Any supper requests? Big kiss, I x
About the Author
Like my heroine, I was bored one day at work when I decided to Google myself. Unlike Izobel, I found absolutely nothing; well, lots about a realtor, poet and lawyer called Christina Hopkinson, but I had to delve pretty deep before I got to me. But I did think to myself, “Wouldn’t it have been weird if there had been a site devoted to me and my life?” and from there I developed the plot of Cyber Cinderella.
I was often bored at work. After being educated in Cambridge (school), Oxford (university) and Madrid (nightclubs), I wasn’t qualified for much other than the usual media job that sounds a lot more glamorous than it is. I decided to stop waiting for a big fat redundancy payoff and chuck in my job to give writing a go. I got reemployed as a receptionist and typed fast and furiously in between answering the phone in a singsong voice.
Over the following twelve months, I got married, got pregnant, got published and moved house. I now live in London and divide my time between the differing demands of toddler and typewriter. I’m working on my second novel, as well as contributing features on health and parenting to British newspapers such as the Telegraph and the Guardian.
Get in touch with me through www.christinahopkinson.com.
5 SPOT • • • • • SEND OFF
5 Reasons Why Googling Yourself Is a Very Bad Idea
1. It’s like reading somebody else’s diary. You wade through lots of boring stuff that’s not about you and, if there is anything actually relevant, it’s always negative. I found the gem “Christina Hopkinson clearly needs help” on a message board in response to an article I wrote in a newspaper. To which the other contributors all agreed!
2. The shame of looking yourself up and finding you’re not on it at all. Or you are—but it’s only as an eBay buyer or seller.
3. Your discovery that an ex has put pictures of you up on the Web. And you’re at a hugely unflattering angle, with your bits hanging out. Or your ex has posted your photo on a don’t-ever-date-this-person site.
4. You find other people with your same name that are much more exciting than you are. Like the friend who got obsessed with the person of the same name who’d won the Social Entrepreneur of the the Year award. She wondered, could it have been me? Should it be me? Then she wanted to change her life. Then she realized she never would. Then she wanted to watch daytime TV in a slump of depression for the next ten years.
I Googled what would be my married name, Christina Carruthers, to find that somebody else had already bagged that domain name and created the site www.christinacarruthers.com. What’s more, I’m completely outflanked in the glamour and makeup stakes by the rival Christina—reigning Miss Gay Dupont Circle of America and competitor in five—count ’em—five Miss Gay America pagents.
5. Googling leaves a trail of technological slime easily followed. Oh, the shame of being caught looking yourself up. Worse, the shame of getting an emergency visit from the men from your work’s IT department for having accidently logged onto a porn site when curiously looking at your namesake’s Swedish Web link.
If the site fits, wear it.
My world turned upside down the day I Googled myself and found IzobelBrannigan.com, a Web site dedicated to me. I’m not a celebrity, I’m not a royal, and I’m not an heiress. What I am is an average girl with a good job and a bad boyfriend. Nothing unusual there…
And yet, someone out there does think I’m unusual. They think I’m a fashion icon, a mover and a shaker about to take the world by storm. It’s amazing how the virtual Izobel Brannigan is so much more interesting than me. She’s a glamorous party girl; I’m a public relations hack. She’s a rebel; I’m a conformist. She has all the answers, and all I have are questions, the biggest being: Who is this Izobel Brannigan, and how do I get her life?
“A fast, feisty, and topical page-turner that will make you think twice (or maybe even three times) before Googling yourself.”
—CAROLE CADWALLADR, AUTHOR OF THE FAMILY TREE
“Thought-provoking and very difficult to put down.
The product of an exciting new talent.
When’s her next one out?”
—CLARE DE VRIES, AUTHOR OF I & CLAUDIUS
“An insightful debut—witty, wise, and worth reading.”
—THE MIRROR (UK)
Cyber Cinderella Page 26