I used to live in Japan
I worked for the Education Board in Shizuoka Province south of Tokyo. I taught English in junior high and elementary schools. I couldn’t speak any Japanese when I went- and never really mastered it, so it was tough, but brilliant! I still love Japan and have good friends there
Frances Vick
I was expelled from school and ended up on the dole for years
I think I was written off by my school as a trouble-maker, because I questioned things, and they didn’t like that. When I told the careers adviser that I wanted to be a writer, he told me that I’d be lucky to stay off benefits. I must have believed him, because I did end up on the dole for four years. However, during that time I did my A Levels at college and then went to Glasgow University to study English and Film
I love old movies
When I was little I spent all my time reading about, and watching movies from, Hollywood’s golden years. Ask me anything about, say, Cary Grant, Betty Grable, or Orson Welles, and I’ll probably know the answer.
I worked as a film extra
In Glasgow I earned extra money by doing extra work for TV and films. I can be seen looking uncomfortable in a corset in House of Mirth, looking uncomfortable in a pub scene in The Acid House, and generally hiding my face in a few episodes of Taggart. I never wanted to be an actor!
I used to be a youth worker in London
For years I worked with homeless teeneagers- most of whom were unaccompanied minors from places like Sierra Leone and Somalia, so they’d seen and experienced some terrible things. A lot of them were torture victims and a few had been child soldiers. I helped with housing, immigration status, specialist medical care, and, in some cases, arranging psychiatric help. It was a brilliant job, very draining, but very joyful.
I’ve been vegetarian since I was 16 and I love to cook
When I stopped eating meat, I had to learn how to cook, quickly! I make a mean curry, I’m good at bread, but terrible at pastry
Bad LIttle Girl is my second novel, Chinaski is the first
Chinaski came out in 2014- it’s the story of a charismatic lead singer of a band who dies suddenly and mysteriously. Bits of it are very loosely based on my time touring with bands in the 90’s.
I have a phobia of spiders- any animal without a face
It’s very silly, but I can’t shake it. I can’t be near spiders, worms, anything like that.
I always wanted to work in a prison
And I still do. I once toyed with the idea of applying to be a probation officer. I’d love to visit prisons and talk about writing, and maybe teach a course in creative writing someday.
I work as a childminder- It’s loud
I have two boys of my own, and I childmind after school, so sometimes there are eight large children in my very small house. I have to feed them in shifts because I don’t have enough chairs!
