Category Archives: Fiction

A Calamity of Mannerings heading your way

Posted on February 10, 2023 by Joanna Nadin

Take a peek into the diary of Panth (never enquire as to her given name), a young woman knocking on the gilded door of adult life and high society. But kicking up one’s heels at the Cafe de Paris does … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, love, Reading, romance, Teen, women's fiction, YA | Tagged 1920s, Bridgerton, Downton, I Capture the Castle, Mitfords, YA romance | Leave a comment

Come on, Carnegie!

Posted on November 7, 2022 by Joanna Nadin

We got pipped at the post for the Little Rebels Award, but hot on the heels of being shortlisted for the UKLA Prize and the Tower Hamlets Book Award, I’m beaming with pride to find out No Man’s Land has … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, middle grade, Uncategorized | Tagged carnegie, Cornwall, Dystopia, fascism, Joanna Nadin | Leave a comment

The Double Life of Daisy Hemmings (and other film stars)

Posted on July 7, 2022 by Joanna Nadin

All writers hope for film or TV deal. If any of us say we don’t, we’re lying. Aside from the (often actually quite small) financial boost, it’s a massive pat on the back, and a kick to see characters you’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in 1980s, Blog, creative writing, Fiction, love, romance, women's fiction | Tagged Ben Wishaw, Cornwall, Dominic West, du Maurier, Fowey, Joanna Nadin | 1 Comment

World Book Day is going to be LITERALLY brilliant!

Posted on September 22, 2021 by Joanna Nadin

Last February, I had the kind of email a writer dreams of; the kind that comes from their lovely editor and begins with ‘CONFIDENTIAL’ in shouty capitals. It was telling me that Rikin and I had been chosen to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog, creative writing, Events, Fiction, middle grade, Reading, Uncategorized | Tagged Joanna Nadin, Matt Lucas, MG, Michael Morpurgo, middle grade, Nadia Shireen, Simon Farnaby, WBD, World Book Day, Worst Class | Leave a comment

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 Bloomsbury, Funny, humour, Joanna Nadin, MG, reading, Rikin Parekh, school | 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 Joanna Nadin, Penny Dreadful, story time, storytelling | 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 Hull, Lucy Beaumont, Paxman, Tracey Borman, University Challenge, University of Hull | 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 1969, 1980s, 1981, Essex, Harlow, Joanna Nadin, new towns, royal wedding, The Queen of Bloody Everything, women's fiction | 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 Cormoran Strike, Eimear McBride, Emma Glass, Jess Kidd, Sarah Crossan, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Tracey Thorn, William Sutcliffe | 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 BAFTA, Beryl Richards, CBBC, Daniel Frogson, Joe All Alone, Liani Samuel, Nadine Marsh-Edwards, Zodiak Kids | Leave a comment