Today we are interviewing Emily Astillberry, author of the speculative fiction/romance,
Emily Astillberry is an author and RSPCA Inspector from Norfolk, England. She has a degree in English Literature and Linguistics from York University and has been investigating animal cruelty and neglect and rescuing sick and injured animals for 20 years. In her day job, Emily deals with very difficult and often emotional situations and meets all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds. Her career provides some of the inspiration for themes and characters that can be found in her fictional work.
At home, in a very old cottage in the country, Emily has a husband, 5 children, a dog, a cat, an axolotl, 2 giant African land snails and a varying number of rescue hens, so finding time to write can be a challenge. She is happiest outdoors, growing fruit and vegetables in the garden, walking the dog and family holidays usually involve walking up mountains in summer, skiing down them in winter and sleeping in a tent whenever possible.
Emily loves spending time with her large, noisy, chaotic family, cooking meals for friends and playing board games. She always has at least one book on the go and has always dreamed of writing her own novel. She now dreams of writing more.
You can find her on Facebook and Instagram.
The Essence of Bliss is her latest book.
I have always loved books. I read an inordinate amount growing up and was surrounded by novels because my whole family are avid readers. I have a degree in English Literature and took a creative writing course about 20 years ago. I always dreamed of writing. However, at the age of 22, my life took a different turn and I landed the other career of my dreams and became an RSPCA Inspector. I have been rescuing sick and injured animals and investigating complaints of animal cruelty and neglect for the last 20 years and I feel incredibly proud and privileged to be able to do what I do. My passion for literature and stories never faded but I was busy pouring my heart and soul into animal welfare and then falling in love, getting married and starting a family. I now have 5 children, a collection of rescued animals and a dilapidated 250 year old cottage to prop up. My life is chaotic but I never forgot about my dream to write. I spent many years waiting for the right time to start my novel but the right time never came. I continued to read passionately and a few years ago, I found that I was getting frustrated. Every book that moved me, inspired me to write, to see if I could similarly move other people and every book that disappointed me, inspired me to get out there and see if I could produce something better, so in the end, I stopped waiting for the right time and just got on with it.
Your latest book, The Essence of Bliss, is about a woman, Isabel Bliss, who experiences other people’s emotions and can influence how they feel but she doesn’t truly understand her gift and has been encouraged to hide it from others. How did you come up with this very unique idea (wish I had thought of it!)?
I was always going to write something emotional. The power and depth of human emotions and connections is unfathomable and it is the relationships between people that I believe really makes a good novel, great. I wanted to set my novel in the real world, enhanced by a subtle magic, otherworldly enough to offer escapism and yet relatable to my audience. I wanted to create a concept that was fresh and almost believable. I wanted my readers to wonder, to come away asking what if?
There are 12 years between my youngest and oldest children but a theme that always seemed to successfully span the gaps was that of superheroes and superpowers. We would often find ourselves embroiled in in-depth discussions about the best and worst heroes and villains and their relative powers. I still regularly debate with my youngest about what super power we would have if we could choose, and how we would use them to improve our own lives and the lives of others. This got me thinking and ultimately shaped my concept. Isabel’s super power is a little more
subtle than super speed, spidey senses or x-ray vision and she doesn’t wear a cape or have an alter ego, but she does have an unseen influence over others and she wants to use that power for good.
Can you tell us more about the main character of your book?
Isabel Bliss is a reception class teacher in her late twenties. She is an ordinary woman with an extraordinary sensitivity to the emotions of the people around her. Isabel feels other people’s emotions as if they were her own, sometimes to an unsettling or even crippling degree. She also has the power to manipulate the emotions of others but has never understood or learned to harness her gift. Having been encouraged to keep her ability to herself, she has never spoken of it to anyone except her mum, but when she helps a young boy in her class who is experiencing unspeakable suffering, and, in another thread, meets a kindred spirit, Isabel begins to realise the potential of her gift.
Who are the other main characters?
Isabel begins the story in a long-term relationship with childhood sweetheart, Jack, parents, Beth and Max, and a younger sister, Stephanie. She also has a best friend called Donna. Isabel’s family are very close. Beth is eccentric and complicated but Isabel has always felt loved.
As the story progresses, a new family moves to town. The Callahans take up residency in the Big House at the top of the hill and the family consists of Nicholas, an extremely successful barrister with an incredible professional record, his beautiful wife Georgina and their two sons, Scott and Daniel. On first meeting, Isabel has a profound reaction to the sons, recoiling from one and being inexorably drawn to the other.
What is the very first line of your book?
It began with mild agitation, a vague feeling of unease, which quickly shifted to anger and within seconds, the placid, even temper of a six year old had been transformed into outright fury, a rage so intense that it had no business taking hold of a child.
What's the main reason someone should read your book?
Someone should really read The Essence of Bliss if they want to be transported on an empowering, emotional journey, full of complex characters and relationships. It offers a balance between magic and reality, enchantment and a deeply personal narrative and empathetic heroine, and yet it is infused with a fresh, chilling twist, which challenges the very concepts of chance, choice and destiny.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
Ha, I think you’ve got me confused with somebody else!
It seems only fitting that my movement stays on topic, the topic essentially being emotional prosperity. As a parent, I have noticed that our society sets great store on academic achievement, our ability to retain information and our potential to generate wealth. When a report is sent home, our children are graded on their grasp and presentation of knowledge in English, maths, reading, science etc. but the really important things, the aspects of a child that will make them a good human, are sadly overlooked. A good human child might be kind and considerate, positive, sociable, a joy to be around and the sort of person who always engenders happiness in others. If these were the attributes that we valued above and beyond their grasp of the seven times table, I honestly believe that the world would be a better place. We should be teaching our children, and letting them teach us, how to be good humans, how to instill joy and laughter, how to love and cherish one another and how to avoid hurting the people close to us and the people far away. My movement would be about appreciating, teaching and learning how to live happily alongside all others, recognising and celebrating differences but cherishing similarities and the qualities that give all humans, incredible potential. It is the children who achieve A* grades in positivity, fairness, love and humanity who should be lauded above others and who should go on to lead countries, continents and the world.
About the Book
Isabel Bliss is a reception class teacher. She experiences other people’s emotions and can influence how they feel but she doesn’t truly understand her gift and has been encouraged, by her mum, to hide it from others. She often feels lost and alone.
When a child in her class experiences chronic distress that only she can perceive, Isabel uses her ability to relieve his suffering, but his situation continues to worsen. Eventually she is forced to take matters into her own hands, escorting him home where she finds horrific signs of abuse. She saves his mum’s life and his father is arrested for the brutal torture he has inflicted upon his family.
A wealthy family moves to town and Isabel meets the two sons. She recoils from Daniel, who is hateful, rude and emotionally deficient but is inexorably drawn to Scott, who awakens something magical, deep inside her. They are like her. They are fluencers and have the ability to sense, read and willfully manipulate emotional energies. Isabel confronts her mum and uncovers hurtful lies and deceit within her own family.
She falls deeply in love and ultimately discovers the untold potential of her gift and the passion and power that dwells within.
Read a sample here.
The Essence of Bliss is available at Amazon UK and Amazon US.
Here’s What Readers Have to Say About The Essence of Bliss!
5.0 out of 5 stars – A beautifully crafted love story with a subtle, enchanting twist
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 22, 2025
Though fantasy isn’t my usual genre, the delicate infusion of magic enhances rather than overwhelms the heartfelt romance. The characters feel real, their love story rich with longing, mystery and fate. Every page draws you deeper into a world that feels both familiar and otherworldly. A captivating read and I cannot wait for the sequel as I’m desperate to find out what is next in store for Isabel Bliss. I would highly recommended The Essence of Bliss for romantics and dreamers alike.
