Authors Electric

  I recently watched an online clip of Robbie Williams making an acceptance speech for an award. He’d ‘like to thank drugs, alcohol, ADHD, anxiety, addiction, body dysmorphia’ – (and a whole host of other crippling conditions) ‘without which none of this would have been possible’, he tells us. Yes, it was funny, but as an author who is also a performer, I found myself relating to that strange dichotomy between self-deprecation and loud obnoxious drama-queen. You may think that we lie when we describe ourselves as socially awkward and shy – after all, we jump up to show off with the most massive egos at every opportunity. We can’t wait to grab the limelight in a blaze of ridiculous costumes and glitter – and in my case giant gold wings! But I’m here to tell you that underneath every mammoth motor-mouth is a quieter, sensible and often anxious human being. Just consider how many people in show-biz are addicts, alcoholics, reclusive, exercise junkies, dysfunctional, depressed – or use...

  It’s a new year, and my Insta newsfeed is filled with people planning their lives. Homeschool mums, trainers, dog walkers, writers...they all seem to have a plan. I do tell my kids that failing to plan is planning to fail, but so far, I have failed to sit down and plan. I have a few notebooks dedicated to plans, this year’s plans, and this year’s books. I have also seen another nice notebook that I might need, just in case I can think of some other plans. Then there is the notebook that is too nice to be used, but you need it, in case you think of a very good plan. Like my Viking series. I will need a lovely notebook for that, as I can think of at least four of five books in the series, so it will need an overarching timeline and plans, and there needs to be space for each book. I have a few things planned for this year. One of them is a Reading Challenge that I have joined in the last few years but never managed to do, but this year might be different, who knows? I love the ...