Today we are very excited to share an interview with author Emily Rozmus!
Read on to learn more about the author, the book, and a giveaway!
Meet the Author: Emily Rozmus
Emily Rozmus grew up in the old house on her family’s farm, listening to the scary stories her father shared at the dinner table. Add in an English teacher mother, and it was inevitable she embraced books, literature, and writing. She has been an English teacher and a school librarian, pushing books to young readers.
Currently, Emily works for an online library with eBooks accessible to all Ohio students.
She lives in her hometown with her family, not far from the fields where she grew up.
The Fullington Road Monster is her debut novel.
Website * Instagram * BlueSky * TikTok
About the Book: The Fullington Road Monster
Daphne Ware knows monsters are real.
During the summer of 1985, the return of a legendary creature to the family farm lights the fuse of an already volatile environment.
Then Daphne meets Sean, who is gorgeous, but surrounded by rumors and treachery. Despite her efforts to protect the people she loves, tragedy strikes.
Daphne discovers that fighting her family’s battles and taking flak from her alcoholic father isn’t what scares her the most. Grief and betrayal are far worse.
Daphne must face the monsters that haunt her or lose what is left of her family.
A psychological thriller that will cause you to rethink everything you know about the monster inside…
Publisher * Amazon * Goodreads
~Author Chat~
YABC: What inspired you to write this book?
There is a great deal of me in The Fullington Road Monster. I love a good spooky gothic read, full of big old houses and secrets. I knew I wanted to write a book like that and include some of the elements from my own childhood growing up on our family farm. I lived on a road named after my family, and there really was a legend about a monster lurking there. My siblings and I were curious and imaginative and spent a lot of time scaring ourselves, looking for monsters and other fantastical creatures.
When the idea started to come together, my husband, a recovered alcoholic, and I were fighting a different kind of monster. Our grown children were struggling with the claws of addiction. As I wrote, The Fullington Road Monster became not just a scary story, but also the story of a family fighting monsters, both real and imaginary. I wrote the book to scare and entertain, but also to help myself and others deal with the ever-present threat of harm to loved ones caused by alcoholism.
YABC: What scene in the book are you most proud of, and why?
Any writer will tell you that the first chapter is the scene that gets revised the most, and mine was no exception. I am proud of it because it is tense and emotional, but also very real. The Ware family, like so many others, is affected by addiction in the form of alcoholism. The book opens literally with a bang: the sound of an ice cube tray slamming the counter. Oldest sister Daphne and her sister decide to go to a party to escape their alcoholic father. This decision is the inciting event. It leads to the first glimpse of the monster, and the introduction of the character Sean, who turns out to be a catalyst for the climax of the book. But before the rest of the story unfolds, the first chapter ends with the sound of a screen door closing, “soft, like a kiss.” Despite the volatile environment of the house, the Wares are a family fueled by love, even if their means of showing it are small and indirect.
YABC: What do you like most about the cover of the book?
Oh wow. What’s not to love? I am so enamored of the design that our talented team did at Conquest. From the first draft, they captured the book’s tone and mood. Each tweak brought it closer to the vision I had, from the colors, to the romantic image of the main character, to the corn fields. But my favorite part of the cover is the car, the Camaro. The first draft had a convertible, and I knew that wouldn’t work. It had to be a Camaro because that is what Sean drives. That car is a character in the book. No spoilers, but it makes a scene more than once.
YABC: What is the main message or lesson you want your reader to remember from this book?
When I was about eleven, I read the book Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson. I identified with the main character who was not the favorite twin, overlooked by her grandmother. Before reading that book, I didn’t understand the relationship I had with my own grandmother. It was the first time I found myself in a book. When I finished the book, I knew that I wasn’t alone.
I want readers of The Fullington Road Monster to remember this: books help us find ourselves. The story of the Ware family is not unusual. So many struggle with conflict and lack of communication, whether it is from mental illness or addiction. Reader, know this. I see you. I knew you while I was writing Daphne’s story. You are never alone.
YABC: Do you have a playlist you listened to while writing?
Definitely! The Fullington Road Monster has its own 80’s soundtrack! I wanted the reader to hear the summer of 1985 while they read to set the mood and create the right atmosphere. From Bryan Adam’s “Heaven,” to Madonna’s “Live to Tell,” the songs mentioned in the book are part of the story and the characters. In fact, the timeline of the book relies on the songs. For example, I wanted Daphne and Sean’s song to be “Every Time You Go Away,” by Paul Young, and it was popular in July of 1985. Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over” had to be included, so that determined when the resolution for the book would take place.
Strangely, the song I thought about the most while I was writing the book was “I Don’t Remember Me (Before You)”, a country song by the Brothers Osborne from 2018. The lines “Was I just another ghost in this town? Who was I when no one was around?” seemed to come from Daphne, a member of a prominent family who everyone thought they knew, but never truly understood. Every time I heard the song, I knew this book had to be out in the world!
YABC: How do you cope with criticism from editors or the public?
Criticism is never easy, no matter what it’s about or who it’s from. Whether it’s a rejection or a critique, I try to remain open-minded while remembering the criticism is not personal.
When I get feedback from others on my writing, I read it, and then I put it aside. I don’t go back to it for at least a couple of days. In the meantime, the feedback that was hardest to hear, the kind that “kills my darlings,” rolls around in my mind until the rough edges wear down. By the time I return to the criticism—whether it’s a review, a critique, or a rejection—I can look much more objectively at what readers have to say. Ultimately, I try to keep in mind that my work won’t be for everyone. And that’s okay.
YABC: What new release book are you looking forward to in 2025?
I just added Maggie O’ Farrell’s upcoming book, Land, to my TBR. Maggie O’Farrell doesn’t write for young adults, but the books I have read by her have universal appeal. She writes historical fiction and the themes of family and human connection will interest readers of any age. Land comes out in June of 2026. It is the story of a man and his son in Ireland right before the Blight in the mid-19th century. Her most popular book, Hamnet, is about the death of William Shakespeare’s son. It blew me away. The historical setting may be foreign, but the moments shared by characters are familiar and relatable.
YABC: What’s up next for you?
My middle-grade novel, Revenge Baking, will be published by Wild Ink Publishing in May of 2027. It is the story of Grace Redding and her starring role in the tragedy of middle grade. She fights a battle of words with her ex-friends with the help of the new boy in school, her beloved Gran, and a vintage cookbook author.
I am working on another young adult historical novel based on a true story of good trouble on the Underground Railroad.
Title: The Fullington Road Monster
Author: Emily Rozmus
Release Date: July 22, 2025
Publisher: Conquest Publishing
ISBN-10: 1962739651
ISBN-13: 9781962739658
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Age Range: 14- adult
~ Giveaway Details ~
Two (2) winners will receive a copy of The Fullington Road Monster (Emily Rozmus) ~US Only!
This one sounds really good! Can’t wait to read it. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
Hi Lisa,
I hope you like it!
Emily