In her career as a TV Producer working in magic and comedy, Kirsty Smith introduced Russell Brand to an erotic lady wrestler, locked two presenters in a cage with 60 chickens for a week, and was made to magically appear dressed as a Morris Dancer from a giant pair of underpants. Now at home with two small children, life is almost exactly the same but even funnier and with added rice cakes. She blogs at www.eehbahmum.com and has written for The Daily Telegraph, The Metro, The New Statesman and The Huffington Post.
You must admit she sounds quite a fun person! So let's see what secrets I can winkle from her in my Wednesday author interview.
Why did you start writing?
I honestly can’t remember I’ve always written. As a teenager I wrote a whole edition of Just 17 magazine on my own in my bedroom which is in no way weird. I’ve got boxes in the loft filled with terrible poems, rubbish short stories and plotlines for really bad films. Now I have a blog instead which saves space. (Teenage poems are the best! I hope they are suitably dramatic and emo)
What 3 things (not including paper, computer, pens) would you like to facilitate a good days writing?
No children - (sorry kids), no internet and no phone calls asking me what’s for dinner. Just leave me alone.
Do you write to a schedule, eg every day or three times a week, set times, etc or do you write as and when the mood strikes?
Pretty much every day I think waiting til the mood strikes sounds marvellous but impractical.
What are your favourite biscuits? And would you have them with tea or coffee?
Tunnocks. All of them. I’d have a Caramel with tea. And then a teacake with coffee. And then a snowball on it’s own even though it’s not technically even a biscuit. (sponsorship no doubt pending...)
Where do you do most of your writing?
Wherever. I don’t have a special desk or anything fancy. I write a lot in my head while I’m running or walking through town. I can write in a busy cafe, at home in the kitchen or in the car while my daughter is at gymnastics.
What book(s) are you reading at the moment?
I’ve just finished Agatha Christies autobiography. I’ve read it at least 3 times, I first discovered Agatha Christie when I was at primary school her life spanned the Victorian age through both wars and she spent a lot of time in Iraq and Syria on archaeological digs. Her writing has filled theatres, tv screens and movie theatres and she started because her sister said ‘I bet you couldn’t write a book’. I love her. I have just started Go set a watchman and am also reading the Virago book of women gardeners -I’m aware that makes me sound really, really old.
What was your favourite school subject? and was it the one you were best at?
Languages, I studied French and German at university, although I was never that good at grammar. Speaking French is mainly waving your arms around and saying ‘bof!’ a lot. (well that sounds simple enough...)
Did you have a good or bad 2015?
2015 was great. I wrote a freaking book! And I potty trained my son. And we bought a house. And I didn’t sit on the floor of the supermarket and cry at any point which is always a bonus.
Do you have writing plans for 2016? Are they secret or could you share a teaser?
I am working on some comedy scripts, based on the blog and the book and I have started writing a novel.
If you could have any job in the world except being an author, what would you choose and why?
I’d be a tv scriptwriter...please!
If you could genetically cross and animal with a fruit or vegetable what would you choose and why? I'm currently thinking of runner bean eels, bright green surprisingly crunchy but easy to breed in the often flooded UK.
Kiwi fruit crossed with flies! They’d be tiny, furry buzzy things and when you squished one it would be all tasty and green. Also kiwi fruit are already furry so I reckon they’d be happy to co-operate. (Nice!)
If you could take any fictional character out for lunch, who would you choose and why? And where do you think you'd go to eat?
I want to hang out with Anna Madrigal at 28 Barbary Lane, we’d get stoned and skip lunch. I adored the whole world created by Armistead Maupin it felt like a million miles away from my life as a teenager in rural Yorkshire but at the same time like home. Plus my subsequent San Francisco obsession led me to discover Amy Tan. When I realised I’d finished reading all of Maupin’s books I cried for days.
I was bereft !
Kirsty is the Author of How to Have a Baby and Not Lose your Shit
How to Have a Baby and Not Lose your Shit is for women who want to start a family but are not sure quite how 'into' babies they are. Women who have no intention of ever making their own Play-Doh (yes, that's a thing). Women who think that babies are a teeny, weeny bit boring.
Appealing to new and expectant mums (as well as existing mothers who will identify with many of the experiences!) this is not a book about surviving parenting: having a baby is not an ordeal, it's a brilliant life-affirming experience. This book is about enjoying parenting but acknowledging its challenges, about how you can love your children to the moon and back but still not like having fingers that smell of poo.
