Thank you so much to Emily for the interview. Emily has worked in the children’s book industry for 25 years and her latest novels is The Goodbye Year and Elsewhere Girls with Nova Weetman.

Interview

What was your inspiration for The Goodbye Year?

The first spark was a desire to write about being in the final year of primary school and anticipating that big next step. I wanted to centre the story on a school library that has no librarian because that’s a serious problem in the Australian school system. And finally I was inspired by the story of the youngest known ANZAC soldier to have died at Gallipoli, James Martin, who went to the same school that my children attended.

What drew you to writing children’s literature?

My first job after university was as an editorial assistant in a children’s imprint at Penguin Books in London. I trained as an editor and worked for a few publishers before going freelance, but deep down I always wanted to write.

What was your process for writing for The Goodbye Year?  

I started out by developing my main character, Harper, and writing her into various settings – such as her school and the flat where she spends most of the novel with her grandmother. I tend to do a lot of free-writing in the beginning while I get a few characters and settings firm in my mind — once the rooms they are in and the way they react to things feels real enough to me, I move onto some story planning. I did a lot of research into underage World War One soldiers, in particular the soldier that one of my characters is based on. I love the research part and tend to get very lost in it. I wrote a first draft really quickly, and then analysed what worked and what didn’t. My first draft had too many elements so in the second draft I pulled some out and started writing from scratch, with more purposeful planning. Then in the third draft I refined all the elements.

How would you describe The Goodbye Year in five words? 

Anxiety of what is unknown

Did you have a favourite moment to write? 

I work best in the morning but I know my story is really working when I want to work on it late into the evening too.

What was your favourite book growing up? 

Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer.

Do you have a favourite genre to read? 

I absolutely love timeslip stories – a mixture of light speculative and historical is my perfect book.