~ I received no compensation and opinions are 100% my own or my family. ~
After trying for a baby for so long, finding out I was pregnant was supposed to be the happiest day of my life. But in the same breath as the news I had been waiting years to hear, the doctor told me I was seriously ill.
If I carry my baby to term, I will almost certainly die.
If I proceed with treatment, my baby will not live.
My husband – the father of this child – is telling me to save myself. But with all the secrets I know he is keeping from me, I can’t trust him anymore.
What would you do?
An emotional yet uplifting tear-jerker that will have you reaching for the tissues – perfect for fans of EMMA ROBINSON and JODI PICOULT.
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Emma-Claire Wilson is an author of emotional commercial and book club fiction. She writes ‘to make sense of the world’, and loves nothing more than tackling tough subjects and issues that affect her readers on a daily basis.
When she is not writing fiction, she enjoys exercising her brain muscles with freelance copywriting, coaching other writers or writing articles for The Glass House Online Magazine.
Her debut, This Child of Mine, although not autobiographical, was based on personal experiences and resulted in a highly emotional piece of fiction that secured her representation with Kate Nash Literary Agency.
After almost 20 years living on the continent, she returned to the UK with her husband, two daughters and rescue dog, Pip. Now, trying hard to acclimatise to the UK weather, you will mostly find her snuggled under a blanket; sometimes dreaming of her next holiday in the sun but mostly reading stories that affect her or writing books she hopes will affect others.
Setting as Character
Why Mother Nature Plays Her Own Part in This Child of Mine
By Emma-Claire Wilson
I am often asked ‘what is your writing process’, and generally, I say ‘I write what I see, smell, feel, taste and touch.’ It’s as simple and as complicated as that.
You see, for me, not a single word of the novel is written into a manuscript until I can see the movie in my mind.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I wake up one day and it’s all there. I spend a lot of time staring at walls, or out to sea, or across fields at everything and nothing, while the story in my mind moves from scribbled sketches to fully formed movie scenes in my mind.
I don’t really create the stories word by word as I write. Instead, I create the stories in my mind like moving images and the final part of the process is transferring those images from spinning around in my own head and placing them on the page in word form in an order than others can make sense of. That’s my process.
When I explained this to a friend recently, she asked ‘do you write down all the details? As if you are living it?’
Essentially, yes. In fact, I write everything I see, smell, taste, touch, hear… I write it all down. Every single last detail. I have no control over what makes it onto the page in the early stages, everything gets poured onto the page. Only in the edit do I decide how much detail needs to be stripped out. From details of the characters physical characteristics, ticks and physical attributes, but also the setting and world around them.
If someone was to open my novel at a random page and ask me to describe it, I could tell you the colour of the flowers on the outside of the house they are sitting in. That’s how real these books are to me. Until they are that real, I can’t get the story out.
One of the most important aspects of this for me, is making sure the setting of the novel makes sense, and for This Child of Mine, the settings in the book are as important as the story itself.
Set between the wild and unpredictable southern coast of England (Brighton) and the vast expanses of open space and rolling hills of the Yorkshire Dales.
I had the idea for this particular novel while living in Denmark, the only part of the book I wrote at that time was the rough outline of what I thought it might be about, and the prologue, which was actually removed during the edit (and turned into the twist of the novel). It wasn’t until I was sat on the moors of Yorkshire, surrounded by scenery that it all clicked into place. I had never been to Yorkshire before, at least not thisYorkshire, but my soul knew this place. It felt at home, felt peace, and as soon as I rested my palms on the laptop, the story poured out. Stephanie and her story had lived in me for so long, but until I could place where the story needed to be set, it didn’t feel real. That day on the moors, brought the entire story to life.
For me, setting is just as important and plot and structure and my characters will never feel rounded until the setting is complete. So, for me, setting is vital – without it, everything falls apart.
I grew up in Brighton, and loved nothing more than watching the ever changing seascapes as they mirrored my moods as a teenager. I would sit with angry angst filled tears on the benches on the promenade and watch the waves crash against the pebbles. The power and force of mother nature was always so present in my life.
When I tripped to Yorkshire on retreat with Rowan Coleman, the first chapters of this novel were written on the moors near Howarth. Again, I was struck by the feeling of mother nature surrounding me, covering me in a safe cloak as I poured my soul onto the pages. So for me, putting the raw and real power of mother nature into this novel was crucial.
I wanted my readers to feel like they are watching as Stephanie navigates her pain. For me, it always felt like mother nature was a step ahead of her decisions, guiding her through and helping ease her pain. In the moments when she felt alone, mother nature was already waiting to comfort her. Making sure that those hills and rolling waves had their own moment to shine was so important for that reason. Mother Nature IS a character all by herself.
Juxtaposing Stephanie’s life between the wild seas of the south coast and the vast Moors of Yorkshire made her feel real enough to touch for me. I could smell the salt in her hair and see the dirt from the moors on her running shoes. I sat for hours on the moors and by the sea and soaked up all the senses around me. I sat for hours and just let myself absorb it all, and then, I hope, I put it on the page so that each and everyone that reads my novel can truly feel, like they are sat right next to Stephanie as she navigates her journey.
This Child of Mine is an incredibly emotional novel, and as such, I really wanted to lean in on all the senses to try and evoke a sense of being there. From the sticky risotto on the kitchen stove, to the blanket of tears that surrounds Steph on the moors, for me, description and setting are vital, and part of what draws me into a novel, so I only hope that I have managed to achieve this in my own novel.
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