Interview with Author and Blogger Emma Amoscato

Emma Amoscato is a former national features journalist, blogger and author of Living With Allergies: Practical Tips For All The Family: https://amzn.to/2Sg8AyA which has been endorsed by Allergy UK. She is the mum of two children with multiple allergies and started her blog Free From Farmhouse after her son had an anaphylactic reaction to milk.

She was frustrated about the lack of a clear and practical guide to living with allergies, so decided to write one. It includes the latest research and information plus interviews with ten of the country’s leading experts and advice from people living with allergies.

Emma also runs an online support group [www.facebook.com/groups/livingwithallergies] and is co-founder of Allergy Travels, the world’s first portal for travelling safely and confidently with allergies.

 

Describe a typical day for you?

It starts early! My children, who are 3 and 5 are usually up around 5 am. I go downstairs with them, make myself a hot water and lemon, and do Miracle Morning which has helped me turn these early starts into something positive. Then I will get them ready for school and Monday to Thursday (my daughter is off preschool on Fridays) I will come home and write, create content for the blog or work with brands. I try to fit in a walk through the fields with my dog too.

I also still work as a corporate writing trainer so some days I’ll be teaching a room full of executives how to use semi colons! Once the kids are in bed, I will either be eating dinner with my husband, back on the computer or relaxing with a pink gin and watching Luther.

 

What do you feel are your biggest achievements?

I am very proud of my book and the backing it has from Allergy UK and industry experts. It is the guide I wanted when we thrown into the world of allergies six years ago and I hope it will help lots of other people in the same state of overwhelm. It is the culmination of my experience as a journalist, my blog and my personal journey so it means a lot to me.

We have also dealt with a lot as a family during that time – two traumatic births, PTSD, anxiety, anaphylaxis, asthma attacks, a miscarriage and a cancer diagnosis. I think coming through all of that, learning to grow and staying positive are also big achievements.

 

What’s in your handbag/ satchel?

The basics – phone, wallet and keys – and my Passion Planner which I organise my life in! If I’ve got the kids with me I’ll have lots of snacks, wipes and their epipens and inhalers too.

 

What are your ambitions in life?

To raise happy, healthy children whose allergies don’t hold them back. To travel widely and go on many family adventures. To live by the sea. To carry on helping and inspiring people,and doing work I love.

 

What do you wish you’d known at the start of your career you now know?

That everyone suffers from imposter syndrome and to believe in myself more. Also, to be patient. When I was younger, I wanted everything to happen immediately and gave up on some projects before I had given them a chance. But then I feel that all these experiences have led me to where I am now, which I’m very grateful for.

 

Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?

I would like to have reworked my book to published in America and have written a couple more. I hope to create some courses to support families with allergies. I would also love to make a documentary.

 

What advice would you give an author?

Read, read, read. Find the kind of books you enjoy, the style that suits you and read any competitors to see where you fit within the market. What do you bring that is new, different or useful? Remember that it is ultimately about your reader, not you, and how you can help them with your knowledge or experiences. But if it’s something you really want, and I think for most writers it is deep within them, then go for it and believe in yourself.

 

What do you wish you’d known about motherhood before having kids?

For me, the one word I would use to describe motherhood is relentless. I don’t think I had any proper concept of how overwhelming the love and the pride would be, nor the everyday grind, sleep exhaustion and losing your identity. I guess I would have liked to know that it is completely normal, to trust your instinct and find your tribe. I couldn’t have done it without my friends I met at NCT classes who kept me sane in those early days and have been along on this ride with me

 

Finally, happiness is…Playing on the beach in the sunshine with my family.

 

Living with Allergies is out now.