When I started writing The Emris: Lost, I had done enough research to know that most publishers would like to see a novel's word count range from 80K to 100K. However, I wasn't thinking about word counts at the time. I needed to begin plucking the story from my head and putting it onto paper. It was sloshing around and flooding out all other thoughts. At first, I tried writing by hand. It seemed rational; I could use a pencil and paper anywhere and I didn't have to worry