Louise Rennison lives in Brighton, a place that she likes to think of as the San Francisco of the South Coast. Which is sad as it is nothing like San Francisco, being mainly pebbles and large people in tiny swimming knickers who have gone bright red in the sun. Although she lives in Brighton in reality, in her mind she lives somewhere exotic with a manservant called Juan.
When Louise was 15, her parents decided to emigrate to Wairakei in New Zealand. Its main claim to fame is that it had some of the most violent geothermal activity in the world. "When we had Sunday lunch in the back garden, the tables heaved and lurched around, and the trees went backwards and forwards. That was because underneath the table, underneath the earth's surface, thousands of cubic feet of molten steam was trying to get out … and kill us!" Louise's dad had his shoes blown off by a rogue bore.
Louise's research for her books requires many hours hanging around with 14-year-olds which is, as she says, "Brilliant - the best fun known to humanity. It's all boys, make-up, laughing and, er, that's it.”
