How I got published
Swedish crime authorEmelie Schepp, who self-published her debut, Marked for Life, is now published around the world and in the UK by MIRA.
Emelie Schepp
‘I have always loved writing. As a child, I wrote a lot and often, made up my own stories and wrote dozens of dairies. In 1998, I participated in a drama writing contest sponsored by a big theatre. I won first prize and my play was produced in two different cities the same year.
‘After working as a project manager in the advertising industry for ten years, I came to a point where I was tired of the profession, I wanted to do something different and I wanted to write again.
‘I decided to write a novel. But I didn’t want to take a course. I thought that the best, and only way was to learn from the authors themselves. So I began to study a lot of novels - looking at the characters, the dialogues, the settings - and after about two months of intensive reading, I was eager to get started on my own book. Since I still worked full-time, I had to make time for writing at night. Every evening at 8pm I sat down in front of my computer and wrote.