And so, the end is near, and then they raise the final curtain *cue sobbing*. For, lo, it was that even My So-Called Life had to come to an end. (Though at least we got seven runs, unlike our namesake which was cancelled after a season which I am STILL not over).
So, happy book birthday to me. And bye-bye Sad Ed, Scarlet, the Jack Stone Five, Grandpa Clegg and his Hammerited racist head, the all-consuming Dog, James and Mad Harry and the Ghost Hustlers and Beastly Boys, Mumtaz, Mrs Riley and her proscribed list and anti-wifi helmet, Justin Small Nipples Statham, Mr Big Nipples Vaughan, Fat Kylie and the Mr Whippy sex tape, Donkey Dawson and his saveloy penis, the saggy sofa of Palestine, Goth Corner Mark II, Uncle Jesus, Grandpa Riley and the child bride from Bolton, and Rachel. Who has been my alter ego for nine years now. But she’s all grown-up (ish) and it’s time to let her go. And get the hell out of Dodge. Or Saffron Walden. Which is so not like Dodge, but one can dream. And she sure as hell does that.
So here’s to The Time of My Life. It’s been very.
About Joanna Nadin
A former broadcast journalist and special adviser to the prime minister, since leaving politics I’ve written more than 80 books for children and adults, as well as speeches for politicians, and articles for newspapers and magazines like The Guardian, Red and The Amorist. I also lecture in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University, and hold a doctorate in young adult literature.
I’m a winner of the Fantastic Book Award and the Surrey Book Award, and have been shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, the Booktrust Best Book award and Queen of Teen among others, and twice nominated for the Carnegie Medal, for Everybody Hurts, and for Joe All Alone, which is now a BAFTA-winning and Emmy-nominated BBC TV series. I've also worked with Sir Chris Hoy on the Flying Fergus series and ghost-written Angry Birds under another name.
I like London, New York, Essex, tea, cake, Marmite, mint imperials, prom dresses, pubs, that bit in the West Wing where Donna tells Josh she wouldn’t stop for a red light if he was in an accident, junk shops, crisps, Cornwall, St Custard’s, Portuguese custard tarts, political geeks, pin-up swimsuits, the Regency, high heels, horses, old songs, my Grandma’s fur coat, vinyl, liner notes, the smell of old books, the feel of a velveteen monkey, Guinness, quiffs, putting my hand in a bin of chicken feed, the 1950s, burlesque, automata, fiddles, flaneuring, gigs in fields on warm summer nights, Bath, the bath.
And so, the end is near, and then they raise the final curtain *cue sobbing*. For, lo, it was that even My So-Called Life had to come to an end. (Though at least we got seven runs, unlike our namesake which was cancelled after a season which I am STILL not over).
Joanna Nadin 