Birthday:
22nd March
Fave book:
Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
Fave song:
Strawberry Fields – The Beatles
Fave Film:
The Ring (Japanese version)
Most treasured possession:
A diamond-studded dog tag. Very bling, my mother bought it for me as a surprise. I wear it all the time, even when I’m trying to look very ‘psychologist’. If there was a fire I’d get my two cats out first though, then my boyfriend.
When did I start writing?
Unofficially at school. I always had a short story or poem on the go, usually a gothic horror-style thing. Actually when I look back they were some of my best plots! When I was 25 I got asked to write features/fashion articles for a magazine. Then I was asked to write a novel about the fashion/modelling business. Twenty books later I’m still at it!
Where do my ideas come from?
Anything. Plots on tv soaps, reality shows (I get to sit and watch everyone backstage) colour supplements in newspapers, gossip and of course psychology articles and my work in businesses. I once saw an article about models in Russia having acres of cheap plastic surgery and it inspired me to write the book Supermodel, about a Russian model. Funnily enough my first teenage fiction book was inspired by Naomi Campbell. She was 15 at the time and doing a course at my modelling school. She was totally unknown then but she lived in the same area where I was brought up and I based a lot of the novel on all that.
Tips for aspiring authors?
Yes – Just Write! That was the only tip I ever had. Don’t sit thinking about it or putting it off or getting hung up about what other people will think and how hard it is to get published, just do it! You could have started your first novel in the time it’s taken to read this!
What is my fave place in the world?
Top Shop. I’m very superficial and live to shop. I’m also a real Londoner/townie and not into country views and beaches etc. Harrods pet shop would come a close second if they have puppies and kittens in stock.
Hobbies:
Writing, actually. It’s a job/hobby thing because if I didn’t do it for a living I’d do it anyway. It takes up any spare time away from tv work. Otherwise shopping, of course!
If I hadn’t been an author...
I have 3 careers that link together, writing, TV work and lectures so I suppose I’d just focus on the other two. I used to model, which was my only other dream career. I would love to be a comedian, though. Or maybe work in the perfume department of a big store, spraying everyone who walks past. Or run an ape sanctuary. Or be the second woman prime minister and still dress from Top Shop.
