Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have written two books and am about to start researching my third. My first wasn’t meant to be a book, but my dissertation got published, pretty much as it was. It was entitled ‘Lost for Words: The Psychoanalysis of Anorexia and Bulimia’. I set up a centre for women with eating problems in 1989 and became very interested in why people get eating disorders and what can be done to help people.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
‘A is for Anorexia: Anorexia Nervosa Explained is my latest book and it was inspired by years and years of working with patients, not all eating disordered ones, but recognising that they are a greatly misunderstood group in the general population.
One anorexic I had known inspired to write the book, but I was really helped by Vic Johnson’s programme
http://ezee.info/cmd.php?af=1623300 which kept me inspired and productive all the way. It has led to it being number one best seller at Amazon in Medical Diseases.
It amazes me what the book turned out to be in the end. I learnt a lot in the process of writing it.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
The knowledge I can’t write at all makes it very difficult to start sometimes. I make myself do an hours writing a day regardless. Sometimes it is like getting blood from a stone. I am almost counting the seconds and other times it flies by. The more I do it, the more I like it.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Too many. As a reader Jane Austen, John Irving, Coetzee, William Gibson, William Boyd, Peter Carey, Paul Gallico, Roald Dahl – the first few that come to mind.
As a writer Adam Hochschild.
What are you working on now?
Marketing ‘A’. At the end of the month I aim to start on ‘B’ ; ‘B is for Bulimia: Bulimia Nervosa Explained’.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
The course I took with Vic goes through this all so thoroughly. I suspect it is how I found this website. For example, he helped one woman sell 241,987 copies of her simple eBook!
http://ezee.info/cmd.php?af=1623300
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep going.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Varies depending on my age. Recently ‘don’t sweat the details’ and one I have always liked ‘proper preparation prevents piss poor performance’.
One makes you work, the other makes you deliver.
What are you reading now?
Just about to start ‘H is for Hawk’ and
What’s next for you as a writer?
‘C is for Compulsive Eating: Binge Eating and Obesity Explained’ also trying to blog more on my website www.abcofeatingdisorders.com
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Bury the Chains by Adam Hochschild, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and Stars and Bars by William Boyd.
Author Websites and Profiles
Em Farrell Website
Em Farrell Amazon Profile
Em Farrell’s Social Media Links
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