I’m delighted to host Gail Aldwin on the blog.

Thank you so much, Georgia, for inviting me to share my writing space. I currently split my time between a house in Dorchester, Dorset where my desk overlooks water meadows and a tiny flat in SW London. We let our Dorset house as a holiday home over the summer, which means I’m currently writing from New Malden. Given the limited space, my writing nook is very cave-like. Situated in a hallway is a bureau, inherited from the previous owner, and this is where I sit and write. There’s no natural light as I’m sandwiched between the front door on my left and the entrance to the lounge on my right. It just goes to prove I need nothing more than a laptop and a desk to be able to function as a writer. 

Follow Gail’s travels on social media – she goes to much more exotic places than New Malden! (Although I hear it’s very nice!)

I like a chaotic space (as you can see from the photo) the bureau is stuffed with bits and pieces. The shoebox is my husband’s and contains the various documents we need when living itinerantly. Lately, I’ve been using a stand to raise the screen of my laptop. This was a good investment and saves me from having (not being!) a pain in the neck. My earphones are essential. I get the computer to read back my work as I find it much easier to hear my mistakes and typos rather than read them on the page. I also use them when tuning into Writers’ Hour each weekday morning at eight o’clock. The Zoom call provides a fabulous kick start to the working day when writers from around the world gather in our little Zoom boxes to share some words of wisdom and companionship and then we get on with our individual projects for fifty minutes. I’m usually stuck into my writing by the time we’re called back into the Zoom room and don’t tend to stay for the five minutes of chat at the end. 

What a brilliant way to start the day!

Looking back over the novels I’ve completed, it seems to me I approach each project in a different way. My coming-of-age debut was written by the seat of my pants and involved lots of experimentation because it was also submitted as part of a creative writing PhD. For my second novel, I didn’t want to discard so much material and planned the work to the nth degree. My latest novel The Secret Life of Carolyn Russell is a psychological suspense published by Bloodhound Books. It draws from my experience of listening to true crime podcasts while volunteering in Uganda. Where I lived in Yumbe, there were frequent power cuts so I was often in my bed and under my mosquito net by eight o’clock in the evening. Without light to read by, I tuned into the podcasts I’d downloaded during the day at a local hotel. I was repatriated due to Covid-19 and came back with a head full of ideas which needed taming. 

I always like to have a mug of tea at my side while writing. It’s frequently cold by the time I get to drink it but that doesn’t matter. Weak, black Earl Grey is always acceptable. 

To find out more about Gail, here are the linky things:

Twitter:     ​https://twitter.com/gailaldwin

Facebook:  ​https://www.facebook.com/gailaldwinwriter/

Instagram: ​https://www.instagram.com/gailfaldwin/

Blog:​​https://gailaldwin.com

And to find out more about The Secret Life of Carolyn Russell, check it out here. 

A true-crime podcaster investigates a decades-old suspected abduction, in this powerful psychological suspense novel.

1979 Sixteen-year-old Carolyn Russell grows increasingly infatuated with her school mathematics teacher who is also giving her private lessons. Then she disappears.

2014 Struggling journalist Stephanie Brett creates a true-crime podcast focused on the disappearance of Carolyn Russell. By digging deep into this mysterious cold case, her confidence and flagging career are boosted. But after she confronts the suspects—and talks to a potential witness—the leads dry up. However, Stephanie refuses to let the story rest . . .

Can a small-time journalist with a shoestring podcast really hope to reconstruct the ultimate fate of Carolyn Russell after all these years, or are some secrets best left buried? 

‘Takes hold of the head and the heart and simply does not let go’ Jacquelyn Mitchard, No.1 New York Times bestselling author of The Good Son

‘Captures the zeitgeist for each period with telling accuracy’ Suzanne Goldring, bestselling author of My Name is Eva

‘A rare and thrilling book that manages to be thoughtful and intelligent’ Joanna Barnard, author of Hush Little Baby

Purchase link: loom.ly/N2ow-gU

Thank you so much for joining us, Gail. Huge luck with the new book!