"I'm Edith. I'm a patient. I'm a loony."

10am, 31st October 2020 - The morning of Halloween. I logged onto a site called MyVLF, a Virtual Literature Festival, to watch author and presenter, C.D. Major (Cesca Major), talk about her most recent novel, The Other Girl (2020).

With the unfortunate happenings of 2020, what with a global pandemic and a lockdown, I wasn't able to take part in the usual literary festival experience, with live audiences and writers being interviewed on stage. Instead, I lounged in my pyjamas with my earphones in, wrapped up in a warm blanket and watched a pre-recorded interview on a website that has grown in popularity and importance this year. It was actually an incredibly convenient way of running a literary festival and it allowed for audiences to join and view at their leisure, giving them the options to pause, rewind and re-watch if needs be. While there was a live chat during the allocated stream time, it didn't have the same atmosphere that a live audience would, missing out on the opportunity to talk directly, and ask questions, to the author. Since I am what people would call a 'festival virgin', I can't compare this experience to any other time, however I know that the way all literature festivals are being run this year will most definitely be a first for everyone.

Truthfully, I hadn't heard of C.D. Major before watching the stream, so I wasn't familiar with her work, but after reading the description to her stream, I was very interested.

C.D. Major is the pen name of Cesca Major - a writer and presenter. Cesca has always been fascinated by extraordinary stories from the recent past. Her latest book, The Other Girl, hit number one in the Amazon charts and is a historical thriller perfect for members of a book club. Set in a lunatic asylum in 1940s New Zealand, it is inspired by a terrible true story and the strange phenomenon of children speaking about their 'past lives'.

Cesca has presented shows for ITV West and Sky Channels in the past and films vlogs about the writing process. She also writes other books under the pseudonym, Rosie Blake. Cesca lives in Berkshire with her husband, son, and twin girls.

Since I also find myself interested in the strange and unusual, such as children recounting experiences of their past lives, I decided to attend the event and purchase the book to read in the future.

During a brief introduction between the host and author, viewers were able to sneak a peek into Major's writing space. A cabin style shed at the bottom of her garden, shelves filled with books against the wall behind her, as well as a guitar peeking into the camera shot; a writing area that I could only dream of.

Major began her interview by mentioning how The Other Girl is her 10th novel, before giving us personal insight into how she didn't start off her life wanting to be a writer, but instead wanted to work in TV. Due to her being out of work a lot, she had decided to start writing to pass the time. She ended up becoming a history teacher who, in her spare time, wrote romantic comedies and eventually wrote The Silent Hours (2015); a debut novel written in 6 point of views, about a little tragedy that happened during World War 2; a definite shift from her usual rom-com writings.

After that book, she began to write more stories based on real events. On a visit to Lynmouth town hall in Devon, Cesca saw a plaque from the 1950s with names of people who had died from a flood in town. At the bottom of the plaque was an 'unknown woman' with no age, and C.D. Major's novel, The Last Night (2016), is a fictional story about that unknown woman. It was incredibly interesting to hear how she finds inspiration for a story in really mundane places, thinking how things would have turned out differently if the slightest moment were changed, and creating complete stories out of events where there isn't a lot of background research to go off. One of her tips for writing was to get out into the world and just look around, stories are everywhere just waiting to be written.

Her timeline of novels eventually led us to the main focus of the interview, The Other Girl. She explained how she was interested in women's life in mental asylums during the 1900's, as most women, and some men, weren't there for being 'mad'. She discovered during some personal research that in the 1940's, a fire started in Seacliff Mental Asylum, New Zealand, that killed 37 women in one night. They were locked in the building from the outside so no one could enter or leave, and due to it having been World War 2, the patrols were slow. The patients weren't found until the next day and there were only 2 survivors. While talking about women who were institutionalized, Major mentioned a woman called Janet Frame. Frame was submitted to Seacliff Mental Asylum, diagnosed as being schizophrenic and was booked to have a lobotomy. However, because she won a national writer's prize for a collection of short stories just days before the procedure, it was cancelled.

Major researched further into the fire and the survivors and wrote the novel based on one of the survivors in particular who was institutionalized from a young age. She had wondered why the survivor was locked away when she was so young and informed us that she 'went down a rabbit hole of children recounting past lives and memories'. She asked herself questions such as 'What would have happened if a child had spoken about their past life to strict religious parents? Would they have sent them to an asylum? Who started the fire?' By hearing her asking herself so many questions, it made me realise as a wannabe writer that research is incredibly important, and by asking yourself so many 'what if' questions, they can really help to expand your story ideas.

As Major described, The Other Girl centres around two characters; Declan, a young doctor in the shadow of his father, and Edith, the 'mental' patient. Through the story, Declan becomes obsessed/infatuated with Edith and makes the reader wonder whether he is being played by Edith or if he himself is playing those around him. The story leaves the reader questioning who is truly mad. To give us a taste of the story, C.D. Major read the prologue and first chapter of the book.

After hearing the first two extracts being read by the author herself, I instantly purchased the book. I was going to buy it anyway, but with the way she read the words that she had written, it stirred something in me that inspired me when it came to my own writing. I was instantly hooked to the story and needed to know more. Having an author reading a small extract from their book to give you a taster of their writing and the story they're telling, to me, is rather exciting. They're sharing something that they've spent an unimaginable amount of time on, that they're proud of, and are finally ready to share with the world. I believe, if they could, any author would read their entire novel to an audience if the audience wanted it.

With kids of her own, there were parts of the novel that Major found more difficult to write than others. Writing about such traumatising things happening to young children, while also having young kids of your own, I imagine that you can't help but picture your own children in the characters shoes. She did bring light to the matter. She told us of how she questioned her children after becoming curious in the matter of 'past lives' and asked whether they had had any other moms before her. Luckily, they always replied with that they hadn't, however she did get into contact with some parents whose kids had recounted past lives.

One woman that spoke to C.D. explained how her son had asked whether his mom remembered when he was her brother, and whether she remembered the time when they'd broken a glass table, which the woman confirmed she and her brother had done when they were children. Her son however no longer remembers those moments. The talk reminded me of an account that I had once read about a young boy who had told his parents that he used to be an engineer on the Titanic. He described the layout of the ship correctly in such detail without ever having seen the boat before. Situations such as those are both fascinating and terrifying to read because it makes you question so many more things when it comes to children, such as the topic of imaginary friends...

With conversation of her published works finalised, talk moved onto future projects. C.D. confirmed that there is another book coming out in April 2021, called The Thin Place, based on a bridge in Scotland where hundreds of dogs have been known to jump to their deaths. Another story based on real life; the novel will be a fictionalised mystery as to why that happens.

C.D. said that since starting in the 50's, there have been reports of 500 dogs having leapt from the same spot on the bridge. It is believed to be the place on Earth where Heaven and Hell meet. She has visited the destination as a way of researching the area and getting a feel for the atmosphere, and described it as being 'atmospheric, imposing and peculiar'. There is apparently a run-down house also in the area that had been looted after the Second World War. There are even warning signs to keep dogs on leads! Whether it's a true story or an urban legend, the situation had disturbed Major so much that after seeing a passer-by with their dog walking freely, it had made her panic as to whether the person knew the tales of the area.

Though it had appeared rather funny in her retelling of the moment, I couldn't help but feel the panic alongside her, but that could be because I'm fascinated by strange events such as those and believe wholeheartedly in paranormal goings on. But even sceptics can't doubt that the story, whether real or fake, doesn't give them goosebumps. It's a peculiar mystery, one which I am looking forward to reading by Major.

To end off the interview, Cesca Major spoke about how she now teaches creative writing at Henley School of Art and holds writing retreats and book camps every year (though unfortunately, just like the literature festivals, they were also affected this year). She holds guided writing sessions and talks to the visitors about the sorts of things that they want to achieve when it comes to writing, helping with areas such as story ideas and writers' confidence. Her YouTube channel - Cesca Major - is where she gives her audience tips on writing, as well as updates on her own books, and during this interview she gave the stream some writing tips.

• Always read in your genre/know your genre.
• Make friends. If you're friends are willing to read your work and give you their opinions, it helps you improve your writing.
• Break down your favourite books. Look at how they're structured to help you layout your own books.

Overall, the stream was very factual in regard to the research C.D. Major did for her stories and with her teaching background, she gave some inspiring advice to those who are seeking to become future writers. It was rather unfortunate that I couldn't experience a literature festival in person as this would have been my first one, however the experience was very relaxing and still quite enjoyable, with (surprisingly) no technological issues.