How I Found the Idea for My First Novel, The Good Mother
How a dorm room view and new motherhood helped me uncover the story that would become my award-winning debut novel.
It’s September, 1997. I’m 18 and nervous. I’ve just arrived at St. Hild & St Bede College at the University of Durham to start my degree in Linguistics and English language.
My parents helped me lug all my stuff up two flights of stairs to a corridor with five dorm rooms. While all the other rooms are single occupancy, mine is a shared room. I remember feeling happy about it in the hope that I will have a ‘ready-made’ friend.
My roommate hasn’t arrived yet so I take the bed in the corner. At the foot of the bed is an arch-stone window that looks out across the city. A large grey roof takes center stage, and I later learn this is H.M. Prison Durham—a Category B men’s prison built in 1819. The dorm window, with its view of history, planted the first seed of a book idea.
I stare at the building, imagining everything it’s witnessed over the last 300 years, and shudder. But then my roommate arrives carrying a life-sized cardboard cutout of Yoda and I know we’re going to be friends.
It’s 1998—my second year at University. I’ve moved into a six-bedroom house off-campus and decide to apply for volunteer work, thinking it would be a great way to stand out to future employers.
Only two options catch my eye: writing letters to inmates or volunteering in the local hospital.
I’m reminded of the view of H.M. Durham Prison from my dorm window last year and all the crimes the inmates have committed. What would I write to a murderer?
I tick the checkbox for the hospital box.
It’s 2011 and I’m living in Dubai. I’ve just started a content writing business specializing in the travel industry. I don’t know it yet, but over the next ten years I’ll grow that business into a six-figure career, producing articles, short stories, and ghostwritten content for clients all over the world. For a long time, I think this is my career path—but something’s missing.