CJ Cooke, author of 'The Nesting' - Gothic suspense author talks about getting the atmosphere right, stopping the editing knot, and writing to frighten.

CJ Cooke is a poet, a successful horror and suspense author, and a senior lecturer in creative writing at the University of Glasgow. She's been published in 23 countries, and her new novel is 'The Nesting'.

It's set in the fjords and forests of Norway, where down on her luck Lexi becomes a nanny in a strange, high-concept house, and peculiar things start happening. We talk about why it's set there, and how CJ worked on getting the chilling atmosphere right.

You can hear how the tone and pacing of gothic sets it apart from horror and psychological suspense, and how to try and plan a day to be as creative as possible.

As a poet, CJ’s prizes for writing include a Northern Writers Award, an Eric Gregory Award, a Tyrone Guthrie prize, and she has twice received a K Blundell award from the Society of Authors.

You can get a copy of 'The Nesting' here - https://amzn.to/3lA5bVe

Please do support the show at patreon.com/writersroutine, and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!

@writerspod

writersroutine.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.