The series has continued to expand organically. “They voted that I should do a third Emily book.” In 2007, Candlewick published that third book, Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist. “The girls helped me decide,” Kessler said. During a school visit she explained her dilemma to the students, asking them which project she should pursue. Wondering what to do next, Kessler went straight to her readers for a bit of advice. Her editors advised that the timing was probably not right to publish that book, though, and wanted to hold it back (Candlewick eventually published Autumn in 2011). In fact, after completing the first two books about Emily, Kessler wrote A Year Without Autumn, a standalone title that incorporates the idea of time travel. “My initial deal was for two books, and I already had an idea for the second one,” she said. Kessler hardly envisioned a series of titles starring Emily, however. Karen Lotz, president and publisher of Candlewick, acquired rights to publish the books in the United States. “I sent it on Friday and on Monday morning she called to say she wanted to work with me.” Clark negotiated a contract with Judith Elliot at Orion and The Tail of Emily Windsnap moved full steam ahead. It was there that a colleague mentioned Kessler’s manuscript to literary agent Catherine Clark, who was just beginning to take on children’s books. She chipped away at turning her tale into a novel while finishing her master of arts degree in creative writing and working various jobs, including one at an editorial services company. “When I wrote out chapter one, I thought, where do I go from here? I thought maybe it would be a 48-page picture book.”Įven though she was in uncharted waters, Kessler noted, her ensuing course to publication was very smooth. “The editor thought I should write it as a book,” Kessler said. I lived on a boat at the time and I got this idea for a poem about a girl who lived on a boat with her mom, and the girl had a secret – she would sneak off at night to go play with the mermaids.” A friend of Kessler’s admired the poem and showed it to her editor. “I’d left a job and was working toward a novel-writing master’s degree. “It started off as a poem,” she recalled. It was in the late 1990s that Kessler saw the early glint of what would become Emily’s story, while looking out at the water she so loves. In the past decade, the series – five books so far – has reeled in more than 2.6 million copies in total sales of all print and e-book editions. shores 10 years ago, and was also Kessler’s debut novel. Emily’s maiden voyage, The Tail of Emily Windsnap (Candlewick, 2004), first landed on U.S. “I love the sea, I love boats, I love the water.” These are exactly the passionate words that fans of the Emily Windsnap books – featuring a 12-year-old girl who discovers she’s half mermaid – might expect from Emily’s creator, British author Liz Kessler.
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