7 things I'd like my readers to know about me… hmm, that's a tricky one! I'm rubbish at making decisions at the best of times, but after a lot of thought (and several cups of coffee), here's what I've come up with.
Emma Pass
1. As a small child I used to wake my parents up in the middle of the night to tell them I was bored. My mum taught me to read so I'd stay in bed with a book instead! Now, I often have two books on the go at a time, a novel and a non-fiction which is often related to research for my current project. My husband jokes I have a "reading habit"!2. I don't have any writing qualifications; I studied Fine Art at university. Perhaps not surprisingly, I ended up getting a better mark for my dissertation – which was about women's art between the wars – than for painting.
3. I'm a complete nature geek. I grew up at an environmental studies centre, and I have to get outside every single day, no matter what the weather's like – I love spotting different animals and plants! I especially love being by the sea, which is one of the reasons I set part of Before the Dawn in Devon.
4. One day, I'd love to write a book based on my grandparents' experiences after the war. My grandfather, a chemist, was sent to Hannover to decommission Nazi chemical factories. In 1946 my grandmother went out to join him. Recently my family found some diaries written by her about that time, and also discovered a short film on YouTube made by Associated Press which shows them being reunited after many months apart.
5. Two years ago, aged 40, I found out I'm autistic. Being undiagnosed for so long means I've struggled at times, especially when I was younger, but for me being autistic also has a lot of positives. If my brain wasn't wired the way it is, I don't think I'd have become a writer. (I know I'm very lucky to be able to say this.)
6. I love dogs and can't imagine my life without one. My first word was "Shep", the name of a little lurcher my parents rescued before I was born. Now I'm owned by a naughty retired racing greyhound called Auburn, and in Before the Dawn, Ruby and Sam talk about getting a greyhound too.
7. When I'm not writing or reading, or going on adventures with Auburn, I love to knit. I taught myself how a couple of years ago and now I'm obsessed!
I hope my readers will enjoy reading Before the Dawn as much as I enjoyed writing it. I loved immersing myself in Sam and Ruby's world, and I hope that their story, although set in a world that has since changed beyond recognition, shows that love can win through, no matter the challenges we face.
About Before the Dawn
When everything you hold dear is torn apart by war, can love put you back together again?
It's 1943, and the Second World Waris raging. Ruby Mottram works for herlocal newspaper, the Bartonford Herald, typing up adverts and obituaries, whilst dreaming of a more exciting life. Between her shifts as an ARP warden and caring for her ailing father, the chance for escape doesn't come often to Devon.
Meanwhile, in America's deep south, Sam Archer is hatching a plan to raise enough money to get his mother and sister away from his abusive stepfather. Using falsified documents to hide his age, he enlists with the U.S. Army.
Two chance encounters bring Ruby and Sam together from opposite sides of the Atlantic, giving them the chance of love, hope and freedom from their troubled lives. But fate, in the shape of D-Day and Omaha Beach, has other ideas.
When their very lives are at risk, will their promise to waitfor one another be what keeps them alive?