The Mills & Burch blog
Every book begins somewhere.
Publishing advice, honest observations and stories from the work of helping ordinary people turn their words into real books.
Why I Wrote The World We Borrow
Emma Marnie shares the love of nature and concern for future generations behind her speculative novel.
Read article →Why Getting Lost in a Story Is Good for Us
Why do fictional people feel real, and why do we return to favourite books? Emma Marnie explores the pleasure of disappearing into a story.
Read article →Why Physical Books Still Matter in a Digital World
From well-worn pages and inscriptions to the memories on our shelves, Emma Marnie reflects on why printed books remain part of our lives.
Read article →Why I Wrote The Letter Said He Was Dead
How historical research, wartime separation and one devastating piece of false information shaped Will and Evie's WWII love story.
Read article →Why I Wrote The Missing Parts of Thomas Bennett
Can readers care about a killer? Emma Marnie explains the uncomfortable psychological experiment—and the considerably less noble reason—behind the thriller.
Read article →Why I Wrote When Addiction Takes Everything
Emma Marnie explains why addiction does not have one face—and why the real people behind its consequences must remain visible.
Read article →Some Stories Deserve to Live Forever
Why personal memories, family history and quiet acts of courage are worth preserving—and how they can become a lasting book.
Read article →So You’ve Written a Book. What the Hell Do You Do Now?
Finished manuscript, unfinished manuscript or literary box of Lego—here’s what happens between writing a book and making it available to readers.
Read article →Apparently Being a Driving Instructor Is Completely Unhinged
Wonky mirror checks, unreliable directions, emergency chocolate and the learner-car door that tried to leave.
Read article →Why Doodle Was Never Meant to Be Tidy
Doodle was never meant to be neat, polished or precious. The whole point was freedom, mess, curiosity—and occasionally sneezing a snail out of your nose.
Read article →Apparently My Eyebrows Wrote the Therapist Book
A Level 1 counselling exercise, one carefully trained mouth and a pair of eyebrows that had absolutely no intention of remaining neutral.
Read article →Two Bristol Places That Refused to Stay in the Past
The real histories beneath two supernatural stories: Dower House at Stoke Park, Blackberry Hill and the memories that refused to disappear.
Read article →How My Own Brain Helped Me Create Benjamin Mumbles
Emma Marnie explains how her own internal debates became the comic battle between one unlucky bank worker and a very dead pirate.
Read article →How to Make a Story: Start With What You've Got
You do not need a title, a full plot or a colour-coded spreadsheet to begin. Start with the bit that interests you, ask questions and follow the answers that make you curious.
Read article →I Was Supposed to Be Working on a Book. Then I Found the Cock Road Gang.
Work on Emma L James BCAc's The Ghosts of the Blue Bowl became a local-history investigation, a family-tree surprise and, somehow, an even better book.
Read article →That Book Sitting on Your Computer Deserves Better
Your future book might be a finished manuscript—or a heap of notes that only makes sense to you. Either way, it deserves the chance to become something readers can hold.
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