Meet the author: Annie Robertson on switching careers from composer to novelist

Switching careers from composer to novelist may seem discordant to some, but for Annie Robertson the move was harmonious.

Fife-based Robertson – who after graduating from London’s prestigious Royal Academy of Music went on to work for an Oscar-winner, an acclaimed artist, a PR mogul and a Beatle, as well as having a busy career in the arts sector – has hit a high note with her fifth novel, The Guesthouse At Lobster Bay.

The 42-year-old author, who with her husband and eight-year-old son lives in a traditional fisherman’s cottage overlooking the sea, tells P.S: “My time at the Royal Academy was wonderful. It feels like a dream now.

“After graduating, I was working in a commercial capacity within composing, but I think I always knew that whilst I wanted to work in some kind of creative field, it did not feel like quite the right fit for me.

“I thought I would like to work as a lyricist or in children’s books, writing songs to accompany. There was always that interest in words that topped music. Whilst it sounds like a bit of an odd step going from composer to novelist, to me it feels quite natural. There is that sense of form and structure and the two sit quite closely.”

And Robertson, a pianist, says her time with the A-listers – whose identities she keeps firmly to herself – was a lesson for life. “It had a huge impact,” she admits.

“When you are working with people of that calibre, you see what it takes to get to that level and the intensity of their work ethic. I come from very hard-working parents. Mum was a teacher and my father had his own business. As a novelist, if you don’t have that discipline and determination you cannot sustain your writing.”

Starting life as a writer

She was finally able to follow her dream after having to take time off work because of a back injury. She reveals: “That was when I wrote my first novel, and won a writing competition. The prize gave me a year’s mentoring with a writer, publisher, and agent, which led to my first publishing deal. At the same time, I undertook my Creative Writing MA, and that resulted in agent representation and the beginning of my life as a writer.”

Robertson moved home to Scotland in her 30s and nine months ago with 43-year-old husband Peter – who owns the St Andrews Wine Company – bought their “forever home” in the idyllic East Neuk of Fife, the setting for her new novel.

She smiles: “I’d love to say I always write looking out at the sea, but I end up putting my desk in an opposite corner because the view takes you away from that internal world in which you have to exist.

“With this book it was different as I was writing about the area I live and I had to look out of the window. The novel is based on the East Neuk of Fife. I cherry-picked all best bits and put them in a place called Lobster Bay.”

A heart-warming rom-com, it features Emma, who buys the guest house as a haven in which to recover from trauma. But no sooner does she have the keys, than her dream begins to fall apart.

Robertson said: “It was nice to write about a place I knew so well. What fascinates me is that no two readers will imagine my locations in the same way, no matter how well they are described.”

Given the rom-com’s already enthusiastic reception, will there be a sequel? “The intention was there would be at least two Lobster Bay books. A series was also in the conversation and it is at the back of mind…”

Annie Robertson – The Guesthouse At Lobster Bay, Wellbeck, £7.99