I created this page because once you've written a book, you get lots of questions about it from readers and friends. And people send you lots of free stuff and invite you to hang out with film stars at cool parties.*

* That last bit isn't true, unfortunately.

What made you choose teen fiction rather than, say children’s or adult fiction? 

It clicked into place quite quickly that I would write for the teenage age group, for two reasons. Firstly, the age of about 10 to 14 is the time I associate most with devouring tons of books, before the usual teenage activities kicked in (trying to buy vodka and sneaking into clubs with my friends.) I couldn’t get enough fiction - the local library gave up and issued me an adult library ticket several years before I was supposed to get one.

Secondly, that age is really vivid because you’re feeling all these emotions for the first time. Nothing hits you like realising someone doesn’t fancy you back, or a first betrayal from a friend…I think it’s actually more than the emotions just being new. I think also it’s the first time you’re shaping an identity external to the one your parents have defined for you. You don’t necessarily feel you can share your new triumphs and tragedies with them, so your feelings are magnified by having internalised them.

 Then again, this is the time when networks of friends, not family, can become each other’s emotional support network. (It’s just a shame girls can be so awful to each other, but that’s another topic.)

The books chapters are all named after classic works of literature: what made you decide to do this?

It’s not really an acknowledgement of my influences, though I did manage to get a few favourites in there, such as Dangerous Liaisons. Holly likes reading so it was just an idea I had, that the publishers liked. Actually it was quite tough coming up with a relevant chapter title in each instance!


On the same point, who are your influences as a writer now and who did you read when you were a teenager?

I’ve not been allowing myself to devour much fiction until recently because it’s too distracting if you’re trying to write fiction yourself.  I’ve been reading lots of histories of Paris and stuff like that!

The books that really inspire me are the ones that make me laugh, and that I return to again and again. I have a bad habit of eschewing airport bookshops in favour of packing old favourites in my rucksack. If I was packing now I’d take Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis, Are you Experienced? By William Sutcliffe, Pride and Prejudice and perhaps a book called The Temp by Serena Mackesy – lots of chick-lit heroines seem to live in North London and have a cool media job, so I loved the down-to-earth-wit in this book about a recently-graduated South Londoner. Does Snogging…  is also about a South London girl who doesn’t necessarily have cool film-type things happening to her every day.

When I was a teenager I read tons of stuff – Nancy Drew when I was younger, then Paula Danziger’s books, Sweet Valley High, and so on. I read the whole Anne of Green Gables saga – there used to be about seven or eight books which charted her entire life, right up until she died.

 It seems that right now there are tons of really great new teen fiction books out there – I am looking forward to reading Rosie Rushton’s update of Sense and Sensibility, called The Secrets of Love.

Do you think that fiction should have a moral purpose or can it simply be entertainment?

I didn’t set out with any messages in mind at all, and it would be really dull if all characters had to learn something at the end of every book. However, a few themes crept in later on – standing up for yourself, and realising that boys are actually just human beings. Having some sort of learning curve for the character does help shape a plot - if the protagonist has had to overcome something, it makes the ending more satisfying. I gave Holly a snog with the gorgeous Luke as her reward!

 
Where do you live?

I once asked this apparently simple question to a very glamourous model during a weekly salon above a Paris bookshop. She considered it at length and then said slowly, “Well, of course I live in Florence during the winter, but Chelsea is my spiritual home.”

 Sadly, I can’t be quite so glamourous. I live in Croydon, because it’s affordable (just), I grew up near there and it has fantastic travel links into town – definitely one of London’s best-kept secrets! If I had millions I would live in a Georgian townhouse in Borough.

How long did the book take to write and were you ever daunted by the task?

It took far too long – three years. My only excuses are the working-full-time thing, the DIY on my first house, and the bad influence of Spaced on DVD.

 I guess I always knew I would finish it, though there were lots of re-writes as I got more feedback from people. Eventually I did set myself a deadline of the London Book Fair in 2004. I walked round the show talking to the different sales reps and getting an idea of how publishers marketed their teenage lists, and who were the leaders in the market.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

This is embarrassing but true. Everyone else wanted to be a princess or a ballet dancer, and I (wait for it) wanted to be a librarian. Everyone started giving me funny looks when I mentioned this so I decided to be a book illustrator instead, because I loved drawing and I loved books. So I guess I am halfway there??


How did you start writing the novel? 

I was (and still am) working full-time so I set myself a strict target of 1000 words a day, minimum, after work. If I missed a day because I was out, which happened quite often, I made up the words at the weekend. The intention was to get to 50,000 words without being critical of what I was writing, and then stand back and see if I could write or not, and if I had anything worth keeping. Actually I didn’t stop until I got to about 70,000 words and then had far too much raw material!

 

When did you find the time and motivation to write?

 
I think I have a tendency to take on a bit too much, fuelled by blind optimism and too much chocolate. What motivates me is picturing the end result. I always dreamed of holding the finished book in my hand and seeing it in a bookshop alongside all those other, proper books! When I saw the first copies in a bookshop, it was quite momentous.Also I think that working full-time actually helps, in that you gain a real sense of how valuable your few free hours are each day. You can get a lot done in those hours if you decide to. (Or, you can flop in front of the TV and watch Sex and the City, like I did whenever a deadline was approaching.)