Coronavirus special isolationcast: Holly Bourne and Laura Freeman on coping with anxiety and isolation

What a strange and unsettling time we find ourselves in. So strange that I didn't think I could post a regular episode - so instead, here is the first Sunday Salon isolation special, one of several dedicated #togetherapart episodes I will be bringing you to - I hope - offer a balm for the soul over the coming weeks. I'm so grateful to the authors Holly Bourne and Laura Freeman for coming on the podcast (remotely) at short notice to offer their advice on coping with anxiety and our new way of living. Both have written extensively about mental health before - and their contributions were super-helpful, taking in everything from the power of having a "worry window" (a sanctioned time to worry about everything you're anxious about), to why now is probably NOT the moment to embark upon a massive, ambitious work or self improvement project (whatever Instagram is leading you to believe) and how it is totally ok to feel down and to allow yourself to wallow at times. They also have some fabulous, uplifting reading recommendations.

Holly is the author of the best-selling How Do You Like Me Now, as well as the brilliant new novel Pretending which has been described by none other than Marian Keyes as "magnificent". She started her writing career as a news journalist, where she was nominated for Best Print Journalist of the Year. She then spent six years working as an editor, a relationship advisor, and general 'agony aunt' for a youth charity - helping young people with their relationships and mental health. Inspired by what she saw, she started writing teen fiction, including the best-selling, award-winning 'Spinster Club' series which helps educate teenagers about feminism. When she turned thirty, Holly wrote her first adult novel, How Do You Like Me Now, examining the intensified pressures on women once they hit that landmark. Alongside her writing, Holly has a keen interest in women's rights and is an advocate for reducing the stigma of mental health problems. She's helped create online apps that teach young people about sexual consent and is an ambassador for Women's Aid. You can buy her new book, Pretending, here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/This-What-You-Want/dp/1473668131/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1585388974&sr=1-1
Laura is an author, freelance writer and art critic. Her first book The Reading Cure: How Books Restored My Appetite, detailed how books helped her in her recovery from anorexia. Published in 2018, it was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award and for First Book and Food Book at the Guild of Food Writers Awards. The Reading Cure was a Times, Daily Telegraph and Spectator Book of the Year 2018. She is currently writing a biography Ways of Life: Jim Ede and the Kettle’s Yard Artists to be published by Jonathan Cape. You can buy the Reading Cure here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reading-Cure-Books-Restored-Appetite/dp/1474604641

Twitter: @aliceazania / @holly_bourneYA

Instagram: @aliceazania/ @ hollybourneya / @laurasophiafreeman

Edited by Chelsey Moore