Cookham authoress

Emmeline Costa-Wagner

 

Emmy enjoys writing, painting and drawing, a little blogging and photography whilst being a full-time stay-at-home mum and

e-publisher. I asked her how she has found the time to write not one but nine books, and she reveals her 10th - about Cookham Mummy Wars - is in the making...

 

I was born and raised in Durban, South Africa, to German and English immigrant parents. I've emigrated to Germany twice and then to England,

and I've now been living here in Cookham for nine years, with my husband and two children, Kaiden and Rebecca.

   I worked in London in the corporate world (doing administration, marketing, web and legal admin) for two years, and before that in various offices in Durban, Germany as well as here in England. I left it behind in 2007, before having Kaiden, and then had Rebecca in 2011. I've been a stay-at-home mum/housewife for almost seven years now.

   My first work of fiction took me years, before having my kids and then afterwards - in the evenings after putting them to bed. I finally completed Scorpio Moon after 10 years of writing, editing and re-editing, and it was
e-published in September 2011. It is a metaphysical romance thriller - an unusual genre but its quirkiness makes it unique and interesting.

   I have since written a novella, which is all about being an expatriate, and reads in diary format from the point of view of two emigrants.

   I have also written and illustrated six children's stories - the latest being

The Pirate Witches of the Carribean. I also had my deceased mother's poetry

e-published in short, e-book format as a sort of dedication to her as I lost

her when I was very young.

   I've always wanted to write and it is my ideal career - I get to write stories, use my imagination and create characters and illustrations whilst being my own boss. I haven't had any training - I've relied heavily on trial-and-error, feedback from other novelists and writers' forums plus websites. It has been a labour of love and my husband has been very patient and supportive of

me during the process of creating my work. I've had virtually no social life

for quite a few years and have received countless rejection letters from publishers/literary agents. It's hard work. My advice to other aspiring authors is this: 'Don't give up. Don't let jealous, competitive people bring you down. Being grateful of what you have is a big part of finding real happiness,

not wealth.'

   I now write in the evenings, on the sofa sat next to hubby. I write from life experiences, memories of my home country, and people I've met and known along the way. Strong people with fortitude and self-reliance inspire me.

   I like to read unusual, quirky, metaphysical, thriller-type stories. I love any work by Anne Rice, Lee Child and Stephen King.

   I've got an idea for a new novella - something along the lines of 'Cookham Mummy Wars', a sort of quirky, comedic story with archetypal mother characters and their daily conflicts and dramas as the main theme! So watch this space...

   The link to Emmy's author page is