Thanks to SELRES_a4c1df2e-a803-4ae9-ad55-4fec2c8515cbSELRES_031ea956-33cc-4644-a1e1-cdbeb7377369The Militant NegroSELRES_031ea956-33cc-4644-a1e1-cdbeb7377369SELRES_a4c1df2e-a803-4ae9-ad55-4fec2c8515cb for tagging ‘everyone’ at the end of his ‘Inside My Head’ blog. I have decided to answer all the questions, and like Mr MN, I also tag ‘everybody’ who would like to take part. The rules are as follows:
RULES:
- Thank & tag the person that has tagged you (that’s me, folks!).
- Attach the tag photo
- Answer the questions
- Tag 10-20 friends.
THE QUESTIONS:
1. How do I feel at the moment?
Great! I’ve just had my hair cut and styled, and last week I had another clear scan (the third in a row).
2. What do I need more in my life?
More time. The days are going by so quickly, and sometimes it’s a rush to get everything done. We’re already nearly halfway through the year.
3. What would make me happy right now?
If my mum could walk through my front door again. She died a year ago, and I miss her.
4. What is going right in my life?
My health has improved dramatically since last year. My new novel is complete (just awaiting ARC readers’ comments), and all my family are healthy and happy.
5. List 10 things I am grateful for:
- Being cancer free.
- The love of my husband and sons.
- My family.
- To be able to publish my stories.
- My part-time job.
- To be able to drive a car.
- My holiday home.
- Good mobility.
- Sunshine.
- Living in the countryside.
6. When did I experience joy this week?
Today, when my hairdresser told me that my hair at the back of my head (after radiotherapy) has grown back thicker than ever!
7. List a small victory:
My book ‘A House Without Windows’ was considered for filming by a New York media production company. Okay, it wasn’t picked at the end of the day, but they sought me out because they liked the story. I didn’t have to contact them to start with.
8. What is bothering me, and why?
Having to undergo an anaesthetic in a month or so for some dental work. I can’t get out of it, and I’ll be glad when it’s over.
9. What are my priorities at the moment?
To get my latest book published on 6th July.
10. What do I love about myself?
The fact that I can eat quite a lot and not put on any weight because of the amount of thyroxine I have to take! Also that I never have to pay out any money to have my hair permed – it’s naturally curly.
11. Who means the world to me, and why?
My husband. We have shared so much joy and sorrow in the last 39 years. Nobody knows me like he does, and vice versa.
12. If I could share one message with the world, what would it be?
This is only my opinion and I’m entitled to it, so here goes… it’s time to ban all religions! No amount of praying can do for you what you can achieve yourself with a bit of will-power, stubbornness, and motivation.
13. What advice would I give to my younger self?
Follow your heart and go and get that English degree. You were never meant to do the job you started off doing when you left school.
14. What lesson did I learn this week?
After its first rejection, that maybe my latest book is still not good enough to secure an agent (wipes brow in frustration – what the bloody hell will ever please them?).
15. If I had all the time in the world, what would I do first?
Go and get that bloody English degree.
16. What is draining my energy?
A watery and sore right eye from all that radiotherapy. It makes me feel tired even if I’m not.
17. What does my ideal morning look like?
Get up at 06:15 and be out walking in the sunshine by 08:00 for 45 minutes. Then 15 minutes on the Bosu ball when I get back, and then 3 hours working on my latest book.
18. What does my ideal day look like?
That would be a Saturday or a Sunday when I can do my walking and writing in the morning, and then see all the family in the afternoon for a get-together or BBQ in our garden.
19. What makes me come alive?
Dancing to my favourite songs with good friends, or laughing to something my husband has said (he has a very dry sense of humour). Being amongst my extended family.
20. What/who inspires me most?
It’s got to be my little granddaughter. She is autistic and very loving and kind. She has had to overcome many hurdles in her young life, but is full of the joys of youth. It’s lovely to see. She is very musical, and when I watch her singing in her school choir it makes me cry.
21. Where does my pain originate?
In my neck after extensive treatment for thyroid cancer. I shall have various pains and a strange altered sensation in my neck for the rest of my life. But hey, I’m still alive!
22. What are my strengths?
Fiercely loyal. Reliable. Punctual. Conscientious.
23. What is something I’ve always wanted but am too scared to get?
To be a doctor, but alas I’m too old and do not have a mathematical brain.
24. What is something I would love to learn?
To learn French from a native speaker. I was taught French at school by a Londoner, and when I met an actual French person I couldn’t understand a word they said!
25. Where would I want to live my ideal life?
On the Isle of Wight -‘The Bright Side‘ where I have a holiday home. Alas we’re not allowed to stay there all year round, and Sam and I also have to work over here on ‘The Dark Side’!
26. Where would I like to travel in the next 5 years?
Nowhere. I prefer to be either at my main home or my holiday home. I’ve done enough travelling over the last 50 years, and it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. I hate sitting in cramped aeroplanes breathing in everybody’s germs. Wherever I travel to tends to be too hot, and unfortunately foreign food is generally too spicy for me, hurts my irradiated throat, and is not to my taste (which is very plain, and I’m dairy intolerant). I don’t plan to leave the UK at all in the next 5 years – don’t really want to and that’s a fact Jack.
27. What can I do to take better care of myself?
I’m doing as much as I can. There’s nothing left to do that I’m not already doing.
28. What hobbies would I like to try?
Learning to play the saxophone, but I haven’t got enough puff now…
29. When have I done something that I thought I couldn’t do?
A year ago, when I endured 30 sessions of radiotherapy to the neck. I have never felt as bad before or since. After 15 sessions I was ready to give up, but my husband and family encouraged me to continue. Now I am cancer-free.
30. At the end of my life, what do I want my legacy to be?
That readers enjoy my books for years to come.
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