Category Archives: Reading

Boys. And books. And boys in books.

  Like my alter ego Rachel in My (not so) Simple Life, as a teenager I fell in love frequently, swiftly and with absolute conviction. Unlike Rachel, I never had to swear off boys and their complications and contradictions, or … Continue reading

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Funny girl

I have always “done” funny. Both as a reader, and a writer. As a child, I snorted through every page of every Dr Seuss, laughed until I cried at Russell Hoban’s inspired creation Aunt Fidget Wonkham-Strong in her iron hat … Continue reading

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Trapped wind (or is it a novel?)

I hate it. I can see it in their cheap-Chardonnay-dilated eyes when I’m introduced at parties or pubs or political drinks things. “A writer, really? I’ve always thought I had a novel in me.” “Gosh I say, smiling. Well you … Continue reading

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Writer’s block (or not)

Amongst the questions I am most often asked by journalists and small children (along with “Do you like Eastenders, miss?” and “Can I be in a book, miss?” and once “Was you in Les Miserables, miss?”) is the million-dollar “What … Continue reading

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Dedication’s what you need… (and a clicker, apparently)

So, got up, ate porridge, corralled angry small menace into school uniform (disappointment at having to go to school dressed as schoolgirl, not Katherine Parr, due to Ofsted swooping in and causing cancellation of World Book Day), set new world … Continue reading

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The Life of Riley

I never wanted to be a writer when I grew up. That is to say, it didn’t occur to me that writing was a “real” job, much less one that I would be capable of, or derive enjoyment from, my … Continue reading

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Joanna Nadin is a Record Breaker (potentially)

I have never been a high achiever. Until I started writing (thanks to Penny Dreadful, Solomon Smee and Maisie Morris), the only two things I had won were a Toners hair dye from Jackie magazine in 1982 and the umbrella … Continue reading

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Funny ha ha

In need of a laugh? I certainly am, having spent the morning embroiled in the Francis Report and my own medical disaster i.e. a menace with flu. Then click on this link for my top ten funny reads for 5-8s… … Continue reading

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Me, Rachel Riley

One of the most-oft asked questions of writers is: “Is the book autobiographical?” Or “Is there any of you in there?” The easy answer is that every book contains a little of its author: these are, after all, words we … Continue reading

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Tis the season to be jolly…

… fa la la la laa etc etc. And normally I am the first one up with the Christmas tree (fake – I have hoovering OCD) and tinsel, and the first one to overdose on Quality Street, cry at the … Continue reading

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