Billy and Me

About Giovanna Fletcher

Actress and freelance journalist, Giovanna Fletcher is married to Tom Fletcher from McFly. She grew up in Essex with her Italian dad Mario, mum Kim, big sister Giorgina and little brother Mario, and spent most of her childhood talking to herself or reading books. Her debut novel, Billy and Me, is also published by Penguin. To see what makes Giovanna smile, view her blog at www.giovannasworld.com or her Twitter page @mrsgifletcher.

Below is a Q&A with this author.

1) If I had to describe my mood in one word, it would be: Chipper

2) You might not know this about me, but I: …always clean up before the cleaner comes over. I don’t want her to think I’m a slob!

3) When I’m feeling down, I find that I’m always cheered up by: A good walk. I whack on my walking boots and go rambling through the woods.

4) Three things on my desk right now are: A Fairy Dust candle (that’s its scent, I’ve not gone mad), a glass of water and my ginger cat Marvin.

5) My favourite children’s book was: My Naughty Little Sister by Dorothy Edwards. I was always a good child, so I loved reading about what naughty things the little girl got up to.

6) If I could live in a book, that book would be: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I just think everything about it is so romantic.

7) My most-watched movie would have to be: I am Sam, starring Sean Penn, Dakota Fanning and Michelle Pfeiffer. It’s about a mentally disabled single father who faces losing custody of his 7year-old daughter. If you’ve not seen it then I highly recommend it. It’s a beautifully heartbreaking story filled with love.

8) If my house was on fire, the one thing I’d rescue would be: My laptop –everything is on there, although, perhaps I should say one of my cats, or my husband?

9) My cooking speciality is: My Christmas dinner, but more specifically my roast potatoes – crispy on the outside, fluffy in the middle.

10) I attribute my success so far most to: Positive thinking and having the determination to plough on regardless of setbacks.

11) I know it’s a little weird, but I think: That magpies are highly significant to achieving goals… at the start of my driving test I looked in my rearview mirror and saw two of them. In that moment I knew I’d pass, and I did. Ten years on and I’m still cheered along whenever I see two sat together, or, rather sadly, I’m desperately seeking out a solo flyer’s mate…

12) The person whose opinion matters most to me is: My husband’s. If he’s on my side then it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks.

13) If an unpublished writer asked me for advice, I’d tell them: That I was new to the whole thing myself and felt unqualified to offer advice…

14) The one thing I wish I’d known 10 years ago is: The correct spelling of the word ‘definitely’. I spelt it ‘definately’ until I was about 23. Yes, shocking I know. I cringe when I think back to the amount of people I’d written to using that appalling spelling.

15) The best advice I ever got was: From Dorothy Koomson, who unknowingly prompted me to start writing Billy and Me. She mentioned the amount of people who expressed to her their ambition to write novels – she told me her advice to them was to sit down and actually start writing. Nothing can ever happen until that begins. I took that onboard and started writing that same day.