Q&A with Grace Dent (continued)
6) What kind of a teenager were you (extrovert, shy, bookish, sporty, rebellious?)
Oh dear, I was a nightmare teenager. That's why I dedicated The LBD to my mum, to say sorry. We get along brilliantly nowadays, mum and I. We speak on the phone every day and have a great laugh together, but it wasn't always like this. When I was a teenager, I drove her absolutely to her wits end. By the age of 13, I was going through a gothic phase, ruining all her pans dying all my clothes black with Dylon and wearing strange eye-makeup. I had a little gang of similarly odd-looking mates who'd hang about together being as depressed and morbid-looking as possible. And playing loud music. Of course, there was also a procession of weird boyfriends with shaved eyebrows, piercing as and tattoos arriving at the house to take me out. My mother loathed every single one, without exception.
We all got a bit sick of dressing madly by the time we were 15ish and became a lot more trendy, but by this point I was desperate to go to pubs and nightclubs, hence I used to climb out of my bedroom window and stay out partying then sneak back. My mother had to put a cowbell on the front porch door and a lock on my window so she could hear me sneaking out. I also ran off to Glastonbury Festival when I was 14 without her permission and then got sunstroke as I'd packed everything for wet weather and it was a heat wave. Oh and worst of all I was terrible truant. I had to be literally escorted to school by my mother in her Volvo and delivered through the school gates, and even then I'd cheerily wave her off then get over the back fence. I'm not proud of any of this. I could give you a lot more examples of my awful teenagedom, but I'd like to draw a veil over most of it. All I know is I spent a lot of the years 1984-1992 being shouted at my Mr. and Mrs. Dent for some ridiculous stunt or other. It's taken us ten years to see the funny side. By the way- if you have read The LBD and can remember the part about Fleur's phone bill and the 'Special sunshine Holiday to Martinique'- that really did happen in my house. Sorry mum.
7) If you were a teenager again, what would you do differently?
Stuff I have learned: Don't pierce your own ears as they go all gammy. Hair dye never looks the same in real life as it does on the box. Try to lighten up a bit about life's traumas- e.g. considering killing yourself over not being having a new skirt for the school disco may be being 'a little bit over dramatic'. Also I wish I'd known, aged 13, getting dumped by Paul Hilman for the gorgeous Julie Farragon was not worth crying every single night for a month over. Ten years later on, she looks like a Shetland pony in lipstick and wears a shell-suit and he is an undertaker with a bald patch and a huge beer belly. Sadly they don't go out with each other anymore...and neither of them have a book deal. Oh and also, when you're putting your make-up on, either do 'lots of eye makeup' or 'lots of lipstick'- yes, that's one or the other. Not both at the same time or it will look like a Halloween mask.
8) What sort of books/magazines do you like to read?
At the moment I'm reading 'What A Carve up' by Jonathan Coe. Before that, I read his more recent novel 'The Rotters Club'. I read English Lit at University where we used to plough through hundreds of novels and plays and there was no room to maneuver from the strict, serious reading list, so nowadays I relish the freedom to be able to read whatever I like, no matter how trashy or offbeat. For example, recently I spent about a month reading a long biography of one of my favorite bands The Smiths, followed by a rather serious novel about racism by Phillip Roth called 'The Human Stain', then I'll re-read Jane Eyre. I'm not keen on chick lit at all really, which is quite weird as some people say that's what I write. I don't read women's magazines at all either as I worked for them for too long, I don't find them relaxing. But I always read The Guardian and The Observer's magazines cover to cover, as well as The Face, Jack and Time Out.
9) What is your favorite TV program?
Right now, Six Feet Under, the US show about undertakers is my big obsession. I've also got a bit of a secret obsession with Friends. People who I've shared houses with say that during Friends is the only time they see me sit down and relax. That's a bit sad isn't it? I don't care though, I think everyone deserves the right to do sad things that make them feel good. I watch Friends, religiously, every day at 5pm on E4 with a cup of tea, quietly thanking the lord that I have a book deal and can do cool stuff like that.
10) You have been compared to Louise Rennison, mainly because your writing is very funny and smart and has lots about teenage girls wanting to snog boys. Were you influenced by her work? (Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging was her first book for teenagers and, like you, she was a columnist).
I read Angus Thongs at Xmas after I'd finished LBD as people kept mentioning the book to me, so I thought I'd better find out why people kept comparing us! It's definitely a cool book, so I'm proud that people want to compare us, but I think we're very different authors. Actually, I've made a pact with myself not to read any more of the Georgia Nicholson books now, just in case I begin to sub-consciously include stuff I've read into the next LBD books. C'mon, it could be a bit tricky if Georgia and Ronnie start both fancying the same boy...
11) What is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to you?
I get letters from girls and boys who say they've read my stuff in newspapers, like my soap column in The Guardian, and say that they'd love one day to be 'just like me'. That's really nice. I find it really lovely that anybody could consider me a role-model. It reminds me that I worked really hard and achieved something pretty big.
12) What was the best snog you ever had?
Probably with my boyfriend Jon, when we eventually got it together after a long, long, tedious period of faffing about. Jon really is my Jimi Steel. But don't tell him- it'll just go to his head.
13) Do you still go to music festivals?
My bloke works in the music industry, so we go to a loads of gigs and festivals. We get backstage passes for all the different festivals like V2003, Glastonbury and Homelands etc. so you get to gang out with the bands and take advantage of the free backstage bar, which is er, fun. I still love going to festivals even though I'm in my late twenties... but only as long as there is a near-by hotel for me to get a shower in at the end of the day. I've done with being covered in mud and queuing for the chemical toilets now. I still really like to party and let my hair down though... just as long as there's somewhere to plug in my hair straightener the next morning. The second LBD novel, out next year, is all about the girls, loud music and lads again so I'll be going to all of the festivals to do some valuable research...
