Carmen Reid
Carmen Reid’s popular novels, starting with Three in a Bed in 2002, have now been joined by a series of novels for teenagers, which are set in a fictional Scottish boarding school called St Jude’s. www.carmenreid.com
Q. Your name?
Carmen Reid
Q. Your school?
St George’s School for Girls, Edinburgh
Q. Your current occupation?
Author – for adults and teens. Secrets at St Jude’s is a girls’ school series
Q. Your favourite subject at school?
English tied with German. I was very bookish and swotty.
Q. Your best and worst memory of your school days?
Best – Performing in the Upper Sixth comedy revue show. I just loved making people laugh.
Worst My first year (aged 13). I was so miserably homesick.
Q. What or who inspired you to follow your career?
I was a huge reader at school. I read the entire library just about. I always knew I wanted to write. I was a journalist first, but I knew I had to try my hand at fiction. I’ve been writing full-time ever since my first book was published.Q. What do you feel you gained by attending a girls’ only school?
I was shy and introverted as a teenager. I really settled into the peaceful, academic environment of school. Also, if I’d been surrounded by boys, I think I’d have been much more vain about my luck in the genetic lottery.
Q. Any advice for parents choosing a school for their daughter?
Go to pains to match school to child. Be open-minded. My sisters and I went to different schools and it worked well for us. Expect children to take almost a full year to settle in. It’s a big change.
Q. Any advice for girls planning their university and/or career choices?
Really research the course or job. Is it what you want to do? Where will it lead? Will it really light your fire? I went and did an English degree, without realising there would be no creative writing!
Q. Any other comments?
I was at boarding school, but my family made every effort to stay in really close touch with me. There were phone calls three or four times a week, letters, parcels, little treats. My Dad often made a four-hour round trip to take me out for a day. I think Dads especially need to think of ways to stay close to their teen daughters. Then there’s eating. Eating can get very complicated for teen girls. Encourage your daughters to be healthy, to nurture themselves, to have regular sensible meals so they have the energy to grow, learn and exercise. Explain that under-eating will just exhaust them and probably lead to binging.
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