pseudonym period genre article_title name occupation
'' 'em ma richmond '' ' 1988 -- 2001 romantic novel emma richmond
 emma richmond novelist
emma richmond

emma richmond was a popular writer of 33 romance novels in mills & boon from 1988 to 2001 .
emma was born when open fields and farms were the norm and motorways nonexistent .
she had a terrific childhood .
snow in winter , sun in summer .
a life of adventure .
emma has an older brother and a younger sister .
she enjoyed school and did rather well .
her favorite subjects were history and english .
she wanted to go to university , but in the '50s , teachers thought it more important for places to go to exceptional students , or boys , because girls tended to get married and have babies and it would therefore be a waste of a place .
it is her one regret .
emma met her husband at the local dance hall -- where everyone met their future partners -- and they were married less than a year later .
a year after that their first daughter was born .
money was tight -- when you have to take up the floorboards once a week to see if any money had rolled down there , well , it will give you some idea how tight it really was .
there was a great deal of laughter and fun , and being poverty-stricken certainly makes you inventive !
three years later they had their second daughter , who was born on the living room floor without benefit of a midwife .
ten months after that , there was a third .
three beautiful girls .
there was the usual story of growing up , of dogs and cats , hamsters and gerbils , which were forever escaping .
the teenage years were relatively fraught-free .
fashions came and went .
boyfriends came and went .
there were tears and sadness , happiness and fulfillment .
and not very many free moments for husband and wife .
when her father died , her mother came to stay so the house was even fuller .
the dog died , a stray was adopted , and a duck was adopted .
lame birds , a lame mouse , all came and went .
there were 101 temporary jobs to help make ends meet and so that emma could always be home for the children after school , always have the school holidays off .
she delivered leaflets , mended sheets in a laundry , and worked in an air rifle pellet factory .
she worked for newspapers , taking down copy from reporters ; taking dictation in pubs when no one was sober enough to talk let alone dictate .
insurance offices , banks , car showrooms , even a conjuror .
her last job , before she gave it up to pursue her writing , was as secretary to the chairman of a group of companies .
she went as a temp , and remained by default because they could n't find anyone better .
her letter of reference when she left , in case she ever needed another job , said : `` she generally manages to hit the right keys . ''
that was 12 years ago and she still receives christmas cards from them .
and then there were weddings and the eldest two daughters left home .
the younger went off to university and the house was almost empty .
and now it is almost full again with the laughter of grandchildren who all come to see her at least once a week .
four now , two boys and two girls .
sadly , her mother died a few months ago , but she 's all right -- her five-year-old grandson told her he saw her last night and she was laughing .
amiable and disorganized , emma will continue to write until someone tells her to stop .
an ordinary life , a happy life , she considers herself very lucky .
