When I picked up The Sisterhood early in 2009, I didn’t know then how much I was going to love the book. It’s the kind of book that would undoubtedly make my list of Top 10 Favourite Books (although please don’t ask me to actually give you all 10). It was truly that good a read and it told me just how good a writer Emily Barr is. Since then I’ve read The Life You Want and The Perfect Lie by Emily and they’ve both been great reads. We were recently offered the chance of interviewing Emily and I have to say, it’s one of my favourite interviews ever.

1. Tell us about your latest novel The Perfect Lie?

It is the story of a woman, Lucy, who has an enviable life in Cornwall, with a partner she adores. Unfortunately, her entire life is a lie. One day she climbs a cliff to rescue a child. A stranger on the beach films her, and the footage ends up on television. Lucy’s life unravels, and she flees across Europe, desperate to stay one step ahead of a menacing figure from her past. It is set in Cornwall and in Venice, and it has a lot of Leonard Cohen in it, as I was obsessed with him, for some reason, while I was writing it. (don’t let that put you off, though)

2. What are you currently working on? Do you know yet where it will be set?

I’m currently working on a book that is set in Cornwall and Barcelona. It’s the story of a woman who steps into the shoes of a recently dead former wife, and comes to realise that things were not the way they initially appeared. I spent a week in Barcelona doing some research after Easter, and was lucky enough (it turns out) to be stuck out there when the flight home was cancelled with all the volcano business. I made my way home by train and ferry. It was a gift and got me out of a plot hole, so I am deeply grateful to that volcano.

3. Most of your books are set in exotic locations, The Perfect Lie was part set in Venice and The Life You Want in India for example, which comes first, the plot or the location?

I think it happens simultaneously, more or less. I suppose the location comes before the plot is developed very far, because it’s an integral part of the plot. With The Life You Want, I very much wanted to go back to Asia and to write about it again, as finally my children were old enough for me to be away from them for long enough, and I was desperate to get back there and to use India as a setting. Much of the story came out of experiences I had on the research trip.

4. To follow on from the last question, how much research takes place before you feel able enough to set a book there - take Venice for example?

With Venice, I knew the city fairly well already, and so when I was casting around for a European destination easily reached by train, it was a very seductive choice. I love everything about it: the fact that there are no cars, the little alleys, the inevitability of getting lost every time you try to go anywhere. I spent a week there doing some research, which I find impossible to say with a straight face, because it was a gorgeous week, completely rejuvenating, spent walking around, wandering into churches, writing in a hotel room with an spectacular view - a huge change from my normal life, which is very domestic and practical .

5. I’ve read three of your books now and all of them have been really enjoyable, however it always seems as if your lead female characters are a bit… secretive. I never really feel that I get to know them as well as I might - that they’re hiding things from me still, is that a conscious decision, to make them a bit different to most chick lit heroines, to make us wonder what they’re really like?

It’s interesting that you say that, and it’s not at all a conscious thing. I do find it a bit tiresome when I’m reading something and the main character keeps stopping to tell us what she’s like, so I suppose I make an effort not to do that, and I am constantly rewriting with ‘show, don’t tell’ in mind. However, I am now musing about whether they still have secrets at the end - and yes, they probably do. I guess I think it’s a bit more interesting like that.

6. In The Life You Want you brought back Tansy who was the main character from your debut novel Backpack, did you always feel that her story wasn’t complete? Would you ever bring back any of your other characters for a second book?

I did always have it in mind that I might continue Tansy’s story at some point, and when I decided to go back to Asia and set another book there, it felt like the right time to go back to her. I found it incredibly difficult to start writing a sequel: when you’ve taken a character through a story to its resolution, it’s tricky to start them off back at the beginning for another adventure - how much do you reveal of what happened before - how do you cater for people who read the previous book, and for people who didn’t? I am not planning to do it again any time soon, but never say never.

7. Where do you get the ideas for all of your novels? They all seem to be incredibly complex and I love unravelling your mysteries!

Thank you! As I get older, I find that life is more and more full of weird stories. Ideas come from all over the place - from snippets of overheard conversations, from a paragraph in the newspaper, all over the place, really. I do plan the novels before I start writing them, but without exception, they go radically off-piste before they’re finished, and I have to stop and alter the plan regularly as I go.

8. You’ve been with Headline since your first novel, what’s it been like having the same publishers for almost 10 years? How did your original publishing deal come around?

It’s wonderful to have that stability. As I’ve been with Headline all along, I have no idea what other publishers are like, but I am extremely well aware of how lucky I am to be with such a supportive publisher. The original deal came about because I’d been travelling in Asia, and came home desperate to set a novel in the countries I had visited. I was lucky enough to get a great agent, Jonny Geller, and he sold the book I was writing. A few publishers were interested, but Headline stood out as being fantastically enthusiastic, and within a year, they published Backpack.

9. What books do you like to read when not writing your own novels?

I like all sorts of books, but the main requirement is that they are good, because I am well aware that my writing can be subtly influenced by what I am reading. Recently, I loved American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld. At the moment, I have a huge pile of books on the bedside table, with a Jeffrey Deaver novel, The Sleeping Doll, on the top - I love a good thriller, and picked that one up at the book sale at my children’s school. One author for whom I will drop everything is Sophie Hannah - I love her dark twisted plots.

10. After completing your books completely ready to be published, have you ever gone back and re-read them at any point?

I re-read Backpack before starting on The Life You Want, and referred back to it a few times in the writing process. It was deeply weird going back to it, as so many years had passed that there was a lot I had forgotten in there, and it was almost like reading a book by someone else. Other than that, by the time they are published, I have generally read them so many times that I only do it again if I have to read an extract at a book festival or something, and even then, it makes me squirm as I want to keep editing but can’t.

11. What would you say is the best thing about being a published author?

Being able to do the thing I love best, every day, as a job rather than squeezing it into my spare time. I am well aware of how lucky that makes me.

12. Finally, what advice would you give to those currently trying to get their work published?

Work up a few chapters and a thorough synopsis and get yourself a good agent, rather than trying to send it directly to a publisher. Don’t be daunted. People will always want to read a good book, so there is always a market out there for good writing.

Thanks so much Emily!

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