Emily Koch

Emily Koch is an award-winning writer of mystery and suspense fiction. She is the author of three novels, including If I Die Before I Wake, Keep Him Close, and her latest title, What July Knew which was published in paperback by Vintage in July.

Her books have been shortlisted for the Crime Writers’ Association Ian Fleming Steel Dagger award, longlisted for the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award, and selected as a Waterstones Thriller of the Month. The French translation of If I Die Before I Wake also won the inaugural crime fiction prize, Prix du Bureau des Lecteurs, in 2021. You can find Emily's titles on our catalogue.

Who were your heroes as you were growing up?

I was a huge fan of Judy Blume and Anne Fine - theirs are the books I most remember reading. Other than that, according to my diaries - it seems I was very into Kylie Minogue! When I was researching my latest book What July Knew, which is set in the mid 90s, I went back through all my old diaries for inspiration from that era, and there’s a long entry about who I wanted to be if I went on the TV show Stars in their Eyes (I wrote about it so much I abbreviated it to SITE). Kylie, Sonia and Belinda Carlisle were my top choices!

It is difficult to tell your story without mentioning the accident in 2008. How did that experience change your life?

I was very lucky to be alive after being run over as I crossed a busy road in London. That gave me a lot of motivation to do things that I wanted to do with my life and not wait around for the right moment. It’s a cliché, but you only live once. This was a big factor in me leaving my job in journalism a few years later so I could focus on writing a novel, which became my debut, If I Die Before I Wake.

If I Die Before I Wake became a bestseller - after 18 drafts. What was it like when you finally finished it and it got such a good reception?

The best feeling! I knew early on that it was a special story, because everyone I told about it was really interested to hear more. But it did take a lot of work! I had never written fiction before I wrote this book so I had a lot to learn. I am so proud of the result and the effect it has had on readers. It was a Waterstones Thriller of the Month and its French translation won a crime fiction award in France - I feel very lucky!

Your latest paperback release is What July Knew. Can you tell us a little about it?

I loved writing this book. As I’ve already mentioned, it’s set in the mid 90s, and it follows a ten-year-old girl called July Hooper as she tries to uncover the truth about what happened to her mum, who she knows died when she was very small. July was such a fun character to write, and readers seem to have really connected with her. It’s a heartbreaking and dark book at times, covering themes of domestic violence, but I worked hard to balance that with lightness and humour - if I’ve done my job correctly it is an emotional read which will make you laugh, cry, and probably want to punch something (or one of the characters in the book). I’ve been blown away by readers’ reviews so far - I always hoped people would love it as much as they do, so it’s wonderful to see it happening.

What July Knew takes the reader back to the 1990s. Did you enjoy the research and what was your backing track for writing?

It was really good fun! I wrote this book during the pandemic and I loved escaping the horrors of covid lockdowns and taking myself back to growing up in the 1990s. I often asked my social media followers for help remembering things like the best sweets of that time, or TV shows, popstars, magazines and so on. We often got lost down 90s rabbit holes and I only used a small amount of the research in the book! You can listen to a playlist of the kind of music I was listening to as I wrote the book here - I made a special Spotify playlist of all my favourites.

How did you find July Hooper's voice to narrate the story? Did you have someone in mind as you were writing it?

I think July was formed as a combination of my own diaries, plus characters in books I read as my research - I re-read my Judy Blume and Anne Fine favourites, and lots of Jacqueline Wilson novels too. She was very clear in my mind from the start, though - the first time really that I’d ever had such a strong sense of a character when I started writing.

Is there anything you can share with us about your latest project?

I wish! No, it’s in very early stages at the moment. I’ve been very unwell this year with long covid, unfortunately, so writing has had to take a backseat. I believe the next book will be better because of all this though, because having time to breathe and think can only make the next book better.

One book, piece of music or work of art that everyone should experience?

Wow… good question. I think I’d have to say Rach 3 - Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3. It’s my favourite piece of music, with so much drama and feeling in every bar.

Your story is such an inspirational one. What was the major lesson you learned from your own experiences?

A whole bunch of clichés! You only live once. What are you waiting for?

Can you tell us one thing about yourself that your readers may not know?

I am a qualified windsurf and sailing instructor! I worked at a Greek windsurf resort for a few summers when I was at university.