Introducing uber-talent Cathy Hopkins, author-girl of the hugely successful Mates, Dates and…. series and our absolute new favourite, Cinnamon Girl a series about India-Jane, known to her friends and big, chaotic family as Cinnamon Girl.
India Jane was born in India, she’s lived all over the world. But what she really wants is to stop travelling and have a real home.
To find out more about Cinnamon Girl and what it’s really like to be a writer-girl supreme we put on our pink-sparkly journo-girl hat and grilled the lady herself…
Describe author-girl Cathy in 5 words…
a mass of contradictions, argh.
Have you always wanted to be a writer-girl and how did you make it happen?
No. I wanted to be a ballet dancer first. Then an air hostess. Oh yes (I was 11, I liked the BA uniform, virry glam). Then a rock and roll singer. Then a Buddhist. Then an artist. ( I could go on…) I wrote my first book in 1987 and it was for the humour market and called GirlChasing, How to Improve your Game. Writing that gave me the writing bug and I spend many years doing all the creative writing classes that I could whilst doing various jobs to support the bit of writing I did- I was having a go at all sorts of things, screenplays, sit coms, novels for adults and wasn’t really sure where I fitted.
In 2000, I got a new agent called Rosemary Bromley and she said that I should be writing for the teenage market. She changed everything for me because she introduced me to Brenda Gardner at Piccadilly Press who commissioned the first three books in the Mates Dates series. The books I did for her have now sold over 4 million and are published in 25 different languages. Huzzah. So really it was a team effort and I was lucky to find the right team.
Wow! Cathy, you have written A LOT of books - who’s your favourite fictitious creation and why?
Oo hard one that. I can relate to Izzie in the Mates Dates series because she is an Aquarian like me and endlessly curious. But I did enjoy writing from Nesta in the Mates Dates series point of view because she is more outspoken and outrageous that I am and it was great fun to write her dialogue. And of course I like all the boys because I write the kind of boys I’d like to have met when I was a teen.
Your latest series is Cinnamon Girl - why will we want to buy them and read them, pronto?
Because they are about stuff that happens to all of us. The rollercoast ride of relationships with boys, ups and downs of friendships. I hope readers will read them and say, yeah, I can identify with that. And although the series is mainly set in Notting Hil in London, I put some fab locations in too (a Greek island, the Amalfi coast in Italy) so that there’s an element of escapism there too.
We heart your Zodiac series too, what a fab idea! How does the wonderful world of Cathy’s mind generate a constant stream of ideas, especially when they’re so varied?!
Well the cool thing about doing the Zodaic series is that I automatically have 12 different characters - one for each star sign. It’s a very different type of series to the Mates Dates which is firmly rooted in reality. The Zodiac Girl series has a strong element of fantasy in that in the books, the 10 planets that rule the Zodiac are here in human form and living amongst us and help whoever is chosen to be a Zodiac Girl. I pick a star sign and then think, OK, this is what that sign wants, now, what could go wrong for them? What’s the worst thing that could happen? And then I’m off.
What’s a typical writing day in the world of Cathy?
Start work at 9.30. Work until 7.
The truth: - sometimes start with a walk with a neighbour because working at a computer all day, I am in danger of turn into the Queen Heffalump Blob. When I’m back, I go to office at the bottom of the garden at 9.30 with mug of coffee. Check facebook - wrench myself off facebook. Reply to emails and do post., laundry, comb the cats (I always have to clear the decks before I can start writing) Email my friend who is also a writer. Write until lunch time. Wander into the flat. Talk to the cats again. Hang washing out. Have light lunch. Think about what I’ve written. Back to office. Edit and rewrite what I’ve written in the morning. I aim to do between 1000 - 2000 wordds a day although a lot of my ‘writing’ time is spent rewriting.
What was your fave book as a teen girl?
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. Like Izzie in Mates Dates, I was looking for answers and questioning everything and when I picked up Siddhartha, I felt that it had been written for me.
What’s your fave book for teens now?
Holes by Louis Sachar. It’s a gem.
Who and what makes you jump-in-the-air-happy?
My husband makes me happy (most of the time…) And spending time with close friends. I have some brilliant friends who go back years - Greta, Jude, Sarah, Rosie, Heather, Sherry, Jenny, Charlie, Carol, Liz, Brenda, Lea, Annie, Jane. Fab girls.
What would a Cathy Hopkins soundtrack sound like?
Poignant (my husband would say miserable) but I like a bit of emo with a few strings thrown in for good measure.
Quick fire round - what’s your favourite:
Book: Narzis and Goldmund bt Hermann Hesse
Magazine: Interiors (we’re thinking of moving so I am thinking curtains, furniture, decor et)
Food: Anything made by my husband, he’s a great cook and makes food taste fab.
Place: the Rame peninsula, Cornwall
Film: Withnail and I
Hangout: the terrace at the Whitsand Bay Hotel, Portwrinkle, Cornwall, looking out at the sea.
Mood: Curious.
What’s next in the world of Cathy?
For Piccadilly Press, another Cinnamon Girl called Looking For a Hero - all about what we girls look for in love and all that goes with it. And 6 more Zodiac Girls books for Kingfisher/Pan MacMillan. Ohmigod, 6? Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…
What’s your motto for life?
Reach for the stars (to be sung in high soprano voice in a tacky dress with lots of sequin)
The colour pink. Discuss.
Pink is a colour often dismissed as being too girlie or frivolous, however, there are many shades of pink from light to shocking to dark. 12 pages of them in fact on Wikipedia!
www.cathyhopkins.com
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