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10 Questions: Holly Bourne
1. Sum up your novel in three words.
Dark, funny, honest.
2. Where did the initial idea come from?
It was after a fight with my boyfriend. We had a tiff after I found out he was one of the popular group at his secondary school, and it REALLY bothered me. I huffed off to the National Gallery and, there, Bree and all her rules for The Manifesto, came to me. It was the strangest thing. I grabbed a really expensive notebook from the gift shop and had the whole plot down by the time I got home (to say sorry).
3. How was the title chosen?
It came to me at the same time I got the idea of the book, and it’s stayed the same despite its annoying habit of never fitting into a tweet.
4. What’s your writing routine?
Oh my, it’s sooo unglamorous. I still work full-time at a youth charity, so I write each morning on my commute – usually wedged under someone’s stinky armpit on an overcrowded, delayed train.
5. Which book do you wish you’d written?
The Georgia Nicolson series by Louise Rennison. They were like our bible growing up, and they’re probably still the funniest books I’ve ever read.
6. What’s your favourite word in the English language?
LOINS. Seriously it makes me giggle whenever I hear it. I’ve managed to sneak it into every novel I’ve published so far, like a cameo. Look out for them!
7. Who’s your favourite fictional character?
Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird. And, on a less literary day, Dave the Laugh from the Georgia Nicolson books. He is my ultimate book crush.
8. What was your favourite book as a child?
The Magical Faraway Tree series. Mainly because of the pop biscuits. I mean, those things sound GOOD.
9. What book are you recommending to everyone at the moment?
The Cormoran Strike novels by J K Rowling *cough* I mean Robert Galbraith are just extraordinarily brilliant detective books. Imagine all the world-building, beautiful descriptions and dynamic characterization of the Harry Potter books and then add a cynical one-legged borderline-alcoholic detective and grisly murder. They’re a marvel.
10. What do books and reading mean to you?
Books are the closest thing we have to magic. They can take you anywhere, surpassing time and the psychics of our universe – just by turning a page. They make you care deeply about people who don’t really exist, they’re just a collection of letters in a particular order. That is magic. And, if you don’t read, you’re missing out on SO MUCH magic.
The Manifesto on How to be Interesting by Holly Bourne is out now from Usborne. You can read the first chapter here.
