Hello chaps. Gosh, what an annoying start to a post. My apologies. I used to live with a couple of terribleh Sloaneh boys who used words like ‘chaps’ all the time. They called me ‘Burgo’ and had thousands and thousands of ‘mates’ called things like ‘Rotter’ and ‘Poo’. And those were the girls. No one [...]

So, I kind of had a baby last week. His name is Errol. And he is perfect. SURPRISE! Yeah, I didn’t really mention the whole being-knocked-up thing. For lots of reasons… it wasn’t the best pregnancy ever, but the details are not exactly lighthearted-blog-appropriate. I felt – and feel – extremely protective of him, which [...]

NEWSFLASH: A GIRL LIKE YOU and THE DATING DETOX are both insaaaaanely cheap on Kindle (£1!) – but only for the rest of August! They’re currently in the Amazon Kindle bestseller lists (woo) at 14 (doublewoo) and 34 (triplewoo, but a smaller woo, like a woolet) respectively. And if we can get them into the [...]

Breaking up sucks a fat one. And yet people always seem to forget how sad and hard it is. Especially people in long-term relationships. I could never understand that. I’m boringly stable and hitched, but I can remember exactly how hard it is to recover from a break-up. He was part of your life. You [...]

I have some good news for you. Particularly if, like me, you have read Jilly Cooper so many times that you can recall entire passages verbatim.I’m not alone in my Jilly obsession, of course. She and Helen Fielding are the ne-plus-ultras of British comic female-oriented fiction, the Top Guns, the best of the best. And [...]

This bookshop changed my life. I know, deeply unpromising exterior, right? It’s in a stretch of the Kings Road in Chelsea in London that is a mix of the fabulous – the wonderful Eight Over Eight restaurant, The Organic Pharmacy, Rococo chocolates, French Sole, etc – and the frazzled – betting shops, no-name pharmacies, newsagents [...]

10 things I can tell you now about my next book. 1. It’s the first in a series of books called Union Street, about five twenty- something girls sharing a house in Brooklyn, that I’m writing for St Martins Press. 2. The protagonist is stylish, spoilt, sharp – and kind of awesome. I adore her. [...]

I’m trying to write a feature for Novelicious for International Chicklit Month. And I’m having trouble getting started. Why? Because the topic is Humour And Chicklit. What right do I have to write about humour and chicklit? Fuck all, honeynuts. I mean, I try to write humorous books, but everyone thinks they have a sense [...]