Interview: Amelia Hendrey

It's time for my final author interview of the year and what better way to round off a fantastic year of Q&As than with Amelia Hendrey? Someone with an important story to share, Amelia has kindly agreed to tell all to readers of The Writing Greyhound.

Firstly, please could you introduce yourself?

My name is Amelia, I’m a mum and a survivor. I have no writing experience. I wrote my book What Nobody Knew to help other people who have been through similar experiences and to educate people who are unaware of what goes on behind closed doors. I’m just one person who wants to change the world for the better.

How did you first become interested in writing?

I have always been interested in words and I read when I get the time. So writing a book was just an experiment that turned into something amazing.

Tell me about What Nobody Knew.

What Nobody Knew is the story of my traumatic childhood; throughout the book are genuine social services documents and a police interview/conviction, which has never been done before. I had to get a judge's permission in order to publish these documents. What I love about the documents is that you get both sides of the story - my side and the professional side. It was really hard reading the documents the first time because you are reading someone else’s opinion of you and you know that they don’t know the full story.

What made you decide to tell your story?

My husband told me that I have lived more lives than one person should have and that I should share it with the world, to help people who have been through similar situations and to educate people who don’t know what goes on behind closed doors.

Did you find it challenging?

I found it immensely challenging. Once I opened Pandora’s box of memories, the memories didn’t stop coming. I was even waking up at 3am with memories and the sheer need to write it down was explosive. So that in itself was a challenge.

What’s your writing process?

The most important thing to me with writing was to have a set time every day to write, make it a habit. Even if I was sitting there in front of a blank screen, eventually I would write in the end. The scheduled time every day made the writing process so much easier and also didn’t make me give up.

Tell me about your journey to getting published.

Once my manuscript was done, because I was new, I was so excited I just sent it to 300 publishers and they all said no, so I looked at self-publishing. The self-publishing company told me that my manuscript needed work - editing, copyediting, proofreading, typesetting etc. That might have been why the publishers said no. In the end, the self-publishing company fixed my manuscript and I self-published with them.

What’s the hardest thing about writing?

The hardest thing about writing is having faith in yourself. Some days you think your writing is amazing, other days you think it’s rubbish. Self-doubt is what nearly stopped me from publishing my book; I thought no one would like it and thought no one will care what happened to me. Erase self doubt and it would make writing easier.

What do you love most about writing?

I love the way the words are your own. I love the way you have to explain a situation in detail a situation - writing in a book and talking in general are two very different things.

What are you currently working on?

I’m currently working on a follow-on from What Nobody Knew and I’m also trying to dabble in fiction.

What’s your all-time favourite book?

It has to be Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris. This book has me on the edge of my seat - I love books like that.

What are your interests outside of writing and reading?

I love films and I always have done. I love leaving the reality of life and melting into someone else’s life on screen.

What Nobody Knew is available to buy now. For more about Amelia, check out her Facebook page.

Will you be reading the book? Let me know in the comments below!