A new chapter: Emma Grey
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Whenever she writes from home, author Emma Grey draws motivation from a slightly unconventional source: a rejection chart that meticulously captures every time she was told “no” throughout her career.
Not to be mistaken with a record of defeat, Emma sees the chart as a success map in disguise. Each mark symbolises a milestone of progress; a reminder that in the high-stakes game of publishing, every door that slams shut is simply pushing her towards one that will eventually open.
It’s a refreshing take in a world where polished reels and Linkedin posts showcasing career wins can give the illusion that success stories come easy.
Chatting with Emma now, it’s hard not to focus solely on her accomplishments (and there are many): seven published books including two USA Today and Australian bestsellers, offers from production companies, an American book tour and even a request to write a piece for Oprah’s newsletter. Yes, that Oprah.
However, Emma is quick to point to the quiet moments of heartbreak that formed her journey: the many rejection letters, the crawling doubt and most of all, the sudden death of her beloved husband Jeff in 2016, to a heart attack.
Emma’s latest novel, Start at the End, was inspired by her own journey with grief.
The novel centres around Audrey and Fraser, who have an epic, unbreakable bond – until one tragic moment up-ends everything.
Facing the unimaginable and wrestling with guilt, they’re left haunted by ‘what-ifs’: would their lives still have imploded if they’d done one little thing differently? Where would they be if events had unfolded the other way around?
“Ever since tragedy struck my own life ten years ago, I’ve been drawn to the ‘what ifs’ and the idea that one small choice can fling your story onto an unfathomable new path,” Emma says.
“It’s a reminder that it’s never too late to start again and that, even after great loss, we can scoop up our dreams and carry them down unexpected new avenues.”
Emma will travel to America and Canada to launch the novel in April, where she has a huge following of loyal readers.
“My readers are my biggest highlights of this journey, they’re what give me those goosebump moments,” she says.
“I had one reader tell me that she’d lost her husband three weeks before she read my book, and that she’d been carrying my book around in her handbag ever since because it reminded her that she wasn’t alone. Another reader drove ten hours from Kentucky to meet me, as she had lost her father. It just meant so much.”
Though she has found huge international success now, Emma says her first fiction manuscript, a Young Adult novel titled Unrequited, wasn’t quite the overnight success story that many authors dream of; instead, it was closer to what happens to the majority. The manuscript was rejected seventeen times, sitting in her office for years, she finally fished it out of the bottom of the drawer and tried once more, eventually receiving a two-book deal from HarperCollins.
“We are hardwired to avoid rejection in order to survive and protect social cohesion, but that experience of rejection can actually build resilience,” Emma says.
“I began viewing each rejection as a sign of progress rather than failure. It’s about acknowledging that rejection is normal, letting go of the expectation of a specific outcome, and to push through that.”
Emma is so passionate about helping others face and push through rejection that she was recently asked to write an article about rejection for Psychology Today.
“It has become about much more than learning to dust myself off and persist through disappointment,” Emma says.
“It’s now a strategic decision to actively pursue failure – and lots of it – as a central tactic toward unfolding my dreams.”
Those “pinch me”, dream-like moments have certainly been happening more often: the idea of writing something for Oprah was one, of course, while the other was a call that her fiction book, Pictures of You, has been optioned by Australian producer Magpie Pictures for a TV Series.
Sometimes Emma ponders what would have happened if she had never pulled her first manuscript out of the drawer.
“There are so many stories like mine, where a writer has been rejected and decides to leave their manuscript behind,” she says.
“My advice is to remember that every author has gone through the same thing: doubting themselves, doubting their writing, worrying whether or not they’re good enough. But it’s important to get comfortable with that fear, and race through that messy first draft, so you have somewhere to begin. Because once you’ve got that messy first draft on the page, you can turn it into magic.”
Start at the End is currently available at bookstores now.
Feature image credit: Sophie Robertson.
