I would say that, though – I work for the publishing house that is publishing the book of the series next year. Not only that, but – as the very grainy photograph attests – I am part of the reason that my particular publishing house won the bid. I’ve gained a bit of a reputation at work for being crafty and when the lovely editor was pitching for the book, she asked me to make something that she could give to Kirstie. The results of which you can just about see in the picture. I crocheted a ‘book’ with a little house on the cover and the words Home Made Home. Both Kirstie and the editor loved it and every time Kirstie’s book is mentioned now, someone will say “That’s thanks to the book that Kirsty knitted”. In the beginning, I would say “actually, it’s crocheted” but I got so many blank looks – because it’s made of yarn and you knit with yarn, what is this crochet? – that now I just agree. Either way, it’s a nice feeling to know that something I made is so appreciated. I wonder if my ‘book’ will appear in Kirstie’s book…

1) Wearing hot pink. I don’t know why this made me feel more lively but it did.
2) Using my (also) hot pink weights. I’m not the world’s biggest pink fan, but I did do 12 curly arm excercises. Then I did a bridge, and what in my head is ‘another yoga position’.
3) Finishing off the Valentine’s day pinot grigiot. It was just one glass!
4) Watching a documentary about Pompeii which did not nearly send me to sleep at all.
5) Reading ‘LA Confidential’.
6) Thinking up new ice-creams to suggest on Scoops noticeboard. Scoops is absolutely my pudding-based obsession right now.
7) Sorting out more clothes for the swap party, when that happens. Ah, weird black satin skirt, you do nothing whatsoever for my bum.
8) Noticing weird bumps on my wrists and wondering if a bug has laid it’s eggs under my skin and whether they’ll grow Alien style. Reassured by Stephen that this is unlikely in California.
9) Making lists (voila)
10) Browsing the internet for a pattern to make when my craft-savvy aunt visits and teaches me how to MAKE CLOTHES.

There’s only a relatively small choice of titles at the moment, but it’s a good little selection including a fair few of my favourites (Alice, Dracula, Dorian Gray – I think my degree is now sufficiently distant that I can finally re-read them without instinctively panicking about deadlines).

I really like this idea, and I’m quite tempted to pick one up and do a bit of Victorian-inspired mixed media stuff – maybe a bit of freestyle drawing/embroidery. With fake jewels. And googly eyes.

OK, not the googly eyes. They can go back to the bottom of my craft box. But one day I’ll find a use for them.

Image: Alice in Wonderland by Filippo Cravedi

And – by the by – what was/ is your favourite book aimed at children? I love ‘The Little Prince’, all of the Mog stories, ‘The Tiger that Came to Tea’, ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ and all the Enid Blyton novels that took place in boarding school. To this day I’ve never had ginger ale and sardines at midnight, but I’ve always kind’ve wanted to.

When I googled ‘Lions Teen Tracks’, though, very little came up. This was an imprint of HarperCollins from around the years 1976 to 1991 – I can’t be accurate here because I can’t find any information (well, not through a quick google session anyway… must renew British Library membership!). Lions Teen Tracks published an amazing amount of teen fiction by lots of different authors, some of whom, like Francine Pascal, went on to fame and fortune. Others wrote a slew of Tracks novels, and some just a single gem of a book…

Many of the novels tackle serious issues like sexual abuse and disability, but I’m sorry to say that I’m a sucker for the more humdrum stories of high school, first love, and all that teen jazz. Sorry.

Part of my Lions love comes from the amazing covers. There were a number of standard cover ‘looks’ over the years, all gloriously, classically eighties. Torn effect coloured backgrounds? Check. Different coloured squares and triangles jostling for position? Check. Ill-proportioned pencil and watercolour illustrations? Check. Silver foiling? Mmm, check.

Best place for finding them now? Charity shops. My local library had nada. A couple of links for you: Wikipedia’s Young Adult Fiction page, and a teen fic post on The Lipster.

I don’t talk much on this blog about my career in publishing, as it doesn’t usually coincide with our mantra of craft, style, and adventure, but my two worlds have happily collided here, as my company is Jane’s publisher. The office has been whisked down memory lane to the kitchen of our childhoods as we’ve been getting ready for publication yesterday. Everything about the childrens’ literature of yesteryear was wholesome – including the breakfast, elevenses, lunches, afternoon teas, teas, suppers, and midnight feasts that they consume. I particularly loved the idea of Milly-Molly-Mandy’s fried onions – so simple yet so tasty and a little bit cheeky. I always relish the idea of eating something when you’re not supposed to – left-over curry for breakfast, yoghurt for dinner – and the wholly benign naughtiness of eating just onions is quite fun.

Although I place the utmost faith in Jane’s recipes (I haven’t tried any out yet, but her editor has and they are scrummy), this book is made by the descriptions and extracts from the literature that she draws inspiration from. Themed recipe books abound, but this is more like a compendium of childrens’ literature with the added bonus of tasty treats!