that a film version of the first in Sophie Kinsella's incredibly successful Shopaholic series is coming in October next year. Confessions of a Shopaholic will star Isla Fisher as Becky Bloomwood and Krysten Ritter (who?) as best mate Suze.
No other details available as yet – but am already looking forward to it.
As previously mentioned, PS I Love You hits the screen just after Christmas too…oh film bliss.
19 December 2007
17 December 2007
The weekend started there....
My weekend officially started on Thursday evening, when I met the lovely Bernadette Strachan for drinks (champagne) and nibbles (meat and cheese) in a bar down Wardour Street way. I adore Bernie, and feel quite overwhelmed by the fact that I’ve become friends with someone whose books I love reading… Get me.
Friday night saw a Thai meal with The Mother, her two closest neighbours and one of their daughters – all of whom I have known all my life. Lovely evening, marred only slightly by my potty mouth (I don’t know what came over me) and one of the party feeling a bit down since her Work changed their pay day to the 6th of the month – meaning Christmas is officially cancelled in her house. Fucking bastards.
Saturday night I was invited to my lovely friend Peter’s Christmas party, which saw me and a gaggle of my old Big W friends devouring an amazing spread of cheese, chilli, sausages, mulled wine and Snowballs – whilst a gentlemen did fire juggling in the back garden. Lovely evening – marred again slightly though by the 2 hour trek home (due to some ridiculous earth slide or something cocking up the line in Croydon) and a speeding ticket – 3 points on his license and £60 fine - when Boo picked me up from the station. My name is, understandably, Mud.
Sunday I met The Mother for her pre-Christmas Christmas present – we had a nice lunch in Covent Garden and then went to see The Snow Queen at the London Coliseum. Absolutely amazing. When traditional ballet is done well, it can rival the visual spectacular of my favourite contemporary dance, and The Snow Queen was done very very well. Superb costumes, set, lighting, music – everything – made this a real feast for the eyes, and its great to see the ENB put on such an exhilarating new production.
Tonight I’ll be mostly trying to not show myself up at my New Work Christmas party. (Yes, on a blinking Monday…) I have heard speak of karaoke and dancing. I remember the last time I did karaoke. It was on a girls holiday in Portugal. I sang either a Beatles or Tom Jones song. Topless. Whilst (apparently) gazing into the eyes of an Icelandic body builder. Oh God.
Friday night saw a Thai meal with The Mother, her two closest neighbours and one of their daughters – all of whom I have known all my life. Lovely evening, marred only slightly by my potty mouth (I don’t know what came over me) and one of the party feeling a bit down since her Work changed their pay day to the 6th of the month – meaning Christmas is officially cancelled in her house. Fucking bastards.
Saturday night I was invited to my lovely friend Peter’s Christmas party, which saw me and a gaggle of my old Big W friends devouring an amazing spread of cheese, chilli, sausages, mulled wine and Snowballs – whilst a gentlemen did fire juggling in the back garden. Lovely evening – marred again slightly though by the 2 hour trek home (due to some ridiculous earth slide or something cocking up the line in Croydon) and a speeding ticket – 3 points on his license and £60 fine - when Boo picked me up from the station. My name is, understandably, Mud.
Sunday I met The Mother for her pre-Christmas Christmas present – we had a nice lunch in Covent Garden and then went to see The Snow Queen at the London Coliseum. Absolutely amazing. When traditional ballet is done well, it can rival the visual spectacular of my favourite contemporary dance, and The Snow Queen was done very very well. Superb costumes, set, lighting, music – everything – made this a real feast for the eyes, and its great to see the ENB put on such an exhilarating new production.
Tonight I’ll be mostly trying to not show myself up at my New Work Christmas party. (Yes, on a blinking Monday…) I have heard speak of karaoke and dancing. I remember the last time I did karaoke. It was on a girls holiday in Portugal. I sang either a Beatles or Tom Jones song. Topless. Whilst (apparently) gazing into the eyes of an Icelandic body builder. Oh God.
13 December 2007
Since I Don't Have You
It was some time ago that I started reading Louise Candlish’s latest book Since I Don’t Have You. I started it, got to just page 41, felt so upset that I had to put it down until I could stop blubbing.
I have periodically picked it up and put it down again over the past six months or so, but only recently felt brave enough to try and finish it. It is so much more than just a story about loss, but I think it touched a still very raw nerve with me, which has made it nearly impossible to finish to be honest.
I can’t begin to tell you how deeply the story has moved me. It is so beautifully written and such a tragic, heartbreaking tale that I found I couldn’t read it on the commute to and from work, because I was almost constantly in tears….
Everyone knows how much I adore my niece and even though I wouldn’t ever presume to compare the feelings I have for her, with how her mother feels for her – it is the strength of those very feelings that makes me scared, constantly, that something bad might some day happen to her. I panic about everything – and feel an overwhelming sense of anger that someone someday might hurt her.
Throughout reading this book, I kept on thinking about my niece, and I am pretty sure the author drew upon her feeling for her own daughter to craft such an exquisitely real and incredibly believable story.
I can’t really tell you too much about it without revealing the pivotal point in the story - but I can tell you this is one of the most stunning books I have ever read. I don’t really know about many books outside of the stories about shoes and shagging that I normally read, so I don’t have a huge library of titles to compare it to – but if I said it reminded me a bit of The Lovely Bones, After You’d Gone and Anybody Out There? that might help.
12 December 2007
Last night….
I watched that programme that came on after the wonderful Kitchen Nightmares on C4 - Sex in the Noughties or something, about clit lit blogger Abby Lee, she of Girl With a One-Track Mind fame…at least, I watched as much as I could before I fell asleep. (I had, in my defence, been up since 5am to do my first Body Pump class in over 2 months!).
I vaguely remember the big old hoo-ha in the Summer of 2006 when “Abby” was outed by the media following the publication of her book, and poor old Zoe Margolis’s private/personal/real identity become public knowledge. I remember laughing at how appalled some of the industry press were by the fact that this horny, sex obsessed 32 year old had worked as a film assistant on a Harry Potter film. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t really aware of her blog, or come to that, any of these so-called Sex Blogs until then – so I can’t say I was a fan, but I have always admired people who can write good sex.
But watching the programme last night raised a few rambling and pointless questions with me.
There has been a lot of talk over the past couple of years about the blog-to-book phenomenon. There are many people that are excited by this relatively new and seemingly easy publishing route, and there has been much made of the surge in new blogs being written by people who apparently envisage it will lead to a multi million pound publishing contract. I’m sure it does work out all fine and dandy for some – taking a look at Abby Lee’s press page she has defiantly been a busy old bee since her book got published. But there are some 7 million blogs (or something like that) out there on tinterweb, so the misguided belief that YOUR blog will stand out strongly enough to get noticed by some hot shot publisher is literally a deluded fantasy for 99% of bloggers – so I wonder how many people are still just blogging for blogging sake?
I myself have felt an incredible freedom to write what I want in this blog and send it out into the abyss. I’ve been doing it for a relatively short period of time but I like doing it. I don’t think, I don’t hope, and I truly don’t believe Fat Girl on the Run will ever be made into a book. I started doing it for a variety of reasons; one of them being for probably the same reason I joined Facebook. Every one I know seems to write a blog – the same way every one I know (and actually about 100 other people I don’t really know but am now friends with) is on Facebook. I was also incredibly bored at old work. I’d given up smoking and therefore had at least 12 x 5 minute blocks of time when I should have been chatting outside on the fire escape with a More clamped between my lips – and I was buggered if I was going to fill them by doing any more work. I also wanted to chart in some way my ambitious (and frankly foolish) plans to clean up my act food wise. And, if truth be told, I wanted to see if anyone thought I was clever or funny or could string two words together.
I thought I would write about a variety of things – but mostly work stuff, Macmillan charity stuff, book stuff, diet stuff and stuff involving me bragging about my beautiful Niece. But I never envisaged being brave enough to tell the “all” about my sex life. Would I be confident enough to describe in explicit detail the cut and thrust of (or lack of) my bedroom aerobics? The answer is NO. And it’s a definite NO for several reasons - the main one being because the people that know me, and in fact the person I do the bedroom aerobics with, know I write this blog. I’m not saying they read it, although obv I hope they do sometimes, but what if Boo or my sister, or even my mum, was bored one day, and thought to read my blog to waste some time, and came across an entry about my lesbian fantasies involving vanilla S&M and a touch of fisting… I never thought I’d really write anything particularly personal that involved anyone else (and I don’t actually think I have). Cause if I did, then its not really MY personal stuff, it’s also theirs – and it’s not my place to talk about it… do you get me? Any my sex life revelations would surely also be Boo’s sex life revelations – and what if his sister or his mum or his niece read them?
And that I think is where my admiration for Catherine Townsend comes from. Abby was anonymous. The high class hooker Belle de Jour was anonymous. The Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl and The Sexual Life of Catherine M were both written anonymously. To an extent I am anonymous cause I don’t actually use my full name on here…But Catherine Townsend, author of Sleeping Around is real – and writes under her real name. I’ve met her. She’s lovely. She’s tall, and striking, and softly spoken, and a very obviously sexual person.
So do I have a point to get to – I’m not sure really. I enjoyed (as much as I saw of) the programme last night. And it is always fantastic to watch things on telly that I have a genuine interest in. And of course, I’m always interested in watching, talking or reading about sex. But I felt a bit confused. The public outing of Abby/Zoë is one thing. The phenomenon of blog-to-book publishing is another thing. Anyone writing about anything under a pseudonym is a whole separate issue, but the writing about sex, whether that’s blogs or books or anything else is something completely different. And I feel that everything got mixed up together in the programme…..
I vaguely remember the big old hoo-ha in the Summer of 2006 when “Abby” was outed by the media following the publication of her book, and poor old Zoe Margolis’s private/personal/real identity become public knowledge. I remember laughing at how appalled some of the industry press were by the fact that this horny, sex obsessed 32 year old had worked as a film assistant on a Harry Potter film. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t really aware of her blog, or come to that, any of these so-called Sex Blogs until then – so I can’t say I was a fan, but I have always admired people who can write good sex.
But watching the programme last night raised a few rambling and pointless questions with me.
There has been a lot of talk over the past couple of years about the blog-to-book phenomenon. There are many people that are excited by this relatively new and seemingly easy publishing route, and there has been much made of the surge in new blogs being written by people who apparently envisage it will lead to a multi million pound publishing contract. I’m sure it does work out all fine and dandy for some – taking a look at Abby Lee’s press page she has defiantly been a busy old bee since her book got published. But there are some 7 million blogs (or something like that) out there on tinterweb, so the misguided belief that YOUR blog will stand out strongly enough to get noticed by some hot shot publisher is literally a deluded fantasy for 99% of bloggers – so I wonder how many people are still just blogging for blogging sake?
I myself have felt an incredible freedom to write what I want in this blog and send it out into the abyss. I’ve been doing it for a relatively short period of time but I like doing it. I don’t think, I don’t hope, and I truly don’t believe Fat Girl on the Run will ever be made into a book. I started doing it for a variety of reasons; one of them being for probably the same reason I joined Facebook. Every one I know seems to write a blog – the same way every one I know (and actually about 100 other people I don’t really know but am now friends with) is on Facebook. I was also incredibly bored at old work. I’d given up smoking and therefore had at least 12 x 5 minute blocks of time when I should have been chatting outside on the fire escape with a More clamped between my lips – and I was buggered if I was going to fill them by doing any more work. I also wanted to chart in some way my ambitious (and frankly foolish) plans to clean up my act food wise. And, if truth be told, I wanted to see if anyone thought I was clever or funny or could string two words together.
I thought I would write about a variety of things – but mostly work stuff, Macmillan charity stuff, book stuff, diet stuff and stuff involving me bragging about my beautiful Niece. But I never envisaged being brave enough to tell the “all” about my sex life. Would I be confident enough to describe in explicit detail the cut and thrust of (or lack of) my bedroom aerobics? The answer is NO. And it’s a definite NO for several reasons - the main one being because the people that know me, and in fact the person I do the bedroom aerobics with, know I write this blog. I’m not saying they read it, although obv I hope they do sometimes, but what if Boo or my sister, or even my mum, was bored one day, and thought to read my blog to waste some time, and came across an entry about my lesbian fantasies involving vanilla S&M and a touch of fisting… I never thought I’d really write anything particularly personal that involved anyone else (and I don’t actually think I have). Cause if I did, then its not really MY personal stuff, it’s also theirs – and it’s not my place to talk about it… do you get me? Any my sex life revelations would surely also be Boo’s sex life revelations – and what if his sister or his mum or his niece read them?
And that I think is where my admiration for Catherine Townsend comes from. Abby was anonymous. The high class hooker Belle de Jour was anonymous. The Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl and The Sexual Life of Catherine M were both written anonymously. To an extent I am anonymous cause I don’t actually use my full name on here…But Catherine Townsend, author of Sleeping Around is real – and writes under her real name. I’ve met her. She’s lovely. She’s tall, and striking, and softly spoken, and a very obviously sexual person.
So do I have a point to get to – I’m not sure really. I enjoyed (as much as I saw of) the programme last night. And it is always fantastic to watch things on telly that I have a genuine interest in. And of course, I’m always interested in watching, talking or reading about sex. But I felt a bit confused. The public outing of Abby/Zoë is one thing. The phenomenon of blog-to-book publishing is another thing. Anyone writing about anything under a pseudonym is a whole separate issue, but the writing about sex, whether that’s blogs or books or anything else is something completely different. And I feel that everything got mixed up together in the programme…..
10 December 2007
Bridesmaids
In May next year "New Work" is publishing this funny debut novel by Jane Costello. I bet you can't guess the genre?!
The central character is Evie who suffers with a very strong commitment phobia - her longest relationship has lasted about half a nanosecond - until she meets hunky fellow Jack at the first of four weddings that feature in the book.
I know I really liked this cause it took me just 3 sittings to finish it over the course of a rather hectic week that involved two classes at the gym, a long overdue coffee date with a friend, The Clothes Show Live in Birmingham, a new housing development viewing with Boo, and a slow meander down The Pantiles in Tunbridge Wells with The Most Beautiful Niece in the World.
A few of the characters in the book are just a touch too shallow and vacant to make them likeable for me – and I thought a couple of them could have been given stronger storylines in their own right – but the writing is very good and it is genuinely funny.
I’m really looking forward to helping push this one...so if you are a chick lit lover too and would like an early sneak preview – let me know!
6 December 2007
Curse of the Spellmans
A US advanced reader’s edition of the above (which is coming to the export market in Febuary next year) has been my “in the bath” read for a couple of months now. Whether its taken me so long to finish it is cause my flat is just too damn cold to sit in the bath for hours, or whether I’m just a dirty girl who hasn’t washed enough recently - I can’t tell. Or maybe it’s just because it hasn’t kept me completely engaged… I mean, don’t get me wrong, its good, and if you enjoyed The Spellman Files (which I think I did), you will really enjoy this follow up. It follows PI Izzy Spellman and her 4 arrests in just 3 months whilst investigating suspicious new neighbour John Brown; her parents various disappearances/vacations; her sisters bizarre relationship with Inspector Henry Stone and the return of Uncle Bernie. But there is something about the way the book is written and presented, that kind of makes it a two/three page a time read for me cause the chapters are tiny, and much use is made of those annoying little footnotes.
However – I was delighted to learn yesterday that the following books are all coming out next year:
Operation Sunshine by Jenny Colgan
Synopsis
Evie needs a good holiday. Not just because she's been working all hours in her job as a receptionist for two high-powered plastic surgeons - but also because every holiday she has ever been on in her life has involved sunburn, arguments and projectile vomiting - and sometimes all three at once. Why can't she have a normal holiday, like other people seem to have - some sun, sand, sea and (hopefully) sex? So when her employers invite her to attend a conference with them in the south of France, she can't believe her luck. At last, the chance to hob nob with the rich and glamorous, to party under the stars, to live the life she's dreamed about. It's certainly the holiday of a lifetime - but not quite in the way Evie imagined!
The Second Husband by Louise Candlish
Synopsis
When her ten-year marriage to Alistair ends with his infidelity, Kate Easton vows she will not make the same mistake twice. She will never put herself, or her two children, through a relationship again. Then Alistair announces that his new wife is pregnant and he intends to cut his financial support to Kate. To keep her home she must divide it up and make way for a lodger. Enter Davis Calder, a glamorous and charismatic tutor with a failed marriage of his own behind him. He soon becomes a close friend to Kate, someone she can turn to in her difficulties with her unpredictable teenage daughter Roxy. Before she can stop herself she has fallen in love, broken her vow and accepted his proposal of marriage. At last she has the happy ending she deserves. Until, just days after returning from her honeymoon, she makes a discovery about her new husband that changes everything...
Just a Family Affair by Veronica Henry
Synopsis
In the Gloucestershire village of Honeycote, country life is anything but quiet. Maybe it's something to do with all that fresh air, but it's the kind of place where passions run high. Where old families meet new money, and old husbands meet new girlfriends, sparks are bound to fly. And with a wedding on the cards, you can bet that getting to the church on time - if at all - won't be easy. Be warned - you'll want to move to Honeycote, you'll fall in love with the men, want some of the women as your friends, and want to put a stiletto heel (or pitchfork blade) in the back of some of the others. But most of all - you'll want to keep on reading. Pitch-perfect romantic comedy with an added shot of wit and glamour, Veronica Henry proves that Sex & the City is so over. It's time for Sex & the Shires.
Wedding Season by Katie Fforde
Synopsis
Sara is a wedding planner hiding a rather inconvenient truth - she doesn't believe in love. Or not for herself, anyway. But as the confetti flutters away on the June breeze of yet another successful wedding she somehow finds herself agreeing to organise two more, on the same day and only two months away. And whilst her celebrity bride is all sweetness and light, her own sister soon starts driving her mad with her high expectations but very limited budget. Luckily Sara has two tried and tested friends on hand to help her. Elsa, an accomplished dress designer who likes to keep a very low profile, and Bron, a multi-talented hairdresser who lives with her unreconstructed boyfriend and who'd like to go solo in more ways than one. They may be very good at their work but romance doesn't feature very highly in any of their lives. As the big day draws near all three women find that patience is definitely a virtue in the marriage game. And as all their working hours are spent preparing for the wedding of the year plus one they certainly haven't got any time to even think about love ...or have they?
Remember Me by Sophie Kinsella
Synopsis
Lexi wakes up in a hospital bed after a car accident, thinking it's 2004 and she's a twenty-five-year old with crooked teeth and a disastrous love life. But, to her disbelief, she learns it's actually 2007 - she's twenty-eight, her teeth are straight, she's the boss of her department - and she's married! To a good-looking millionaire! How on earth did she land the dream life??! She can't believe her luck - especially when she sees her stunning new home. She's sure she'll have a fantastic marriage once she gets to know her husband again. He's drawn up a 'manual of our marriage', which should help. But as she learns more about her new self, chinks start to appear in the perfect life. All her old colleagues hate her. A rival is after her job. Then a dishevelled, sexy guy turns up...and lands a new bombshell. What happened to her? Will she ever remember? And what will happen if she does?
Thanks for the Memories by Cecelia Ahern
Synopsis
How can you know someone you've never met? Joyce Conway remembers things she shouldn't. She knows about tiny cobbled streets in Paris, which she has never visited. And every night she dreams about an unknown little girl with blonde hair. When she leaves hospital after a terrible accident, with her life and her marriage in pieces, Joyce moves back in with her elderly father. All the while, a strong sense of deja vu is overwhelming her and she can't figure out why! Justin Hitchcock is divorced, lonely and restless. He arrives in Dublin to give a lecture on art and meets attractive doctor Sarah, who persuades him to donate blood. It's the first thing to come straight from his heart in a long time. When Justin receives a basket of muffins with a note simply saying thank you, he is sure someone is playing a trick on him. But then a series of gifts begin to arrive. Intrigued and disturbed, Justin is determined to find out who is sending them. What he discovers will change his life forever.
and...
This Charming Man by Marian Keyes
No synopsis available yet!
So if you wanted to get me any presents….!
However – I was delighted to learn yesterday that the following books are all coming out next year:
Operation Sunshine by Jenny Colgan
Synopsis
Evie needs a good holiday. Not just because she's been working all hours in her job as a receptionist for two high-powered plastic surgeons - but also because every holiday she has ever been on in her life has involved sunburn, arguments and projectile vomiting - and sometimes all three at once. Why can't she have a normal holiday, like other people seem to have - some sun, sand, sea and (hopefully) sex? So when her employers invite her to attend a conference with them in the south of France, she can't believe her luck. At last, the chance to hob nob with the rich and glamorous, to party under the stars, to live the life she's dreamed about. It's certainly the holiday of a lifetime - but not quite in the way Evie imagined!
The Second Husband by Louise Candlish
Synopsis
When her ten-year marriage to Alistair ends with his infidelity, Kate Easton vows she will not make the same mistake twice. She will never put herself, or her two children, through a relationship again. Then Alistair announces that his new wife is pregnant and he intends to cut his financial support to Kate. To keep her home she must divide it up and make way for a lodger. Enter Davis Calder, a glamorous and charismatic tutor with a failed marriage of his own behind him. He soon becomes a close friend to Kate, someone she can turn to in her difficulties with her unpredictable teenage daughter Roxy. Before she can stop herself she has fallen in love, broken her vow and accepted his proposal of marriage. At last she has the happy ending she deserves. Until, just days after returning from her honeymoon, she makes a discovery about her new husband that changes everything...
Just a Family Affair by Veronica Henry
Synopsis
In the Gloucestershire village of Honeycote, country life is anything but quiet. Maybe it's something to do with all that fresh air, but it's the kind of place where passions run high. Where old families meet new money, and old husbands meet new girlfriends, sparks are bound to fly. And with a wedding on the cards, you can bet that getting to the church on time - if at all - won't be easy. Be warned - you'll want to move to Honeycote, you'll fall in love with the men, want some of the women as your friends, and want to put a stiletto heel (or pitchfork blade) in the back of some of the others. But most of all - you'll want to keep on reading. Pitch-perfect romantic comedy with an added shot of wit and glamour, Veronica Henry proves that Sex & the City is so over. It's time for Sex & the Shires.
Wedding Season by Katie Fforde
Synopsis
Sara is a wedding planner hiding a rather inconvenient truth - she doesn't believe in love. Or not for herself, anyway. But as the confetti flutters away on the June breeze of yet another successful wedding she somehow finds herself agreeing to organise two more, on the same day and only two months away. And whilst her celebrity bride is all sweetness and light, her own sister soon starts driving her mad with her high expectations but very limited budget. Luckily Sara has two tried and tested friends on hand to help her. Elsa, an accomplished dress designer who likes to keep a very low profile, and Bron, a multi-talented hairdresser who lives with her unreconstructed boyfriend and who'd like to go solo in more ways than one. They may be very good at their work but romance doesn't feature very highly in any of their lives. As the big day draws near all three women find that patience is definitely a virtue in the marriage game. And as all their working hours are spent preparing for the wedding of the year plus one they certainly haven't got any time to even think about love ...or have they?
Remember Me by Sophie Kinsella
Synopsis
Lexi wakes up in a hospital bed after a car accident, thinking it's 2004 and she's a twenty-five-year old with crooked teeth and a disastrous love life. But, to her disbelief, she learns it's actually 2007 - she's twenty-eight, her teeth are straight, she's the boss of her department - and she's married! To a good-looking millionaire! How on earth did she land the dream life??! She can't believe her luck - especially when she sees her stunning new home. She's sure she'll have a fantastic marriage once she gets to know her husband again. He's drawn up a 'manual of our marriage', which should help. But as she learns more about her new self, chinks start to appear in the perfect life. All her old colleagues hate her. A rival is after her job. Then a dishevelled, sexy guy turns up...and lands a new bombshell. What happened to her? Will she ever remember? And what will happen if she does?
Thanks for the Memories by Cecelia Ahern
Synopsis
How can you know someone you've never met? Joyce Conway remembers things she shouldn't. She knows about tiny cobbled streets in Paris, which she has never visited. And every night she dreams about an unknown little girl with blonde hair. When she leaves hospital after a terrible accident, with her life and her marriage in pieces, Joyce moves back in with her elderly father. All the while, a strong sense of deja vu is overwhelming her and she can't figure out why! Justin Hitchcock is divorced, lonely and restless. He arrives in Dublin to give a lecture on art and meets attractive doctor Sarah, who persuades him to donate blood. It's the first thing to come straight from his heart in a long time. When Justin receives a basket of muffins with a note simply saying thank you, he is sure someone is playing a trick on him. But then a series of gifts begin to arrive. Intrigued and disturbed, Justin is determined to find out who is sending them. What he discovers will change his life forever.
and...
This Charming Man by Marian Keyes
No synopsis available yet!
So if you wanted to get me any presents….!
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