UK Literary Luvvies

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I’m sure that when she was pregnant or maybe just after having her baby, one of Rhiannon’s columns was about how she wasn’t going to be write any ‘I’m the first mum in the world bore’ and then a week later it was ‘I’ve had a baby and here’s how my experience is so unique and not at all boring’. I do switch off. Must admit, I used to really like Stuart heritage but he’s gone all parent angle too. Some people genuinely do it well, like the parenting he’ll podcast but that’s a bit different and they manage not to actually discuss their kids/ embarrass them too much. Also the best bits often have nothing to do with the kids. I’m yet to find a columnist who has written about their kids with genuine originality. Agree that it’s the same as profiting off your kids on Insta.

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Oh and I’ve been meaning to ask if anyone listened to the ‘obsessed with ‘ podcast on EIKAL on bbc? The presenter really sounds like dolly which weirded me out and then I realise she is one of those people that emulates how others speak so when they had the actress who played Amira on, she started talking like her 😂 worth a listen for that alone.
 
Greg James should be added to our list of literary luvvies. More media than literary but hey. Interesting post about not being sure if he wants kids, it resonated with a lot of people. I liked most of it, a little hateful towards children though (bit odd when you’re a children’s author). If they are that boring, why bother writing books for them?!
 
tatty400 said:
Greg James should be added to our list of literary luvvies. More media than literary but hey. Interesting post about not being sure if he wants kids, it resonated with a lot of people. I liked most of it, a little hateful towards children though (bit odd when you’re a children’s author). If they are that boring, why bother writing books for them?!
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i didn’t find it hateful towards children as such, just that he articulated a few reasons on why he didn’t particularly want to be responsible for one himself. a lot of incredibly famous children’s authors really don’t/didn’t like children (enid blyton being one) - i think it’s likely more that his writing style and general ideas were more suitable for children’s fiction and so he got pushed down that route.

he certainly seems happy to engage with and is good with children (including when they phone into his radio show), so it probably just is that he doesn’t think his life and the things he enjoys within it are compatible with having a child himself. as someone also happily childfree but doesn’t hate kids i thought it was a pretty good article 🤷🏼‍♀️
 
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LaBlonde said:
i didn’t find it hateful towards children as such, just that he articulated a few reasons on why he didn’t particularly want to be responsible for one himself. a lot of incredibly famous children’s authors really don’t/didn’t like children (enid blyton being one) - i think it’s likely more that his writing style and general ideas were more suitable for children’s fiction and so he got pushed down that route.

he certainly seems happy to engage with and is good with children (including when they phone into his radio show), so it probably just is that he doesn’t think his life and the things he enjoys within on are compatible with having a child himself. as someone also happily childfree but doesn’t hate kids i thought it was a pretty good article 🤷🏼‍♀️
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Yes you are right about EB and other authors not liking kids.

I don’t know, it felt like it had an air of ‘people who choose to have kids are so conventional and boring, life with kids is so boring’. I suppose some people do find them boring, but many others don’t.

What I found so interesting and slightly worrying was the number of people commenting that they wish they’d stuck to dogs instead of having children! Which is why I think his post IS important, starting a family should involve some thought beforehand.
 
tatty400 said:
Yes you are right about EB and other authors not liking kids.

I don’t know, it felt like it had an air of ‘people who choose to have kids are so conventional and boring, life with kids is so boring’. I suppose some people do find them boring, but many others don’t.

What I found so interesting and slightly worrying was the number of people commenting that they wish they’d stuck to dogs instead of having children! Which is why I think his post IS important, starting a family should involve some thought beforehand.
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i agree with you on the tone (like i said i’m childfree but i do get, as a parent, that it could have hit a nerve) - but overall i did think he articulated his viewpoint fairly well and had obviously put some thought into whether he would be a good parent and whether his (and bella’s) life would suit a child. like you say, if only more people put that level of thought into it!

it’s definitely an important article. too many people just have children because they feel they should and if greg writing that (even if the tone wasn’t always great!) encourages someone to actually take other factors into consideration then it’s valid imo.
 
I'm sure Greg James doesn't "write" (probably ghost write) children's books because he feels any sort of way about children, just that celebs with no particular talent for writing are always offered deals to write kids books to tap into a certain generation of parents. Like, Mrs Hinch, Marcus Rashford, Tom Fletcher (McFly), Ben Miller (sketch show comedian) are all in the children's book charts right now. I can't tell you if any of these are actually good, but it's just an easy way to make money for publishers, it hardly matters if the book is good, it's not like people use Goodreads for picture books.
 
queenamber said:
How to Fail episode today:

Spencer Matthews: “My brother is very private.”
Elizabeth Day: “Don’t worry, I won’t mention that he’s married to Pippa Middleton. You’re basically royalty hehehehe”

😑
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Baffles me how she interviews Syrian refugee heros and Malala, and in the same breath features Spencer Matthews and that woman from Australian Married at First Sight.
 
Re: Otegha I can't take anyone whose job title is "consultant" seriously

I feel like she wants to be seen as so informed and edgy when she's always a week or two behind everyone else. I expect she'll jump on that viral Rhiannon Cosslett article next week. She's become a parody of herself. I remember when she'd take the piss out of influencers and now she's in Morrocco tagging the tit out of her hotel.
 
Otegha illustrates the problem with media/literary luvvies indulging in ‘very online’ influencer culture. They start out with the odd sharp or witty post. Then their popularity and sales become dependent on their consistency on socials, so they succumb to the inane commentary, #kindlygifted vanity posting and pointless internet beef.
 
youguyzzz said:
I'm sure Greg James doesn't "write" (probably ghost write) children's books because he feels any sort of way about children, just that celebs with no particular talent for writing are always offered deals to write kids books to tap into a certain generation of parents. Like, Mrs Hinch, Marcus Rashford, Tom Fletcher (McFly), Ben Miller (sketch show comedian) are all in the children's book charts right now. I can't tell you if any of these are actually good, but it's just an easy way to make money for publishers, it hardly matters if the book is good, it's not like people use Goodreads for picture books.
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Agree with all of this except Ben Miller - he at least has been writing comedy for years. It drives me up the bleeping wall when people buy celeb ‘written’ books. Then again, if I wasn’t doing my job I’d want to be a ghost writer, so… 😬
 
TELL ME YOU NEED SOMEONE TO EDIT YOUR WRITING WITHOUT TELLING ME YOU NEED IT.

Pandora:

The common thread in my work (which over the last 13 years has covered fashion, lifestyle, culture and books), is that I love giving and receiving recommendations and have done for as long as I can remember: most pertinently as Wardrobe Mistress columnist at The Sunday Times Style, where I would solve scores of reader sartorial dilemmas every week; and then on The High Low, where the recommendations up top were one of my favourite parts of the show, even when Dolly recommended the Sainsbury’s app as one of her cultural recommendations.
 
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