Rosie Walsh: On Writing Emotional, Full-Hearted Novels for Readers
In this interview, author Rosie Walsh discusses the image that led her to write her new romantic thriller, The One Day You Were My Husband.
Rosie Walsh has lived and traveled all over the world, working as a documentary producer and writer. Her two previous novels, Ghosted and The Love of My Life, were New York Times bestsellers and have sold nearly two million copies worldwide. She lives in Devon, U.K., with her partner and two children. Follow her on Instagram.
In this interview, Rosie discusses the image that led her to write her new romantic thriller, The One Day You Were My Husband, the need to physically immerse herself in the setting of her stories, and more.
Name: Rosie Walsh
Literary agent: Allison Hunter at Trellis Literary
Book title: The One Day You Were My Husband
Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books / Viking
Release date: May 19, 2026
Genre/category: Emotional thriller (romance + suspense)
Previous titles: Ghosted, The Love of My Life
Elevator pitch: Two young people get married on a beach in Thailand. Four hours later, the groom is taken by armed men.
What prompted you to write this book?
I see the arrival of a book idea as the opening of a door. It is incumbent upon me as an author to open that door, when I spot it, and to walk right on through: It won’t remain open forever.
This particular door wasn’t triggered by anything I’d seen or experienced. It presented simply as a moving image. Two young people, luminously happy and deeply in love, dancing on a beach as night falls. A scene of joy and peace—until the beach is strobed with blue light and a convoy of vans arrives, carrying armed men who take off the groom at gunpoint.
I had no more than that, but I recognized that this was one of my doors. I spent time brainstorming, developed the idea a little, and then flew to Thailand to work out what the story would be.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
I wrote this book while bringing up very young children and moving house twice—not to mention COVID—so it took its time. I think the process from idea to publication was a little over three and a half years. Some people may be able to write at high quality in a shorter period, but I am not one of them! Writing high quality fiction, for me, is a process of gradual layering; a process that is harmed when hurried, and I’ve learned to make peace with my limits!
The idea changed and evolved constantly. I do a reasonable amount of planning at the start, but writing is a somatic experience for me; one that requires my whole body and all of my senses. For that reason no plot is set in stone until I’ve spent time in the locations where my books are set. Often, I’ll visit them more than once during the drafting process, and my storyline will change accordingly.
I can’t and won’t sit at a desk to plan a story; no more will I use photographs or Google street view to describe a setting. I need to be there, smelling the air, feeling the earth under my feet (yes, I often take off my shoes … )
That physiological immersion is where the best ideas are born. Just the sight of a small shop on a side-street in some town faraway is enough to set a brilliant plot twist in motion.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
My previous novels, Ghosted and The Love of My Life, both featured the English countryside and coast quite heavily, to the extent that many reviewers experienced these settings almost as characters in their own right. This novel is set in Thailand, Stockholm, and Dartmoor National Park in the west of England, which is where I live. I fully expected to fall into that same pattern—the settings becoming characters of their own—but I found it near-impossible to write about Dartmoor National Park! I couldn’t understand it at all. I adore this place; its beauty is otherworldly, and I actively enjoy it every single day. But the prose did not reflect this at all.
What I realized, after banging my head against a wall for a long time, was that it wasn’t enough to live here and love the place. I had to visit it as a writer—a creative tourist—and experience it through all senses as if for the first time. As soon as I did that, the prose began to flow and the Dartmoor I love began to appear in the pages.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
I wish I could say there were surprise breakthroughs but there weren’t. My process remains slow, steady, and subject to deep layering. I have brief moments where I fantasize about being a writer who knocks out a first draft in six months, taking another six to edit and polish, the reality is that I am much more tortoise. This time round, though, I was more at peace with my own process and was able to trust in it. Even when things felt hard, I knew I would find my way through. I have amassed enough evidence now to give the worries fairly short shrift.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
I love this question. I don’t write books to make people think about things, or to explore particular themes. I don’t write to fulfill the imagined briefs of commercial viability or book club potential. I write with one sole aim, which is to give readers an unforgettable, heart-in-throat journey; a journey that leaves them spent, emotional, and bursting with feelings. That is my sole motivation, and I invest everything I have in achieving it.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
You don’t need to take years out of your life to take a course in creative writing. You don’t need to empty your savings account to fund an expensive mentorship scheme. You don’t need to learn about structure or plotting or character or how to write in three acts, and you don’t need to read a single book on creative writing. All of these things are helpful and have doubtless been life-changing for some writers, but none of them will determine whether or not you finish a publishable book. Or even just a book you are proud of on a cellular level. The only thing you need to do to write a publishable book is to sit down and write. It is more than possible to learn your craft through your own mistakes. If that were not true, 90 percent of published authors would not exist.
Let no scary article about how you’re approaching writing all wrong ever deter you. You have all you will ever need to finish your novel inside you.
