Author Interview with Erica Rose Eberhart

Hey everyone! Today, I’m sharing an interview with author Erica Rose Eberhart. Her debut novel comes out in January 2025. I’m definitely anticipating its release and I think if you keep reading, you will too. A huge thanks to Erica for answering all my questions and best of luck to her on the upcoming launch!

Eliza S.: What was the inspiration behind your debut novel, Tarnished? Was it an idea that came to you all at once or did you think it over for many years?

Erica E.: TARNISHED was a spark of an idea that I twiddled with over the course of many years but it didn’t become a fully formed thing until Christmas 2021. Before that, I had a Dungeons and Dragons character I loved that was a sorcerer. I wanted to write her background as a short story, yet every time I tried to, it didn’t come together. Still, the desire remained until one day a new idea popped into my head and my sweet D&D character transformed into someone similar, yet totally different, and with a completely new storyline. So much of it was satisfactory because I always loved stories where knights saved stubborn princesses, but I always wanted the girl to be both characters, and maybe for them to fall in love. Suddenly, that story was my own and coming together.

Eliza S.: You’ve just signed on to turn your debut book into a trilogy. Do you have all three books plotted and outlined or are you pantsing it?

Erica E.: They’re all figured out! I didn’t want to pursue publishing this as a trilogy until the final book was drafted. Book two—Diminished—is incredibly emotional and dark, and it ends on such a low note. I was worried that if I never found the inspiration to finish book three, I’d have to end my characters’ story with book two and that just wouldn’t work. I want this trilogy to end on a high note so I would’ve rather it ended with book one that ends open-ended and miss out on the trilogy entirely, than end with Diminished. So, I held back and waited until I finished my first draft of book three—Vanquished—and the completion of the story overall. Now it’s a matter of revising book three and making it shine.

Eliza S.: Which character(s) in your book do you identify with the most? Which ones are the most fun to write?

Erica E.: Friends have told me that they see me in all three main characters and I suppose I see myself in them as well, because I took bits of myself and emphasized it all in them. When I wrote Ailith, I made her character reflect all my secret discomforts with socializing and my interactions with the world. She’s my internalized feelings and the main character that I identify the most with. Caitriona is the perception I want to give to the world; the positive and polite person. I may not actually exhibit this, but it’s the internal goal I have. Greer is incredibly protective and quick to judge when it comes to defending her loved ones. I adore writing Greer, she’s a lot of fun and filled with this coolness and bravery I wish I had. I’ve been told I’m a lot like her in that I too am protective, and it’s a huge compliment because I really adore her character.

Eliza S.: What is your approach to world-building in your high fantasy novel?

Erica E.: I’m really detail-oriented when I’m outlining my novels. I write out character sheets, I draw maps, I keep a list of names with spelling and pronunciations on my laptop, and I tend not to consume any other form of media while I’m writing. I can’t read, write, or watch movies that are in that genre because I can’t focus on them. Still, this is what I know when it comes to world building, just this sense of hyperfocusing on the world I’m creating. I’ll go so far as to drawing out maps of homes as well and keeping Pinterest boards for visual representations. Then it’s just a matter of keeping notes and going back and checking everything while I write.

Eliza S.: What advice would you give to an aspiring author who wants to get published?

Erica E.: Be open to changing what you think is how you have to do things. People change, publishing is changing, and what may work for you one moment may not work the next. I’ve witnessed so many people tripping themselves up because they’re trying to adhere to this preconceived idea that writing has to be done a certain way, when a different way may actually work better for them. It’s ok to change course and go for something different.

Eliza S.: Finding the right path to publishing your story can be so hard! What drew you to traditional publishing? Was the querying process challenging?

Erica E.: I have a generalized anxiety disorder so the querying process was a bit of a nightmare for me. My anxiety was incredibly triggered and I was pretty miserable. I think it’s understandable—it’s incredibly hard! You’ve created something very personal and you’re sending it out into the world with hope someone will see how special it is in the same way you do, and most people don’t, which is very painful. I gave myself a list of query rejection milestones and if I met those, I let myself get a treat. Something nonsensical that I didn’t really need in my life but wanted for some time. It helped ease the upset of the rejections. Still, I wanted to give myself one year to query and then I was going to take a break and see if I wanted to continue seeking out an independent publishing house or literary agent. Luckily, 11 months in I signed with my publisher.

When considering what direction I wanted to go in with my novel, traditional was my initial desire because it was a dream I had since I was a preteen. To achieve this was to achieve a 20-year-old goal. In addition to that, I saw how much time and effort self-pub authors devoted to their novels and I didn’t know if I could handle that. I marvel at how hard self-pub authors work, but I know my emotional and energy limits, and I worried I wouldn’t be able to keep up. So, seeking out traditional publishing where I’d have a team supporting me and leading my book along to the finished product felt like it worked the best for my mental health as well as my goals.

Eliza S.: Like you, I am also a stay-at-home mom who writes alongside everything else. How do you balance your time? What’s your daily writing schedule like?

Erica E.: My schedule definitely changes from week to week, season to season. But generally, what works for me is that in the summer I get up between 5-6 a.m. to write. I wake up early in the summer on my own due to the early sunrise so I figured it would be best to use that time to my advantage. I also have “office hours” during lunchtime and then once my spouse is done with work for the night. Weekends in particular are my biggest chances for productivity. We often schedule at least one day where my spouse takes my son out of the house and I can devote a few hours to writing without any disturbances. However, during the school year this schedule is thrown out the window and I have to adjust. But the weekend writing sprints stay no matter the time of year! My son has also seen me writing his entire life, my spouse really enforces that when I do writing sprints I’m working and not to be disturbed, and so he sees me on my laptop and goes “oh momma’s working” and has a little more patience waiting for me to wrap stuff up.

Eliza S.: I know one of my favorite activities with my kids is reading books. Do you have any favorite children’s stories to read to them?

Erica E.: We have a huge collection of picture books and we love going to the library to get our hands on more material. However, my son is at this sweet age where picture books are still interesting but his attention span is longer and we are beginning to read some chapter books. We just read through the Catwings series and it was amazing. I read the first book as a kid and didn’t realize there were three more books afterward so it was a really fun time for us both.

Eliza S.: What are you currently working on?

Erica E.: I’m currently working on revisions of my third book in the Elder Tree Trilogy, Vanquished. I just finished my first round of revisions and hope to go through it again before sending it out to beta readers. I’m also finalizing book two, Diminished, and expect edits from my publisher to come in for Tarnished which is coming out this winter! Once I’m finished with this, I’m going back to drafting a YA dark fantasy that I’m calling Quill Book (for now) which is an entirely different world and feel from my Elder Tree Trilogy. It’s really fun getting to spread out and dive into different characters’ lives!

Eliza S.: Thank you so much for taking the time to answer all my questions! Please share your website and social media links so that readers can find out more about you and your upcoming novel, Tarnished.

Erica E.: Sure thing! You can find seasonal updates on writing, publishing, and my life on my website www.ericaroseeberhart.com. I’m most active on Instagram @ericaroseeberhart but I also post on Threads and TikTok with the same username. You can follow any and all for updates on future ARC opportunities, giveaways, and publication announcements! You can also add TARNISHED to your to-be-read shelves on Goodreads and StoryGraph now!