Category Archives: Teen
When John Hughes closes a door…
There’s a line in Paul Murray’s high school epic Skippy Dies that, on first reading, is less a lightbulb moment and more like being hit over the head with a giant hammer of the blindingly obvious, and, on subsequent examination, … Continue reading
These books will save your life
OK. So that’s a slight exaggeration. What I really meant to say was “these books will make you laugh / cry and thus fill an afternoon that would otherwise have to be spent nodding as Auntie Felicity shows your 400 … Continue reading
Back to the start…
So, it’s New Year. And there’s the usual rash of ill-thought-out resolutions and promises e.g. I absolutely will use that pink step machine I bought in a fit of crisp-induced madness for at least fifteen minutes every day. But for … Continue reading
When I grow up…
This time next week, I have to stand up in front of hundreds of Bristol uni students, and tell them why I’m a writer. Which has led me to question many things e.g. my sanity when I agreed to do … Continue reading
Funny Girl(s)
As you read this I am probably on a train to That London, wearing an inappropriate prom dress and feeling like have just ingested several bowls of porridge and fear. Or possibly (if you are late riser) I will be … Continue reading
Big Bath Blog Story
Mostly I blog about one or all of the following: My daughter, aka the menace, and her habits of singing about dead sheep / demanding a recap of the facts of life. My mother, aka Mrs Nadin snr, and her … Continue reading
Teenage Wasteland
The best thing about writing for and about teenagers, is that it gives you a chance to do it all again, and better. Actually, that’s not true. The best thing about being a writer is being able to watch Gossip … Continue reading
Peopling Paradise
I knew her only vaguely. Billie, I mean. That she was a girl who had been raised In London – Peckham, where I had spent thirteen years – who was then transplanted, airlifted from that teeming, dirty-pavement, all-night city, with … Continue reading
A face for radio
It is a truth universally acknowledged that I am too short and my hair is too mental for me to ever make it on TV. I am, however, an old hack at the radio lark, having done time (too much … Continue reading
Book club blues…
Ever have trouble deciding what you’re going to read next? Yup, me too. But imagine if every time you had to choose a book, seven of your best friends had to agree that they wanted to read it that week, … Continue reading