Emma Törzs has always been a writer.
At 9 years old, she and her best friend would exchange letters in the voices of Crowley and Aziraphale from Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s book Good Omens.
Originally from Massachusetts, Törzs went to college in Minnesota, and then attended graduate school for creative writing in Montana. She’s now teaching creative writing at Macalester College and her debut novel Ink Blood Sister Scribe was published in 2023.
Being a writer in Minnesota
In a recent What We’re Reading interview, Törzs said despite growing up on the east coast, she feels a loyalty to Minnesota because of our winters and how they help her be productive with her writing.
“I really love the period of enforced coziness that comes when you live in a really cold northern place,” Törzs said. “ ... No one questions it if you're like, ‘No, I'm not going to do anything. I'm staying in the house with a blanket, and my cat, and a cup of tea, and I'm just gonna truck away on this fantasy novel.’”
Her debut fantasy novel Ink Blood Sister Scribe tells the story of estranged half-sisters Joanna and Esther, whose family has long protected a collection of ancient spell books. But when their father dies suddenly while reading one of these books, the sisters find themselves in danger and must reunite to preserve their family’s legacy.
"Every single time I went into a bookstore, especially a used bookstore or a library of old books, I was absolutely certain that I was going to find a magical book. And so that feeling of magic has really stayed with me.”Writer Emma Törzs
Törzs’ own sister was an inspiration for this novel. “I did write this book sort of specifically with my sister in mind. Or should I say, in heart. She has always been after me to write a fantasy novel about ‘sister magic.’”
Rules for magic
If a fantasy novel involves magic, there must be rules in place on the magic the characters can do and how they perform it. As a teacher of creative and fantasy writing, Törzs is very familiar with this concept, noting there are two types of magic in literature: a hard magic system or a soft magic system.
Törzs explained, “The hard magic system tends to have these really specific rules that you can follow, and once you get the hang of the rules, you could predict what magic will or won't do. Soft magic system is more like, you're not totally sure the whole time what the rules are. Maybe some wizards use wands to cast spells, but others just like wave their fingers around.”
Törzs prefers developing plot from a hard magic system. “If you create rules, you're creating constraints for your characters, things that they can't do. And I think the more your characters can't do, the more tense a plot can be. … I wanted it to create problems for them.”
Ink Blood Sister Scribe features magic spell books, so of course we are introduced to fantastic hidden libraries. Törzs created the libraries in the book based on her imagination as a child and being a fantasy reader.
“Every single time I went into a bookstore — especially a used bookstore or a library of old books — I was absolutely certain that I was going to find a magical book. And so that feeling of magic has really stayed with me.”
Find out more about writer Emma Törzs on her website.
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