Creator's Conversations with Dr. Gail Aldwin

Hey booklover! Renowned novelist, poet and scriptwriter Dr. Gail Aldwin is our guest in today's Creator's Conversations. Before we start, let me introduce her to you. Gail Aldwin is a Dorset-based writer. Her debut coming-of-age novel The String Games, about a child lost on a holiday in France, was voted a finalist in The People’s Book Prize and was shortlisted in the Dorchester Literary Festival Writing Prize 2020. Gail loves to appear at national and international literary and fringe festivals. Prior to Covid-19, she volunteered with VSO International at Bidibidi in Uganda, the second largest refugee settlement in the world.

Kangkan: How many hours a day do you dedicate to writing?
Gail Aldwin: Writing takes many forms for a published author including notes and planning for future projects, research, editing, writing articles and blog posts. I’m often asked to review the books of others, provide feedback on writing … and answer interview questions, as I’m doing now. In 2020, I gave up paid employment to become a full time writer. Activities associated with writing fill my day with about 30% of my time dedicated to my current work in progress.

Kangkan: Your latest book Pandemonium published by Victorina Press is a children's picture book. Which qualities, according to you, must an author possess before sitting down to write a children's book? 

Gail: One of the qualities needed to write for children is empathy. Children are the experts of their own experience so texts should prick their curiosity and generate questions. Children’s literature is a growth area and it’s important to read widely to stay abreast of innovations and trends. Using language appropriate to the target audience for the publication is fundamental. Pandemonium is a picture book aimed at young children so it includes patterned words and repetition that enable children to tune into the language and the story. It’s also beautifully illustrated by Fiona Zechmeister. This enables the words to tell one story while the pictures tell a parallel and more nuanced version.

Kangkan: Why did you choose writing? Is there any story behind it?
Gail: After twenty years as a teacher, I decided I was investing too much time and energy into my

lessons and wanted to develop a creative outlet. As a graduate of English and drama, writing seemed the obvious choice. I changed my routine, got up at 5am each day and started writing before going to work. My ambition was to write a publishable novel. Because a novel is such a huge undertaking, I wrote short fiction and poetry alongside other writing projects. To be able to complete short pieces of fiction and poetry built my stamina to finish the novel. Several other novels followed, plus a PhD in creative writing which finally brought my work to a publishable standard. My short fiction collection Paisley Shirt was published in 2018, with my coming-of-age novel The String Games and a poetry pamphlet adversaries/comrades in 2019.

Kangkan: What are your upcoming projects? 

Gail: A new novel is taking shape. This time I’m working on a dual timeline story called Little Swot. This follows the journey of a redundant, middle-aged journalist who decides to investigate the disappearance of a teenager at her school in 1978.

The following three questions are picked from social media:

1. What are you currently working on?
Gail: I’m in the process of finalising my most recent manuscript. This Much Huxley Knows is a contemporary novel with a seven-year-old narrator which is going to be published by Black Rose Writing on 8 July 2021. Here’s the blurb. Do let me know if you’d like to join my launch team.

2. Do you think writing books is a good business these days?
Gail: Someone is surely making money from books but it’s not always the author! While best-selling writers make a decent living for many of us it’s the work we do alongside writing, such as offering talks and workshops, that builds a business. Writers can sometimes find more lucrative contracts with ebooks where publishers offer up to 50% royalties. Robert Graves famously said, ‘there's no money in poetry, but there's no poetry in money, either.’ Could the same be true of fiction?

3. What is the worst book you have read till now. Did you finish it?
Gail: Being a writer, I know how much energy, effort, imagination and hard work goes into each and every book. To complete a writing project is a major achievement and definitely worth celebrating even if it never gets published. Putting your writing out into the world takes commitment, so I’m never going to criticise anyone for following their ambition. That said, it is worth investing in a good copy editor and proofreader before publication, to ensure the book doesn’t go out into the world with avoidable errors. 

Kangkan: Now I am going to ask you three questions which are popular among the readers of kmgreads and I ask these questions to all the guests of Creator's Conversation.

1. Nikita Gill, a famous poet on social media once said in an interview, "Eight billion people are living their life in eight billion ways."- what is your way of living life?
Gail:       

• Work hard
• Enjoy the small things
• Be kind to yourself

2. Tell us a secret of your life that you have not shared with anybody.
Gail: I don’t believe in secrets but there are a few things in my life I would prefer to remain private. Mostly, I’m happy to share information. For example, I met my first husband in Outback Australia and married him within a fortnight.

3.There are so many readers of my blog who want to become full-time writers. What will be your message to them?
Gail: It is a long apprenticeship to becoming a successful writer. Celebrate every success along the way, take pleasure in your craft and be generous to other writers.

Kangkan: Thank you for giving us your valuable time Gail. The readers of kmgreads will learn many things from you. I hope you will come again to have a chat with us.

I hope you enjoyed reading my conversation with Dr. Gail Aldwin. If you want to find more about Gail, you can follow her blog. You can also follow her on Twitter and Facebook. If you enjoy reading children's books, or if you are a father or mother of a child, Pandemonium will be the best gift for her/him.

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