Ulrika pleases Newbury crowd
TV personality Ulrika Jonsson talked about her first novel to an audience at Newbury Library
ULRIKA Jonsson entertained a crowd at Newbury library recently when she introduced and signed copies of her new novel.
Speaking to Newburytoday.co.uk before the start of her talk at the Wharf-based library on Wednesday evening (September 28), Ulrika Jonsson revealed that her first novel, The Importance of Being Myrtle, took 18 months to write.
"I wrote it on a computer, mainly a laptop, in a mix of places - the study, the bedroom and on the move during the last two years,” she said.
The main, fictional character, 58-year-old Myrtle, was definitely not based on herself she said, adding: "I'm not a 58-year-old widow scared to say boo to a goose!"
Ulrika Jonsson lives in Oxfordshire and started her career as TV-AM's weather girl before going on to host Gladiators and become a team captain on Shooting Stars.
Speaking on how she found time to write the novel, as she is also a mother of four children, she said: "The problem is the same as for most women with children and I still have to work. I write whenever I find the time."
She said her visit to Newbury Library was the first time she had visited the town, although added that her sister had attended school in the Newbury area.
"My sister went to school around here - I think it was Downe House in Cold Ash,” she said.
After talking about her book, the audience were given an opportunity to ask her questions and get a copy of the book signed.
As Ulrika Jonsson's first published work of fiction, she said The Importance of Being Myrtle is a novel about hidden lives and second chances.
The Swedish television presenter, who moved to England aged 12, started writing stories when she was aged nine after her father brought a typewriter home from work one day and her autobiography Honest, written in 2003, became a bestseller.
The evening was a collaborative event between Newbury Library and The Hungerford Bookshop.
The Importance of Being Myrtle is published by Penguin.
