Drawing from real-life experience and today's world, Emma Lord shares her process for writing Anomaly and teases her favourite moments from the novel. 

What do you love about writing?

I’ve always found it easier to make sense of my thoughts and feelings when I put them down on paper. Writing fiction is an extension of this, I think; I can explore things that perplex or frighten me within the safety of story. It’s cathartic. 

I also love that I’m not bound by the restrictions of reality on the page. Writing is a way to experience the impossible or fantastical and shape worlds at will.

What inspired you to write this story?

A lifelong fascination with post-apocalyptic stories, a lifelong love of sci-fi, fantasy and YA, and my personal experiences of grief and loss.

What was it like to develop the characters of Piper and Seth?

It took time and many redrafts to figure out who Piper and Seth were as individuals, but once they took shape, I had a great time playing with how they challenge – but also complement – each other when they’re together. Piper and Seth have totally different philosophies on life, and so many secrets between them, yet somehow, they’re still on the same wavelength. Their chemistry is a lot of fun, and if I get to write a sequel I’d love to see where it leads.

Do you have a usual process for crafting stories? How did this book compare?

Prior to writing Anomaly I hadn’t written fiction since high school, so I had to build those mental muscles again and discover a process that worked for me. I’d been a copywriter for many years, though, so I knew the value of taking on feedback and redrafting, and I embraced both of those things while shaping and polishing the manuscript over the course of several years.

Anomaly includes heavy themes of disease, trauma, and grief. What was it like to write about these?

Writing trauma and grief was emotionally challenging, but regrettably easy in some ways, because I was drawing on real-life experience. I lost my mum to cancer early in the drafting process, and that compelled me to explore grief on the page. Piper’s situation is obviously very different to mine, but the difficulty she has processing her grief and the existential questions it raises reflects what I was going through at the time. 

Writing about disease was a much less familiar (at least at first) scenario. My initial approach was to turn to research, focusing on pandemics throughout history and the subsequent social fallout, to give that element of the story detail and authenticity. Then, when I was several drafts in, Covid-19 hit. And while there were elements of the real-life pandemic I couldn’t resist layering into the story (mostly around human behaviour), I did change or remove existing details that felt too similar or simply too sensitive. It’s a tough balance to strike, though – which is part of the reason why a detailed content warning was important to me.

Are there any particular scenes that were most challenging, exciting, or meaningful to write?

The action scenes were both the most challenging and the most exciting to write. Challenging because I had to make sure they moved at breakneck speed while still conveying what was happening – along with all the characters’ internal/external reactions – with total clarity. Exciting because I love a good action scene and writing them felt like I was sneaking up on my characters with a grenade in hand. It’s sick and twisted … but a lot of fun. 

It’s hard to go into the scene that was most meaningful to write without giving away major spoilers, but it’s a scene very close to my heart because it’s partly wish fulfilment. It starts on page 372, and it brings Piper full circle.

What do you hope readers take away from this book?

I hope readers enjoy the ride, that the book surprises them, and that they finish the last page feeling the story fulfilled its promises.

Do you have any other projects in the works?

I’m working on a couple of things and having lots of fun exploring the possibilities. The important thing to me is to keep writing and keep up my momentum.