Anything by author Louise Rennison would be a good addition to your birthday present drawer/Christmas present list (if it's not too early for that) if you have daughters.
She came in to Television Centre in July to talk about the end of the series of 10 diary-style confession books that had made her name. They featured 14-year-old Georgia Nicholson - most notably in "Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging" which was made into the film titled "Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging".
But her latest book is a departure. "Withering Tights" features new character Tallulah Casey. Tallulah is at a Performing Arts College in Yorkshire for the summer - something Louise has experienced, having been slated for her depiction of an embryo by her own tutor! And the book explores Tallulah's antics.
Louise lives in Brighton but was brought up in a council house in Leeds and her family emigrated to New Zealand when she was 15. She then moved to London and worked as a play leader, dental nurse, did some travelling and then went to a performing arts course in Brighton.
She toured with her autobiographical show "Stevie Wonder Felt My Face" at Edinburgh Festival and it was made into a BBC2 special.
She has worked for Radio 4, Woman's Hour & the John Peel Show & has written for well-known comedians. And it's her style of writing that's made her a bestseller among the sort of teenage girls who are just starting to get obsessed with boys.
I love this description for instance: "Alex had everything a dream boy should have. Back, front, side. A head."
* The Georgia series has sold 1.7 million copies in the UK alone
* She was shortlisted for this year's Queen of Teen authors' prize alongside 9 others including Jacqueline Wilson and Cathy Cassidy.
* She previously won this (it's been going since 2008) & as it's decided upon by teenagers' nominations and an online vote, there's some kudos here.
* She says she loves hanging out with teenagers for her research - "the best fun known to humanity".
* Has great anecdote about living in NZ above the geothermal geezers that used to make their al fresco dining a table-lurching experience.
* On the website http://www.georgia-nicolson.co.uk/media/ she interacts with readers and there are several video clips of her chatting
* British comedian/actor Alan Davies plays Georgia's father in the film "Angus"
* There must have been issues around the title as the film was called "On the Bright Side, I'm now the Girlfriend of a Sex God" in the US.
* She talks about her own first boyfriend and the time she bleached her hair and some of it fell out (a scene repeated in "Angus").
* Publishers: HarperCollins
REVIEWS
On Angus: "Bridget Jones for teenagers - but funnier. Expect Potter-esque queues for the sequel."
On the Georgia Nicholson series: "Either these books make you chortle like a loon in loon pants or you live on another planet."
So, inspiration for writers and food for thought for readers.
Monday, October 18, 2010
SUGAR GLIDERS
One of the strangest interviews I have ever set up, on September 14th 2009, involved arranging for a woman to come into the studio for a live interview with two of her sugar glider pets.
It was my first introduction to the joys of the notorious Risk Assessment form at my new employer. Oh boy, I thought filling in my tax return as a self-employed freelance was tricky. Here, you have to think of everything. Imagine the horror of a presenter being bitten by an unusual creature live on breakfast telly while viewers were munching their muesli?
I'd never heard of these creatures before but was soon to become semi-expert in their needs because the purpose of the item was to warn people against having them as pets - despite their cuteness.
For instance:
* They're liable to show their affection by jumping on your head (or down your top!)
* They are mostly awake at night
* They need a large cage to run around in.
Our interviewee, Marie Bannister, brought in Dinks whom she had looked after for six years.
She said: "They can live to around 15 so a lot of thought needs to go into a decision to have one as a pet. They need an indoor aviary-type structure really, as they can't cope with the British climate, with some logs in to make them feel like they're in their natural environment and the space to run around or to be able to glide.
"But they're nocturnal and make a lot of barking noise at night so they are not for sleep-lovers. Looking after them is much harder than say a hamster or anything like that. It's not easy to buy food for them from just any pet store. You have to give them live insects, locusts or mealworms, and I give them fresh fruit and vegetables, boiled eggs, bee pollen and nectar drinks."
It's thought the little creatures got into the pet trade after they were smuggled here and ended up in London Zoo in the 1800s. And they certainly are cute. But I’ll stick to my dogs for now….
Read more about them here
It was my first introduction to the joys of the notorious Risk Assessment form at my new employer. Oh boy, I thought filling in my tax return as a self-employed freelance was tricky. Here, you have to think of everything. Imagine the horror of a presenter being bitten by an unusual creature live on breakfast telly while viewers were munching their muesli?
I'd never heard of these creatures before but was soon to become semi-expert in their needs because the purpose of the item was to warn people against having them as pets - despite their cuteness.
For instance:
* They're liable to show their affection by jumping on your head (or down your top!)
* They are mostly awake at night
* They need a large cage to run around in.
Our interviewee, Marie Bannister, brought in Dinks whom she had looked after for six years.
She said: "They can live to around 15 so a lot of thought needs to go into a decision to have one as a pet. They need an indoor aviary-type structure really, as they can't cope with the British climate, with some logs in to make them feel like they're in their natural environment and the space to run around or to be able to glide.
"But they're nocturnal and make a lot of barking noise at night so they are not for sleep-lovers. Looking after them is much harder than say a hamster or anything like that. It's not easy to buy food for them from just any pet store. You have to give them live insects, locusts or mealworms, and I give them fresh fruit and vegetables, boiled eggs, bee pollen and nectar drinks."
It's thought the little creatures got into the pet trade after they were smuggled here and ended up in London Zoo in the 1800s. And they certainly are cute. But I’ll stick to my dogs for now….
Read more about them here
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