About Susie Day
Describe yourself in three words.
Prone. To. Cheating. :P
Oh, all right then:
Dorky. Obsessive. Verbose.
What’s Big Woo/Serafina67 all about then?
Serafina67
is a 15-year-old with a kind of messy life. Her parents have split up,
her far-far-away dad’s marrying a Monster, and her mum has arranged for
her to see Crazy Pete: Brain Prodder to check if she’s actually gone
mental instead of just a bit emo. She’s not quite sure who her friends
are, she’s sort of in love (when you meet patchworkboy, you’ll get
why), and then there are exams and gigs and hair dye and weirdo
internet friends and being nearly 16 and omg, just, stuff. So she sets
herself this ‘Happiness Deadline’, where she has to achieve all the
things on her list by a certain date in order to be happy.
The whole book is written like a blog, so we only know what serafina
chooses to tell us, and we only get to know her friends from the
conversations they have online.
It’s ‘Laugh-out-loud funny, stunningly authentic and totally
original.’ (I didn’t write that bit: my head’s not that big.) Allegedly
it made some people cry. Hopefully it might make you chuckle, anyway.
Why are there two different covers?
Big Woo is
the book’s title in the UK (black ‘laptopgirl’ cover): Serafina67 is
the US edition (pink cover, out in hardback August 08). The US version
is pretty much the same as the UK one, but there’s a little glossary at
the back to explain the difference between pants and trousers and that
sort of thing.
Is serafina based on anyone you know?
Serafina
isn’t based on any one person: she’s got elements of one of my nieces,
and other teenagers I know, plus some bits of me when I was that age,
and the rest is just what comes along when you create a character. The
same goes for the rest of them. Although my sister is convinced that
patchworkboy is based on her son…
Why write a blog novel?
They say ‘write what you
know’ - and I’m a big internet geek. There’s always a lot in the press
about the dangers of the internet, the nasty stories about kids being
groomed in chatrooms and so on, and I wanted to explore blogging and
social networking in a more balanced way: to show the positives too,
the reasons why so many of us live half our lives online. It throws up
loads of questions about trying to find your real identity, which is
such a huge thing when you’re a teenager. Plus I liked the idea of the
writing challenge: whether you could actually tell a story, or create
distinct characters, without all the descriptions and so on you usually
get in a novel.
How did you get into blogging/social networking?
Virginia
Woolf. No, seriously! I was doing research for a doctoral thesis on
popular representations of Woolf: it was the early days of social
networking, all on forums and messageboards, but I was really intrigued
by the close relationships these online friends seemed to form. The
technology’s moved on, but the same issues come up, about privacy,
intimacy, creating a virtual persona. (Alas, the thesis is still in my
airing cupboard, not quite finished. Curse you, internets! *shakes
fist*)
When did you decide to become a writer?
I
remember being 7 years old, and sternly making myself promise that
Future Me would write children’s books, rather than any other kind - as
if being a writer was a given, somehow. I don’t think I ever seriously
considered anything else when I was growing up, to be honest.
What else have you written?
Awful poetry,
multiple unfinished novels, excruciating short stories, terrible tv
scripts: the concept of VTNs didn’t come from nowhere! All of these are
of course safely stowed under my bed, or got sent to the Recycle Bin
years ago.
I have published before: my first book, Whump!…in which Bill falls
632 miles down a manhole, won the BBC Talent Children’s Fiction Prize
and came out in 2004. It’s very different from serafina’s story,
though: a fantasy adventure for 8-12s, in which the aforementioned
manhole hurls hapless hero Bill into the company of a princess, an
elph, a Quxynggrotly, and a rather brainy antelope, all hotly pursued
by evil supervillain The Great Spondozo. It’s out of print now, so good
luck finding a copy!
What are you writing now?
My next book isn’t a
blog-novel, but the internet and how we use it is still a huge part of
the plot - and there’s another smart-yet-daft heroine at the centre, of
course. It’s about cups of tea, secrets, and imaginary boyfriends. I
can’t give away the real title, but if you see me talking about
‘Biscuits and Lies’ on my blog, that’s the one.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Read. Think. Write. Repeat.
Favourite book?
I officially hate this question:
different day, different answer. My favourite YA novel is probably The
Changeover by Margaret Mahy: sort of a supernatural romance, but a
million times cleverer than that sounds.
Favourite music?
My three older sisters gave me
an eclectic musical education: one liked everything from Bowie to Barry
Manilow: one was a huge Duran Duran fan: one introduced me to The
Smiths. I remain a 90s indiekid, and still regard my Ned’s Atomic
Dustbin t-shirt fondly, but I’m a bit more open to ridiculous pop these
days. Favourite band would probably have to be The Auteurs.
Favourite film?
North by Northwest: I loves me some Hitchcock. Closely followed by The Empire Strikes Back.
What question do you wish you’d been asked instead of all these others?
How do you make the perfect bacon sandwich? (Please provide sample.)
Want to ask a question? Write a review? Squee about a book Susie might like to read?
Email her: susie at susieday.com
More About Susie Day
