Q+A with Kim Curran

If you could only have six words on the blurb for Glaze, what would they be?

ARGH! So tough. So I’m going to cheat and use James Dawson’s quote for it:

“A chillingly realistic social media nightmare”

Petri’s namesake is pretty unique, is it tough coming up with character names? Do you feel you have to avoid those that have been used before as main characters in YA?

I’m normally pretty lazy with names! I just pick ones I like. Petri’s name came to me as soon as I knew her backstory, (she’s a test tube baby) and I loved how her name and her character came hand in hand.

And absolutely I think you have to avoid names that have been used before in YA. However, I’m also a bit weary of the trend in YA of having ‘snowflake’ names. I know Petri is unusual (or rather non-existent). But I gave her the name not to make it seem that she was somehow precious. But rather, to emphasis the dynamics of her relationship with her mother.

The future portrayed in Glaze feels eerily real. Where do you see social media heading?

Well, I’d already written Glaze before Google Glass was announced. And so that was a bit creepy for me. I definitely think that tech is going to become more integrated into our physical experience, rather than a bolt on. It will start to inform everything we do and see and possibly even think. Now this is either exiting or terrifying. I don’t know. I actually think technology itself is neutral. It’s what’s done with that tech is what worries me.

Anyone picking up Glaze might get the idea you hate social media, do you think it’s a necessary evil these days?

Haha! Actually I love social media. But I love it way too much. Which is part of the thing that inspired Glaze. I’m hopelessly addicted to Twitter – so much so that I twitch if I’ve not checked in in less than an hour. It’s terrible and I think the hatred that might be coming out in Glaze is me being angry with myself!

As for whether I think it’s necessary: absolutely not. Many of my friends go about their lives perfectly oblivious to Twitter or Tumblr and seem all the more relaxed for it!

What’s your top tip for a healthy social media life balance?

Hmm, well, this is a case of do what I say, not what I do, because I have no balance. But I would suggest limiting the time you spend on it to set hours. Whether that’s work hours or a couple of hours in the evening – but no later than 8pm. If that’s hard, get an app like Stay Focused which chucks you off set sites after a set time. But of course that has to be ignored for events like the Eurovision Song Contest – which is made a thousand times better thanks to social media!

You’ve chosen to have a snazzy limited edition through Jurassic London and are going it alone for the rest of the publication. What drove this decision?

The decision was driven by Jared at Jurassic London emailing me and saying if you do self-publish GLAZE, would you be interested in a limited edition print run alongside it?

Is Jared really a llama?

I couldn’t possibly say.

What’s your favourite cake?

I made this cake for Christmas and it was melt in the mouth amazing.

You recently took on the 1001 Nights challenge. Can you tell us a little bit of what that involved?

Nicci Cloke asked me to be the first writer to take the 1001 Night challenge. And so I turned up to a pub with my laptop with hardly any clue about what was going to happen. As it turned out, I was challenged to write a 1001 word-long story, using characters, settings and lines given to me by Twitter. It was so much fun! You can see the story and who got involved here.

What book are you currently reading?

I’ve finally started More Than This by Patrick Ness. It’s unsurprisingly amazing.

Which social sites are your thing and where can we find you?

I pretty much live on Twitter, where I am kimecurran. And I’m also on Facebook . I’m trying to get involved in Tumblr, but I’m not sure I can afford another time sink!

And finally, is there anything you’ve discovered on the internet recently that you’d like to share?

The best thing I saw on the internet this week, thanks to John Wordsworth, was Danny Dyer making Shakespeare more awesome. Enjoy!

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