Emily Gillmor Murphy
One Chance is a book set in the highly competitive world of international show jumping, where unwavering self believe and undeniable talent are necessities to survive. It’s a book about the dream to succeed in a world where success and failure can sometimes depend on nothing but luck. Stakes and emotions are extremely high for these characters, and through the journey in the novel, we watch them as they decide how far they are willing to go to achieve their dreams. Show jumping is like life, nobody knows what’s going to happen once you reach the other side of that fence.
Please tell us about the characters of Liz and Matt.
Liz is a young character, who is naively trying to survive in a world that she’s not ready for. She’s had to take care of herself most of her life and like most competitors, she is single minded in her goals. She has the horse, she has the money, she has the drive, but can she achieve her dream? Especially when everyone is watching, waiting for her to fail. Her desperation to succeed blurs the lines of right and wrong for Liz, and as she progresses through the novel, she starts to wonder is there more to life than just being the best.
Matt is playful, fun and cheeky. His life is a combination of horses, competition and partying, but even though he is talented and driven, his chances of achieving his dreams are bleak and his opportunities limited. His family feels he is wasting his life away, and sometimes Matt does too, until one-day luck gives him an opportunity. Now Matt has one chance to show everyone what he can do. But as Matt delves deeper into this dirty game, he wonders if he is really cut out for all of this?
You are a competitive show jumper like your characters, so how important was it to put in the book that piece of you?
All writers put a piece of themselves into their writing and it’s important that they do. It makes their writing personal and unique. I believe that by putting a bit of yourself in your writing you build a relationship with the reader, a sort of bond that allows your readers to identify and become emotionally attached with your characters and story. I want my readers to really care about my characters and what happens to them, and the only way to achieve this is to throw myself into it fully.
Why has your struggle with dyslexia never held you back from writing?
Spell check is a wonderful thing!
But joking aside, I was very lucky that my dyslexia was spotted early and my parents got me the extra help I needed. I remember my mother telling me that I’m very intelligent but my brain just works in a different way. I think that is so important to tell any child with dyslexia, as it is so easy at that age to just assume that you are unintelligent. When in fact, dyslexia has nothing to do with intelligence; Albert Einstein and Leonardo Da Vinci were both dyslexic.
Now that I’m older, I actually see my dyslexia as an advantage in my writing. My creativity and imagination can run wild because my mind has no boundaries. I’m not afraid of being wrong in my writing because to me there is no wrong, I just write about whatever makes me feel excited and passionate.
Your first novel was published in 2012 so what can you tell us about this?
My first novel is titled You and I and its set in Dublin. It’s about college life and the transition between childhood and adulthood. I believe college is a very important time in many people’s lives, for many people it’s the first time you are living your life unmonitored. You are able to make your own decisions, and you often get it horribly wrong but that’s what makes it exciting.
The characters in You and I are discovering themselves, discovering the good and the darkness, having fun, having their hearts broken and making endless amounts of mistakes. They must face whatever life throws at them and often that knocks them down, but the interesting part is watching them slowly pull themselves back up again.
You have a great love of literature so who are your favourite writers?
I love the classics! My favourite novels are The Great Gatsby and The Picture of Dorian Gray. But there are some modern writers who I absolutely adore, one of which is Samantha Shannon. Her book, The Bone Season, had me hooked from page one and I’m very excited for the sequel.
How much have your degree and masters helped you to write?
I think it’s very important for any writer to read as much as physically possible and that’s what I did in my degree. I studied my undergraduate in English and History in University College Dublin, and in English I got to experience and study the greatest literature ever written, while in History I got a great understanding for the psychology of people, and why we act and behave in the way we do.
Afterwards, I did my masters in Theatre (Fine Art) in Trinity College Dublin. Theatre is a wonderful type of writing that I plan to get much more involved with.
What is next for you?
Writing has become such a large part of my life that I do believe it is something that I will always do. At the moment I’m working on new novel called Disappear, a story that is set in London and delves into the world of guerrilla magic and underground magicians. It’s a completely new type of world for me, and I’m very excited about it.
I’ve also been working on my playwriting, and my first play, A Boy called Nedd, is being debuted on July 22nd with Druid Theatre Company, in the Galway Arts Festival.