Author Archives: Joanna Nadin

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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.

Home alone

What if your mum went on holiday with her boyfriend for a week and left you home alone? What if it meant you got to play Xbox for hours on end and eat Mars bars for breakfast and jump on … Continue reading

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Countdown to 7 May

In less than two weeks, on the 7th May, the most important day for the last and next five years will be on us. Yes, it’s the release of a whole host of YA and MG novels, including my very … Continue reading

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Reading is where the wild things are

I’ve been asked to say something inspirational to children at a friend’s primary school who may be aspiring writers. And so I thought about all the tips I would have given myself at that age. Only at that age I … Continue reading

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Undertow

Originally posted on Joanna Nadin:
Undertow began on a blistering August day on the cliffs above Loe Bar in Cornwall, notorious for its riptides and dangerous currents. But as summer turned to bleak midwinter, and I watched a friend dragged…

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Blowing my own trumpet

No one likes to blow their own trumpet. Bar Katie Hopkins and Ornette Coleman maybe. But sometimes, a whole raft of people say a whole raft of nice things and you want to shout out to the world “See, I’m … Continue reading

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Eden

Originally posted on Joanna Nadin:
Mostly I write funny. It comes easy to me – making people laugh has always seemed to make up for any lack of appropriate clothing, political knowledge, or ability on the hockey field. But I…

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Rachel says…

Today’s blog tour stop is with Amy Bookworm, who has carried out an insightful interview with Rachel herself. No, really… (plus the last pages of The Facts of Life, in case you need a little catch up). Hello Rachel! You … Continue reading

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The End of an Era

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 … Continue reading

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(Almost) The Time of My Life

*coughs in attention-seeking manner* So, as I shall be spending World Book Day editing the least-book-related document you could imagine, I thought I’d get a book out instead. Officially on shelves tomorrow, The Time of My Life is the last … Continue reading

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Wonderland

Wonderland was the first time I properly tried to unravel the idea of identity – what makes us who we are, and if it’s possible to change, a theme that ran through my teen years and much of my adulthood … Continue reading

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