Saturday, March 12, 2011

Vivienne from Serendipity (Awesome Women)

Welcome to the first of (I hope!) many interviews of the awesome bloggers and authors that I know! Vivienne is an incredible woman and blogger and you can find her over at Serendipity as well as on Twitter. She's hugely funny and you really must follow her blog!




Can you tell me a little something about yourself?


Hi Clover, thanks for inviting me over today. For those of you who do not know me, my name is Vivienne and I write a little blog called Serendipity. I used to be a reception teacher, but at the moment I am taking a little time out from teaching to work on writing a novel. I would love to say it is making excellent progress, but I have learnt such annoying procrastinating habits that I haven’t got as far as I would have liked to. Loose Women and Jeremy Kyle are becoming the banes of my life!


Did you have a role model growing up?


I am an 80’s girl by heart. I don’t care if that makes me sound old, but I wear my shoulder pads with pride. The one and only 80’s icon, Madonna was my role model growing up. I was convinced that I looked like her, even though my hair made me look more like Bonnie Langford. I loved her music, her style and I was probably one of the only people to purchase her movies on video.


taken in 1985, I am the one in pink


Who do you look up to now?


I look up to each and every published author out there today, because I know how hard they worked and how long they suffered to get where they are. They had the dream and the perseverance to keep going.


When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?


An author! Of course! How much nearer am I to my goal? Mmmm, not that much…. At least I get to talk to people who have achieved their dreams now, which is rather lovely.

Vivienne runs a wonderful feature on her blog, The Big Break in which she interviews authors about their experiences in getting published!


Tell me something about the women in your life who have been an influence on you?


My mother is one of the main women in my life. She is one of those people who will do anything for you. She has always been there to support me when I have needed a little extra help. She always takes care of me and I am very lucky to have her. She will even do my ironing if I ask nicely!

I have a best friend who is wonderful. Her name is Yvette and she has stuck with me through thick and thin. We are there for each other and hopefully always will be.

I also have a group of friends who I spend time scrapbooking with. We have recently set up a book club together too. They are a lovely bunch of ladies and when we all get together it is always wonderful to let off steam and sort out any issues we may have brought along with us. I usually come away feel a lot calmer.


Who is your favourite fictional character? And why?


Just one? Mmmm, I have so many! I suppose if I had to pick just one it would be Anne from L.M Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series. I see a lot of myself in Anne; her dreaminess, always lost in a book, always getting herself in a pickle, her passion for others and most of all her dream to be a writer. I have always loved Montgomery’s books and hope to read them again soon.



What were you like as a teenager and how did you cope with all the changes that occurred?



I was rather a quiet teenager. I came late to the whole boy scenario. I remember having a terrible crush on a boy called Andrew and when I look back now it makes me laugh so much. Especially as I think he ended up in jail, for stealing cars!

I was a bit of a late bloomer too. I had very red hair, which decided to go fuzzy when I had it cut short at the age of thirteen. I always felt so unattractive. Boys didn’t really take any notice of me until I reached 18.

Life seemed so hard then, but looking back I realise how easy I actually had it.

As my girls are about to enter their teenage years, I find it all a bit scary. Knowing the pitfalls of popularity, I do worry about them. Luckily for them being twins they have each other.


If you had any advice for yourself as a teenager, what would you say?


Learn to think before you speak!

Don’t gossip as it will always come back and hit you in the face!

Don’t steal your best friend’s boyfriend as her friendship is worth so much more than a quick snog!


Of the issues and concerns that women are faced with today, what's the area you most like reading about?


Ooh that is a tricky one. I don’t tend to take a lot of notice as I usually have my head in a fantasy book or world. I suppose the issues facing teenage girls concern me more than anything as it is a subject very close to home. I think that today’s children are growing up a lot faster than we ever did and that they are facing an immense amount of pressure. I worry about anorexia. (Not me, personally, I eat far too much food). My girls are very slim and already concern themselves with what they are eating, so I try to keep on top of that. I think that is one of my biggest fears that my girls will feel they need to stay slim to impress others.



Is there anything else you'd like to add?


I would love to say thank you for inviting me today, you have given me lots of things to think about and a whole new set of ideas for my Life As We Know It posts!


Thank you, Vivienne, I think you are truly awesome. Visit Vivienne at her blog, Serendipity!

15 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for letting me take part in this. I thoroughly enjoyed it.Finding in it freaking seeing my photos on your blog.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Viv you are totally awesome and so cute both as a teen and now :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wonderful post, and Vivienne is awesome! It's great to find out more about her. Thanks, Clover.

    And Vivienne, I love your teenage style! One day I should tell you about the time I met Madonna... ;)
    Good luck with your writing - I can't wait to hear more about it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Aw Vibv this is wonderful. I wondered where your girls got their gorgeous hair colour from.

    Would it surprise you to know I used to affix brown elastoplast bandages all over my fingers to emulate my hero? I didn't have a sparkly glove though so had to make do with one lone single woolen one! Ahahaha! No wonder people thought I was odd!

    Loved reading this, brilliant post.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oooh, I definitely think you are an awesome woman Vivienne! You should have shown some of your wonderful scrapbooking and baking too!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Haha, Viv, you crack me up. I love the look you were rocking in '85!
    You obviously got up to no good a bit, stealing your best friends boyfriend! :O!!

    Thank you Michelle, I am seriously looking forward to finding out more about other awesome women! :D x

    ReplyDelete
  7. LOVING the all-pink Madonna look. Great post - and what a fab idea for a series: looking forward to more Awesome Women of the blogosphere!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I loved this! It was such an awesome read! Now I'm seriously worried that my own interview is waaay too long. And I didn't even think about photos from the past! Lol. I shall remedy this.
    But I loved reading Vivienne's interview! And I love her hair! Ginger ftw! :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great interview with the amazing Viv :-) I love her answers as well as the pics.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow you are so 80s, lol. I am glad I was too little in the 80s, the colors so not for me.

    Great post :D

    ReplyDelete
  11. AWESOME POST! I love this idea and these answers were fantastic too!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Such a nice interview. You give a lot of great advice for young girls today. Hope they read this post.

    ReplyDelete
  13. wonderful interview ladies!
    viv, great photos...love the 80's one!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I adore this post and the reactions it's gotten. THANK YOU VIVIENNE :) You were a wonderful first interviewee for this new project, I really appreciate it :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Fantastic post ladies! Viv, it was great getting to know you better. I've been a loyal follower of your blog from the beginning and always look forward to being cheered up when I visit you!

    ReplyDelete

HI! Thank you for leaving a comment, you've just become my new best friend :)