Live web-chat with Tony Parsons, 9pm-10pm, 6 October

[rachel(mumsnet)]

Columnist and author Tony Parsons will be joining us here on Monday 6th October from 9-10pm for a live chat. Tony's sixth novel, 'My Favourite Wife' has just been published and is described by The Independent as 'a much bigger, more ambitious book' than million-selling 'Man and Boy'. If you can't make the chat you can post your questions in advance here.
Hope to see you here on Monday.

DEAR SWEDES ? thank you for your comment and your question. Actually, although I was a single dad, I don?t feel I raised my son alone because I had so much help ? from my mum and dad, and from the girlfriends I had in the ten years between the end of my first marriage and the start of my second. I had an army of people, many of them women, rooting for me and my boy and that made it easier. Whjat made it tough was that I really wanted some sort of stable homelife for my kid and I can?t pretend I gave him that. But there was plenty of love around, and also plenty of practical help ? which is what the single parent needs more than anything. We survived, and he is a great young man.
As for capital punishment, I know it will never come back in this country but I still believe it should. Whoever kicked that middle-aged guy to death in Norwich deserves to die. So does whoever took Madeliene McCann. Some people are beyond mercy, beyond redemption. But capital punishment will never come back in Britain so there?s no need to worry about it. THANKS FOR YOUR QUESTIONS. The Real Tony Parsons

Dear Cies ? I think magazines like GQ have a future. I think people like holding stuff ? books, magazines, newspapers, CDs, each other ? and you can?t put everything on the Internet. Certainly the print medium is stuggling to survive in the modern world ? but the one thing it will always have going for it is that men and women want to touch something more than a little beige keyboard. THANKS FOR THE QUESTION The Real Tony Parsons

Ah, it?s okay ? you can mention Julie if you like ? I promise not to burst into tears?and it is actually quite a novelty to be asked about her because we broke up so long ago. I mean, I have been married to my wife for 16 years ? and before that I was single for 10 years ? so you see the whole Tony and Julie thing is quite a long way down the road?you would have to be quite long in the tooth to even remember it!!!!! But I am not sure I can help you ? you probably know more about her than I do. But we had a great time together when we were young, as I recall ? it feels like we just laughed our heads off for 7 years. And our relationship produced a fantastic son ? so no regrets. Good luck to her. I hope she is as happy as I am. What more can I say? THANKS FOR THE QUESTION The Real Tony Parsons

lol Bran. I must have just been on his mind as he was typing

100times You get the groupie booby prize!

I would ask a thoughtful and interesting question but I am busy turning my lounge into Lazytown for my six year old's party tomorrow.

But I DO LOVE YOUR BOOKS THEY ARE VERY DIVERTING. LOVE FROM MORNINGPAPER XXX

My new book is called MY FAVOURITE WIFE ? it is the story of a British family suffering from the credit crunch in London who move to Shanghai and find themselves fighting to save their marriage ? it is about sex and romance, London and Shanghai, work and home. The usual, really. Of course I would love you to read it!! It took me three years to write ? if I didn?t want you to read it?it would be rather strange. I would LOVE you to read My Favourite Wife. I took 3 years because I wanted to write a book that would touch and move people and say something about the world we live in. As for Philip Hensher ? never heard of him, frankly. If he is saying bad things about me then I suggest what I would suggest to all the critics ? show me how it is done, baby!! Step up to the plate. Come out of hiding and let your light shine. Philip Hensher - you know someone must have a REALLY SMALL PENIS with a name like Philip Hensher. Seriously, folks, if they don?t like it, they should try writing something better. But they never ever do?.so anyway. Read My Favourite Wife. Please. If you don?t like it, I will personally give you your money back. THANKS!! The Real Tony Parsons

tony do you just have one child?
do people comment on that?, i only have 1.
and people say allsorts of crap like when you gonna give her a sibling blah blah.

we call only children, fliying solo on here, do you have any expressions for only children?

Dear ScummyMummy ? thank you for your questions. I think what Jamie Oliver is doing ? trying to stop people killing themselves with chips ? is heroic and brave. I watched the first TV show and I thought it was more shocking than a dozen panoramas. The scene where the little girl eats her first cooked meal ? in a lifetime ? was shocking and movin g. unfortunately, people in this country don?t like being told what to do. He will get a lot of hostility as the show seems to measure all the gaps between us ? the rich and the poor, the south and the north, the middle class and the working class, the thin and the fat?it would be a lot easier for him just to open a restaurant in Hampstead and do the odd TV show where he goes, ?Awright me old darling? Crack on, tiger.? Instead he is trying to make the world a slightly better place.
No, I don?t think The Wire is as good as The Sopranos, although I have only seen the first series of The Wire and all of the Sopranos. My favourite charity is Scope, for people with Cerebal Palsy, although recently I have been involved with a Literacy campaign., because there are a shocking number of children in this country who leave school unable to read, and also the anti-knife campaign. I was at the rally in Hyde Park because, as a parent and a Londoner, I am terrified at the way carrying a knife is becoming normal.. And I didn?t vote for either Ken or Boris. I like Boris as a person ? we were neighbours on the same Holloway Street for ten years ? but I think that Boris really wants to be liked ? and I don?t know if that is a good quality in a Mayor ? if it prevents him from making difficult decisions. I think that Livingstone didn?t care about being liked. But I didn?t vote for him because ? ironically enough ? I don?t like him. THANKS FOR YOUR QUESTIONS. The Slightly Real Tony Parsons

Dear Bitoffun ? yes, I thought Kramer and Kramer was a great movie. But you don?t realize quite how great until you have lived it. Thanks for your question, Bitoffun (that?s a nice name ? so many people reveal their self-loathing in the names they choose, don?t you think?) The Unreal Tony Parsons

@Tony, what do you think we (women, society) should do about the vileness that is lads mags? Do you worry about what they teach your daughter and son about relationships and sex?

Dear Swedelantern ? thank you for your question about who I would like whispering to me in the dark. I take your point about the loveliness of having Tom Paulin whispering in the dark ? although of course you would run the risk of him saying something like, ?Oh AWFUl, simply AWFUL.? But he is a treasure?I have been happily married for sixteen years to my wife Yuriko, so I would choose her voice ? and if you push me for a name outside the marriage ? well, my ultimate fanstasy woman is the late great Cyd Charisse, who danced with gene Kelly in Singin? In The Rain ? but of course Cyd never really spoke in her greatest moments ? she just danced. She said it best when she said nothing at all. Maybe that?s what we should dream of ? but do let me know if you want me to set you up with Tom. Thanks for your question. Tony Parsons (the real one)

Dearesr Cocoleboo ? you are right ? the Sex Pistols WERE a bit shite, as you put it ? although they were very exciting at the time, and great to watch live. They had the fleeting glory of youth about them, although it was all downhill when Glen Matlock left the band and Sid Vicious came in ? because then they stopped writing songs, and they had someone in the band who couldn?t even tune his bass guitar. So ? you had to be there, I guess. Love and hugs to you too, and thank you for the question TONY XXX OOO XXX

If I invite you to the literature festival that I work for, will you come?

Dear Miss Clavel re reviews ? we all want to be loved, don?t we? It is hard not to be hurt if someone is slagging you off in print on something that ? as with My Favourite Wiufe ? you spent 3 years trying to get right. That said, I feel you have to build up certain defense mechanisms ? this is what I do to support my family. It?s my job. So I can?t let some little dickwad on the Sunday times stop me working. I just can?t let it happen. And you know ? and I know ? that plenty of people are not motivated by The Truth ? they are motivated by Spite, Envy and Poison. I think, on the whole, I get pretty fairly reviewed ? there are always a few slaggings, but there are always plenty of good ones to stick on the cover of the paperback. So I don?t want to whine too loudly. I think you just have to keep it in perspective, and realize that the person tearing you to p[ieces would actually quite like to swap careers with you. But the big thing for me, and back to your central point, is that if you intend to make your living as a writing, you just can?t care too much about what people say. Some people read every review ? some people read none. I read the ones that are in the papers I come across, and ignore the rest. That works quite well for me. I just read that Butch Cassaidy and the Sundance Kid got a critical mauling when it came out. Come on!! I can understand someone disliking me ? but how can you not love Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? TONY xx

You found me out old man. I don;t do it for the money as you know. I do it for the perks

Dear Miss Clavel re reviews ? we all want to be loved, don?t we? It is hard not to be hurt if someone is slagging you off in print on something that ? as with My Favourite Wiufe ? you spent 3 years trying to get right. That said, I feel you have to build up certain defense mechanisms ? this is what I do to support my family. It?s my job. So I can?t let some little dickwad on the Sunday times stop me working. I just can?t let it happen. And you know ? and I know ? that plenty of people are not motivated by The Truth ? they are motivated by Spite, Envy and Poison. I think, on the whole, I get pretty fairly reviewed ? there are always a few slaggings, but there are always plenty of good ones to stick on the cover of the paperback. So I don?t want to whine too loudly. I think you just have to keep it in perspective, and realize that the person tearing you to p[ieces would actually quite like to swap careers with you. But the big thing for me, and back to your central point, is that if you intend to make your living as a writing, you just can?t care too much about what people say. Some people read every review ? some people read none. I read the ones that are in the papers I come across, and ignore the rest. That works quite well for me. I just read that Butch Cassaidy and the Sundance Kid got a critical mauling when it came out. Come on!! I can understand someone disliking me ? but how can you not love Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? TONY xx

Dear SwedeLantern ? my little room at the top of our house ? it?s tiny, but has a great view across London, and it is full of stuff that I love ? books and records, a lovely broken old desk, a very old Mac, big TV, lots of exercise equipment, lots of pictures my daughter. It is like a little comfort zone cockpit ? it is about 3 metres square. But there?s room to work and there?s room to exercise and room to keep in touch with the world ? and there?s a great view of the Sky. So I am happy up there.
As for stocks and shares ? I wouldn?t touch the things. I don?t believe in bailing out bankers because nobody bailed out miners, dockers or printers, which is what my uncles were. As this economic crisis goes on, it becomes easier to understand ? Iceland has just gone broke ? they have all just gone broke ? because they were gamblers who thought they could do nothing but win. I have never known so many people who have just lost their job ? and I know not everyone who is suffering is evil. But I think this has been caused by the greed of evil men. That?s my economic analysis, anyhow. THANKS FOR YOUR QUESTION!! How do you know so much about my house? That?s not you standing across the street with the meat cleaver is it?? Tony xxxx

Oh good I'm glad Becca had an affair. Actually I doubt her marriage survived if she didn't......

Dear Cappucino - the answer to your question is YES. Thanks for asking. Best Tony xx

Hi Tony
A really cheeky question I know, but is part of your motivation coming on here to wind Julie Burchill up?

By the way I enjoyed man and boy but I did find it a bit narcissistic (on the same hand very male)

Tony, Giles Coren's rant at the subs: genius or should have pins stuck in his eyes?

JimJam - I think she had eaerned her affair. Thanks for buying it and for reading it and for caring, JimJam. Tony xx

"that?s a nice name ? so many people reveal their self-loathing in the names they choose, don?t you think?)"

Dear me, talk about bitchy. That's about the 3rd time. You are showing your petticoats Mr Parsons!

Dear Slur ? if you just read one of my books then you should probably go for Man and Boy. I worked a lot harder on the latest one ? My Favourite Wife ? but Man and Boy is the one that sold millions, and the one that people seemed to warm to most. Man and Boy was turned into a rather crappy rom com by the BBC but it is really about 3 generations of men ? a dying grandfather, a son whose marriage falls about, and the 4 year boy he brings up. Oh, and the other good one is The Family ? that is the one about 3 sisters, and their struggles with pregnancy, motherhood and infertility ? that?s the one that Julia Roberts bought the film rights to when she was pregnant with her twins. THANKS FOR YOUR QUESTION ? IF YOU TRY ONE OF MY BOOKS THEN I HOPE YOU LIKE IT. Tony xx