As Good As It Gets? (44 page)

‘Sorry,’ I say, ‘I’d better take this …’ I march to the door and step outside. It’s Kate, the woman who interviewed me.

‘Hi, Charlotte, are you okay to talk just now?’

‘Yes, I’m fine,’ I say, glancing in through the restaurant window where Will is up on his feet now, getting Nina and Rosie to sit closer, arms around each other, for a photo.

‘We’d like to offer you the position of Marketing Director,’ she says.

‘Oh! I didn’t think I’d hear so quickly—’

‘It was an easy decision to make,’ Kate adds, proceeding to talk about my start date, and that she’d like me to pop in and go through my contract, and all that stuff – stuff which I’m extremely happy about, of course, but can barely process right now.

I take a moment to breathe when we’ve finished the call. When I step back inside the restaurant, all eyes are on a huge white cake, ablaze with candles and decorated with icing roses, which is being carried to our table.

‘Oh, Mum!’ Rosie cries, feigning mortification but clearly thrilled, ‘did you have to?’

‘Yeah,’ Will says, getting up and hugging me, ‘did you have to ask them to do a cake? It’s so embarrassing!’

I laugh, realising that of course he arranged it. ‘I got it,’ I whisper into his ear. ‘I got the job, Will.’

‘That’s fantastic,’ he says, hugging me. ‘You’re brilliant, you know that? You’re so clever and smart and of
course
they want you. I knew all along …’ Then he kisses me again, in front of everyone in this busy restaurant.

For once, the kids don’t look appalled. In fact they haven’t even noticed our outrageous display of affection. Nina and Ollie are singing happy birthday, and strangers are glancing around and joining in as our daughter blows out seventeen candles on this, the loveliest of days.

Can’t get enough of Fiona? Then read on for exclusive extras!

The Stories Behind The Story

Whenever I do readings or events, the most common question I’m asked is, ‘Where do you get your ideas from?’ In fact, lots of my own life makes its way into my books. Here’s what was on my mind when I wrote
As Good As It Gets?

Raising teenagers

I’ve written lots of books about the baby and little kiddie stage, which was great fun at the time – it’s the world I was immersed in then. Writing was squished into any spare time to could grab, when the children were napping, or late at night when everyone else was asleep. But I think it’s good to move on and explore new territory, so I was keen to delve into the whole mum/teenager dynamic this time around. It’s the stage I’m at with my own family (twin boys of 17, and daughter of 14). It can be heartbreaking, as a parent, when you start to feel shunned by the children you’ve devoted yourself to. But it’s all natural and normal – and I’d rather they were pulling away from me than still lying around at 37 years old, grumbling that I’d bought the wrong cereal. It’s a challenging, often frustrating but fascinating stage.

Growing older

I love being the age I am right now. While Charlotte feels insecure, and wonders whether Will still finds her attractive, there’s lots of good stuff that happens when you reach your late thirties, forties and beyond. I feel far happier, in a deep, real way, than I did in my twenties. While I loved working on teen magazines, and made friends who are still my closest buddies now, my personal life was a bit all over the place. As for the not-so-great aspects of ageing – grey hairs, wrinkles, facial crevices: well, they’re fun to write about. Most women have glanced into the mirror and reeled back, thinking, ‘What the hell is
that?
’ I hope my readers can relate to these details in my stories and think, ‘God, yes – me too.’

Crisps

What can I say? I just love posh crisps! Give me a roaring fire, a box set and a big family bag on a cold winter’s night, and I’m happy. Mackie’s are my preferred brand – thick, crunchy and delicious – but really, I’ll grab any old packet in an emergency. As a freelancer who works from home, I tend to be a bit of a snacker. Hurrah for crisps!

Modelling

I worked on teen magazines –
Jackie, Just Seventeen
and
more!
– from the age of 17 to 31. Models would constantly be coming into the offices – gorgeous beings, almost otherworldly, but also quite shy and gawky sometimes. I wanted to incorporate a modelling strand into a story, and to explore how such a so-called glamorous career affects self-esteem when you’re so young. These models were usually around 16 or 17 and just starting out in their careers. I was Beauty Editor on
Just Seventeen,
which meant organising shoots, and I’d often book my favourite girls (they were always known as ‘girls’) as I’d know we’d have a great day with loads of laughs. Photographers, assistants, make-up artists and models – we were all great mates and many of us are still in touch, thanks to the wonders of Facebook. Kelly Brennan and Adele Mitchell were two of those favourite girls. While working on this book, I quizzed them about their modelling memories …

Fiona: How did you get started in modelling?

Kelly:
I was scouted in Covent Garden by an agent. I was on Easter break from college where I was doing my A-levels. I didn't think I was model material. I thought you had to be tall and pretty, and I was just tall!

Adele:
My boyfriend was a photography student and had pictures of me in his portfolio. He went to see
Vogue
to show them his work, and they asked who his model was. When he ‘my girlfriend’, they said I should call one of the top London agencies. I was 21 when I started, but told everyone I was 19!

Who was your first shoot for?

Kelly:
Draper's Record
[a fashion trade magazine]. I was scared and overwhelmed. I thought I might be sexually attacked by a sleazy photographer, but it was a lady photographer and I ended up really enjoying it. I even got to keep the coloured tights from the shoot afterwards! My second shot was for
Just Seventeen
.

Did you enjoy working for the teen mags?

Adele:
Yes. The whole team – models, stylist, photographer – tended to be young and ambitious so it was always creative and fun.

Kelly:
I loved it. My friends and I all read
Just Seventeen
and that's the only magazine I wanted to work for. I wasn't interested in doing Vogue or any of the sophisticated stuff as I couldn't relate to it.

How did modelling change your life?

Kelly:
It made me grow up very quickly. I went from being a student and living in a council house with my mum and dad in Essex to flying to Japan on my own. I'd only ever been to Spain and Great Yarmouth. I was unsophisticated, not very well educated and pretty green as to the ways of the world. I was very homesick when I first went to Japan. It was such an alien culture to a hick like me. All I ate was McDonald's as it was the only food I recognised! But I quickly made friends and started going out clubbing every night. By the end of my two-month stint, I didn't want to come home.

How would you feel about your own daughters modelling?

Adele:
I’m not sure as I think the industry has changed. Or maybe that’s just me, being an overprotective mum. However, if you asked any of them if they’d like to be a Victoria’s Secret Angel they’d be there like a shot! After doing their coursework of course …

Do you still model now?

Kelly:
I haven't modelled in the photographic sense for years, but I still do TV commercials. I'm currently in the Tena Lights commercial. I've gone from snogging pop stars in music videos to advertising pads for ladies with bladder issues. It’s been quite a career!

Huge thanks to Kelly and Adele for the inside info on modelling, and for reminding me what an almighty hoot we used to have on those
Just Seventeen
shoots back in the ‘80s … x

Ask Me Anything …

Here’s what happened when my Facebook friends pinged me some questions about books, writing and other random matters …

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever been given?

Sharon Wilden

The advice I’ve read over and over is:
just get on with it
. Write – every day if possible (and I think it generally is). People talk about wanting to write, and that’s fine – sometimes an idea has to simmer away in your brain until you feel ready to get started. But it’s horribly easy to let the simmering go on and on, and to put off actually starting anything. Fear often holds us back. You need to remind yourself that it’s only a rough draft, and that it doesn’t matter if it’s a load of bilge (which my first drafts often are). No one but you and the dog is going to see it.

If you weren’t an author what occupation would you like to have?

Petra Anttila

I had yearnings to be an illustrator as a teenager, and applied to art college. I didn’t get in – I just wasn't good enough. But I have always loved to draw, and recently I’ve been seized by an urge to carry a sketchbook in my bag and figure out how, and what, I want to draw. I so want to be able to draw better, and the only way that’ll happen is by doing it loads (not so different from writing, really!).

What do you do when you’re hit by writer’s block?

Teresa Maughan

I’ve never experienced this in any serious way (with three teenagers, I can’t afford to!). But yes, there are days when writing feels incredibly ploddy and difficult. It usually happens when I’ve been working very late, battling away to meet a deadline, and my ideas and inspiration have all but withered up. It’s important to get to of the house, I think – to work in cafes and on trains, and to see life going on around you. Sometimes a day off in the city is the best way to kick-start things again.

What was your favourite childhood book?

Lynn Gibbins

I devoured the entire
Famous Five series
, but most of all I loved a quirky adventure story called
Emil and the Detectives
by Erich Kastner. I had my dad’s battered old yellow paperback copy (it was first published in 1929) and read it countless times. I still have it.

Where’s that fiver I lent you in 1987?

Gavin Convery

I spent it.

Do you laugh and cry at your own funny and sad bits as you’re writing?

Cathy Bramley

I don’t laugh out loud as I’m usually concentrating too hard on trying to make a scene as funny as possible. But sometimes I like to push a scene as far as I can, even to the point of ridiculousness (I can always make it less ridiculous when I edit it later), and that’s the really fun part of writing. That’s when I can end up in a state of silent mirth. As for the sad bits, I’ve caught myself becoming all wet-eyed and heightened emotionally, which is a good thing I think – it means the characters are feeling real to me.

What gets you in a creative mood? Is it still a vicious Argentinian red?

Tony Cross

Ha – I know Tony from when we worked on the much-loved, sadly now departed
more!
magazine together. We used to hold raucous features meetings in a tawdry little wine bar just around the corner from our office in Orange Street, just off Leicester Square. Many a flagon of rough red was consumed there. When it came to writing fiction, I used to be of the opinion that a large glass (or two) would help to ‘loosen me up’, and make me a better, less self-conscious writer. Then I’d read over my stuff next day and it would be appalling tripe. These days, when I’m working, I’m fuelled only by enormous quantities of caffeine.

Do you wish you could write in a different genre? If so, which one?

Heather Playdon

I do enjoy a dark, creepy psychological thriller. I’d love to write a book that scared the pants off my readers. However, I’m not sure I have the right kind of brain for it. As a fairly romantic, emotional person, nothing fascinates me more than how people behave in relationships – with spouses, boyfriends, friends. I also have a fairly silly, juvenile sense of humour so romantic comedies probably suit me best at this stage in my life.

What are your favourite and least favourite aspects of life as a writer?

Rebecca Guic

There’s not much I don’t enjoy, to be honest – perhaps the isolation? Luckily, I’ve become better at recognising when I’m starting to feel stale and lonely, and then I head into Glasgow or Edinburgh for the day and work there instead. I’m not crazy about boring admin but, as I still imagine the tax man as a scary bloke in a tie who could turn up at any minute and snatch my laptop away, I just grit my teeth and get on with it. By far my favourite aspect is starting a new book. It feels fresh, new and hugely exciting. I feel very lucky to have a job I love.

A straying husband. A broken heart. And a crazy rescue dog in a town of posh pooches …