We chat with author Emy McGuire about No One Aboard, which is a domestic mystery about a luxury sailboat found floating adrift in the ocean and the secrets of the missing family who set sail aboard it weeks before…
Hi, Emy! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
My name is Emy, and I am a professional author, actor, playwright, and pirate! I graduated from New College of Florida in 2023 with a degree in Theatre and Creative Writing, and since then I have toured the US with the Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy, played Queen Elizabeth I at two renaissance fairs, and produced four of my plays (and one musical) around the counry. No One Aboard is my debut novel.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: Magic Treehouse Series
- The one that made you want to become an author: Series of Unfortunate Events
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon
Your debut novel, No One Aboard, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Millionaire missing family’s ghost ship
What can readers expect?
No One Aboard is a simmering and haunting domestic thriller that offers “astonishing” plot twists, “haunting” atmosphere, and the posed question of what is more dangerous to a family: a storm ocean, or each other?
Where did the inspiration for No One Aboard come from?
I studied abroad on a sailboat from Rome to Antigua. When we were crossing the Atlantic Ocean, I had a dream about a yacht against an orange sky, and I knew the two twin children that had been on the yacht were now missing. I woke up knowing that this would be the story that made me an author.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
My favorite characters to write were the curmugeonly fisherman, Jerry, (who discovers the empty boat) and the movie star mother, Lila (who hates the ocean and also sometimes her family). Jerry’s POV allowed me to access the story of the Cameron family through the eyes of an average and lonely man. Jerry is caught up in the glamorous mystery while struggling to maintain a simple outlook on the world. And Lila is the center of the glamour, consistently unimpressed with the world, her husband, and her children. She lives much of her perspective in aesthetics and dreams. It was delicious to bounce between the two, when I wasn’t writing about the twins, of course.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
Writing a book is always a challenge. The biggest hurdle in the beginning was that I was simultaneously writing a musical and my senior thesis. I had to build creative boundaries for myself in order to jump between projects and maintain them all.
This is your debut novel! What was the road to becoming a published author like for you?
I got my literary agent when I was a junior in high school, and from there it wasa a rather spascitc journey of writing in different genres while I was coming of age myself. No One Aboard was my first adult novel as well as my first thriller. My agent has been a steady champion as I work to find my voice as an artist. I got the call about the HarperCollins deal almost exactly six years after I signed with Ann, and I knew instantly that my life was about to change for good.
What’s next for you?
I have another book coming out in 2026 with the same publishing house. Between now and then, I am hoping to get the cast album of my pirate musical up on streaming platforms while I work on several more unannounced, but very exciting new projects.
Lastly, what books have you enjoyed reading this year? Are there any you’re looking forward to picking up in 2026?
I enjoyed The Wedding People by Alison Espach and Tell Me What You Did by Carter Wilson. In 2026, I’m most excited to read You Did Nothing Wrong by CG Drews.
