Writing is the thing that pervades my whole day – I’m always wondering how I might describe something or improve my understanding. I’m constantly trying to remember an eavesdropped conversation or an idea for a story. Emma Healey Read Quote
While I was writing ‘Elizabeth Is Missing’ and struggling with the intricacies of the plot, I told myself the next book would be really simple and linear, and I’d have it all worked out before I set down a single word. Emma Healey Read Quote
I was a 20-something woman living in London and didn’t want to write about a 20-something woman living in London! It’s an area well covered already, and people would probably have thought it was about me. I decided that if I wrote about an 82-year-old dementia sufferer, then no one could mistake it as a memoir. Emma Healey Read Quote
I had so many people in my family with dementia that it felt like it belonged to me in a way. I feel like the same with teenage depression because I went through it. I feel like I’m allowed to write about it; it’s mine. Emma Healey Read Quote
Several members of my family have, or have had, one form of dementia or another. I really wanted to explore what it might like in fiction, but I didn’t know how to start. Emma Healey Read Quote
I was very worried about whether I could do it or not. I mean, how arrogant – here I am in my 20s trying to write from the point of view of a woman in her 80s. Emma Healey Read Quote
I used to go to the gym with one of my best friends, and we seemed to have the same conversation over and over again. I was always saying, ‘I’m still not pregnant, and I still haven’t worked out what I’m writing,’ and her answer to both was always, ‘Just relax!’ Emma Healey Read Quote
People always want to give you advice about parenting. People who you’ve never met before will tell you you’re doing something wrong. And it’s quite similar in writing. People forget that you’re a human; they just want to give you their advice. Emma Healey Read Quote
I feel like Mills and Boon saved my life. It was a way of not living. I read a lot of other books as well, but they were definitely the best for just switching my brain off, not having to deal with reality. Emma Healey Read Quote
