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What happens when the dream you’ve carried for years starts to feel too heavy?

Author and performer Emmy McGuire joins me to talk about the long road to her debut thriller, No One Aboard—a chilling mystery about a family and crew vanishing at sea—and what it took to keep going through rejection, burnout, and years away from writing.

We dig into the craft behind her dual-timeline, multi-POV structure, as well as the emotional reality of writing: the pressure, the fear of scrutiny, and the quiet work of reconnecting with why you started in the first place.

If you’ve been doubting yourself or your story, this is your reminder: your “why” matters more than anything.

Timestamps
 00:00 – Why We Write
 03:19 – Emmy’s Journey to Publication
 07:04 – The Story Behind No One Aboard
 14:54 – Craft: POV and Structure
 20:00 – Navigating Doubt and Pressure
 28:01 – Resetting After Burnout
 34:43 – Advice for Writers

Bio: 

Emy McGuire is a full-time actor, author, playwright, and pirate. She has written a queer pirate musical, sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, and toured the United States as a performer in the Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy. She has a degree in theatre and creative writing from New College of Florida. No One Aboard is her debut novel, and her second one comes out in late 2026. She hopes to someday return to the sea and embrace being a real-life siren. 

Links:

Website

Instagram

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