Kushti Consulting announces the paperback launch of Helen Fielding's novel, OLIVIA JOULES AND THE OVERACTIVE IMAGINATION

Press Release


June 2004

Kushti Consulting announces the paperback launch of Helen Fielding’s novel, OLIVIA JOULES AND THE OVERACTIVE IMAGINATION


To be launched this month, this Picador spy thriller will retail at £7.99 and is set to be this summer’s most popular read.

With Olivia Joules, Helen Fielding, (the creator of Bridget Jones), has created a new heroine for the noughties. While Bridget Jones is the woman that most are, Olivia is the woman many aspire to be. Olivia is the girl Bridget could have become had she chosen to ignore the biological clock, dumped Mark Darcy and aspirations of marital joy and instead, developed an overactive imagination and a hot-headed desire to see and save the world.

Born Rachel Pixley from Worksop, the transformation from Rachel to Olivia occurred after the fourteen year-old Rachel witnessed the death of all her family while walking across a crossing. Rachel seized the opportunity to change her life and become Olivia Joules – homage to the French-sounding unit of kinetic energy she remembered from physics lessons.

Cue Olivia: “A charming, attractive, ambitious multi-lingual journalist. Give her a false name, a hat pin, a button compass, a (press) junket to cover a face-cream launch in Miami and her own set of Rules for Life that fall between The Ten Commandments and a Maggie Alderson column. (Rule 12: When overwhelmed by disaster, check if it’s really a disaster by doing the following: A. Think, “Oh fuck it”. B. Look on the bright side, and if that doesn’t work, look on the funny side.) Add a mysterious French playboy who might be Osama Bin Laden in disguise, depending on your imagination, and you have the making of a Bond-style thriller, complete with terrorist plots, Caribbean scuba-diving scuffles, soirees on private islands, and an elaborate plot that builds to an ultimately satisfying Hollywood crescendo.” – SMH
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Notes to editors:




Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination inspires many feature ideas so please contact us if you are interested in any of the following including case studies, interviewees and expert views:


Spy for the day
What will a journalist equipped with gadgets from the Spy Shop and an overactive imagination discover on a day out in London?

Girls’ Team vs. Undercover Bitches
A look at women’s women and men’s women including a psychologist’s view and a table of celebrities who fall into various camps

Roll call: Britney Spears, Angelina Jolie, Yasmin Le Bon, Jennifer Ellison, Nicole Kidman, Catherine Zeta Jones, Jordan, Abby Titmus, Cherie Blair, Nicole Kidman, Margaret Thatcher, Kiera Knightley, Kate Moss, Cameron Diaz, Cat Deely, Denise van Outen, Louise Rednapp, Kerry McFadden, Renee Zellweger, Tara Palmer Tompkinson, Brigit Bardot, Caprice, Penny Lancaster, Rachel Hunter, Marge Simpson, Bridget Jones, Jennie Frost, Madonna.

Can a woman trust her intuition or is it usually a case of overactive imagination?
Feature exploring women’s intuition, including case studies and women’s experiences.

Which famous actress is being tipped to play Olivia Joules in the forthcoming film adaptation of the book? Cameron Diaz, Sienna Miller, Kiera Knightley, Kate Moss, Samantha Moreton? Is Clooney really considering the lead role as Ferramo? Will Brad Pitt play himself?

Reinventing you, beyond makeover, beyond surgery – a look at real women who have adopted new identities. This feature could also include a vox pop to find out what people would change their name to if they could and why?

How to be your own spy
Anyone can go undercover simply and successfully. Discover how to, including tips and advice from detectives.

Real life Olivia Joules – profiles of glamorous investigative journalists or private eyes.

Olivia Joules recommends
Ten best holidays in the world to remain anonymous
Are you a Bridget or an Olivia. A feature with a quiz and vox pop to find out which character women today most identify with.

Do we need Rules for Life. What are the most popular rules that people follow? This could include a psychologist’s views on the importance of Rules and their effect on lives.

How to become a spy
Career focus including profiles of female spies through the ages – from Mata Hari to Christine Keeler and Josephine Baker – women who have used feminine wiles to get information

From fat to thin
Interviews with women who have travelled each way, their experiences of how people treat them and view them, when they were happiest and why?

James Bond vs. Olivia Joules – Saville Row vs. Marc Jacobs
Feature exploring the differences between male and female spies – when female characteristics win the day



For further information, please contact:
Jane Austin and Ola Wright at Kushti Consulting
Tel: 0207 485 7440/07971 193 396
Email: jane@kushtinet.com
Ola_kushti@hotmail.com