Ep 62: Writing Through Grief with Emma Grey

Explicit content warning

11/01/23 • 55 min

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When The Last Love Note by Emma Grey showed up on my doorstep, I knew we had a problem. A book with a cover that good had to have a story even better within its pages. And I wasn't wrong!

I could've talked to Emma for hours (if not days), and in the latest episode of the Write the Damn Book Already podcast, we discussed:

⭐️ The backstory behind the book and how it came to be, a bit unexpectedly.

⭐️ How long it took Emma to write while “wrangling grief.”

⭐️ Where Emma started writing her book and how that moment it came full circle when Zibby Books offered to be her US publisher

⭐️ Emma's writing process, including how long it took to get her skeleton draft (65K words) and how many drafts she went through before sending it to first publisher in Australia.

⭐️ Knowing when chapters don’t propel the story forward (and how to handle it when you're advised to cut 30K words)

⭐️ Her agent's advice on how quickly to write the first draft

⭐️ Emma's perspective on alpha readers, beta readers, prologues, and chasing 100 rejections

**WARNING: The revelation at the 41:40 mark about what happened with the acquisition of her book will shock you!

ABOUT EMMA

Emma Grey is a novelist, feature writer, photographer, professional s

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Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions!

When The Last Love Note by Emma Grey showed up on my doorstep, I knew we had a problem. A book with a cover that good had to have a story even better within its pages. And I wasn't wrong!

I could've talked to Emma for hours (if not days), and in the latest episode of the Write the Damn Book Already podcast, we discussed:

⭐️ The backstory behind the book and how it came to be, a bit unexpectedly.

⭐️ How long it took Emma to write while “wrangling grief.”

⭐️ Where Emma started writing her book and how that moment it came full circle when Zibby Books offered to be her US publisher

⭐️ Emma's writing process, including how long it took to get her skeleton draft (65K words) and how many drafts she went through before sending it to first publisher in Australia.

⭐️ Knowing when chapters don’t propel the story forward (and how to handle it when you're advised to cut 30K words)

⭐️ Her agent's advice on how quickly to write the first draft

⭐️ Emma's perspective on alpha readers, beta readers, prologues, and chasing 100 rejections

**WARNING: The revelation at the 41:40 mark about what happened with the acquisition of her book will shock you!

ABOUT EMMA

Emma Grey is a novelist, feature writer, photographer, professional s

Awesome Email Templates for Authors

🎉 CLICK HERE to access to the templates

Support the show

Previous Episode

Ep 61: Living Out Your Book's Message with Bethany Clemenson

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A little over a decade ago, Bethany Clemenson, author of Ditching the Dream: How to Live Life on Your Terms (Finn-Phyllis Press, 2022), found herself in a place where, on the outside, it looked like she was killing it. But on the inside, it was killing her.

She had climbed the corporate ladder and was an award-winning leader in the company. She and her husband had built their dream home. They had two healthy children. And they were financially healthy.

But behind the scenes, Bethany worked 80-plus hours a week, was on-call 24/7, and traveled regularly. She and her family were disconnected, and she felt exhausted, unfulfilled, resentful, and frustrated.

She began thinking about what she really wanted and started saying no to everything that didn't align. She found that all the pressure she felt was her own doing, and that she was both the problem and the solution.

As a result, she left her corporate role, she and her family sold everything and traveled the US in a motorhome, and she's been (jubilantly) living life on her terms ever since.

In this episode of the Write the Damn Book Already podcast, we chatted about:

🎙️ Other people navigating your book and their role in it (even when you’ve b

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Next Episode

Ep 63: Fictionalizing Real Life with Pamela Kripke

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In Episode 63 of the Write the Damn Book Already podcast, I had the opportunity to chat with Pamela Gwyn Kripke, a journalist and author whose writing has appeared in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Huffington Post, Slate, Salon, and Parenting.

Pamela's novel, At the Seams (Open Books, April 2023), details the journey of precocious eight-year-old Kate Nichols, whose understanding of her world is shattered when she learns of an uncle who died inexplicably in the hospital just days after his birth.

Interview Highlights:

How to turning a real-life event into the premise for a novel (plus when---and why---the fiction component took over)
Pamela's unique writing process when it comes to “layering in” detail (that doesn't work for most people!)
Thoughts on why experiences stick with us well enough that we can write about them in great detail decades later (even though we can’t remember what we have for breakfast that morning)
Pamela's publishing journey, and why she ended up choosing a traditional small press
Her fun, diverse approach to book marketing
The differences between journalis

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Support the show