I am going to be speechifying at my old shuffling ground, Birmingham University, on the 26 October as part of their Book to the Future literary festival.

You can catch me at 4.30pm talking about how I got started in writing, how I first got my job in magazines, who the best people I’ve ever interviewed are and why (One Direction and Vanessa Paradis FYI – not together, although that would have been excellent) and how the books I’m writing came about.

I’ll chat about the best way to get work experience, what I’ve learned from freelancing and how I came to be a Cosmopolitan columnist. I’ll no doubt also try to be funny and then pretend I’ve dropped something on the floor to hide my shame.

The whole festival is free and there will be a chance to ask any (nice) questions. Please come along!

For more info go to: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/university/colleges/artslaw/events/bttf/jo-usmar.aspx