Breaking News with Maggie: An Interview with Emma Grace

Here it is, the post you've all been waiting for.  I have the exclusive interview with Emma Grace Roberts, here on "Breaking News with Maggie".  Everything you ever wanted to know about our newest family member, you'll find here.

I sat down with Emma on a cold, crisp day in December, eager to ask the questions that had been at the tip of my tongue since her arrival last week.  Now, at last, I would have the answers.  Emma looked amazing in her Liberty Jane Clothing purple tee and grey skinny jeans (I'm so jealous...designer clothes and everything).  She wore a unique necklace with a "Team Knightley" scrabble tile pendant and a red and silver rose charm.  Her hair was down, with casual curls resting around her shoulders.  Her green eyes sparkled as she sat, ready to begin. 

M:  Thanks so much for agreeing to do this interview, Emma.

E:  No problem, it's a pleasure.

M:  I'd like to ask you a few questions, just so we can get an idea of who you really are.

E: (grinning) Ask away!

M:  Okay, for starters, we already know your full name is Emma Grace Roberts. Can you tell me how old you are?

E: I'm 14 years old.

M: Just a year older than me!  Now, I'd like to go to a big question.  What is it that people should know about you?  What can you tell us about yourself?

E:  Wow, you really don't believe in easing a girl into this, do you?

M:  (grinning) Nope!

E:  Well, let's see...I love to laugh, dance and have fun.  I enjoy going new places and meeting new friends, but I'm also just as content to spend an afternoon sitting with a good book and a cup of tea, or sketching in my sketch book.  I'm a Christian, and I love being involved in church and telling others about Christ and what He's done for me.  My goal is to read my Bible and pray every day, but I don't always do it as often as I should...oh, and I'm also a Nascar nut.  My favorite racer is Jeff Gordon.  Is that good for a start?

M:  Perfect!  So, do you have any secret dreams or wishes? 

E:  I would LOVE to be a voice for a Disney Princess.  I read somewhere that Disney Animation probably won't be doing any more princess stories.  If they do though, I'd love to be a voice for one.

M:  That would be pretty cool.  What's one thing you'd change about yourself if you could?

E:  (laughing)  Well, I tend to blurt things out before I think them through.  Sometimes, something comes out meaning the exact opposite of what I was intending.  I've gotten myself into some pretty embarrassing situations that way!

M:  I hear you there!  My mouth is always getting me in trouble!  Okay, if you had a million dollars right now, what would you do with it?

E:  What a fun question.  Let me think...I suppose I'd use some of it to travel to India and England.  They're the two countries I'd love to see the most.  I'd give some to my church, and put some in savings.  And maybe shop a little bit, too.  (laughing)

M:  (laughing too)  Wow, you did great with those!  So, now we can get back to the basics.  What's your favorite color?

E:  Ooh, that's a tough one.  I'd have to say either red or purple.  But not together!  I'm not quite ready for the red hat society yet! (she laughs)

M: (laughing too)  I think you're a little young.  Okay, so what's your favorite book?

E: "Emma" by Jane Austen, without a doubt.

M: (rolling my eyes)  Great, another Janeite in the house!  Tess will be thrilled.

E:  Tess likes Jane Austen, too?  How exciting!!  Which book is her favorite?

M: Whoa, whoa, hold on!  You guys can have your Jane Austen fan club meeting later.  I did want to ask, though, if you could BRIEFLY tell me why that's your favorite book.

E: Well, because I share the same name as the heroine, for starters. (grinning)

M: Of course.  Anything else?

E: The other reason is that I love the character of Mr. Knightley and his relationship with Emma.  He can be condescending, but it's always because he cares about her and wants to see her become the woman he knows she can be.  

M:  So I suppose that explains the reason for your necklace?

E: (nodding)  With all the Twilight stuff going around, I thought this would be a fun conversation starter.  I'm definitely partial to Mr. Knightley over those other guys.  Call me strange, but I'd rather not date someone who was interested in eating me or drinking my blood, even if he was a gentleman.

M:  (grossed out)  I'm with you on that one, although I'd go more for an Aragorn or Legolas myself.  You really should talk to Tess.  She wrote a whole blog post on that.  But we need to move on!  What is your favorite movie?

E:  Oh, there's no way I could choose just one!  Okay, there's "Emma", for starters...

M: (mumbling) Surprise, surprise.

E: ...the 1996 version with Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeremy Northam, not the newer one.  I love a lot of things about the new version with Romola Garai, but no one can top Jeremy Northam.  He will always be Mr. Knightley to me. 

M:  Wow, okay, more than I ever needed to know about Emma movies...unfortunately I've already heard most of this before...so, you said you had more than one favorite? 

E:  Oh yeah!  Let's see, I'd have to add "Veer-Zaara" to the top of the list...

M:  Isn't that a Bollywood movie?

E:  Yes, and if you haven't seen it, you absolutely have to!  You have to be okay with random song and dance routines and some oober emotional acting though.

M:  Mama loves that movie...she actually has it,.  She even did her own custom doll modeled after Zaara.

E:  (gasping)  Mama has a Zaara doll?!  Can I meet her?

M:  Probably...after we finish the interview, though.

E:  How exciting!!

M: Don't get too worked up.  It's not like she's actually the Zaara, you know.

E:  I know, but still...

M:  Movies?

E:  Right, okay.  I have two other top movies:  "Beauty and the Beast"-the Disney one, and "Tangled". 

M:  We saw "Tangled", too!  It was a great movie.  Hailey especially loved it.  She hasn't stopped singing the songs since.

E: (dreamily) The wonderful Alan Menken...no one writes songs like his!!  I just wish I could sing well enough to do them justice!

M:  Well, we'd better move on.  I still have a lot of questions for you.  The next one is what is your favorite CD?

E:  I actually like Rhapsody.com way better than CDs because I can pick and choose the songs I like and make my own compilation.  But if I had to choose, I'd have to say the soundtracks to "Emma", "Veer-Zaara", and "Om Shanti Om"...that's another Bollywood movie (I do fast-forward one of the songs when I watch that one...it's too sensual for me).  I love Bollywood music and classical music the best.

M:  Mama is ALWAYS playing Bollywood songs.  I even heard she's getting a Bollywood workout DVD for Christmas from Papa.

E:  How fun!  I'll have to try it sometime!

M:  Fun isn't exactly the word I was thinking, but I guess whatever floats your boat!  So, what's your favorite food? 

E:  Coconut shrimp.

M:  Wow...well, everyone's entitled to their own opinions.  How about a favorite dessert?

E:  (thinking) Probably berry pie, although I could choose others.

M:  Favorite drink?

E:  Coca-cola.

M:  Favorite animal?

E:  Polar bear, especially the Coca-cola polar bear. (grinning)

M:  Do you have any hobbies?

E:  Let's see, I like drawing, dancing, shopping, watching Nascar (go Jeff Gordon!!), watching movies...I don't know.  Is that enough?

M:  That should do.  How about what you'd like to be when you grow up?

E:  I'd love to be an illustrator for children's books.

M:  How cool!  I want to be a children's author, or a journalist.  Maybe we could do a book together!

E:  That would be fun!

M:  Okay, but we can't get distracted talking about that right now.  Do you have anything that you collect?  We're big on collections in this house.

E:  Well, I don't really collect one specific type of thing.  I'm interested in die cast cars, Disney stuff, classic Coca-cola collectibles, and Bollywood posters and stuff.  Right now I pretty much just have my teddy bear, Shahrukh.

M:  I'm sorry, what was that name again?

E:  Shahrukh.  It's pronounced shah-rook.  I named him after my favorite Bollywood actor, Shahrukh Khan.

M:  Poor teddy bear.  What ever happened to Bob or Fred or just plain Teddy?

E:  (defensively) I like it.  It's unique.

M:  You can say that again.  Just one more question for you.  What's your favorite store?

E:  I love Best Buy, but I also love shopping on eBay!

M:  Good choices.  Well, that's all I had.  Is there anything else you'd like to share with our blogging audience?

E:  I don't think so...except to thank all of you for your warm words of welcome.  Mama let me read her blog and I was so touched by what all of you had to say...

At this point, Emma completely lost her train of thought, because Tess, who had overheard Emma's comments about wanting to meet Mama's Zaara doll, had sent her out to the set of the interview.

I was shocked.  Zaara never leaves her place in front of Mama's curio.  "Zaara, what are you doing here?"

"Tess sent me," Zaara replied.  "She said there was someone here who wanted to meet me..."

"Zaara Hyatt-Khan?"  Emma interrupted.

Zaara nodded.

"Oh, wow!"  Emma said excitedly.  "It's such an honor to meet you!" 

Zaara smiled.  "Thank you, but I hope you realize I'm not the real Zaara.  I've never even seen the movie, so I can't answer any of your questions or anything."

"You've never seen the movie?" Emma gasped in disbelief.  "Oh, you have to!  I'm sure you'd love it."  She eyed Zaara over.  "You look pretty close...I don't remember her wearing red, though."  She stared into Zaara's face.  "Is that a real nose ring?"

Zaara laughed.  "No, thankfully.  Mama found some stick-on gems for me at a craft store.  Pretty convincing?"

"Definitely," Emma agreed.  "Now, if only Mama had a Veer doll." 

Zaara shook her head.  "Sorry, she doesn't, but I have the next best thing."  She held out a poster with a handsome Indian man on it.  "Mama put this poster next to me a month or so ago.  I guess it's the guy who plays Veer in the movie.  I have absolutely no idea who this guy is, and I'm not that sentimentally attached to it.  Tess seemed to think you might like to have it."

Emma looked like she was going to faint.  "Oh my goodness!! I'd love it!! Are you sure?"

Zaara nodded.  "Of course.  I've been trying to figure out what on earth to do with it."

Emma took the poster and stared at it.  "Wow!!" she suddenly squealed.  "My very own Shahrukh Khan poster!"

"I have one more thing for you, too," Zaara continued, picking up a beautiful jeweled trinket box.  "Mama found two of these trinket boxes.  She loved them because they looked like something from a Bollywood movie.  I only need one, so I thought maybe you'd like the other one." 

"Oh, it's so beautiful, Zaara!"  Emma breathed.  "Thanks so much!"  She gave our local Bollywood doll a big hug. 

"You're most welcome," Zaara smiled gently.  "I should head back now.  I normally don't leave my spot like Tess and Maggie do."

That about sums it up, folks.  I couldn't get a sensible word from Emma after that, she was so excited. 

 Thanks for joining us for "Breaking News with Maggie".  If you actually made it to the end of this post, I congratulate you for your perseverance.  Sorry it was so long...it's hard to keep things brief when you have such a talkative doll to interview (and an unexpected guest).  Emma's really sweet though, even if she does like Jane Austen and name her teddy bear Shahrukh.  Keep checking back for fun Christmas posts and a post about the room tour that Tess and I gave Emma when she first got here.  I was going to include that in this post, but it's already long enough as it is!  Until then, this is Maggie Wilson of "Breaking News with Maggie."  Have a holly, jolly Christmas! :)