Haven't done this for ages...

No, I don't mean updating my blog, though it has been an age, but doing one of those posts where I blather on about all the stuff I've been loving of late. First, a little catch up.

While I'm waiting for my editor to get back to me with her notes for my second grown-up book, You Don't Have To Say You Love Me (which will be out Jan/Feb 2011, no matter what it might say on Amazon,) I'm working on my third adult book. I've also been working on a new teen thing, but it won't see the light of a bookshop for a long while. I just wanted you to know that a part of my heart will always be teen. So, that's what I've been up to, now on to the good stuff.

BOOKS I'VE LOVED



I adored The Time Traveller's Wife and implore you all to read it, if you haven't already, though we shall never speak of the film version of it because then I'll have to cry and bang my head repeatedly against the nearest hard surface. So I've been anxious to read Audrey Niffenegger's second full-length novel and I wasn't disappointed. I don't think it's fair to compare it to The Time Traveller's Wife, as I feel that books on that kind of scale maybe only come along once in an author's career but Her Fearful Symmetry is a beautiful, beguiling and sometimes downright creepy read, in its own right.

It's a ghost story in the truest sense and it's largely set in and around Highgate Cemetery, which is very near where I live and one of my favourite places in the world and there is one sentence in it that is so thought-provoking and yet squicky that it will stay with you for ever.

"One Day by David Nicholls">


I read this book in a feverish gulp and went to bed far too late every night for a whole week, because I had to keep reading another chapter and then another chapter and then another one. Repeat to fade. One Day spans twenty years in the life of Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew. It starts on the night before they graduate University and find themselves in bed together and revisits them on that same day, each year as they fight or grow apart or reconnect or find themselves in very different places in their lives. OK, you may not get all the pop culture references and you might think Dexter is an arse (which he is) but this book will grip your heart and not let go. And you will probably cry.

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters">

To be honest, The Little Stranger may be a little too adult for younger teen readers of this here blog. Not that there's anything racy or rude in the book, but more that it might be too difficult a read. if that doesn't put you off, this this is another ghost story, which is beautifully written. I don't think there are many writers like Sarah Waters who can bend and twist words to such stunning effect. The tension and the sense of menace slowly seep into this story and I am a big scaredy cat who doesn't do horror or spookiness at all, but I stuck with it and I was glad I did. Though one night I dreamt about The Little Stranger and woke myself up when I screamed. For reals. You have been warned!

MUSIC I'VE LOVED

Miss Li

">

After Hello Saferide and Frida Hyvonen, I've discovered another kooky Swedish songstress that I've taken to my heart and myiPod. Say a big hello to Miss Li. I don't know that much about her but she's recorded a ton of albums and she has this throaty voice that sometimes sounds like a little girl on helium and other times, an old woman who smokes two packs of Senior Service a day. I hear a lot of different influences in her music; ragtime, folk music (like old European folk music with balalaikas, not Joanna Newsom folk) Brecht & Weill and summery, shimmery, sparkly pop. If you did want to buy one of her CDs after checking her out on YouTube, don't download for free(that should go without saying.) And don't go to the usual suspects who will charge you an eye-watering amount for an import album. I get all my Swedish pop needs here I would definitely recommend her Greatest Hits

She & Him - Volume 2



The second album from Zooey Deschanel and M Ward, this is a beautiful collection of sun-drenched, summery pop that's a little bit whimsical, sometimes melancholy and guaranteed to be your new favourite band ever. Trust me on this.

Stephan Altman - If You Got To Know Me

Yes, it's the song from that Think Bike! ad where motorcyclists and mopeds drive about town with these great flashing neon signs attached to the bi-wheeled vehicles. I'm not ahsamed to say that I like a song from an advert and it's a great song. After much google-fu-ing, I can tell you that this song does not seem to have been released, however you can go here, which seems to be here and download it and decide how much you want to pay for it. I would suggest that you pay no less than £0.79, which is what it would cost on iTunes.

TV I Love



Glee

This can not be a shock to any regular readers of my blog. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Glee, how could I not? I love Kurt, I wish he was my lovely gay son. I love Rachel, in all her over-achieving, hitting high C, whininess. I really love Mr Shuester, especially when he did his Busta Rhymes moves and my God, I love Sue Sylvester. In fact, it's taken all my powers of restraint not to cut and paste all one hundred and eighty seven of my favourite Sue Sylvester quotes. And I haven't even mentioned Proud Mary performed on wheelchairs or the time they sang Imagine with the kids from the School For The Deaf and I almost had to squeeze out a tear or the mattress routine to Jump. I fricking love Glee.




The Delicious Miss Dahl


Might be in a minority here, but I really like Sophie Dahl's cookery show. I don't care that she's meant to be the new Nigella. I like that she's all fey and whimsical and twee (are Belle & Sebastian not one of my favourite bands?) I adore her shabby chic kitchen (even if she just borrowed it for filming and she doesn't actually live there.) I love that she quotes Dorothy Parker and goes to adorable little antique shops (if anyone knows where that shop is that she bought the art deco cocktail shaker from, then you HAVE to tell me.) And I especially love the food that she cooks and how it looks a bit ragged and messy, but is well within my capabilities and doesn't require any fancy utensils. There are lots of things I don't like about the show, but this post is all about the things I love and I kinda wouldn't mind being Sophie Dahl occasionally and seeing the world the way she sees it. (Though not the Jamie Cullen bits of her world because Jeesh.)


Random stuff I've loved

Lindt Lindor Eggs



I love the delicious, gooey-filled white, plain and milk chocolate eggs equally and without boundaries. It may, in fact, be the greatest love I've ever known.

My iPhone

Then again, I'm not sure my heart knew what love was until I went to my local Apple Store and took home a shiny new iPhone. It's a phone and yet it's an iPod. I no longer bother to talk to my friends when I go out, because I'm too busy Tweeting about them. I can hear a song when I'm out and go to iTunes and buy it and listen to it immediately by pawing at its screen with the tips of my fingers. The future is now. (So what are the cool apps that I should be getting?)

Tiger




Not the stripey, furry, claw-y cats but a truly adorable Danish chain of stores that have six branches in the South of England. They sell well, everything from little retro china dishes and pots and cups that you want to arrange in a haphazard yet artful manner on your shelves to fab stationery, bathroom gloops, alarm clocks, herbs and spices and sweets. And it's really, really cheap. Above is a picture of the swag I bought this afternoon.


So I guess I've reached the end of this mammoth post. Just want to remind you that I am on Twitter. It's the best place to find me as I Tweet about a gazillion times a day. You are also quite likely yo get an answer if you tweet me a question and we have such fun! You've already missed our heated debate on Toxic Boys and the opportunity to help me when I'm stuck on research (translation: too lazy to Google) and ask my readers insightful questions about their lives. So, come, join me. This is my twitter addy.

Anyway, I promise not to leave it so long between updates - I feel as if it's not the first time I've typed that sentence.

Live on

Sarra x

PS: I know the pics are weird sizes and some of the links are a bit messy, but people. friends of mine, this post has taken days to assemble...

Linky dink dink!

Bonsoir Mes Amis

Hope you are all peachy. As you know, Nobody's Girl is out in the UK now (and sorry, not a whiff of a foreign deal thus far) so I wanted to link to a couple of pieces of press I've done that may interest you.


Five things about France that are tres bon at Chicklish.

A guest blog on writing and loving toxic boys at Wondrous Reads.

(Much thanks to Luisa and Jenny for making this happen.)

I also read your comments about my Nobody's Girl Spotify playlist. Some of you can't get on to or afford Spotify (I had to beg for an invite code myself) so I am furnishing you with the tracklist. Not the actual tracks because uploading and downloading MP3's would result in this blog being wiped off the face off the interpipe. Anyway, here is the tracklisting and I want you to know that there was no way to copy and paste so I've had to diligently copy it out. I do it because I love you.

1. Poupee De Cire Poupee De Son - France Gall
2. La Valse D'Amelie (version Orchestra) - Yann Tiersen
3. Les Histoires d'A - Les Rita Mitsouko
4. Moi De Joue - Stereo Total
5. Madame Superman - Elisabeth
6. Oh Comment Ca Va? - Jane Birkin
7. Comment Te Dire Adieu - Francoise Hardy
8. French Disko - Stereolab
9. Ecoute Le Temps - Brigitte Bardot
10. C'est Bon - Adele
11. Ca Plane Pour Moi - Nouvelle Vague
12. Miss Tatouee - Ici Paris
13. Le Loco-Motion - Sylvie Vartan
14. Mathilde - Jacques brel
15 Je Suis Folle De Tant T'aimer - Arlette Zola
16. Un Homme Et Une Femme - Francis Lai
17. Les Cheveus Dans Les Yeux - Cosette
18. Amoureux D'Une Affiche - Les Cappucino
19. Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien - Edith Piaf

Phew, my typing fingers are totally seizing up now! Also, sorry I didn't put in all the accents and squiggles above and below the letters, but I think you get the general idea.

Thanks for all your comments about Nobody's Girl. I love reading them and I can't tell you how relieved I am that you like the book. (If you didn't like it, then I'm equally relieved that you haven't told me!) If you felt the need to blog, tweet or review it on Amazon or Goodreads or other places, I can't tell you how much this helps in spreading the word and maybe even getting some interest from foreign publishers. You can't see me right now but I doing my sad bunny face, which I'm only supposed to use for the power of good because it's THAT persuasive.

So, that's all about me. And now it's time to make my dinner before the double bill delights of America's Next Top Model and Glee. We all love Glee, right? Right?

Live on

Sarra x

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

The beast, it wakes!

Photo by Sandra Löv.



Sayonora, sweetlings!

I'm back! I have survived the the mammoth revisions of the grown-up book and can say no more about the experience because it's too traumatising. I've also been doing a ton of magazine-y stuff, which I'll let you know about as and when it's out - though actually I think I have a piece in the new Grazia out tomorrow. But I feel liberated from the yoke of rewriting and can go out now and be social. I also need to get back to the new teen novel, which I cruelly abandoned and I'm looking forward to re-reading the first few chapters, then diving back in.

By the way, I dimly recall a couple of people asking me questions about writing stuff. Namely, how long a book should be? Well, it's actually NaNoWriMo (National Write A Novel In A Month) and their rules state that a novel is 75,000 words, but I tend to way over write. Even turning in a teen book under 100,000 words is an effort and the adult book is currently 175,000 words but that's just me! It really depends on doing your chapter outline and writing as many words as you need to tell your story.

Someone also asked me what font or typeface I write in. I tend to go for something quite plain and unfiddly like Geneva or Helvetica, though I do have a soft spot for the old skool Courier too.

In other news, I think a list of my current popular culture faves is long overdue:

I'm currently listening to

Hello Saferide - More Modern Short Stories From...

I had to order this from Sweden but I got a signed copy so that was rather neat, but it is available on iTunes. I love the title of this album as I always think of her songs as like mini novellas. She manages to say in three verses and a chorus what it takes me a whole book to do. My favourite tracks are X Telling Me About the Loss Of Something Dear, At Age 16, which is about a girl losing her virginity and closing her eyes and thinking of dancers. Then there's I Wonder Who Is Like This One, which is about how people are like songs and the people who are like God Only Knows are keepers. (I wish I was a God Only Knows Person.) I also like Lund, which is another snippet into the mind of a teenage girl singing about two brothers who come to visit her and look down on her because "I was too young, not interesting at all" and I linked to the single, Anna on my last post. I really do love Hello Saferide and if and when they play London, I will be there with knobs on, possibly singing along and crying at the same times.

The Priscillas - 10,000 Volts

This is my friend Kate's band so I have a special advance copy of their new album, which is really rather shockingly good. The next single is All The Way To Holloway, which I can appreciate being North London born and bred and just so you know, Amy Winehouse totally stole their look and now they've had to retire their beehives.

Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue

Not loving it quite so much as Rabbit Fur Coat, but I think it's a grower.

I'm currently reading

Or rather I've just read an out-of-print Virgao Modern Classic, The Brontes Went To Woolworths by Rachel Ferguson, a story about a rock 'n' roll band and kidnapping kangaroos and a complaint call centre called You Don't Love Me Yet by Jonathan Lethem and have just started Jay McInerney's Brightness Falls. But I also read The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy, which I recced on my summer reading lists. Did anyone else read it? Did you love it as much as I did>

I'm currently watching

Lots of things, all American, which I acquire by illegal means so probably best not to discuss them here.

I'm currently wasting time

Playing far too much Scramble on Facebook. I think I need a 12-step programme.


So, that's about it for now. I promise to update much more regularly from now on, unless I have more copious novel revisions in my very near future.

Live on

Sarra x

Summer Reading List (Part Two - Difficult women)

Is anyone even reading my humble blog offerings anymore or are you all sunning yourself in foreign climes?

Anyways, on Friday I delivered my first grown-up book, except today I decided there were at least two chapters that needed to be completely rewritten. But mostly it's done and as Dusty once sang, I just don't know what to do with myself. Tomorrow I will probably start my next teen book as I don't believe in taking writing breaks; it's a heady combination of an over-developed work ethic, credit crunch hysteria and Jewish guilt. Be very glad you're not me!

So, I finally have time to post the second part of my reading recs. There will be other parts to come, but this time I wanted to focus on my favourite female writers. In fact, with a few notable exceptions, all my favourite writers are women. People can be quite sniffy about writing for women and the themes women writers explore, but I want to read about relationships, shopping, food, sex, friendships, clothes and life and death and everything in between. I don't like reading about people blowing each other up, anything too sci-fi-ish or fantasy and crime. But that's just a personal preference and really? The only difference between female writing and male writing is that they're written by different sexes. Neither one is less or more than the other, but the writers I mostly come back to are stubborn, difficult women who write about other stubborn, difficult women, because I am one. So, here we go:

1. The Collected Dorothy Parker

Dorothy Parker was a noted wit in the 1920's, who was thwarted in love, drank too much and hung out with the likes of F Scott Fitzgerald. She never wrote a full-length novel, but all her short stories, poems and book reviews are gathered in this compendium. You probably already know of her as she wrote the famous epiphet, "Men never makes passes/At girls in glasses," but she's so much more than that. Her stories are always funny, but have this black edge running through them and actually the New York of her 1920's in very similar to the New York of Gossip Girl in that underneath all the style and shallowness, there's something sad and unhappy lurking underneath. God, Blair Waldorf is the spiritual great-grand-daughter of Dottie P!

2. The Pursuit Of Love and Love In A Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford

I'm absolutely obsessed with the Mitford Sisters, six debutantes who shocked England with their antics. Though I have no time for Unity Mitford, who was in love with Hitler, or Diana Mitford, who married Oswald Moseley leader of the British fascists. But I love Jessica Mitford who eloped with her Communist cousin when she was 17 and I adore Nancy who wrote two of my favourite novels, The Pursuit Of Love and Love In A Cold Climate. These are not sappy romances, but mannered, elegant stories about love and the upper classes and are full of wit and acid observations but, as usual, have this core of hopeful sadness running through them.

3. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

A shy, timid slip of a girl meets a much older, rich man and marries him, as you do. He takes her back to his big, creepy house, Manderlay, which is managed by his equally creepy housekeeper, Mrs Danvers, and the second Mrs De Winter (we never discover her first name!) starts to piece together how his first wife, Rebecca died. You should also check out the film, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, which is just as spooky and atmospheric as this book.

4. Edie: An American Biography by Jean Stein

When I was 17, I was besotted with Edie Sedgwick, a superstar created by pop artist, Andy Warhol. Edie came from a really wealthy, completely bonkers East Coast family, did a spell in a psychiatric hospital and came to New York. She cut and died her hair silver to match Andy Warhol's, starred in his pretentious movies, had an affair with Bob Dylan (his album Blonde On Blonde is rumoured to be about Edie)and did copious amounts of drugs. She was a doomed, tragic little girl lost and I thought she was wonderful! This biography tells the story of Edie's life through the anecdotes and
memories of the people who knew her. And let's not mention the film, Factory Girl, OK?


There may be more. I'm sure there's more, but my brain currently feels like blancmange (it's been a rather erm, alcoholic weekend!) so I'm going to post and be damned and maybe come back to this in a day or so.

And don't forget to vote for me in the Queen Of Teen thingy.


Live on

S x

Summer reading list (Part One - The Classics)

Finally, in the downtime between the second and third drafts of the grown up book and filing my business taxes (because being a writer is dead glamorous), I have found an hour to compile some book recs. It will be a part work, because there are so damn many of them.

So, I'm starting with the classics. Those books of yore that you might even have to study at school and always end up on those 100 Books That Everyone Should Read lists - there's a reason for that; it's because they're magical, life-changing books. But here's my take on them.

1. I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith"

Ignore the fact that she also wrote 101 Dalmations, which actually I love, and the terrible film they made of this book, I Capture The Castle is one of the most poignant coming of age books. Which means the main character, Cassandra, is dreamy and insular and given to flights of fancy to escape her life of genteel poverty, unrequited love and a beautiful older sister. The last paragraph makes me cry every time I read this book and I've probably read it about ten times.

2. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

I actually did this book for GCSE English when I was but a mere slip of a girl even that wasn't enough to ruin it for me! And of course you all know that I love it as one Atticus Smith from Let's Get Lost was named for Atticus Finch, the lawyer pa of Scout who defends a black man in 1930's Alabama against charges that he raped a white woman. Not only is it a really powerful story about civil rights, or the lack of them, it's about being a kid on long, hot days when the summer stretches out before you but by the time the first leaves fall from the tree, you've lost some of your childhood innocence as you realise what an ugly place the world can be. It always reminds me of that line from The Breakfast Club, "When you grow up, your heart dies."

3. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

I went through a huge Plath phase during my turbulent teen years. Like, always carrying her Collected Poems with me, going on pilgrimages to Chalcot Square, hating on Ted Hughes, writing my own sub-par Plath-esque poetry and, on one occasion, dragging a poor friend to a really bad play about La Plath at a theatre in a pub. Lord, I was one pretentious little bitch! That said, it's been years since I read The Bell Jar but it should be compulsory reading for all teenage girls with writerly aspirations. Basically, Esther Greenwood (but really Plath herself) wins a magazine writing contest and spends a summer in New York interning for them, with 11 other girls. She almost gets date-raped in a car park, has a really bad experience losing her virginity, then has a nervous breakdown. Why, it's a laugh on every page! Except, it's not but you should probably read it, because all us moody girls who like to wear too much black should.

4. The Catcher In The Rye

I always think of The Catcher In The Rye as a companion book to The Bell Jar, or the boy version of The Bell Jar. Holden Caulfield is one of the most biting, angry voices I've ever read. Holden is a deeply troubled teenager, scarred by the death of his perfect older brother and bumming around New York for a couple of days after geting kicked out of his expensive boarding school. It occurs to me that so many of these books are about disaffected youths who get stuck as they make the transition to a scary, grown-up world. Like, the loss of innocence that makes you an adult is a catastrophe for them. Holden moves through life as if the top layer of his skin has been shaved off so he feels everything too deeply, while at the same time he's almost numb. Or actually obsessed with the phoniness he sees in the people around him. I loved The Catcher In The Rye when I was going through adolescence but as I got older, Salinger's other books about The Glass family (Raise High The Roof Beam Carpenters and Franny And Zooey) are the ones I come back to time after time.

5. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Not my favourite Austen, which would either be Emma or Pride And Prejudice but this was Miss Austen's first novel and I think it's a good place to start for anyone who's a bit wary of books written in Ye Olden Dayes. Catherine Moreland is a 17-year-old girl obsessed with gothic romance novels. No, not like Twilight! Well, actually, yes exactly like Twilight but in Miss Austen's day these were melodramatic novels about haunted houses and heroines with heaving bosoms tormented by the ghosts of evil landowners and doomed lovers. Catherine has to separate fantasy from reality in her own search for love, which is something I've never managed to do. Now, in life I think you're either a Bronte fan or an Austen fan and I'm Austen all the way. I can't be doing with all that mopping and mowing about the moors and orphanages and madwomen in attics. Whereas with Miss Austen's novels, there's a lightness and elegance to them and I think her heroines are truly modern young women refusing to give up their dreams and settling for anything less than what they truly deserve. In fact, you can still relate to all her characters some three hundred years later, apart from Fanny Price in Mansfield Park who's stuck-up little prig. Please don't be put off by the language. The secret is to get into the rhythm of her writing and it doesn't matter if you don't perfectly understand each sentence, because all of a sudden you just get caught up and lifted away by the story and woah, you're an Austen girl. Welcome to our club. Another three members and I get the toaster oven.

6. Bonjour Tristesse by Francois Sagan


Literally translated as Hello Sadness. A story about une jeune fille de France just as a change of pace. Again, a crazy teenage girl going through crazy teenage things but she's French so it's all the more crazy and sophisticated. Oh la la!

7. Breakfast At Tiffany's by Truman Capote

Much, much darker than the film, Holly Golightly is a little girl lost in the Big Apple, running from her past and trying to find solace in a world of parties and rich men. Which never ends well.


Well, that's enough to be getting on with. I shall be back with more fabulous books for you to read and fall in love with. But right now, I have to write a letter to my accountant...

Live on


Sarra x

Nominate me!

Hello chickadees

I'm back from the Lake District, where I spent a lot of time being harassed by swans, geese, ducks and moorhens, which was very traumatising for a city girl like me. And I ate too much thunder and lightning ice cream, which is vanilla with chocolate and cinder toffee. Absolutely delicious!

I've been told by the Powers That Be to ask you to nominate me to be Queen Of Teen. It's a contest to find the favourite writer of girls aged between 10 and 18. Click here to nominate me (and your nomination automatically enters you into a competition to come to the 'coronation' and ride in a limousine and some such.) If I make the shortlist of ten writers announced on July 10th, I'll then nag you and nag you and nag you to vote for me. Sounds like a plan!




Regular commenter, Koko, has asked me if I've read Twilight by Stephenie Meyer and what I think of it. But actually, I rarely read other teen fiction. I tend to be rather sponge-like and soak up stuff I've read so don't want to be unconsciously influenced by other teen writers when I'm working on a book. But also, I just prefer to do my own thing, and plough my own lonely teen furrow, without worrying what other YA writers are doing. In fact, as I write my grown-up book, I've stopped reading novels altogether. If they're good, I get all insecure and if they're distinctly not good, I start wondering what the point is of it all! It's memoirs and biographies for the forseaable future.

But if you like, I could make a list of my favourite teen books, either books I loved as a teen or books that I've read that I think you'd enjoy. Leave me a comment.

And don't forget to nominate me. I'm off to tackle the laundry mountain and clean my oven because being a writer is non-stop glamour!

Live on

Sarra x

Welcome to the Upper East Side, Bitch

A science-based compare and contrast on which show rockeths the most: The OC or Gossip Girl

(**WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR UK READERS/VIEWERS**)

Marissa Cooper vs. Serena Van Der Woodsen

Both blonde girls with issues, low-rent boyfriends and an extremely low tolerance for alcohol. Serena does deserve some credit for being even more freaking annoying than Marissa, which I didn't even think was possible but mostly she just tosses her hair, talks out of the side of her mouth and has put all her demons behind her. Qu'elle boring. Marissa on the other hand, was one hot mess of a trust fund girl. Who can forget the time she OD'ed in Mexico, shot Ryan's brother and tried out lesbianism to see if it brought out the blue in her eyes? Marissa was so out-of-control crazy that her own mother tried to get her committed and she could throw a hissy fit with the best of them.

Winner: The OC

Seth Cohen vs. Dan Humphreys

Yes, Dan's cute and he does have really good arms, but serves no other purpose than to follow Serena around slavishly, scrunching up his forehead when she plays hot and cold with his emotions. My future husband, Seth, though was a fully-faceted character in his own right with his seething mass of neuroses, his bitching t-shirt and CD collection and his monumental self-obsession. Then there was his way with a quip, his talent for drawing comic books and his Nick & Norah (that would be The Thin Man films NOT the YA book) relationship with Summer. Still need convincing? C'mon, ladies, Seth invented Chrismukkah!

Winner: The OC

Summer Roberts vs Blair Waldorf

I loved Summer, I really, really did. But I love Blair more. (Though it may be unfair to deathmatch them just for having the same colour hair.) I have a weakness for bitch goddess brunettes and Blair Waldorf is the bitch goddess Queen, while Summer lost her bitch goddess edge after The Powers That Be re-worked her character after the first few episodes. I can't hate on Summer too much so will just say that I love how Blair channels Audrey Hepburn in her outfits and Bette Davis every time she opens her mouth: "I think we can agree to those terms. But you can't wear those shoes." Or that hair." Oh, Blair, you're so my girl.

Winner: Gossip Girl

Sandy Cohen vs. Rufus Humphreys

On paper, Rufus should be way cooler because he lives in a loft in Brooklyn, used to be a rock star and own an art gallery. But his whiney mope rock anthems suck, the art he sells is crap and he's just a Disco Vicar imitation of Sandy Cohen, the coolest TV dad ever. He surfed! He was a public defense lawyer, taking a crap salary to help the disadvantaged! He loved bagels! He rescued Ryan from 'Cino! And he had the best fricking eyebrows in the world! Sandy for the win!

Winner: The OC

Chuck Bass vs. Ryan Atwood

Ah, the bad boys. Now Ryan was pretty hardcore. He did go to juvie and get stabbed in the neck with a fork in the very first episode. But take away the anger management issues and the puppy dog eyes and you weren't left with much in the way of charisma. Now, Chuck, on the other hand may be evil, but my goodness, he has charisma in spades. Other girls may coo over Nate, but the clever money is on Chuck as the Upper East Side boy it's cool to like. Plus, he knows how to accessorise and he's not afraid to wear bright colours, which should never be underestimated.

Winner: Gossip Girl

Julie Cooper vs. Lily van der Woodsen

They've both been married umpteen times to really rich men despite their dodgy pasts but there the similarity ends. We're meant to believe that the icy Lily who walks about with a smell under her nose and a stick wedged up her arse was a groupie. But then we discover that she was a groupie for Rufus, so actually not so much and she was only doing it to rebel against the pressure of being absolutely stinking rich. But Julie Cooper dragged herself up from trailer park trash to social prominence in the OC but along the way she was into poodle perm rockers and made a really tacky sex tape. While Lily spends her day supervising flower arrangement and being haughty, Julie had her own escort agency and she would totally take Lily down in a fight. We're talking serious maiming, possibly dismemberment using only her nails.

Winner: The OC for sho'

New York couture vs. Californian chic

I loved how Marissa and Summer were the first girls on TV to wear Marc Jacobs and Miu Miu and bloody Chanel, lest we forget. And they paved the way for the Gossip Girls' serious, designer real estate. I have a fashgasm every time, Blair appears on screen, keep adding to my wishlist items on netaporter.com each time I see a new bag on GG and wonder whether I could possibly rock a brightly coloured trench coat. Though, I am nearing my tolerance threshold for hair bands and coloured tights. One more pair of yellow tights and my retinas might just explode.

Winner: A tie!

New York vs. Orange County

That Californian surfer lifestyle was cool with the beach and the Bait Shop (I think that was the name of the club where all those Emo bands used to play) and sipping milkshakes at the diner. But they had to drive everywhere, which doesn't really translate to a British audience. Even the really poor kids have cars, which is something I've never been able to figure out about US shows. But, I digress. And say, New York! New York! So good they named it twice. Who wants the Bait Shop when there's dinner at Butter or shopping at Bergdorfs and pretending that Brooklyn is the absolute pits, but cool in a hard times chic way, just because it doesn't overlook Central Park. And they have those adorable yellow taxi cabs everywhere and streets you can actually walk down and even sitting on the school steps looks cool.

Winner: Gossip Girl

VERDICT: The OC only just scraped through by a nose, which surprises me. Maybe I love Gossip Girl more than I thought. Anywhere, here you have actual scientific proof that The OC is better than Gossip Girl. And that I am going on holiday tomorrow and will do anything to avoid packing and, laundry and oh yeah, finishing up all my outstanding work.


See you on the flipside, girlies


S x

Accept no substitutes

So, with the recent UK release of Candy, I have no new teen books coming out for a while, as I work on my first grown-up book Unsticky. And it's grown-up in that I'd be kinda horrified if anyone under 16 read it, though I guess the content is no more racy than you might find in an episode of, like, Sex And The City. And I guess you all watch that...

Anyways, there will be new teen-friendly fare from me, but I don't think it will be until late next year. Though I'm very excited to start writing the book I have in mind. After the slightly fluffier Fashionistas, it will be classic Manning and very much in the spirit of Diary Of A Crush and Let's Get Lost. But I can't say any more than that.

I did want to assure you that I'm not going anywhere and I plan to regularly update this blog, which I have been very lax about of late. But without much book news, I really want to start having some fun here. I was saying to my friend, Sarah, that I really miss being on a teen mag at the moment because there's so much great stuff happening and there's no Ellegirl or J17 to cover it in the inimitable style with which we covered stuff. And then I thought: I have a blog! And teenage readers! So, I'm going to post all manner of odd pop culture snippets, both old and new, and witter on about them. Please see below:

THE ONE AND THE ONLY SETH COHEN



DAN HUMPHREY - SETH COHEN LITE




Is Gossip Girl just a pale East Coast imitation of our beloved OC? This is just one burning issue that I will be sharing in the weeks to come. Hey, let's all have some heated debates...

I've been less and I've been more...

I know. I know! I haven't updated in ages. Mostly because I've been working flat-out on the final book in the Fashionistas series, Candy. I finished the first draft yesterday (I don't get to have the weekends off) and now I'm just about to start re-writing the whole thing and hoping that I can deliver it in time for the final deadline. Ho hum!

Apart from that my life has become incredibly boring. Apart from the occasional trip to Primark, I haven't been doing much. The new Rilo Kiley and the old Feist albums are in constant rotation. I've been reading the entire oeuvre of a novelist called Patrick Hamilton, which are all set between the wars and feature desperate alcoholics and ladies of easy virtue and mya be responsible for my current state of ennui (translation: Meh!) I also really need to stop playing so much Scrabulous on Facebook.

I will have some exciting news soon about various things that are in the pipeline. Some of them will thrill you. Some of them may not but them's there the breaks.

What I would like to share with you is the cover of the third Fashionistas book, Irina. There it is at the top of the post! And also tell you that the current synopsis up on amazon.co.uk is not the right synopsis at all and is littered with typos and just plain, bad wrongness. This is the official synopsis:

Irina used to steal designer clothes from Moscow's best stores. Now she's living in London and modelling them in the pages of glossy fashion magazines. Nothing and no one is going to stop her from becoming the world's most famous supermodel. Especially not her three really lame flatmates.
But hooking up with gorgeous photographer’s assistant Javier and getting on the wrong side of top model, Caroline Knight, isn't part of her plan. Will Irina drop the diva act and let her heart rule her head just this once?


I'm also way behind on replying to MySpace messages, so I'm going to have to write a form reply letting people know that their usual queries (why is there no sequel to Guitar Girl/Diary Of A Crush/Let's Get Lost etc) can be found in the tags on this here blog.

And also still no news about a US publisher for Fashionistas. I'm as pissed off as you guys about that, but if there is any news on that front, you'll be the first to know, I promise!


Live on


Sarra x

I must eat so many lemons...

Hello earthlings

After the wettest, soggiest summer since records began, I'm happy to report that London is finally sunshine-y and warm. Hurrah! Also, I escaped unscathed after getting run over by a bus but will never step out into the road without looking again.

On to more important topics. Thank you so much to everyone who commented on the first Fashionista's book, Laura. I know that it seems light and fluffy on the surface (and on the cover!) but like all my stories, it's about what lies beneath the masks that people wear. And I'm really grateful that so many of you understood that.

Unfortunately, I have no news to report about any US or Canadian publication date for the series. The British edition should be available on amazon.com and amazon.ca though. Austrlian and NZ readers, the series should be on sale at the usual places and there will be French, German and Dutch editions next year.

However, I am working on a little something that will only be published in the US next year. Can't say anymore at this stage but you guys will be the first to know when I can spill.

I've also done a little press for Fashionistas at two of my very favourite websites. The first interview is at pink-world.co.uk. You can find it here
and I also answered my own question, 'what does being a fashionista mean to you?' at chicklish.co.uk. You can read my thoughts here.

While I'm in a linky mood, I wanted to rec a couple of books I've read recently. I don't really read much teen fic 'cause I like to stay in my own little teen world but y'all have to rush out and get a copy of Notes From The Teenage Underground by my MySpace pal, Simmone Howell.
She's an Australian writer who tells the story of Gem and her two frenemies, Lo and Mira and their plans to stage an Andy Warholesque happening. Except it doesn't quite work out as Gem thought it would. This is such a great book about movies, how fraught friendship can be and what it feels like to be on the outside looking in. I really identified with it as I was obsessed with Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick when I was a teenager.

The other book I wanted to rave about is my mate Grace Dent's Diary Of A Chav: Trainers vs. Tiaras. It's about Shiraz Bailey-Wood from Essex who's a pink hoodie-wearing chav with an emo older sister, a fat dog and ambitions to become a reality TV star. Don't read it on the bus though 'cause you'll start cackling out loud and people will think you're deranged. It's also worth checking out Grace's Big Brother blog At the moment I'm hating on Ziggy so hard.

What else? I'm listening to Kate Nash too much and spitting out words in a mockney style. Want to weep for the travesty that is Britain's Next Top Model. Need to sort out what I'm doing for my birthday next week and will be fostering a six week old kitten who needs bottle feeding while my cousin is on holiday.

I'm also writing some words that will become a book one day. Y'know, same old, same old...

Live on


Sarra x

Welcome to the Rockalypse...

Happy Eurovision Day readers

Tonight I will be going to a Eurovision Song Contest Party, as is my wont to do. There's going to be a Sweepstake though I will pick the country that only get a measly un point from the Slovakian jury. But I think you can either turn up your nose and be too cool for skool about Eurovision or you can embrace the cheese. I embrace it with both arms!

I also just want to remind you that I do have a MySpace and that also I've just bought a 50's clock from a charity shop, which ticks so loudly I can barely hear the TV. I just felt the need to share that.

But for now, I thought I'd post an author's questionnaire I just complete for my publishers in the run-up to the release of the first Fashionista's Book, Laura on July 17th. Be warned! I ramble on and on and on and on and on...

1. Do you consider yourself a Fashionista?

I consider myself a Fashionista of epic proportions. I love clothes and accessories. In fact, two hours before I wrote this questionnaire, I was racing round the new Primark in London's swinging Oxford Street on a seek and destroy mission for a black, broderie anglaise summer frock.

I love how clothes can transform you, how you can be whoever you want to be depending on your outfit. I'm not a diehard fashion victim, I have my own look (which I call The Lipstick Librarian) but I like adding new pieces (a lot of new pieces!) each season to bring my style up to date. And I have little truck with fashion rules, like curvy girls shouldn't wear horizontal stripes. Fashion to me is just another way of expressing myself creatively and my fashion rules are that there are no rules!

My most beloved items in my closet are a vintage fitted dress with lurex stripes and a skirt that foofs out in a delightful manner and my limited edition Marc Jacobs multi-pocket bag in peacock blue with red top-stitching. It was so expensive that I had a panic attack five seconds after I signed the credit card slip!

2. Which character in your books do you identify with the most?

I identify the most with whichever character I happen to be writing at the time. I think that there is a common thread running through all my girls of people trying to figure out who the hell they want to be and how they're going to achieve that without losing part of themselves in the process. That's how I felt when I was a teenager. I knew I wanted to be a writer and I knew that I wasn't like a lot of other girls my age because of the way I looked and the music I listened to, the books I read and the things I liked to do. When I stopped kicking against that and realised that it was OK to be different, I became a lot happier in myself. So I guess I could really identify with Isabel from Let's Get Lost – not just because my mother passed away just before I started the book, but because I was so prickly and defensive when adolescence began to kick in.


3. How did you become a "Teen Queen Extraordinaire"? Was it always your dream to be a writer?

I have no idea how I became a Teen Queen Extraordinaire! Just luck, I guess! Certainly when I was a teenager, apart from loving Just Seventeen magazine (which I went on to write for), I shunned teen culture. But as I got older, I found myself obsessed and excited with things like old skool Sassy magazine and the TV show, My So-Called Life. My theory is that I made such a hash of being a teenager first time around, that I'm trying over and over again to get it right. I still feel the same away as I did when I was 17 – still trying to figure out all the big, heavy stuff and maybe that's why it feels very natural to write from the point of view of a teenage girl.

And I've always wanted to be a writer. Ever since I learnt the alphabet and suddenly realised that you could make words out of the letters. Certainly there are people who knew me when I was eight who can remember me announcing that I was going to be a writer – though I had a brief flirtation with wanting to be in a band but as I have no musical talent whatsoever, it was a very brief flirtation!

4. What is your favourite book?

I refuse to pick just one! The books that I re-read over and over again are Girl by Blake Nelson, Fabulous Nobodies by Lee Tulloch, The Pursuit Of Love and Love In A Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford, all of the Jane Austens (apart from Mansfield Park because I think Fanny Price is a stuck-up little prig) and Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita. Though I do read other stuff – anything and everything from Edith Wharton to Mills & Boon to biographies on Madame de Pompadour!

5. Who are your heroes?

Diana Vreeland who was a marvellous, idiosyncratic, eccentric woman who was editor in chief of US Vogue. I love the way she wrote about fashion and the wilful way she lived her life.
Coco Chanel because she liberated women by raising hem lengths so they no longer needed help crossing the road.
Courtney Love because she inspired me so much when I was younger. No matter what crazy stuff she pulls, there's something about Courtney and what she used to be that means I'll always be a little bit in love with her.
And Joss Whedon because he gave me Buffy and I'm probably more inspired by good TV writing than books.
I wish I had a few people in here who'd helped find a cure for cancer or campaigned for world peace, but I'm a very shallow person.

6. Are your characters ever based on people you know?

Not really. Usually it's people that I don't really know but there's something intriguing about them or what they're doing and I file them in my head and drag them out at a later date for a vignette or an incidental character. It sounds vague but for instance, I was in New York last November at a really cool restaurant called Bette's waiting for the loo next to this louche girl with the most sooty eyelashes I've ever seen and she was so full of ennui because she was beautiful that I thought, "Oh, you are so going into a book of mine!"

7. How do you get your ideas? Are they ever based on real life experiences?

They just happen. Diary Of A Crush was inspired by the two years that I spent at college after my school asked me not to go back to do A-levels. It was a time when I was changing and blossoming and that was what Edie was going through too – though I never had a Dylan. Let's Get Lost was directly inspired by losing my mother and thinking to myself how much worse it would be to lose a parent when you were a teenager and in the middle of that process of pushing your parents away so you can learn to be your own person. But Fashionistas, my new series, is inspired by everything that's going on around me in the world; from America's Next Top Model to car-crash celebrities to New York to the size zero debate to reality TV stars to Project Runway to walking past shops selling Saris to internet It girls to Agyness Deyn to post-Communist Russia! Everything inspires me and causes my imagination to almost implode and I wouldn't have it any other way.

8. What is your favourite band? Does music ever inspire your writing?

The bands I never, ever get bored of are Belle And Sebastian, Saint Etienne, Velvet Underground, Hello Saferide (a new addition but she's a keeper) and my Growin' Up Too Fast 60's girl group collection. At the moment I'm listening to a lot of Swedish bands and old French pop – I'm very Continental!

Music is a huge part of my writing process. Sometimes one song becomes a theme for a book (like Broken Social Scene's Anthems For A Seventeen Year Old Girl was for Let's Get Lost) but I always make a playlist for my main character and listen to it while I'm writing. It's hard at the moment as I'm writing Irina, the third book in the Fashionistas, and she's a Russian girl who listens to rap music, which I don't know much about.

9. Do you have any regrets?

Yes, but it's for the things I didn't do, not the things I did. Which is just how it should be!

Lost in music

Salutations, my sweets!

I guess that some of you may be reading this blog for the first time, having found the address in the back of my new book, Let's get Lost. In which case, I say welcome! I try to update my blog weekly-ish with news, views and lots of ungodly whining.

And really, that's the main theme at the moment. Let's Get Lost goes on sale in North America (which includes Canada, yes?) tomorrow. And you should all go and buy it because it will change your lives in a myriad of amazing ways. Blah blah blah. Being British, I find the hard-sell a bit unseemly, so instead I will direct you to a little added value post I wrote for my Amazon plog, where I shared the playlist I listened to while I was writing the book. This is something I always try to do as a mood-shifter, a source of inspiration and a way of getting inside my character's head. I'm not saying that Isabel would know or even like all of these songs, but some of them are just so her. And certainly, she knows, loves and constantly listens to Anthems For A Seventeen Year Old Girl by Broken Social Scene.

So, without further ado,

Broken Social Scene - Anthems For A Seventeen Year Old Girl

Rilo Kiley - Portions For Foxes

Belle And Sebastian - Expectations

Ladytron - Seventeen

Blondie - Rip Her To Shreds

Camera Obscura - Suspended From Class

The Shins - Caring Is Creepy

Black Box Recorder - Rock 'n' Roll Suicide

Bright Eyes - Travellin' Song

Tindersticks - Tiny Tears

Thelma Houston - Crazy, Mixed-Up Girl


(Most of these fine recordings are available on iTunes and they're well worth checking out.)


You may want to actually follow this link to the Amazon plog because I did a nifty little website link for each artiste, because it was one click html coding. If I tried to do that here, my brain would explode.

In other news, I've just finished the first draft of the second book in my new series. The final draft of the first book is still in its padded envelope staring balefully at me, while I try to ignore it. Have I really talked about drafts? Would you like me to? What else would you like to know?

Finally, I'd like to say a big, shiny thank you to all the people who left comments in the lost post at blogspot – that's ,Caitlin, devann-dianna, madisonxxx, Caitlin (again?!) sarab3, Victoria, fairuh, lucy, and sinead – I'm really glad that the books meant so much to you.

OK, I need to go to the post office and drink more coffee.

Live on

Sarra x
(cross-posted to http://blog.myspace.com/sarramanning)

It'll change your life, I swear

Hello, gentle readers

My interpipe connection is wigging out in a quite spectacular fashion, while my broadband is upgraded. It's a cause of much vexation. So I'm going to post this in one of the rare seconds when I am actually online.

It's actually probably quite good that I can't while away many hours on the internet as I'm going to Florence for a little holiday the week after next and have made myself a solemn vow that I will have the first draft of the second book in the series (that I still can't tell you anything about) finished. By the way, does anyone know how to say, "I have a severe allergy to mustard" in Italian?

In the meantime, the current issue of British ELLE has an interview I did with Drew Barrymore and another interview of mine with Jonathan Rhys Meyer, if you're desperate for a Manning fix!

So, I haven't done this for a while but I thought I'd share a few of my favourite current things.

I'm listening to…

The Kids At The Club a superb indie pop compilation that you should all go out and buy. Right the hell now. I particularly love Lucky Soul, Suburban Kids With Biblical Names and Irene and I'm sure you will too!

I'm watching…

Bones which is a slightly icky series about a forensic anthropologist who does revolting things with decomposed remains to find out how they died. It stars David Boreanaz who I never fancied in the slightest in all my years watching Buffy and Angel but I will admit to the teensiest crush on him in this show. A word of warning: not to be watched while you're eating dinner.

I'm reading…

Fabulous Nobodies by Lee Tulloch – actually I'm re-reading it for the gazillionth time. I read this book years ago about a girl who has a closet full of fabulous vintage frocks who talk to her. She works as a door whore in New York, has a gay best friend and a crush on a suave man who also dresses beautifully. OK, it's not War And Peace but it's a really special book that languished in obscurity but has now been reissued. British girls, you'll have to order it from Amazon because it's only been re-issued in the States. (I love it so much that for years I'd buy up copies on eBay to give to my friends!

And that's the current state of me.

As ever, the disclaimer that I'm now adding to tbe bottom of every post: No more Diary Of A Crush books, like, ever!

(Cross-posted to http://blog.myspace.com/sarramanning)

No sir, I don't feel like dancing

Greetings girliea

Ah, the sun is but a dim and distant memory; it's grey and cold and all the delicious new autumn fashions are in the shops. Hurrah!

Because I spend most of my time in front of dark!Wes, my computer, I tend to live in jeans and a collection of faded logo retro tees but I'm coveting and even buying some fabulous frocks at the moment. And slouchy boy trousers. And I'm still loving polka dots and always will. In other style news, I have decided to stop straightening my hair after many years and I'm learning to love my curls.

On the writing front, I'm two thirds of the way through the first draft of the second book in my new series. It's still known as Untitled Sarra Manning series but I hope to be able to give you all the juicy details in a few weeks. I'm also doing a lot of freelance writing at the moment, mainly because I had a humungous tax bill come through and I want to go to New York in October and do some serious damage in the Marc by Marc Jacobs shop on Bleecker Street. Alas, his beautiful main range is too rich for my tastes.

I'm getting a lot of email requests for biographical information for school projects. Everything you need to know, or that I'm happy for you to know(!), is out there on the interpipe. Just type "sarra manning" (don't forget the speech marks) into a google search and you should find everything you could ever want to know. Except my age, my weight and my secret fears. A girl has to retain some mystery!

Also, I am obsessed with the new Scissor Sister single. But I always feel like dancing – especially when no-one else is watching…

As ever, the disclaimer that I'm now adding to tbe bottom of every post: No more Diary Of A Crush books, like, ever!

(Cross-posted to http://blog.myspace.com/sarramanning)

Here's One I Made Earlier

This is really a drive-by post with a little compendium of favourite things I compiled earlier in the week. I have a friend staying from New York so I've actually taken the weekend off from writing (don't tell my editor) to make the most of the glorious weather.

Yesterday I walked over seven miles taking in the green and rustic charms of Highgate and Hampstead and today, we hang out on the South Bank and visited the Tate Modern, which is rapidly becoming one of my favourite places on earth.

And now I'm about to soak my aching tootsies so I leave you with all the stuff that's getting me through the fraught and tricksome second draft. Thank goodness for distractions!

(Also I know I need to post a lot of replies to comments, but time keeps running away from me. I will do my best to try to address them next week. I really will!)

I'm reading

The Lost Art Of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice - This is such a sweet book (the pages are pink!) set in the 1950's about a girl who lives in a big, crumbling house, is obsessed with a popstar called Johnnie Ray and has her life changed when she meets the irrepressible Charlotte and her cousin Harry. It really reminds me of two of my favourite books, Love In A Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford and I Capture The Castle by Dodie SMith, which is definitely on my list of top five favourite books of all time. You have to read it! The last page always makes me weep every time.

Snow Flower And The Secret Fan by Lisa See - I picked this for our book group to read and it's one of those birth to death stories set in China about 150 years ago about two girls who grow up together. It was a beautiful story but the descriptions of foot-binding are beyond gross. Ick!

I'm listening to

Lets Get Out Of The Country by Camera Obscura - This is their new album, which isn't out yet but one of my friends is their publicist so I got an early copy. It's gorgeous. A little bit country, a little bit rock 'n' roll and a girl who sings the saddest songs in the saddest chords. My favourite track right now is probably Country Mile.

Cannibal Sea by The Essex Green - TEG were one of my discoveries of a couple of years ago when I picked up thei second album, The Long Goodbye. They don't really sound like anyone else, but this is music for late nights, dark rooms and mix tapes that you send your ex boyfriend to explain why he was wrong to ever let you go.

Lucky Soul - I'm a huge fan of 60's girl groups like The Shangri Las, The Ronettes and Pixies Three. My friend NK introduced me to Lucky Soul, from Britain who are taking up the torch and they make these great tear-drenched ballads or dizzy, big sound pop numbers that you can "sha la la la" to. They are a gazillion times better than The Pipettes who aren't fit to wear polka dots! You can check out some of Lucky Soul's songs here But can I just say that if you like their songs, please pay to download them from iTunes because small bands need all the money they can get!

I'm watching

Nick And Jessica - Newlyweds

I never saw it on when it was on the telly so now I'm mainlining the DVDs in almost disbelief. My God, I thought I whined a lot but Jessica Simpson has me beat. And I actually liked Nick Lachey more than I thought I would. It's sad though that I know that they're going to split up so watching Season 3 is particularly poignant as you can see the cracks!

Grey's Anatomy

Did the entire two series in a fortnight and now I'm jonesing for my next fix, which is weird as there's absolutely nobody I fancy in this show. Especially not McDreamy. (Though I would hate anyone to think that I'm so shallow that I only watch TV shows that feature good-looking popsies.

Alias

I started re-watching it last night, mainly because I want Mr Vaughn to be my Baby!Daddy. (Maybe I actually am that shallow!)

I'm also

Thinking about getting a new dog

Either a miniature Schnauzer or a Cockapoo

Learning to knit

I've almost finished making the longest scarf in the world, and I only dropped about five stitches. I have a feeling this will be my new obsession. I'm already thinking about taking a class so I can learn to knit on circular needles and make a hat with ears.


(Cross-posted to http://blog.myspace.com/sarramanning)

There's too much love...

Just eating a late lunch and drinking a glass of Welch's grape juice, which has this really gross undertaste of scented erasers. Ick!

Not much to report really. I'm hard at work on the first book in my new four-volume series, which will be published next year and the year after! I'm averaging about 3000 words a day at the moment, which is kinda lame for me but I do faff about a lot on MySpace and sending stupid emails to 6 Music. I'm distracto girl!

I would like to thank everyone who's left comments on blogspot and My Space. It's probably worth repeating to any newcomers that there are NO plans to write sequels to Diary Of A Crush, Guitar Girl or any of my other books. What you've got is what you're going to get, I'm afraid. I'm also quite amused by the reviews for Guitar Girl on amazon.com that are obsessing about how the book was based on the Sex Pistols, or No Doubt or Babes In Toyland. To which I have to officially say, not even! I was a music journalist for three years and Molly's story is the classic story of any wide-eyed kid that gets thrown into the music industry too far and too fast. Yes, it's easy to read the book and then find a real-life person in a band and draw paralells (hmmm, that's not spelt right) because evil managers and screwed up relationships with other band members and the like happens all the time. Sorry for the rant, but I'm always upfront about my influences and inspirations, and those reviews have really been bugging me.

So because all I do all day is write and not actually have a life, I thought I'd post about a few things I'm into at the moment.

I'm reading...

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

He's such a funny writer and this is the perfect book to read before I snuggle down for the night.

Cooking With Fernet Branca by James somebody or other

I had to read this for my book group and it's awful. Easily on my top three list of worst books I've ever had to read. It has all these reviews on the back about how funny it is. But they lie. Boy, how they do lie!

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

When I was in the States, I did my usual trip to Borders to stock up on interesting looking books - usually teen stuff and books about hipsters who dress really well while they try to find themselves. I picked this up and can't wait to read it.

The Nightwatch by Sarah Waters

I love her books, even though I couldn't finish Affinity because I got too scared.


I'm listening to...

Belle And Sebastian

Mainly because I'm always listening to Belle And Sebastian and their new single is out this week.

My new work-out playlist

Which is all the really fast bits from the last Go!Team and Goldfrapp albums.

The Essex Green - The Cannibal Sea

I heart this band. Gorgeous vocals and they're a little bit country, a little bit rock 'n' roll, a little bit magical.

The Priscillas

One of my best friends is in this band (in fact, she's cooking me dinner tonight before she tries to kick my arse in Scrabble.) They have really big hair and they rock. No, my mistake, THEY ROCK!!!!!!!!


I'm watching...

The OC

I'm mid-way through a big project to re-watch every single episode of The O.C because OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seth + Summer 4EVA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Supernatural

But I might have to give it up because I really do get too frightened . I should probably point out that I'm the most fraidy person in the world. Even a car back-firing in the street sends me into conniptions.

America's Next Top Model

This is my total TV crack. I love this show so much that if it wasn't completely illegal I'd be downloading the newly airing US series off the interpipe. Not that I am because it would be wrong. But, hey, if I was - what is Jade's problem? Qu'elle une bitch!

Veronica Mars

She's my second favourite, tiny blonde ass-kicker after Buffy.



And now I need to get back to my contractually obligated 3000 words. I'm still waiting for the other competition winner (that movie cast promo I ran) to leave me her email. I can't remember your name, but hey, step to it!

This grape juice really is disgusting...

Live on

Sarra

(cross-posted to http://blog.myspace.com/sarramanning)

And so the year turns a full circle...

Happy Holidays, gentle readers

I hope you all have a stress-free Crimbo, get tons of wonderful gifts and eat as much as you like without feeling bilious.

I'm going to my Dad, who lives about six miles away, and will be cooking Christmas dinner for him and my sister, nieces, maybe my brother and anyone else who's around. Note to self: Remember to pick up the turkey you ordered from M & S.

It's been a very exciting end of year for me as I signed with an agent on Monday. I've never had one, though most writers do, but I seemed to spend so much time doing boring business things and not enough time writing. I now have a film and TV agent too so hopefully this time next year I'll be in Hollywood asking Jake Gyllenhaal if he wouldn't mind just whipping off his top before he auditions. I wish!

I thought it would be sweet to do a little round-up of all my favourite things of the year for your reading pleasure...

Favourite tunes

Milk Bottle Symphony - Saint Etienne

I'm Glad I Hitched My Apple Wagon To Your Star - The Boy Least Likely To

I Never - Rilo Kiley

Hung Up - Madonna

The Only One - Ready Made FC

Travellin' Song - Bright Eyes

Another Sunny Day - Belle And Sebastian


Favourite Books

The Shadow Of The Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Here Kitty Kitty by Jardine Libaire

Twins by Marcy Dermansky

Hairstyles Of The Damned by Joe Meno

Eleanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland


Favourite TV shows

Veronica Mars

Lost

The O.C (Seth + Summer 4 Eva!)

Gilmore Girls

House

Little Britain

Alias

(God, I love my US TV!)


Favourite films

Serenity

Me, You And Everyone We Know

2046

Sin City


I haven't seen a lot of films this year, mostly DVDs but there are a ton coming out in the UK soon that I want to seel I Walk The Line, Capote, Brokeback Mountain, The Producers, Memoirs Of A Geisha and March Of The Penguins, aw!


So, as I draw to a close, I wanted to do something a little special to finish my last post of the year. I always make a mix CD that I send out with my Christmas cards that has my favourite songs from the year. All the tunes I mentioned above are on the 2005 one, plus some others and you could win a copy of it. Yes, you! All I want you to do is leave a comment but it has to be a haiku about one of your favourite things of the year. Don't know what a haiku is? Look it up in a dictionary. And don't forget to include your email address. (There could be more than one winner too!)

So, happy holidays once again and see you in the New Year.

Love

Sarra

Nothing short of total procrastination...

If I put my mind to it, I'll have finished the final draft of Let's Get Lost tomorrow and can spend Sunday doing fun things like going to the cinema. Instead I'm sitting here and staring out of the window at a grey sky as it tries really hard to thunderstorm and realise that I've just spent two hours faffing about now 5 minutes actually working on the book. That's not a good work/faffing about ratio!

In order to waste even more time, here are some things that I'm really obsessed about right now.

TomKat

That would be the weird, whirlwind romance of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. I'm sorry, Kate Holmes - she's officially changing her name. I don't know. What ever would Pacey say.

Tales From Turnpike House - Saint Etienne

This is the new CD from Saint Etienne, one of my favourite bands. It tells the story of 24 hours in the life of a block of flats and the people who live there. I love the way Saint Etienne are, for me, the sound of London; they're dirty pop, sad love songs, bleak optimism.

Lost

This is a drama series that's been on in the States that I did not download from the internet because that's illegal and wrong. It's by the guy who made Alias and it's about the plane that crashes onto this weird tropical island and it's all spooky and the survivors all seem to be there for a specific reason. I think they're going to show it on Channel Four soon.

Gmail

Email from Google. It's so sleek and shiny and Hotmail is so 1999!

People thinking that The Faders inspired Guitar Girl

Whatever! Ever think that maybe Guitar Girl inspired The Faders?!


OK, I really should go and work on the book until it's time for Big Brother...

S x

Things that make my heart go pitter patter

* First cup of coffee of the day.

* Being in the pool on a sunny day and swimming right under the skylight where the water's sun-dappled.

* Being all clean and post-showered with just-shaved legs and then sliding into a freshly laundered bed and snuggling down with a good book as the rain pelts against the Velux windows.

* Hanging out with good friends and giggling at whatever DVD we're watching before we raid the fridge for Munchies.

* Watching my niece come into the world.

* The smell of freesias first thing in the morning.

* French Disko by Stereolab on my iPod and bouncing down the road, or a long bus journey so I can get in one complete play of If You're Feeling Sinister.

* When I lose weight and my jeans get too big and slip down my hips.

* Good hair days, good eyebrow days, good fashion ensemble days and my signature slash of red lipstick.

* Emails from teenage girls who completely understand.

* Still being able to believe in love.

* Anything with polka dots.

* Walking through Highgate Woods and feeling at one with nature before getting the bus the rest of the way home.

* Aw, dogs sitting in cars with their heads stuck out of the window and their tongues wagging in the breeze.

* Imagining the boy who hasn't given up on finding me.

* The last paragraph of Guitar Girl.

* My rich, inner life...