Archive for April 13th, 2007

Geri Halliwell is joining the ranks of Madonna, Joni Mitchell, Leann Rimes and Billy Joel.

Not by singing, mind you, but by opting to pen children’s books.

The former Spice Girl’s authorial efforts will follow the adventures of nine-year-old Ugenia Lavender, a spunky, bright English girl who goes to school just like any normal kid but at the same time harbors a talent for solving mysteries and working her way out of sticky situations.

Sounds like a perfect endeavor for the mother of Bluebell Madonna. Halliwell’s daughter will be one year-old in May, still a few year’s shy from indulging in her mum’s prose.

Halliwell, who started writing these stories when she was pregnant, will also be providing the narration and voicing several characters for the tales’ audio-book editions. The books will hit shelves at the rate of one a month, starting in May 2008, up until October.

“I had put my back out and was stuck on the couch. I have a massive amount of creative energy and love to write. I needed something to channel that energy,” Halliwell told Reuters Thursday after inking a six-book deal with Macmillan Children’s Books.

So as not to let her other talents get rusty in the meantime, Halliwell also has plans to record a theme song for her addition to the canon of pint-size literary heroines, a tune that will also be released on CD next year and packaged along with the books.

Halliwell characterized her upcoming books as a bit Raiders of the Lost Ark-meets-Alice in Wonderland.

Ugenia is “a very well-rounded human being,” Halliwell told the Associated Press. “She’s flawed. She’s demanding. She can be a bit obnoxious, but equally she cares about the world she lives in.”

Actually, that sounds more like a combination of Posh, Baby and Scary Spice.

Regardless, Halliwell said that acting like Madonna, author of the bucolic-sounding The English Roses and Mr. Peabody’s Apples, has made for the perfect pastime since giving birth to Bluebell last year.

“I’m up in my office, so I can still be with my child, which is really important for me,” Halliwell, 34, said.

Whether the ginger-headed songstress, who cited C.S. Lewis and Enid Blyton as her favorite authors, plans on going back to music fulltime remains to be seen.

“We’ll see,” she said. “At the moment, this is my absolute passion.”

“It is time to hand on the baton of Girl Power through a different medium,” she told Reuters.

Accordingly, there is a princess character in the Ugenia Lavender series who, Halliwell admits, is based on former group mate Victoria Beckham.

“She was very flattered and I hope she is going to read the books to her boys,” she said.