Authors in Lockdown with Carol Lovekin

In our suddenly changed times, I’m asking my fellow authors how they are dealing with being in lockdown and a new way of working. Along with any tips they might have for keeping creativity alive – or even using this time of seclusion to finally get those hidden talents up and running. Today I’m delighted to welcome Carol Lovekin, author of ‘Ghostbird’ and ‘Snow Sisters’, and her latest novel ‘Wild Spinning Girls’, all published by Honno Press. Carol’s writing has been described by Joanne Harris as ‘Charming, quirky, magical’.

So Carol, how have you been coping with lockdown in Wales?  

Over the past weeks, since I went into voluntary hibernation, I’ve probably written the words ‘strange times’ more than once. I’ve heard ‘Dunkirk spirit’ a few times as well. I was born as WW2 ended; I’m old enough to remember my mother, in 1952 when sugar came off rationing and my sister and I clamoured for extra sweets, still declaring, ‘There’s a war on!’

Currently, there’s a sense of having to adopt the same wartime stoicism: be sensible and eek out our supplies. Mercifully, the one thing we don’t have to ration are words and my word birds are still dropping sweet treats on my window sill.

My third book, Wild Spinning Girls came out in March, not long before the virus hit and we were catapulted into this odd way of living. With the external diary cancelled, I’ve adopted a simpler routine: a daily walk, writing, reading and some frivolous telly. For me, this new habit is the heart of how I’m coping. I began this writing lark later in life than most authors I know. Since I wrote my first book my aim has been to catch up and keep writing. I’m continuing to do it by giving shape to my days but without expecting too much from myself.

Slowly a new story is taking shape. I’m not checking my word count or worrying about structure, I’m just showing up and getting to know a new character who came to me last spring, out of the unexpected magical blue, where the best stories come from. I have to say, I’m a little bit in love with her.

Here’s to gentle, being kind to ourselves days, to unrationed words, staying safe and continued creativity. May your Muse be with you!

 

 

UK edition can be purchased HERE

US edition can be purchased HERE

 

If it wasn’t haunted before she came to live there, after she died, Ty’r Cwmwl made room for her ghost. She brought magic with her.

And the house, having held its breath for years, knew it. Ida Llewellyn loses her job and her parents in the space of a few weeks and, thrown completely off course, she sets out for the Welsh house her father has left her. Ty’r Cwmwl is not at all welcoming despite the fact it looks inhabited, as if someone just left…

It is being cared for as a shrine by the daughter of the last tenant. Determined to scare off her old home’s new landlord, Heather Esyllt Morgan sides with the birds who terrify Ida and plots to evict her. The two girls battle with suspicion and fear before discovering that the secrets harboured by their thoughtless parents have grown rotten with time. Their broken hearts will only mend once they cast off the house and its history, and let go of the keepsakes that they treasure like childhood dreams.