They are the authors of two bestselling works of non-fiction: Where's My Happy Ending? and Parenting the Sh*t Out of Life. They have both been journalists for more than 10 years, have written for dozens of publications, and Anna hosts her own radio show on Heart.
Together they are Mother and Papa Pukka, and with Quarantine, they made their fiction debut.
Words on Quarantine
Anna:
Why do you tell stories?
To be understood. The 2D world of social media misses so much and I enjoy nuance. Writing allows you to paint the 3D picture in someone’s mind. To have your point and perspective on life better understood.
Why Quarantine?
We’d just written Where’s My Happy Ending? that asked sex workers, gigolos, romance novelists, singles, couples and throuples how to get to that elusive happily ever after. And, in fact, if it exists. Quarantine felt like a natural step on from that as couples locked down together and, perhaps, broke together. It was a welcome outlet as we went from death tolls to food slots in a five minute period.
What is your favourite book?
Jilly Cooper’s Polo. She remains my muse and while I’d love to offer up something more high brow, no one can compete with this line: “She looked up from his nethers and whispered, ‘I do love penis Grigio.’”
What is your favourite quote?
The 9-5 is barbaric. I truly believe we will look back on it as we do child slavery in the 18th century.
- Douglas Coupland
What's your favourite word?
Soporific.
Matt:
Why writing?
A mix of curiosity and vanity, which I think is true for most people. You have to be curious enough to want to explore things and vain enough to think that your take might be interesting to someone else.
What inspired your fiction debut?
When lockdown happened and millions of people found all their relationship questions magnified. So we wanted to explore that with fiction.
What is your favourite book and why?
As a surly teenage boy, Of Mice and Men was the first book to leave me teary. It made me want to read anything that wasn't a set text. Now, my favourite book is usually the last one I read.
What is your favourite quote?
Corner taken quickly…
- Anon
What is your favourite word?
Finagle.
