Name:
Karen McCombie (middle name, Grace, if you're going to get picky).
Born
Yes, I was.
Very funny. When exactly?
28/8/63, since you’re asking. I know that makes me sound not-very-young, but I wear the same sort of clothes (T-shirts, jeans, trainers) as I did when I was 17. And my hair is pretty much the same style too. So’s my brain (ie, it’s full of films, bands, books and silliness).
Where?:
Aberdeen, Scotland. (Think scenic castles, not-so-scenic oil rigs and plenty of thermal underwear and you get a feel for the place.)
Home:
North London, near the amazing Alexandra Palace.
Who else lives in your house?:
A loud, funny Scottish person called Tom (who I'm married to), a lovely small person called Milly (our seven-year-old daughter), a geriatric ginger cat called Gus and a fluffy, gorgeous, demented young cat called Dizzy.
How did you get started writing?:
I worked for loads of teen magazines, including ‘J17’ and ‘Sugar’. Over the years (and magazines), I've been a fashion editor, pet correspondent, quiz writer, features writer and sub-editor (a job where no-one knows what you do - but trust me, if there were no sub-editors, magazines wouldn't come out).
OK, so you were a sub-editor and all that other stuff. Then what happened?:
Then my friend Marina - the deputy editor of ‘Sugar’ magazine when it first started - asked me to write some short stories for the magazine. Once I did a few of those, I wrote off to loads of publishers with photocopies of my short stories and ideas for full-length books for teenagers. Lots of publishers wrote back saying, "Thank you, but go away". Luckily, the very cool children's book publishers Scholastic thought I didn't stink and asked me to write some stuff for a series they were doing. After that, Marina - the editor of ‘Sugar’ magazine by this time - wanted to do a series of ‘Sugar’ books (for HarperCollins), and got me involved (I owe her a big hug for that). After I worked on a ton of them, under a pseudonym, I got asked to write a series by Scholastic, which turned out to be Ally's World, as well as a whole bundle of teenage books.
Where do you write your books?:
Mostly in a small bedroom-turned-office at the back of our house, overlooking the garden. It's has pink roses on one wall, which makes me feel very girly. My other 'office' is the local garden centre cafe, which is as lovely and flowery as my office, with the added advantage of cake. I start writing as soon as I get back from dropping Milly at school, and then stop at 3.25pm, when I scurry off to pick her up again, with a Cheese String snack in my pocket for her. But sometimes I do end up staring at the clouds, or e-mailing my friends and asking how their weekends/lives/cats are when I should be working.
Are you quite disciplined when it comes to writing?:
Yes.
No, honestly:
Oh, right. Well, sometimes. And then there are the days when I get distracted by cleaning the litter tray, tidying toys, e-mailing my friends and re-arranging drawers.
When you're not cleaning the litter tray, tidying toys, e-mailing friends and re-arranging drawers, what are your hobbies?:
I like reading, watching DVDs, eating crisps, patting cats and belly dancing. And most of all, I like hanging out with Milly. (What will I do when she's 14 and too cool to hang out with her boring old mum?)
Do you have anything else you'd like to add?:
Uh-huh – is this the end of the factfile?
Yes:
Well, bye, then!