At home in Sydney, NSW, with… Georgia Madden – first-time author, journalist and frazzled mum-of-two.
Hi Georgia, thank you for letting my park my rig on your …
… weirdly narrow and congested suburban street. I’m so glad you and your rig have stopped by – the neighbours are sure to love you just as much as they do me!
What’s that I see written on your ‘welcome mat’?
“The house was clean last week. Sorry you missed it.”
I miss my HUGE refrigerator. If I looked in your refrigerator right now, what would I find?
The minestrone I made last night (yum!), a few wedges of mouldy cheese, Diet Coke, and leftover birthday cake from my son’s party.
Downsizing my life into a 24 ft caravan meant leaving lots of things behind in boxes. What (or who!!) would you have trouble leaving behind if you took off in a caravan?
Our hilariously gifted budgie, Buddy, and the telly (think I’m the last person on earth who hasn’t worked out how to illegally download Game of Thrones on their laptop). Presumably the kids and husband are squeezed in with me in this caravan? If so, the rest I reckon I could live without.
Whose home would you like to visit in your van and why?
First stop would be my mad girl crush Lena Dunham. We’d drink iced tea and roller skate around her billion dollar New York apartment and talk about what it’s like to write/direct/produce your own show at 13. Oh and did I mention that my van’s also the magical, time-travelling kind? We’d then wing our way back in time to visit my long-lost boyfriend, Jim Morrison, circa 1967.
Country curiosities…
My latest novel, Season of Shadow and Light, has a strong horse theme. (I love what horses can teach us). If you were an animal what would you be?
A bear. Warm, cuddly and affectionate. But don’t piss her off – there are sharp teeth under all that flab and fur.
You’re cooking and your food is going up against the best cooks from the CWA (Country Women’s Association). What would be your winning dish?
My fail-safe, no-bake Mars Bar slice. I’d get my kids to make it and bask in the glory when we won.
About you…
What is the hardest part of writing for you?
Finding the time! Kids, magazine deadlines, class parent duties – all too often writing gets pushed to the bottom of the list. I dream of a couple of days alone on a desert island with no weekend sports, complicated craft assignments or mobile reception.
If someone was to write your biography, what do you think the title should be?
Hmmm. Can I come back to you on that one? (Actually, maybe we should just go with that…)
What question have you always wanted to be asked in an interview? How would you answer that question?
So how did it feel to have a number one bestseller and hang out with Oprah?
Fun stuff
Favourite four: Diet Coke, champagne, skinny cappuccino, Lipton iced tea.
Favourite place in Australia: Palm Beach.
Favourite holiday destination (anywhere): Rome.
Favourite movie: Almost Famous
Favourite quote: “A true friend will go with the instagram filter that flatters you.”
If I said to you, “Just entertain me for five minutes, I’m not going to talk,” what would you do?
Sing. Nobody else seems to agree, but I think I have a marvellous singing voice. When stressed, I have a tendency to make up my own little songs.
The blurb… Confessions of a Once Fashionable Mum
Successful hubbie? Tick. Facebook-worthy baby? Tick. Bikini-body six weeks after giving birth? Um … not so much.
Fashion PR exec Ally Bloom got her happy ending. Okay, her marriage might be showing the odd crack, her battleaxe mother-in-law might have come to stay, and she might not be the yummy mummy she’d imagined, but it’s nothing a decent night’s sleep and a firm commitment to a no-carb diet won’t fix.
But when Ally returns to work and finds she’ll be reporting to a 22-year-old airhead, she decides to turn her back on life as a professional fashionista and embrace her inner earth mama instead.
So it’s out with the Louboutins and champagne and in with the sensible flats and coffee mornings with the Mummy Mafia. From attending her first grown-up dinner party only to discover that placenta is top of the menu to controlling her monster crush on local playgroup hottie Cameron, Ally must find her feet in the brave new world of the stay-at-home mum.
Links:
Georgia’s Website: www.georgiamadden.com
At home with Helene Young … somewhere in the Coral Sea
Hope to see you through May at the following blogs.