Emily Critchley: Push Through the Self-Doubt and Keep Writing
Emily Critchley has lived in Essex, Brighton, and London and now lives in Hertfordshire where she works as a librarian. She has a first class BA in Creative Writing from London Metropolitan University and an MA with distinction in Creative Writing from Birkbeck University of London.
Her YA debut, Notes on my Family, was nominated for the Carnegie Medal, long-listed for the Branford Boase, and was a book of the week in the Sunday Times. Her middle-grade novel The Bear who Sailed the Ocean on an Iceberg was published in October 2021, both by independent publisher Everything With Words in the UK. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Emily Critchley (Photo credit: Hannah Couzens)
In this post, Emily discusses what surprised her about researching history for her latest novel, why it’s so critical to get that first draft finished, and more.
Name: Emily Critchley
Literary agent: Hayley Steed
Book title: One Puzzling Afternoon
Publisher: Sourcebooks / Bonnier Books UK
Release date: October 3, 2023
Genre/category: Womens Fiction/Mystery
Elevator pitch for the book: When 82-year-old Edie Green sees her best friend from school, Lucy Theddle, standing outside the post office looking exactly the same as she did in 1951, Edie, now in the early stages of dementia, must solve the mystery of Lucy’s disappearance before her memories are lost forever.
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What prompted you to write this book?
I knew I wanted to write about an older female character, but I didn’t yet have a voice or a story. Then the opening lines of the book came to me one day out of the blue: ‘I first see Lucy Theddle standing outside the post office on Tuesday Afternoon. Looking exactly the same as she did in 1951.’ Edie’s voice was so strong and the opening lines so intriguing, I knew I had to write the book.
I’d also had an idea for an eccentric female character living in post-war Britain performing seances for the local community. That character became Edie’s mother in the 1951 thread of the novel. I decided the best way to tell the story would be to use a dual timeline. In the present day, Edie is on a quest to track down people from the past and unlock her own memories. In the summer of 1951, we see the events that led to Lucy’s disappearance.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
I began writing the book in May 2020. One Puzzling Afternoon was published in May 2023 in the UK, and October 2023 in the US. My first draft took about a year, followed by a further 18 months of editing.
I made several plot changes, and different sections of the book were shuffled around during the editing process. My first draft contained diary entries which I later cut as I found they worked better as actual scenes. I also worked on strengthening the links between the past and the present.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
Writing can be a lonely and solitary process so it’s fun to finally have someone else on board, someone to tell you what is working and what isn’t. My agent, Hayley Steed, MJ Johnston at Sourcebooks, and Sophie Orme from Bonnier Books UK were all so supportive and knowledgeable, I felt incredibly grateful to have such a brilliant team behind me.
Seeing the book’s cover for the first time is always a special moment. I have been overwhelmed by the reader support for One Puzzling Afternoon, and it was touching to walk into my local bookstore and see a ‘local author’ display.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
I was surprised to find how much I enjoyed writing and researching the 1951 sections of the book. I definitely want to write more historical fiction now.
It was also a surprise to find myself writing a character with dementia. It was only after I had written the first couple of chapters that I realized Edie was getting very confused and that she was in the early stages of dementia. Once I knew she had the condition, I felt a responsibility to get it right.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
One Puzzling Afternoon is a humorous, heartwarming book, despite Edie’s condition and some of the darker mystery elements. I want readers to root for Edie, and to feel hope, joy, and outrage alongside her. I think fiction should provoke an emotional reaction in readers, whatever that may be.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
You have to push on through the self-doubt and keep writing. There will be days when you think your book is going well and days when you think it’s terrible and you feel like giving up. First drafts are never going to be perfect. Far from it!
But once you have that first draft, you have something to work with. Then you must be prepared to look at the book with a critical eye and make the necessary changes.