April 2001

Well - I haven't done a very good job of keeping this section of my website updated - but then I haven't actually done very much to keep you updated on! Since December last year I have been pretty much superglued to my desk, trying desperately to finish my third book in time for my 31st January deadline. The good news is that I managed it - and I was only six weeks over deadline. The bad news is that I put on half a stone and buggered my back in the process! However, it was all worth it - finishing a book is one of the most euphoric highs I've ever experienced in my life. Some writers say they feel sad when they finish a book - I feel ecstatic. I cried for half an hour, but they were tears of pure joy, I can assure you.

Agent and editor both love it and it's now going through the last stage of editing. Proof copies will be printed up in a few weeks and then the Penguin sales team will start selling it into bookshops. This is a very exciting time and the first indicator of how well the book will be received by the press and more importantly, by you lot!

One Hit Wonder will be published in the UK on 27th September (if you want to pre-order a copy from Amazon, click the link - they'll send it to you as soon as it's published). And here's a sneaky preview of the back cover blurb:

Bee Bearhorn had a number one hit single in 1985. And was never heard of again. Fifteen years later she is found dead in her flat and nobody seems to care.

Ana Wills has daydreamed for years about the famous and exotic half-sister she hasn't seen since she was thirteen so when she comes to London to clear out Bee's flat she is surprised to discover that her life was far from glamorous. And there are some very strange things going on - a missing cat, mysterious weekends away and a secret cottage in the country. Instead of going home, Ana tracks down Bee's two closest friends, mad Lol and strong, silent Flint and together they set out to find out whatever happened to Bee Bearhorn.

It's a quite different storyline to Ralph and Thirtynothing, ie: it actually has one! It's a mystery, a romance and a coming-of age all rolled into one, with a big old twist in the tale. My editor calls it 'my best yet'. But I always think everything I write is rubbish, so I'm probably not the best person to judge. It's very difficult - impossible, actually - to have any objectivity about your own writing. I'll leave that to you!

As well as One Hit Wonder, I'm also in the process of writing a short story for an anthology called Tart Noir which will be published next May. The brief is to create a sassy, cool and ungirly heroine and to maybe do something a bit daring, something that your editor wouldn't necessarily approve of under normal circumstances - no problem! The other authors involved include Stella Duffy, Sparkle Hayter, Lauren Henderson, Val McDermid, Laura Lippman, Martina Cole, Shyama Pereira and the very wonderful Jenny Colgan - what a cool line-up!

Well - that's about it for now. Don't forget that Yasmin Boland's fantastic novel Carole King is an Alien is coming out in May. It's a fiercely funny and cynical novel which mixes modern love with millennial mysticism to create the definitive New Age novel. And no - you don't have to have any interest in New Age-y things (I certainly don't) to thoroughly enjoy it. It's just a really funny, heart-warming and exciting book. Don't delay - order it today!

Come back soon - actually, not too soon - maybe September - when there'll be more exciting developments to catch up on … not. In the meantime, thank you to all of you for coming to visit and for your lovely comments in the guestbook and your wonderful e-mails. I love them.

Previous updates:
September 2000