Emma Robertson: 'Female friendship was always going to be central to the story'
BY Maya Fernandes
18th Jun 2026
In this interview Emma Robertson, author of the debut psychological suspense A Girl's Girl, shares her advice for writing satisfying plot twists.
'As a reader, I love it when I think I am being led somewhere, and then it goes in a completely different way, but in a way that’s believable. I love subtle foreshadowing, while also keeping you guessing.'
We caught up with Emma to discuss her time studying with us, the inspiration behind her complex protagonist and her advice for budding writers.
A Girl’s Girl follows Darcy Starr, someone who appears to have the perfect life, until her past begins to unravel everything. What was the inspiration behind Darcy’s character, and how did you approach writing someone readers might not always agree with, but remain deeply invested in?
I am always fascinated by people who like to give the impression that their lives are perfect. We see it all the time on social media, where some people only ever share the shiny, filtered versions of their lives, even when it’s clear that the truth is not so wonderful. In Darcy’s case it’s because everything used to come so easily to her when she was younger – beauty, popularity, influence – and now she feels her power slipping away. She tries to make herself feel better by painting a rosy picture of her home life and I hope that readers will understand her reasons for doing that. As you say, they might not always agree with her, but as the story unfolds, I think they will empathise with her.
I remember reading an interview with Adele Parks, probably 20 years ago now, when the interviewer said that her female protagonists were often ‘hard to like’ and she pointed out that no one is 100% perfect, everyone is flawed to some degree, and that’s what makes people interesting. That has always stayed with me.
Toxic female friendship is such a strong thread throughout the novel, and it feels both painfully realistic and psychologically intense. Was exploring the darker side of female relationships always central to the story, or did those themes emerge more organically as you were writing?
Female friendship was always going to be central to the story, but the toxic edge grew darker as I went along. Very early drafts of this novel had the plot split more evenly across all four women, with the main focus on Libby, whose wedding is approaching, being caught up in keeping everyone’s secrets. However, I found that Libby was just too nice to be the main character! Darcy and Alex emerged as the most interesting personalities, with their flaws and insecurities, and there was the opportunity to really dig into why they had always needled one another and had such a strong rivalry.
Plot twists are essential to any great psychological suspense novel. What do you think makes a twist truly satisfying?
As a reader, I love it when I think I am being led somewhere, and I’m confident that I know what’s coming, and then it goes in a completely different way, but in a way that’s believable. I love subtle foreshadowing, while also keeping you guessing. When an author leaves little breadcrumbs through the story that you don’t spot immediately, but later say, ‘Ah! I understand that now!’ is very satisfying.
If you could offer one key piece of advice to aspiring authors, what would it be?
Don’t be frightened to play around in the early drafts, to find a version of the story that works. I have written various versions of this book, with different points of view and lots more backstory, and I have probably edited out more words than were left in the final draft, but I believe that nothing is wasted. You need to get to know your characters and test them out so that you can write them with conviction. Your readers might not need to see pages of vignettes from their childhood but maybe writing them out, just for yourself, will help you to understand them better. A great piece of advice I was once given was to remember that if you were learning to play the piano, you wouldn’t expect to sit down and perform a recital on your first attempt. You would need to put the hours in, and that time would not be wasted as it would lead you towards the finished piece.
You studied with us on our online Writing Your Novel – Three Months course. How did your time with us shape your approach to writing?
Sharing my drafts with our tutor, Suzannah Dunn, and the other writers on the course really made me interrogate my characters’ feelings and motivations. The group might read a scene and ask, ‘But why is she doing that?’ and I’d realise that if I needed to explain that to the readers, then my intentions weren’t clear enough. It made me look at everything anew. It’s so useful to have fresh, critical eyes on your work in progress, as they see things that you as the writer can’t see, because you’re too immersed in it.
Many of our students find lifelong writing friends on our courses. Are you still in touch with anyone you met on the course?
Absolutely, and this has been such a great part of the whole experience. Nine of us are still in a WhatsApp group and we have Zoom chats every few months to catch up and talk about how we’re getting on. A few of us have met up in person (although we are spread out across England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany and Australia!) and several of them are making the journey to London for my book launch, so I am very much looking forward to seeing them!
And finally, what’s next for your writing journey?
I have my head down, drafting Book 2 at the moment and I’m also getting involved in writing events, with some workshops and talks planned through the year. I’ve recently started a monthly writers’ group at my local bookshop which is hugely enjoyable and I’m proud to see some of these writers putting their work out there, inspired by exercises we have done in the sessions. Lots of community groups that I work with in my main job (as a dance teacher) are starting to get know me as a debut author and I’m planning to be involved with their book clubs and other local events. It’s all really exciting, so thank you to Curtis Brown Creative for your guidance and support!
Get your hands on a copy of A Girl's Girl, out now from Zaffre (Bonnier).
Emma was a student on our online Writing Your Novel – Three Months course in 2022.
The books linked in this blog can be found on our Bookshop.org shop front. Curtis Brown Creative receive 10% whenever someone buys from our bookshop.org page.