Yep, that is me blethering away there in the background.  (Even the Mycroft Christie bits.)  That’s my special ‘oh no, I’m talking to myself, let’s try to get this over and done with as quickly as possible’ voice.

MY INVISIBLE BOYFRIEND has now been read by lots of people who aren’t my Mum, including the lovely ABA, who’ve picked it for the Kids’ Indie Next List Summer 2010. (I’m rubbing shoulders with Diana Wynne Jones, David Almond, Mark Haddon, David Levithan… mind officially blown, tyvm.)

And here’s what some other people (who also aren’t my Mum, unless she’s been very busy) thought:

‘quirky, hilarious, and entertaining… Heidi is an unforgettable protagonist that will not fail to make readers laugh with her LOL-worthy shenanigans and escapades’ – The Undercover Book Lover

‘a strong first-person narrative voice that reminds me a little of Georgia in Louise Rennison’s series (Angus, Thongs, and Full-frontal Snogging, etc.)… very funny’ – Book Aunt

‘one darlin’ book that I simply couldn’t get enough of’ – Lauren’s Crammed Bookshelf

‘very, very funny… Every single secondary character (Dai, Ludo, Teddy and Fili especially) comes to life on the page, and I want to be friends with all of them’ – Wondrous Reads (on GIRL MEETS CAKE, the UK/World edition)

‘I just really fell for Heidi and her friends… cute and entertaining, and if you like Brit humor the way I do, like fun romantic comedy-type stories, or like books with a funky and diverse cast of characters, you’ll really get a kick out of it’ – Forever Young

Just in case you were, you know, wondering if it was your cup of tea… :)   I think what’s really stuck out in all the reviews so far is how very British people have found it.  I’m still wondering exactly what that means.  Blog on the subject will ensue, once I’ve pondered some more…

I’m reading a book about faeries – and loving it to pieces (despite being a cynical git who tends to find straight fantasy and ‘magick’ a bit of a stretch) because it’s just that good.  It’s R.J. Anderson’s Knife (published in the US as Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter), which so far is reminding me of The Borrowers: an enticing doll’s house world of tiny furniture and monstrous humans (who might turn out to be allies, after all), and a tough bored girl who wants to see the big wide world.  The prose is glorious too.  Zippy clever stuff for 9+ girls.

Still puttering away at the opening chapters of Exciting New Secret Book Thingy, juggling a few scenes around to get the best fit.  It’s like a jigsaw with a piece missing at the moment (sorry, peanut-butter-in-bra story I borrowed from Girl Scout camp, not sure you’re quite good enough) – but I’m itching to get to the next bit.  Plus coffee with agent, shop-talky dinner with an old mate who’s now commissioning teen lit for a living (small small world), and oceans of tea with awesome writer-buddy Sarah Mussi. That all counts as work, right?

Going out for dinner and ending up dancing to random 60s girl groups in an awesomely manky student nightclub; discovering that the Marylebone Oxfam Bookshop is where Scholastic mock-ups go to die (I found a Philip Pullman with a Big Woo cover, and an Ally Kennen which was Girl Meets Cake on the inside: utterly surreal); eating a lot of peas.  Mmm, peas.

Want to get your hands on this little lot?

Up for grabs: a signed copy of My Invisible Boyfriend, a signed copy of serafina67 *urgently requires life*, and a gingerbread goodiebag (not as pictured – they seem to have mysteriously vanished post photoshoot :D)…

In My Invisible Boyfriend, Heidi creates an imaginary BF inspired by a gingerbread man.  To win, create your own invisible friend (no gender required, and you’re very welcome to keep things platonic), and send me a picture.  It can be a real gingerbread cookie, or a drawing of one.  Check out the last Fabulous Bake-A-Boy Challenge gallery for inspiration, and links to a deeply yummy gingerbread recipe.  Send me your invisible friends!

Email your entries to: susie AT susieday.com (or here, with a link to your image hosted online): all images in jpg, png, or gif format please
Contest open to: everyone!  All territories, all ages (please ask permission from a guardian if you are <13)
Closing date: Friday 7th May

Entries must be your own creative work and not infringe copyright.  For example:

THIS IS OK :)

THIS IS CUTE BUT NOT OK :(

Good luck! And if you missed it, don’t forget to check out the rest of the 7 Days of Stuff!

Full T&Cs are listed below:
1. Please read these competition rules carefully. If you enter this competition, we will assume that you have read these competition rules and agree to them.
2. This competition is open to residents of any territory.  Void where prohibited.
3. No purchase necessary.
4. Only one entry per person.
5. The instructions for entry contained in the adverts publicizing this competition form part of the competition rules.
6. Any personal information (entrant’s real full name, age, address, telephone number and/or email address will be used solely in connection with this competition and will not be disclosed to any third party, except for the purpose of fulfilling the prize where applicable. Any personal information held by the Promoter in respect of the competition will be held on record for a short period for the purpose of ensuring fulfillment of the competition.
7. Entrants give permission to the Promoter to reproduce any images submitted by entrants in connection with this competition on this website.
8. The winner will be the entrant whose entry is selected by the judges.
9. The closing date for the competition is May 7th 2010, and the winner will be decided on May 8th 2010.
10. If you win the competition, we will notify you by email on May 10th 2010. The judges’ decision will be final, and no correspondence will be entered into.
11. Prizes should be received within twenty one (21) days of the closing date.
12. In the event that the Promoter cannot for any reason contact the winner by 25th May 2010 the promoter reserves the right to select another winner.
13. No part of the prize is exchangeable for cash or any other prize, although if the advertised prize is not available, we reserve the right to offer an alternative prize of equal or greater value. The prize is subject to the additional terms and conditions of the manufacter and/or supplier.
14. Incorrectly completed and/or copyright-infringing entries will be disqualified.
15. These competition Terms and Conditions shall be governed by and constructed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales and the courts of England shall have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any disputes arising there from.

My Invisible Boyfriend is part-cookbook: it’s stuffed with recipes for how to bake an imaginary boyfriend, fake a tragic breakup, and generally make a complete and utter hash of your social life. But as anyone who has ever ventured into my kitchen will know, I tend to throw the recipe out of the window and bung in a few random bits and bobs from the store cupboard. It works! Sometimes. Other times I create a Valuable Learning Experience instead of dinner. So here are a few of the ’secret ingredients’ that were thrown into the Invisible Boyfriend mixture – even if you might not be able to taste them in the finished product.

1. Heidi’s fictional boyfriend Gingerbread Ed appears in serafina67.

I love it when books cross-reference (like, say, Jaclyn Moriarty’s Ashbury novels), and it tickled me to think that serafina67 got a comment from someone imaginary.  Did you spot him?

2. We went through waaaaay more than just the two titles we ended up with!

Alternatives included Geek Meets Cake, Gingerbread Ed, and Biscuits & Lies.

3. Ludo is named after a big orange Muppet.

Well, sort of.  I work at an international boarding school, so I have access to an endless supply of unusual names (unusual to a Brit, anyway).  One summer school student named Ludovica was known as ‘Ludo’, and I realised I could fulfil my long-cherished ambition to name a character after the Ludo from Labyrinth.  I suspect my Ludo would not appreciate the comparison. ;)

4. The Scrabble words are all genuine playable moves.

I’m a  Scrabble nerd. :)

5. The whole book was inspired by tissues.

Credit goes to my mate Maddie, who (knowing me rather well) got me a pack of tissues bearing the immortal phrase “She liked imaginary men best of all“.  Cheers, Madge!

Come back tomorrow for the LAST (sniff) from the celebratory 7 Days of Stuff…

Look, pretty people!   (Don’t get too excited, European readers: this is the US edition of Girl Meets Cake, not a new book: you’ll have to wait till 2011 for one of them.  North American readers, please feel free to get as excited as is humanly possible.)

  I’ve got a copy of Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go sitting next to me – yet appear to be reading Dick Francis’s Forfeit.  Eh, it’s Christmas, right?

  Project Poppy has been speeding along very happily, and has now careened into a wall and fallen down a plothole.  Grr.  Now have to decide whether to skip over the hole and fill it in later, or spend a few days with pen and paper scribbling metaphorical ladders. Hrmmm…

Listening to R4’s Shelved on how abandoned or banned episodes of Doctor Who and The Professionals reveal that people who made TV in the 1970s were, um, bonkers (a shock, I know); discovering my Christmas lights are borked; finally getting around to watching Inkheart and LOVING IT TO PIECES, OOH! – really must get round to reading the other 2 books.

How lucky am I?  Not only do I get to write books about cake, but this week I got to have afternoon tea with one of the people who reads them!   The utterly lovely Paige won the Mizz magazine ‘Tea with Susie’ star prize, and she and her family joined me and a few of the divine Scholastic ladies at the Wallace Collection in London.  Much tea, cake, book-talk and giggling was had – not to mention cartwheels in the sunshine (confession: I left that bit to Paige).  Keep up the dancing, Paige, and I hope you’re all having a lovely summer holiday this week!

  Judy Blume, Meg Cabot, and, um, Margery Allingham.  Plus Justine Larbalastier’s original version of this blog post, expressing her frustration at Bloomsbury’s choice of a shockingly disingenous cover for her YA novel Liar.  I’m thrilled to see that sanity has prevailed – and have the utmost respect for her courage in speaking out.

  Ooh!  Aah!  I shall have to be infuriatingly vague (since at the moment it’s still at the back-of-an-envelope stage and I haven’t even decided on the main character’s name yet), but I’m about to start my next book.  (Well, I’m about to go on holiday and do no work on it at all, actually – but after that, workiness will ensue, I promise.)  For the ultra-curious: think Groundhog Year.  Hmm… *plots*

  Frolicking around the Tower of London; building slightly less impressive towers for baby M to knock over; having pretty pictures taken for the My Invisible Boyfriend jacket by my super-talented friend Justa Mili; practising putting up my tent!