A Word from the Author ... Leigh Russell, author of the Geraldine Steel thrillers

Dear Reader,

Writing During a Pandemic
For years I envied people who went on writing retreats, with nothing to do all day but write, undisturbed. The prospect of spending weeks focused on writing has always been, for me, an unattainable idyll. For over ten years, I have spent every available moment typing, often until late into the night, because during the day there are so many other demands on my time. With family commitments spanning four generations, teaching part-time at university, not to mention shopping and household chores, there is always something to do. Yes, I used to read about writing retreats with a wistful sigh.

Then Covid19 came along, causing a global catastrophe of unprecedented proportions. The tragedy of so many deaths, and the grief and suffering the pandemic has caused, will affect us all for a long time to come. I suspect we don’t yet fully appreciate the effect it will have on our every day lives. As a society, and as individuals, we may not fully recover for many years. Those who have lost loved ones will never fully heal. We have all endured months of an enforced retreat.

Visual artists and musicians, as well as writers, have had an opportunity to spend more time than usual on their creative work. Will we see an outpouring of creativity, due to the physical and emotional suffering caused by this pandemic? Will people one day talk about The Lockdown Poets, in the same way that we now talk about The War Poets?

For more than two months I have left my house only to go for a walk, and occasionally to do essential shopping. All the time I would previously have spent at university, and seeing family and friends, became available for writing almost overnight, with the lockdown announced on March 23rd.

My output has been no more prolific than usual, despite the fact that there have been fewer demands on my time during the lockdown. For a couple of weeks after the pandemic began, along with many others I was too shocked to have any emotional energy left for writing. As the real world grew more distant, paradoxically it filled my thoughts as we all followed the news daily, if not hourly.  

We have lived through a strange period of global grieving. But in all the devastation, with a publisher’s deadline approaching, I was soon engrossed in completing the manuscript for the sixteenth book in my series, working on edits for the fifteenth, and discussing the cover design for the fourteenth, Deadly Revenge, which will be published on July 23rd. And for once in my life, I have had plenty of time for writing.

Experts in behaviour tell us it takes three weeks for a habit to become established. Now that I have settled into a more relaxed daily routine, with plenty of time for my creative projects, I wonder how hard it will be to find time to write when the lockdown is lifted.

Leigh's newest Geraldine Steele book is available now.

Here's the blurb 

Available here

When a hysterical mother reports her baby's sudden disappearance, suspicion immediately falls on the absent husband. But Detective Geraldine Steel's gut instinct tells her this case is not as simple as her colleagues think...

Complications in the mother's life begin to surface, including her relationship with her controlling father, a controversial political figure. As the police investigate, their urgent attempt to find the missing infant grows ever more perplexing.

Steel is forced to suspect everyone associated with the family and when a body is discovered, matters take a deadly turn.