Romance novelist Emily Houghton talks to us about her latest novel 'Take a Chance On Me' and reminisces about her annual summer holidays spent on the Suffolk coast as a child.
Emily Houghton is the author of Before I Saw You. She is an Essex girl at heart but now spends most of her time between London and Suffolk. Emily worked in digital product management at Tesco and Barclays for seven years and it was during a sabbatical from work, travelling around India, that her first book was born; the first draft is still written on her phone!
After a whirlwind few months, Emily quit her corporate job to live her dream of writing full-time. A true Gemini at heart, she’s got many interests and is a trained spin and yoga teacher. She has a curiosity for life and has a passion for all things well-being, one day hoping to create her own retreat space with a lot of dogs! Her writing, whilst centering around love stories, often touches on deeper emotional themes such as self-love, healing and the power of finding yourself.
Emily's latest book is Take a Chance On Me which was published by Penguin on 1 August. You can find Take a Chance On Me and Emily's other books on the Suffolk Libraries catalogue.
One of the first people that springs to mind is my sister. I absolutely idolised her growing up (much to her frustration!) She is still someone I look up to today and I feel very privileged that we are so close. In fact, my latest book is dedicated to her. Aside from her, I would say from a literary perspective I loved Jacqueline Wilson, Roald Dahl and Jodi Picoult. These authors created such vibrant and complex characters who really captured my imagination. They created worlds I wanted to live in and sparked so much emotion in me through their words, it was something I wanted to be able to do for others too.
It was incredibly surreal and unexpected. I've always loved writing but had assumed a book would be something I tackled later in my life. I had taken a sabbatical from my corporate job for 5 months, and during my time in India I began writing Before I Saw You. I was doing all of this on my phone in the notes section! About 20k words in I thought, what the hell do I even do with this thing when it's finished? I reached out to an old school friend who worked in the literary world and asked her what the options were (not realising she was an actual literary agent for romcoms!) She asked for a summary of my book which I sent, then she asked to see what I'd written, so I sent it across and she loved it! She signed me (which in itself was crazy to me!) and then when I got home, finished the book, we managed to get publishing deals around the world. It was a genuine dream come true.
The note on my phone that I found was essentially this vision that came to me, of two people hidden away from the world but bearing their souls to each other. It sparked this question of what it really means to be seen by someone, and how much (or little) of our true selves are we willing to show, even to the people we love.
It's a love story. Both of the characters in the book but also about a country that had such a profound impact on my life. It's set primarily in India, a country that is magical and inspiring but also challenging and confronting. The perfect place for two lost souls, living their lives in total opposition, to collide and have their worlds turned upside down. Thrown into each other's paths unexpectedly, the book looks at the role fate plays in love and life. Does anything ever really happen by chance? Or is it the choices you make that determine your destiny?
Jacob came very easily, it was him who actually sparked the story in the first place. This idea of what it would be like to live life by the roll of a dice. What kind of person would do that, what would drive someone to be so afraid or against responsibility and conformity. Then on the flip side, who would be someone that would make him stop and think. The total opposite, someone who controls every single part of their life and the people in it. Not out of spite but out of fear. And then Olivia was born!
I am a true believer in romance, it's what I love so much about writing. I create the love stories I wish so deeply for myself and those I care about. However, I think there is a balance to the opposites attract adage. Differences are important but shared values and morals I believe are important foundations for a relationship.
I am writing a fourth book and also turning Before I Saw You into a musical (well trying to!).
I actually now do both again! Writing is wonderful and deep and creative but it can also be very isolating and lonely. I am a social creature who thrives off working in teams and driving change. I found for me personally, I need a bit of both to feel in balance. However, the best thing about being a published author would be, the moment you hear how the story has impacted other people - that the characters and the relationships you've brought to life actually move people. It's one of the most incredible experiences and I feel very lucky to get the opportunity to do it.
As a child, it was where we took our annual summer holiday! Every year without fail we would come, bucket and spades and inflatable rubber ring in hand up to Southwold and spend a week there with other friends and families. It holds such nostalgia for me! And then fast forward twenty years later, my mum and stepdad decided to move to the area permanently. I feel incredibly blessed I get to call it a home from home, as I feel very connected to it.
I am obsessed with Celine Dion.
