekly he was going to buy her book.
Emily Schultz is not only not the author of a Stephen King book, she is the author of three novels and the co-founder of Joyland Magazine. Her latest novel, The Blondes, is forthcoming in April from St. Martin’s Press. It’s received a starred review from both Booklist and Kirkus, which called it a “nail-biter that is equal parts suspense, science fiction, and a funny, dark sendup of the stranglehold of gender.” In this fascinating interview at Words without Borders, Schultz interviews Éric Fontaine, who translated The Blondes into French. They talk about translating jokes, editing for translation, and more.
Schultz’s long poem “Noah’s Wife” appeared in the Fall 2014 issue of Prairie Schooner:
The rain sang now like an old woman weeping
over the dead. Go get the coyotes, you said. I balked.
The coyotes, really? I wanted you to leave behind the mice
and the snakes too, but you said: One will feed the other.
I cocked my head. Who will feed on the snakes though?
But I brought them. All of them. Do you think it is easy
to tether two wild red coyotes with a leash of twine?
Before we finished loading, all the animals bellowing
couldn’t cover the din of the thickening, driving rain.
My hair streamed and my clothes sailed like ghosts.
Purchase the issue to read more.
To learn more about Schultz, visit her website or follow her on Twitter.