Author Lionel Shriver on sculpting staying humble and slamming tennis balls - YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Sign in Welcome!Log into your account Forgot your password? Password recovery Recover your password Search Sign in Welcome! Log into your account Forgot your password? Get help Password recovery Recover your password A password will be e-mailed to you. YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Home Celebrity Author Lionel Shriver on sculpting staying humble and slamming tennis balls By You Magazine - April 15, 2018 Author Lionel Shriver opens up about her most precious possessions, from old watches to ‘goofy’ gifts… Gemma Day Gemma Day I picked up this metal ring off the street in Norway when I was about 15, on our first family trip out of the us. I wore it as a ring for almost 20 years – I’ve now retired it to this little box. Gemma Day I have had this old fashioned metal wind-up toy horse called Clippity since I was about nine. I keep it on my desk to remind me of both my humble beginnings and to stay humble. Gemma Day I was in another relationship for nine years before I met my husband Jeff [Williams, jazz drummer] in 2002. These toys were part of a goofy stocking I gave my ex one Christmas. I’m a little sad that he left them behind, but they’re a warm reminder that we still care about each other, even if it didn’t last for ever. Gemma Day I was so exasperated with the covers my publisher suggested for my novel The Post-Birthday World that I drew this one instead – it helped to move the design on to a cover I really liked. Gemma Day This is one of many ceramic sculptures I have made. I call this one The Smoker – I like her sense of cool indifference. It looks robust, but it’s extremely fragile. From childhood, I was equally divided between writing and art. I treasure the physicality of sculpting – it’s something I do just for myself. Gemma Day This glass tennis ball was a present from the editor of my book Double Fault. Tennis is important to me as my father Donald taught my brothers and me to play. I don’t care much for a proper game – I just like to hit the ball really hard, but within the lines. Gemma Day I was an eccentric child and loved making up little projects, pulling things apart and putting them back together. This was my paternal grandfather’s watch – it had stopped working, so I redesigned it and added little messages to myself inside the clock face, such as ‘finish poster’, when I was about ten. Gemma Day A framed copy of The Economist, with the cover line ‘We Need To Talk About Kim’, hangs on the door of my study. It gives me a great sense of achievement in a kooky way. My 2003 novel We Need To Talk About Kevin made my reputation, but my favourite book is So Much For That. It has a lot of feeling. Gemma Day This was my elder brother Greg’s wallet, one of the few things of his I kept after he died in 2009. He made it himself – he liked things to be heavy and durable. I kept his hard hat and his power drill, too. We shared a great love for tools and making things. Lionel’s new book Property: A Collection will be published by Borough Press on Thursday, price £14.99 RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR 50 of the best celebrity Halloween costumes of all time Shirley Ballas ‘ Strictly gave me back my hope’ Davina McCall discusses how men can help women going through the menopause Popular in Celebrity TV chef Gino D Acampo on Sardinia Sophia Loren and scary salads May 25, 2017 The Evergreen Goddess Exercise guru Diana Moran on looking fit and July 10, 2017 More more Julianne Moore November 13, 2017 Author Jill Mansell on designer notebooks commissioning art and the family January 16, 2018 EMOTIONAL TIES Kelly Hoppen on vodka vintage finds and being a April 4, 2018 ‘ I have no regrets’ Millie Mackintosh on divorce debt and reuniting May 20, 2018 EMOTIONAL TIES TV presenter and tennis player Annabel Croft shares her July 1, 2018 Stella Parton ‘ Dolly and I have always been close’ August 12, 2018 Anna Friel on getting jeered in the street shared parenting with September 23, 2018 Queen of primetime Charlotte Riley on juggling rising stardom with pregnancy October 21, 2018 Popular CategoriesFood2704Life2496Fashion2240Beauty1738Celebrity1261Interiors684 Sign up for YOUMail Thanks for subscribing Please check your email to confirm (If you don't see the email, check the spam box) Fashion Beauty Celebrity Life Food Privacy & Cookies T&C Copyright 2022 - YOU Magazine. All Rights Reserved