Interview: Emlyn Chand

Today. we have author Emlyn Chand on the blog. She is the author of the Farsighted series, and has two books in the five-book series out. I met Emlyn on Facebook, and I can truly say that I consider her to be a friend. I have read both the books and have reviewed the first book here. I was extremely happy that Emlyn accepted my invitation to come to the blog, as her books have left me with so many questions to which I hope to get some answers today!

So, I'll cut my ramblings short and get started with the interview! This is going to be awesome!

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Describe your series? What genre would you classify it into?

The Farsighted series on the whole is YA. Since the main characters possess psychic gifts, you might class it as paranormal—but it’s also kind of anti-paranormal. The main focus is on the characters themselves, their teenaged struggles, and the burden having such powers has placed on them in the real world. Each book has overtones of a different sub-genre. The first, Farsighted, is more paranormal than the rest; Open Heart is more romantic; Pitch will be more suspenseful; Vertigo will be a mystery, and the final book, Refrain, will be more literary.

The idea of a group of people having special powers is not really something new. How is your series different?

Farsighted is different because it’s so strongly rooted in the real world. The characters are not defined by their powers and the powers are not just cool fun things to play with. There’s also no government agency or corporation conspiring to use the gifted teens for evil ends.

Ritesh: Emlyn, was that aimed at me?

Review: Farsighted

Farsighted [Farsighted #1]
by Emlyn Chand

Farsighted Series:
Farsighted #1
Openheart #2

From Goodreads:

Alex Kosmitoras's life has never been easy. The only other student who will talk to him is the school bully, his parents are dead broke and insanely overprotective, and to complicate matters even more, he's blind. Just when he thinks he'll never have a shot at a normal life, an enticing new girl comes to their small Midwest town all the way from India. Simmi is smart, nice, and actually wants to be friends with Alex. Plus she smells like an Almond Joy bar. Sophomore year might not be so bad after all. 

Unfortunately, Alex is in store for another new arrival—an unexpected and often embarrassing ability to "see" the future. Try as he may, Alex is unable to ignore his visions, especially when they suggest Simmi is in mortal danger. With the help of the mysterious psychic next door and friends who come bearing gifts of their own, Alex embarks on his journey to change the future.

Buy on: Amazon for: Kindle |   Paperback

I was really intrigued by Farsighted, as this is the first book I have come across which is written from a blind guy’s perspective. I think the author has done a commendable job in writing this book in first-person, which is no small task. She has been careful to give us all the information of Alex’s surroundings through senses other than sight. So, we get to know how things feel or how they sound or smell. Also, the fact that he can ‘see’ into the future was really interesting.

The book revolves around a group of teenagers with special abilities like being able look into the future, affect people’s feelings by a mere touch, read people’s minds and being able to communicate with the dead. This idea is not really new. When I first started reading the story, the first thing that came to my mind was the American TV program Heroes. I am hoping that as the series progresses, we get something much better than that!