Category Archives: Fiction

Welcome to 4b: The Worst Class in the World

Posted on May 14, 2020 by Joanna Nadin

Schools might be closed for most of us, but for one long-suffering teacher, Mr Nidgett, the classroom is packed with shenanigans. That’s because he’s in charge of 4b, who are LITERALLY The Worst Class in the World, at least according … Continue reading →

Posted in creative writing, Fiction, middle grade, Reading, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Penny (Dreadful) a day…

Posted on March 19, 2020 by Joanna Nadin

Isn’t the world weird? The prospect of being holed up in our homes is daunting, especially for those of us with kids. Mine’s grown now, but many years ago, she was a menace, who would have destroyed the house in … Continue reading →

Posted in creative writing, Fiction, Reading | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

‘Hull, Nadin!’

Posted on December 3, 2019 by Joanna Nadin

Let us set aside for a moment that the University of Hull’s barrel of ‘notable alumni’ was small to start with, and is now very much scraped, and appreciate that I have wanted to do this for more years than … Continue reading →

Posted in creative writing, Fiction, middle grade, women's fiction | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

And another one…

Posted on November 26, 2019 by Joanna Nadin

2020-2021 is a busy book year for me, but this one is a biggie. Second adult novel, set in Essex in 1981 and featuring Grifter bikes, Charles and Di, Panda Pops, a Welsh Elvis impersonator, a fake Marc Bolan, and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1970s, 1980s, creative writing, Fiction, love, Uncategorized, women's fiction | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Head in all the books

Posted on June 26, 2019 by Joanna Nadin

I read a lot. A LOT. About sixty so far this year though it feels more like eleventy billion. Some for work, some for pleasure, some for both.  Some I’ve put down after two pages because CLUNKY. Some because the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1970s, 1980s, Blog, creative writing, Fiction, women's fiction, YA | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

My BAFTA-Winning Boy

Posted on November 26, 2018 by Joanna Nadin

This is how it started. A small boy I’d glimpsed on a street in Peckham, his sleeping bag on his back like a nylon snail. From that came pages of notes about a boy called Tom, who eventually turned into … Continue reading →

Posted in creative writing, Fiction, middle grade, Teen, YA | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Here’s One I Made Earlier

Posted on November 4, 2018 by Joanna Nadin

As a child, I was a ‘keener’. A ‘swot’. A ‘geek’. Way before geeks were chic or had rows with nerds over which was which. And yet my ambition – to somehow be Queen of Facts, and win many spectacular … Continue reading →

Posted in 1980s, Blog, creative writing, Fiction, Reading | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

(Pigeon) seeds of a story

Posted on July 12, 2018 by Joanna Nadin

It began with a name, as it so often does for me: The Audacious Birdy Jones. But who she was, what she looked like, what her story was were blurry and inchoate, still lost somewhere in the soup of story … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog, creative writing, Fiction, middle grade, Reading | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Birdy Jones is all alone

Posted on May 26, 2018 by Joanna Nadin

Of all the questions I get asked on school visits, there are several perennials: How old are you, Miss? How much do you earn, Miss? Do you know JK Rowling / Jacqueline Wilson / David Walliams / any other much … Continue reading →

Posted in creative writing, Fiction, middle grade, Reading | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

BAFTA, baby!

Posted on April 15, 2018 by Joanna Nadin

On Friday, someone asked me how different my life was a decade ago. And other than the Menace being smaller and markedly more menacing, and my home being two roads away, I said it barely was. ten years ago I … Continue reading →

Posted in creative writing, Fiction, middle grade, Teen, YA | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment