The Random Days Of Chrismukkah: Don't say it's a crush 'cause it's not, it's the real thing

Just before I head bathroomwards for a super intensive beautification programme as I'm going out tonight, I'm posting the next Chrismukkah gift for you.This is Edie's (of Diary Of A Crush fame, like you didn't already know that) giode to crushing. Way back when God was a boy, this was a non-Edie feature for J17. And after that, it became an Edie-centric article for my micro-site, which has

The Random Days Of Chrismukkah: Girl About Town

Happy Giftmas, readers!I'm still in a food coma, but can just about move enough to post my send present to you: an interview with Molly from Guitar Girl. I think I did this for my US publishers when the book was first published in the States in 2004 so some of the references may be a bit dated. Oh, and the subject title is from a song by Helen Love, which reminds me of Molly a little bit. Of

The Random Days Of Chrismukkah: You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover...

To start my Chrismukkah extravaganze, I'm going to give you a pictorial guide to the Guitar Girl cover.First there was this picture of Courtney Love, which I loved like a fat kid love cake:I sent it to my publishers, who used the Courtney pic as inspiration and came up with this. Yikes!:I ranted. I raved. I had to have a lie down every time I looked at the picture on the back cover. But once I

Much news, so much news...

Hello from my sunny study where I'm frantically trying to lose 15,000 extraneous words from the final draft of Candy, the last book in the Fashionistas series. And sprinkle magic dust on the words that are left before the end of next week. Jeesh!I wanted to give you a heads up on my plans for next year. The third Fashionistas book, Irina is out in March and Candy will follow in April (if she's

I've been less and I've been more...

I know. I know! I haven't updated in ages. Mostly because I've been working flat-out on the final book in the Fashionistas series, Candy. I finished the first draft yesterday (I don't get to have the weekends off) and now I'm just about to start re-writing the whole thing and hoping that I can deliver it in time for the final deadline. Ho hum!Apart from that my life has become incredibly boring.

The loneliness of the long distance writer...

Hey pop kidsI realise I haven't updated in an age. I wish I could report that I've been off doing all manner of impossibly glamorous things, but sadly that's not the case.What I have been doing is writing so much that I'm surprised my fingers aren't little bloody stumps. The third book in the Fashionistas series, Irina, has been delivered but its release has been put back to May 2008 because of

SNEAK PREVIEW! Fashionistas: Hadley!

Officially out on September 20th (though it seems to be available from most good bookshops and amazon.co.uk now, which isn't something I'm losing any sleep over), here is a small taste of Hadley Harlow to whet your appetites:Hadley didn't believe in what might have beens. It was better to regret something you had done, than something you hadn't. That's what her yogi used to tell her. But then her

Fashionistas 2: Hadley out September 20th

Hadley Harlow was once the world's biggest child star. Now she's strictly C-list and launching herself on the London celebrity circuit to revive her flagging career. Sure, Hadley's high maintenance but she's also a tough cookie who isn't going to let anything stand in her way whether it's pesky agents, jealous co-stars or three diva-like flatmates. Not to mention the disapproval of Reed, hip film

A big, stinky ball of fear... or how to interview

I have a bit of time to kill this morning as I'm doing a celebrity interview, which has been put back by an hour and a half. As a lot of you know, when I'm not writing tawdry teen novels, I earn a crust or two by writing for glossy women's magazines. The weird thing is that I've been doing this for over a decade (!) but I still get in a right panic before an interview. I never sleep the night

I must eat so many lemons...

Hello earthlingsAfter the wettest, soggiest summer since records began, I'm happy to report that London is finally sunshine-y and warm. Hurrah! Also, I escaped unscathed after getting run over by a bus but will never step out into the road without looking again.On to more important topics. Thank you so much to everyone who commented on the first Fashionista's book, Laura. I know that it seems

Harry who?!

Forget about the adventures of that Potter kid and get yourself to a bookshop tomorrow when Fashionistas: Laura officially goes on sale in the UK!fash_ion-is-ta - NounPronounciation: [fash-uhn –ee-stuh]Definition: 1. Someone who eats, sleeps, breathes and lives for fashion.2. Someone who works in the fashion industry.3. Someone who would never be seen dead in last season's looksLaura isn't that

Sneak preview of Fashionistas: Laura

I'm gearing up to the publication of Laura in a couple of weeks. It's worth reminding you that this is its UK release. French, German and Dutch editions will follow, but there's no US release date as yet. I've been getting comments from people who've already seen copies on sale. As far as I can understand, this is because bookshops receive delivery early but some of them break the publication

NOW CLOSED!!!!!!!!!!Win an advance copy of Fashionistas, book one!

EDITED TO ADD: THAT COMMENTING HAS BEEN TURNED OFF AS THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED! THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED - WINNERS WILL BE NOTIFIED BY EMAIL.Do you want me to bang on about how busy I am? Or repeat for the gazillionth time that there are no plans to ever write any more Diary Of A Crush books (for reasons explained in the tags to your left?) Or shall I just get on with the competition

Procrastination is the thief of time...

Hi there, my chickadees...I sit here and realise I have no witty, amusing opening sentence so I shall just plunge straight in.First thing I need to tell you is that my official microsite - there's a link to it on the left hand side of the page - is not working. It's reverted to a much earlier version with an old design and all the fantastic extra content (an interview with Molly from Guitar Girl,

Welcome to the Rockalypse...

Happy Eurovision Day readersTonight I will be going to a Eurovision Song Contest Party, as is my wont to do. There's going to be a Sweepstake though I will pick the country that only get a measly un point from the Slovakian jury. But I think you can either turn up your nose and be too cool for skool about Eurovision or you can embrace the cheese. I embrace it with both arms!I also just want to

Living dead girl...

When you're a nipper, you imagine being a proper grown up is going to be ace with completely added bits of aceness. Like, you'll be able to eat chocolate for breakfast, lunch and dinner. You never have to tidy up if you don't want to. And you can listen to your music as obnoxiously loud as you please without parental intervention. But actually, not so much. I like to eat well balanced, nutritious

Frustrated, table for one...

I'm determined to get through this post without any controversial statements, which I can be berated for, except it's not going to happen, is it?I've had a spate of the "Please write another DOAC book/sequel to Guitar Girl/Let's Get Lost" comments - strangely no on ever asks for a sequel to Pretty Things. There's not really much I can say, apart from I have no plans to ever. I have explained why

Why it's great to be a girl...

After the Avril-gate that erupted after the last post, I got called a lesbo, a feminazi and a retard, among other things. None of which persauded me to see the error of my Avril-disapproving ways. And FYI, words are never meaningless especially in a pop song, which is why I can be moved to tears when I listen to a 3 minute slice of pop perfection.But what really disheartened and disappointed me

Why fling this filth at our pop kids?

Busy. So very busy. With a bigass freelance commission and book-writing. I'm behind on everything and have a ton of outstanding messages on MySpace that I may get round to replying to one of these days. At this precise moment in time I'm waiting for someone to come round and turn off my leccy so he can install a fetching new kitchen light and take the kitchen door off so I can actually shift my

Are you a British internet superstar aged between 15 to 24?

• Do you spend all your time flitting between your Facebook, MySpace, Flickr account and Livejournal?• Do you have your own website?• Have you ever been recognised on the street because someone's seen your picture online?• Do you run a messageboard or forum?• Do you have an MP3 blog?• Do you post pictures of your daily outfits?• Have you ever dumped a boyfriend by changing the relationship status

Research 101

Happy Sunday to you my little darlingsIt's very soggy, chilled and grey here in London. I wish Spring would just hurry up and sprung already.As ever, thanks for all your comments, particularly about my new series Fashionistas. I can't wait for you to read the first book when it comes out in June. Or is it July? I never can remember! And thanks for all your other comments, though I have to remind

Announcement: Fashionistas Book One out on July 17th

Finally, after months and months, I'm absolutely chuffed to be able to tell you about my latest book. I've been working on a four-novel sequential series called Fashionistas about four girls sharing a flat in London who are all signed to the Fierce Talent Agency; two of them are models, one of them is an ex-child star trying to re-launch her career and one of them is a reality TV celebrity with

Why I heart Lisa Simpson

There's really nowt going on. Well, there's lots going on but as I still can't tell you anything about my new series and I refuse to do the whole "there will NEVER be a fourth Diary Of A Crush book" speech for the umpteenth time, I've been trying hard to think of anything interesting to post.But this week, I was searching through my hard disk and realised that I have a ton of articles that might

Whatever gets you through...

Very busy right now. Very, very busy. Every time I turn my head there's another manuscript that needs editing or a big piece for a magazine to write. Not that I'm complaining. Except actually I am. Loudly and frequently because it's that very special time in a girl's month. I think you know what I'm saying!Right now though, the video above is causing me much joy. Little Korean kids playing

Just like Camille...

My beloved fashionistasI have a bad head cold. I am blaming this squarely on majorly cutting back on my nicotine consumption. Yes, I smoke and actually it's not as big and clever as I used to think it was. Also really expensive. Don't start, OK?Anyway, I'm a bit sinus-y and headache-y and very snotty and I feel sorry for myself but I kinda like having colds; they're quite comforting maladies I

All change!

Waving, not drowning...Why yes, there is a shiny, new look to this blog with many added features. For good reason.I've been absolutely swamped with emails and comments and MySpace messages over the last few weeks. I love, love, love hearing from you. I do. And I appreciate that you pour your hearts out and that my books mean a lot to you. It makes me feel very humble and honoured.But the amount

Inaugural 2007 post

Happy New Year!I crawled out of bed at noon today after a very late night. I had a little party where I stuffed my guests full of an ungodly amount of food. Then we walked up to Ally Pally (the second highest point in London) for midnight and watched all the fireworks across the city as we drank champagne. Then back to my place for more Cava and pomegranate juice cocktails – because I am old