Wednesday, December 24, 2008

The Great Big, It's Fricking Chrismukkah Quiz...



DEADLINE EXTENDED UNTIL JANUARY 12TH - COME ON LADIES, IT TOOK ME TWO DAYS TO WRITE THAT QUIZ! AT LEAST HAVE A BASH AT IT...


Sweetlings,

I promised a surprise and here it is! It's a quiz. A very special quiz with a very special prize. Fifty questions all about my books and one lucky winner will get signed set of the newly re-jacketed Diary Of A Crush books. (That's them at the top of the page and that is the Arc de Triomphe on French Kiss - it was meant to be the Eiffel Tower, but let's not go there or else I will start to cry tears of impotent rage!) If more than one person gets all (or the same number) of questions right and I like what you do with the tie-breaker, I'll be sending out more than one signed set of the Diary Of A Crush books.

* Just put your answers in a comment WITH YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS! I screen my blog comments so your email addy will be safe with me and there's no way anyone can cheat and look up the answers.

* The closing date for the competition is January 10th so you have time to re-read all the books and/or go out and buy the ones you've missed.

* I know Fashionistas is not readily available in the States, apart from on amazon.com but it would have been too hard to do fifty questions and not include Fashionistas. I do apologise, but read my last post to see that there are compensations to being an American Sarra Manning reader.

On with the quiz...

THE GREAT BIG, IT'S FRICKING CHRISMUKKAH QUIZ!

EASY PEASY

1. In Guitar Girl, what is the name of Molly's band?
2. What city is Diary Of A Crush set in?
3. How old is Isabel in Let's Get Lost?
4. Name the four main characters in Pretty Things.
5. Who's Edie's crush object?
6. Which part of London is the Fashionista flat?
7. What's Hadley Fashionista's surname?
8. What's the name of Isabel's little brother?
9. Name all three books in the Diary Of A Crush trilogy.
10. What is Walker's nickname?


FAIR TO MIDDLING

1. The second time they meet, Smith and Isabel swap which items of high tech gadgetry?
2. Who are David and Bette Careless?
3. Which Shakespeare play is performed in Pretty Things?
4. And name our quartet's drama tutor/director.
5. What is the first thing that Dylan ever says to Edie?
6. Where is Hadley's dad?
7. At the end of Guitar Girl, what does Molly get given by her heroine, Ruby X?
8. Laura and Irina compete to become the face of which perfume?
9. What's Edie and Poppy's band called?
10. What does Isabel's dad do for a living?


ARE YOU SMARTER THAN THE AVERAGE READER?

1. What is Carter's first name?
2. Why does Dean walk Molly home after they've been out for a Christmas drink?
3. Name the pub that Walker and Daisy hole up in and where they end up spending the night?
4. What is the dish that Isabel orders in the Chinese restaurant in Camden?
5. Who's the female host of Make Me A Model?
6. When Hadley was the subject of a tabloid kiss 'n' tell, what new surname did the newspapers give her?
7. Which fizzy drink rarely leaves Brie's side?
8. What's the name of the hotel that Edie and pals stay in when they go to Paris?
9. What song becomes The Hormones' only number one record?
10. Where does Alfie hold his fashion show?


COME AND HAVE A GO IF YOU THINK YOU'RE HARD ENOUGH

1. Who illustrated the covers of Let's Let Lost, Pretty Things and the four Fashionista titles?
2. Isabel is named after Isabel Archer, the heroine of a Henry James' novel called _________ __ _ ____?
3. In which town in Mississippi did Dylan abandon Edie on their road trip?
4. Which fancy designer store was Irina caught shoplifting from?
5. Which cassette was stuck in the tape player in Walker's Mum's car?
6. Name the three other members of Isabel's Trio Of Evil.
7. In Let's Get Lost, what is the name of Molly's new band?
8. Whas was the theme tune of Hadley's TV show called?
9. Why did Candy Careless go to Shanghai?
10. What's Dylan's surname?



N0W YOU'RE JUST SHOWING OFF!


1. Laura's friends have a video footage of her singing which song at Karaoke?
2. Which famous New York club (now closed) did The Hormones play their showcase gig at?
3. What word did Charlie (in Pretty Things) have on his t-shirt?
4. Who designed the size eight dress that Laura nicked from Irina?
5. What's the name of Isabel's guidance counsellor?
6. When Candy goes round to Alfie's house, what does his Mum make for dinner? (A extra point if you include pudding too?)
7. We all know Molly (and Jane) guest stars in Let's Get Lost but someone else from Guitar Girl also gets a mention, who is it?
8. Name all of Irina's siblings.
9. What were the three Diary Of A Books called when they were originally given away with J-17 magazine?
10. Sarra has written one other novel not mentioned in this quiz or anywhere on her blog. What is it called? (And no, it's not Unsticky!)


TIE BREAKER QUESTION

If you could be any character in any one of Sarra's books, who would you be and why?

Monday, December 22, 2008

Does this blog post make me look fat?



Happy Holidays, readers!

In the next couple of days I'll be posting an extra special thing that will thrill, delight and astound you. That's the general plan, anyway!

But in the meantime, I just wanted to shout out to my North American readers, that includes you kooky Canucks, to let you know I have a short story, Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others, in a wonderful collection called Does This Book Make Me Look Fat? I'm in the company of some amazing writers like Megan McCaffery, Ellen Hopkins and Jaclyn Moriarty. It's out on December 29th.

Sadly, it's not currently available on amazon.co.uk, but maybe by the time the paperback comes out later in the year, that may change. And my poor American readers never got a US release of Fashionistas (I'm hoping that the new year may rectify that) so it's all swings and roundabouts.

Anyway, make sure you visit this blog regularly in the next few days so you don't miss my surprise.

Live on

Sarra x

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Tis the season...

Greetings to one and all!

Winter is upon us, Chrismukkah is just around the corner and I still haven't sent off my mammoth Amazon order to ensure that all my presents will arrive in a timely fashion and I don't have to slip IOU's into my cards.

This is the season for many things:

* Norwegian formula hand cream

* Long-sleeved black thermal vests under everything I wear

* Home-made soup

* Suddenly having masses of work that needs to be finished in the run-up to the holidays. This year it's a 900 page copy-edited manuscript of the adult book that needs to be checked like yesterday.

* Phil Spector's Christmas album. Darlene Love's Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) is my all-time favourite Christmas song, closely followed by Hello Saferide's iPod X-Mas.

* Mince pies - this is a British thing, right? 'Cause they don't have actual mince in them but a delightful confection of raisins, apples and other sweet stuff that makes a delightful brown, sticky paste. Don't like the ones with the candied peel though. Urgh!

* Thick black woolly tights - though actually not wool because I'm allergic. Thinking of branching out into coloured tights this year, possibly a muted teal blue or a cranberry colour.

* Freezing my arse off at bus-stops long past midnight.

* Furry hot water bottles.

Alas, this is also the season when my American readers are all told by their English teachers to do book reports that feature an interview with an author. I've had 15 requests this week so far (and it's only Wednesday) to answer questions but I'm afraid it's just not possible. Lord, I'd never get any other work done! But, if you look through the tags and links on this here blog, I can pretty much guarantee you that you'll find all the information you need on me, my books and my writing process. Hope I don't seem like an old curmudgeon and one day I hope to have a proper, pretty website with an FAQ and things arranged for optimum ease of use. One day...

Check back here in the next few days for my annual Christmas surprise. It might be a sneak preview of something or a little DVD extra-style thing to do with one of my books, or even a competition.

And remember, books by Sarra Manning make excellent gifts!

Live on

Sarra x