Tag: am i normal yet

10 Things You Didn’t Know about Holly Bourne

Posted on June 8, 2015 by - Journal

image

Here at usbornepublishing towers we’ve put our heads together and gathered up10 facts that you MAY or MAY NOT know about the lovely Holly Bourne:

  1. Holly’s Grandfather, Larz Bourne, was a famous animator and created the Deputy Dawg series.
  2. She has an irrational phobia of buttons and can’t wear them. Ever. Or get close to people wearing them. Buying a winter coat is therefore always a nightmare
  3. Holly once fainted at a Bryan Adams concert. When she came round backstage, the first thing the medic said to her, was: “Bryan Adams? Really?”
  4. She was once shortlisted as ‘Best Sexual Health Journalist of the Year"
  5. For Holly’s Journalism dissertation, she went undercover as a mistress on an infidelity website to see why men cheat on their wives. This process won her a writing award, but also damaged her belief in relationships for a good couple of years.
  6. She’s a reluctant Ravenclaw. “I’M NOT A RAVENCLAW, THE HAT IS BROKEN,” she yelled, when she was sorted on Pottermore. Later that week, she had to sort through old stuff at her parents house and found her school exercise books. In them, she had written, after several homework assignments: “I didn’t find this homework challenging enough, so I’ve done some extra…” … The hat never lies.
  7. Her life philosophy is stolen from the Bill & Ted movie. “Be excellent to each other”.
  8. She once almost broke the door of the Great Hall off it’s hinges on a VIP trip to the Harry Potter tour by slamming through it and screaming, “There’s a troll in the dungeon”. She had to convince seven security men she was allowed to stay on the rest of the tour.  There’s video evidence here.
  9. She dropped out of Art College after a class assignment to do a five minute presentation on the “beauty of a Magic 8 ball”.
  10. Holly writes almost all her books on her daily commute into London.

#FF

Posted on June 5, 2015 by - Journal

image

Make sure you never miss out on any #100DaysOfNormal by following all my social media-type stuff. I don’t always talk about books you know. You can be delighted by my feminist rants, complaints that I’ve eaten too much, and academically-sound commentary on Made In Chelsea:

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook

Read the first chapter of ‘Am I Normal Yet?’

Posted on June 4, 2015 by - Journal

image

“It started with a house party. This wasn’t just any house party. It was also My First Date. Like first EVER date. In my entire life. Because, finally, following all the crap that had gone down, I was ready for boys.
 His name was Ethan and he liked the Smashing Pumpkins (whatever that is) and he’d managed to grow real stubble already. And he liked me enough to ask me out after sociology. And he was funny. And he had really small, but cute, dark eyes, like a ferret or something. But a sexy ferret. And he played the drums and the violin. Both! Even though they’re, like, totally different instruments. And and…
…and – oh, Christ – what the HELL was I going to wear?

Okay, so I was stressing. And obsessing. “Obstressing” times a million. In an utterly deplorable way. But this was a big deal to me. I was doing something NORMAL for once. And I reckoned I could just about pull it off. And I did know what I was wearing. I’d run through every possible clothing combination in existence before opting for tight jeans, black top and a red necklace, i.e. what I reckoned to be the safest date outfit ever. I was going to be normal again. But I was going to step back into it safely...”

This is just a tiny taste of Am I Normal Yet?, which is out in the UK on 1st August 2015.

Read the ENTIRE first chapter now at:

                             www.usborne.com/readAmINormalYet

We’d love to hear your thoughts – let us know what you think of the first chapter by using the hashtag #100DaysofNormal.

Only 100 in the ENTIRE universe

Posted on June 3, 2015 by - Journal

Guys – I have the BEST news. My supersonic publisher Usborne have printed 100 LIMITED EDITION copies of Am I Normal Yet?. And THEY’RE THE MOST YELLOW THINGS YOUR EYEBALLS WILL EVER HAVE SEEN. There are just 100 in the entire universe. They’re so exclusive even *I’ve* only been given ONE – and it was my brain what wrote the book!

The best part? We’re going to be giving them away to YOU as part of #100DaysofNormal. 

Here I am at Usborne Towers signing ALL of the limited edition copies in all their neon glory! 

Each limited edition copy is numbered and signed by ME! (Obvs) I’ve even spelled my own name right in each one (which has been an issue in the past)!

image

Don’t they look A-MAZ-ING? You need an eye-shield to protect you from it’s neon powers.

image

“HOW DO I GET MY GRUBBY HANDS ON ONE?” I hear (hope) you ask. Just stay tuned to the #100DaysOfNormal hashtag for giveaways and exciting challenges. 

image

Am I Normal Yet? is out on 1st August 2015.

Normality is overrated

Posted on June 2, 2015 by - Journal

image

Amy and Hannah here from Usborne – hello! We’ve hijacked Holly’s Tumblr for Day 2 of #100DaysofNormal because we want to tell you a little bit more about her amazing new novel Am I Normal Yet?, which is out on 1st August. 

We asked the very lovely Holly to sum up the book for us in just 3 words:

                                 ‘NORMALITY. IS. OVERRATED‘

We completely agree! Holly’s main character, Evie, has OCD – she feels as if she is failing at being a teenager, let alone being ‘normal’.

Evie’s just come off her meds and is dipping her toe into the pool of man folk at college. But relationships can mess with anyone’s head – something Evie’s new friends Amber and Lottie know only too well (don’t we all!). The trouble is, if Evie won’t tell them her secrets, how can they stop her making a huge mistake?

OCD, feminism, bad boyfriends, and the importance of cheesy snacks – it’s all there in this wise, heartbreaking and funny novel.

And there’s more! If you didn’t already know, Am I Normal Yet? is the first in a trilogy – hooray! Yes – 3 books from Holly, so we asked her to give us a sneak peek at what to expect:

‘The trilogy centres around the friendship of three girls – Evie, Amber, and Lottie – and their grassroots feminism group. In book two, Amber spends the summer in an American summer camp to try and rebuild her estranged relationship with her mother. Expect road trips, prom kings with hidden depth, female chauvinist pigs (evil cheerleaders) and lots of tears. And, in the final book, Lottie takes on the ENTIRE PATRIARCHY in a one-girl campaign, calling out every instance of sexism she sees for an entire month. Imagine “Yes Man” for feminism, then add cheesy snacks and a totally inappropriate crush.  I cannot WAIT for you to fall in love with these girls as hard as I have.’

We’re off to meet Holly now to do some top-secret #100DaysofNormal stuff. It’s VERY EXCITING but we couldn’t possibly tell you what it is until tomorrow!

Be sure to follow Holly on Twitter and be the first to hear the news.

#100DaysofNormal

Posted on June 1, 2015 by - Journal

image

Hello, and welcome to my shiny new Tumblr! I am so happy you’re here. Sit down and have a cheesy snack.

What is #100DaysOfNormal?

In the lead-up to the publication of Am I Normal Yet? we’re going to spend 100 ROTATIONS OF THE EARTH chatting here about the book, the trilogy, and all the things that inspired it. Aforementioned cheesy snacks will be a big part of this. Mainly this is a big celebration of trying to be normal, realising you’re not-normal, and totally partying about that.

How will it work?

I’ll be posting something related to the book here EVERY DAY, along with Amy and Hannah from Usborne. There will also be chats and discussions over on Twitter and Facey B. You are so very welcome to come in and join the fun.

Will I learn anything?

You might! At least once a week I’ll be super-gluing some leather bits to my elbows and talking about some of the SERIOUS BITS in Am I Normal Yet? and why I chose to write them. I’ll also be talking a bit about my job as a journalist and relationship expert at youth charity TheSite.org, and how it shapes my books. Topics I’m going to chat about are:
– Mental Health (my MC Evie is recovering from OCD)
– F to the E to the M to the I to the N to the ISM! This trilogy of books follows a group of girls setting up their own grassroots feminist group, and I’ll be getting my rant on occasionally.
– Friendship – because it’s the most important thing EVER
– Relationships and love – I answer young people’s relationship questions over at TheSite. Something that has given me (limited) wisdom on all stuff love-related.

And how about FUN stuff?

There will be ample amounts of it. In fact, there is likely to be a 80:20 Fun:Important-stuff ratio. This is like the 5:2 diet of book campaigns. There’s going to be giveaways, quizzes, polls, events you can bring your actual human body to, and lots and lots of cheesy snacks.

So how do I get involved?

Follow my Tumblr to get all the #100DaysofNormal news straight into your newsfeed. And I want to hear from you – so be sure to like, comment on and share anything you love! Or if there’s something you want to hear about, let us know!

You can also follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

And be sure to come back tomorrow to hear more about Am I Normal Yet? and and I have a super special announcement on Wednesday that you won’t want to miss.

Holly x