Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Novelist, poet and scriptwriter, my debut coming-of-age novel The String Games was a finalist in The People’s Book Prize and the DLF Writing Prize 2020. Following a stint as a university lecturer, a children’s picture book Pandemonium was published. This Much Huxley Knows is my second contemporary novel for adults. Prior to Covid-19, I volunteered at Bidibidi in Uganda, the second largest refugee settlement in the world. When I’m not gallivanting around, I write at home overlooking water meadows in Dorset, UK.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I wanted to explore tensions around intergenerational friendships. This Much Huxley Knows suggests that we should look beyond the way people present to build connections. Although we may appear different on the surface in terms of age, colour, gender etc there is more that we have in common than that keeps us apart.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I like to write when there is complete silence, if that’s considered unusual!
What authors, or books have influenced you?
As my latest novel This Much Huxley Knows uses a young narrator, I’ve read lots of books with child characters to learn the skill. Amongst these are work by Emma Donoghue, Christopher Wakling and Stephen Kelman.
What are you working on now?
My work-in-progress is a dual timeline crime novel that captures the voice of a sixteen-year-old girl who experiences infatuations and exploitation during the 1970s. This is juxtaposed with a journalist who investigates her disappearance. It’s an interesting combination of voices.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’ve made links with lots of book bloggers and their reviews of This Much Huxley Knows have been affirming for me as an author as well as helping to spread the word.
The whole book is uplifting, funny, joyful, heartwarming, exceptionally poignant, and I just loved seeing life for a while through the eyes of a child with his refreshingly simpler perspective on right and wrong. Wonderful writing, and this is a book I’d thoroughly recommend to all.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Anne Williams, Being Anne
Full of the genuine confusion, pain, joy and wonder of growing up, and an excoriating insight into the mistakes and follies of adults, this book is really unlike anything you have read before and I absolutely loved it.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Julie, A Little Book Problem
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep working at your MS until you can virtually recite every word. Only then is your novel at the finishing line.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
A career as a writer is full of rejections – grow a thick skin!
What are you reading now?
Volta by Nikki Dudley
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m working hard on the promotion of This Much Huxley Knows and hope to reach new readers in America. That’s the ambition.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
Atonement, Ian McEwan
Life of Pi, Yann Martel
Author Websites and Profiles
Gail Aldwin Website
Gail Aldwin Amazon Profile
Gail Aldwin’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
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Thank you for hosting my interview!
You are very welcome!