About

“I never thought writing was an option as a career…”

Emma lives near a small village called Hollywood, in County Wicklow, Ireland. 

“Growing up as a young woman in the 1980’s, in very conservative Ireland, I never thought writing was an option as a career. Even though I loved English in school as a subject and wrote poetry for myself, it was also a time of deep recession with my Dad losing his engineering job not once, but twice over the course of my teenage years.” This meant the family moved around the country, from Dublin to Tipperary, to Wexford until they all finally ended back in Dublin. After college and work – a steady job seemed more important to Emma and her family, than following creative endeavours.

The thing was, she found herself drawn to writing wherever she worked. “When I worked in the telecomm’s industry, I championed a newsletter for business customers to explain in an accessible way the new world of datacomms. Hard to imagine now but it was really before the internet when data communication was a whole new thing for business people!” After going back as a mature student to study journalism, she applied the skills she learnt to do online editing for the Irish Internet Association – “the internet was so new we had to have an association to explain it.” Emma then moved onto SME business development and set up websites for some small companies.

But in the end, I left the world of business behind, and in the last 10 years she’s applied herself to creative writing. “I write my own stuff and it’s one of the most challenging thing I’ve done.” She’s had short stories published, and won some competitions, and with that encouragement, Emma scaled up to write a novel THE SCENT OF A MONSTER which is now complete and seeking representation. “Environmental issues are thematic in my writing and in fantasy or sci-fi I use imaginary worlds to explore these issues. I love something with a bit of an edge.” She also writes short stories responding to life in Ireland.