Portobello Book Blog

I’m delighted to be joined today by author Emma Christie whose debut novel, The Silent Daughter, will be published in September by Welbeck. Emma used to live in Portobello and the area features in the book. To get to know Emma before her book comes out, you can read the #TenThings she is sharing below. The first one made me laugh out loud!

TEN THINGS ABOUT EMMA CHRISTIE

• On my 23^rd birthday I pushed a potato across the Forth Road Bridge from Edinburgh to Fife with my nose… to raise money for a charity project in Patagonia, Chile. It took around 8 hours and I only went through three potatoes. I would not recommend it.

• I worked as a news reporter with The Press and Journal for five years, initially in Aberdeen, then up north in Elgin. I worked on all kinds of stories  – court, crime, politics etc – but highlights include experiencing life inside Aberdeen prison, spending a Friday night in a police van in Aberdeen city centre and interviewing Donald Trump in relation to his controversial golf course development on the north-east coast.

• My best ever job was catching bats in the jungle in Mexico. I volunteered as a field assistant on a research project and spent many, many nights working from 8pm until 8am catching bats then helping the team measure and record important details. Usually we were in the jungle but we once got permission to catch bats in one of the big Maya temples, which was a truly amazing and unforgettable experience.

• When I’m not writing books I work for a US travel company, leading educational tours for adults in Spain, Portugal and France. It’s a fantastic job with many benefits – but I spend an average of 100 days away from home every year.

• I absolutely love medieval history. Knights, castles, swords, barrels of wine, drawbridges…I’ll take the lot.

• When I was a teenager my favourite book was A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess  – it’s one of very few books I’ve read more than once. Not read it in more than twenty years though!

• For most of my life, I somehow didn’t know Portobello existed or that Edinburgh had a beach! I only discovered Portobello by chance seven years ago when a friend asked if I could pet-sit while she was on holiday. In the week I spent week looking after her guinea pigs I totally fell in love with the place and moved there shortly afterwards.

• I’ve recently started a book club on Facebook – The Debut Novel Book Club, with a focus on psychological thrillers/suspense novels – same genre as me. Anyone can join – just look me up and you’ll be a member in no time!

• It’s my 40^th birthday on September 14^th this year – and my debut novel, The Silent Daughter, will be released 11 days before that. I’m delighted with the timing since ‘Get Published’ was number one on my To Do Before Forty list!

• I’m currently working on my second novel. Like my debut, the story takes place in Edinburgh, with a focus on Portobello. Will reveal more about the story soon!

Emma Christie’s debut novel The Silent Daughter will be published on 3^rd September by Welbeck, and is available to pre-order now.

You can find Emma on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @theemmachristie, or visit her website emmachristiewriter.com.