A woman followed her dream after receiving a “terrifying” diagnosis.
Emma Sterner-Radley, from Chester, has published 16 books in the space of eight years after she realised she didn’t have “time to wait around” nor “waste”. The 39-year-old was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in November 2018 - something which she said changed her perspective on life.
The fantasy author told the ECHO : “It was really quite a shock because, in the beginning, they found a benign tumour in my throat. I went to get it surgically removed and after the operation, they called me back and said that it was actually cancerous. They gave me all the options on what to do and that shocked me because I went from thinking everything was fine to it wasn’t. It wasn’t ‘you have cancer’ but it was ‘you had cancer, but it could come back at any time now.’
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“It's just like a bucket of cold water over the head in that it was very perplexing and terrifying. It really did put things into perspective and reminded me not only could I die but I could be made so sick because of cancer that I couldn’t write. That’s when I realised how important writing is to me and not just as a job but as who I am.”
After her diagnosis, the former librarian learnt to “take risks” with her writing and began focusing on stories which she would have wanted to read as a child and as someone who was struggling with their sexual orientation.
She said: “Before I was writing things people wanted to read and it was all very polished so it could be easily sold. Now, I don’t have time for that, it has to be the book and the story I want to tell. I just take that extra risk and put that extra bit of myself into the story because even though I could live until I'm 100-years-old, I can’t that for granted or even assume that I will. The diagnosis has even made me take chances in life in the last couple of years which I wouldn’t have taken before.”
Thanks to her “overactive imagination”, Emma has always been “making up stories and writing” since she was a kid. However, she spent a long time doubting herself thinking they were never good enough to be published. Her wife, Amanda, thought otherwise and encouraged her to send some samples to publishers. Now, with the goal of publishing 20 books, Emma has been able to quit her full-time job to pursue her passion.
She said: “After my cancer diagnosis, I don’t feel like I have time to wait around or time to waste. Having had cancer, you really do realise how short life is and there is a ticking clock. Knowing that the books are what I am going to leave behind, I do try and write as many as well as I can and get them out to as many readers as possible. I don’t want to leave anything undone.”
Her latest book, Snowblooded, focuses on two rivalling assassins who find themselves having to work together. Like the rest of her library, Emma drew inspiration from being a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
She added: “The LGBTQ+ community is so big, it's so different and even though we have a lot in common because we live outside the ‘norm’, we are also quite different from each other. I think it's super interesting and it's great, it’s like we are thrown together at a party because of our sexuality but we don't know one another. My characters show that we mainly have more in common than we have against each other, it's very important that the community works together. This idea of being pitted against each other is awful.”
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