KATIE KIRBY’s The Majorly Awkward BFF Dramas of Lottie Brooks is the hilarious new instalment in her ‘Lottie Brooks’ series.
Good Reading for Kids asked Katie about the funny and heartfelt moments in her latest book.
What sparked the idea for your latest Lottie Brooks book?
Well, I have had quite a few readers ask me if Lottie could get a dog and being a dog owner and animal lover myself, I thought it would be good fun to add a puppy to the already chaotic Brooks household! Lottie also got together with Daniel in the last book, so I wanted to focus on how she navigates that new relationship alongside her already busy social life. As you can imagine Lottie struggles to keep everybody happy.
Lottie and Daniel become an official couple. But she soon finds it difficult to make time for other people in her life. What can you tell us about some of the challenges Lottie will face in this book?
A couple of Lottie’s friends have their own issues in this book and need her more than ever. Jess decides to finally come out as gay and Amber’s parents are getting divorced. They are both dealing with things in their own way and although Lottie tries to help, she is a bit forgetful and clumsy about it – what a surprise!
Is Pot Noodle based on a real pet?
Ha – I got a puppy 5 years ago, so I have based a few of the incidents in the book on the struggles that I had . . . toilet training mishaps, destroying stuff, barking at everything and standing in the garden in the middle of the night trying to get them to do a wee. My dog is a golden cockapoo too, but she is a girl called Sasha and she has straighter hair.
There are lots of funny and heartfelt moments in this book – is there any scene that holds particular importance to you?
In terms of funny moments, I think the over enthusiastic eyebrow plucking is one of my favourites and one that a lot of people will be able to relate to from their own teenage years (beware of the tweezers!). As for the emotional moments, I think Jess deciding to tell the group that she thinks she is gay is a very important scene in the book, it takes a lot of courage for her to do that, but her friends are all super supportive. I hope it will bring comfort for anyone who can relate to how Jess is feeling.
What was your favourite part of writing this book?
So many favourite parts to write – how can I choose? I loved writing all of the dog related scenes, especially when Lottie walks five dogs in the park and ends up losing one. I also loved writing about Bella’s (crazy) first birthday party and when Lottie gets a piece of sweetcorn stuck up her nostril and end up in A&E!
Describe this book in three words.
Mayhem, Friendship and Fun!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Katie Kirby is a writer and illustrator who lives by the sea in Hove with her husband, two sons and dog Sasha.
She has a degree in Advertising and Marketing and after spending several years working in London media agencies, which basically involved hanging out in fancy restaurants and pretending to know what she was talking about, she had some children and decided to start a blog called ‘Hurrah for Gin’ about the gross injustice of it all.
Many people said her sense of humour was silly and immature so she is now having a bash at writing children’s fiction. The Reinvention of Lottie Brooks is her first novel.
Katie likes gin, rabbits, over-thinking things, the smell of launderettes and Monster Munch. She does not like losing at board games or writing about herself in the third person.
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