Mystery writer Emyl Jenkins won’t have much time in February for writing as she’ll be busy giving talks on the topic throughout Virginia, Alabama and Georgia.

“I need to clear the decks and just write,” she said.

Emyl, who has written Stealing with Style and The Big Steal, says her characters are so much fun, “It’s like having dinner with so many people.”

If she’s not writing or giving talks, then she’s busy managing her Facebook and Twitter accounts. Both allow her to secure speaking engagements and interact directly with her fans, but at a price. “When are we supposed to write?” she muses. “There’s just so much to keep up with.”

She’s also begun a blog for her publisher.

And what about reading and reflecting, which Emyl says also are important for the writer. She says that she can tell some writers don’t have time to do that. “I’m finding in some books that characters are wooden or shallow and that plots are thin or pushed,” she says. 

Publishers are pushing writers to churn out a book every 12 to 18 months. Writers also don’t have time to sit back and reflect, “to think about what their characters want to say,” Emyl says.

Despite the challenges, Emyl is hard at work on her next Sterling Glass novel. No publication date has been set but her dinner table has been crowded with all her characters.

 “I’m fortunate,” she says. “My publisher [Algonquin Books] gives me the time I need.”