Emma Steele: 'Writing friends are so important as they understand what you’re going through'
BY Emily Powter-Robinson
6th Jun 2024
Emma Steele studied on our three-month online Writing Your Novel course in 2019. The novel she worked on throughout the course, The Echoes of Us, is out today with Mountain Leopard Press (an imprint of Headline Publishing).
We spoke to Emma about the inspiration behind her debut, the importance of having writing friends, and her favourite romance tropes.
You studied on our three-month online Writing Your Novel course in 2019. How did studying with us impact your approach to writing?
The CBC course was so critical to getting published. When I arrived on it, I’m not entirely sure I knew what I was doing, but by the end I had the beginnings of The Echoes of Us, and a better idea of how to create a compelling read. Suzannah and my course mates really pushed my work up to another level.
Many of our students find lifelong writing friends on our courses. Are you still in touch with anyone you met on the course?
Yes! A few actually, and I’ve loved watching their writing journeys progress too. One course friend in particular read early drafts of both my books being published, and her input into them was invaluable – writing friends are so important as they understand what you’re going through and push you to do your best work.
Your debut novel The Echoes of Us is a heartbreaking second chance romance perfect for fans of One Day and The Time Traveller’s Wife. Can you tell us a bit more about the book and the inspiration behind it?
Set in Edinburgh, it’s about a couple, Jenn and Robbie, who have been apart for several months for reasons unknown to Robbie. Driving down the street one night, a truck hurtles towards them, and at the last second, Robbie is thrown inexplicably back into Jenn’s life memories. He quickly realises she has a big secret, and he has to figure it out before the truck hits them.
The idea was inspired by a story my Granny told me about feeling her twin brother’s moment of death during the Second World War. I’ve always been interested in phenomena and I wanted to tell a love story which defied the normal boundaries.
What is your favourite romance trope in a story and why?
Enemies to lovers for sure, because it just makes the tension so high. I’ve not yet managed to write a book around this trope yet, but I’d love to try in the future.
What’s the best piece of advice you received from your tutor Suzannah Dunn during the three-month online Writing Your Novel course?
Raise the stakes! I’ve never forgotten this piece of advice, and it’s really helped me out on a number of occasions when the plot of a story has been dragging. It’s always worth brain storming new ways to up the stakes, because it ultimately makes for a more entertaining read.
Could you recommend three rom-coms for our readers to add to their summer reading list?
I haven’t read these two yet, but I’m desperate to read The Love of my Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood and also This Summer Will be Different by Carley Fortune; I adored her first book, Every Summer After, and I’ve heard this one is just as good. I’d also recommend The Philosophy of Love by Rebecca Ryan – her books make me properly laugh out loud.
Finally, what’s next for your writing journey?
I’ve got edits for book three to tackle after publication of The Echoes of Us, and I’m also writing in another genre in the background. So, I’m hoping something will come of that in the near future, but as with everything in book land, only time will tell!
The Echoes of Us is out now!
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