This is new to me and the lovely @roseamiee tagged me yesterday, so...

I believe you have to share 10 facts about you then answer a series of questions and finally tag a further 15 friends, so this 'mania' keeps going... Believe it or not, I felt a little intimidated at first which makes no sense right, since between my memoir and all the other works out there plus the many conversations... there's not much most of you don't already know about me ;)

Anyway, I will now dredge up things you still somehow don't know about...

10 FACTS

1. I'm stuck in the 70's with music. Sometimes I go back into the 60's and a few times the 80's.  No further.

2. I knew AC/DC before they were famous.

3. I don't do well with large groups of women.

4. English is not my first language but I am also bilingual - fluent in my native one.

5. I tend to take over any situation. It's a thing I do unconsciously.

6. I will step aside rather than step on an ant.

7. I was named after the Queen of England rather than my paternal grandmother - Clementine.

8. I love coffee. Espresso-style, in a single gulp with lots of sugar.

9. My nickname in High School was 'giraffe'.

10. I hate the cold. I mean I really hate the cold!

QUESTIONS &ANSWERS

1#) If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go & why?

There are two places which constantly 'call' me. Egypt is one and I have been there, and felt right at home. The other is Ireland and yeah, like @roseamiee, I swear I must have been Irish in another life. I have watched every film. I hear the music and it feels like I 'know' it. My feet start jigging, I swear!  I will get there one day.

2#) What made you start writing?

I can't remember a time I wasn't writing. We still have my mother's cook books and a 'women's encyclopedia' with my pre-school scribbles. I learned the new language in mere months and it was like the damn bursting. I was the kid who loved writing long essays. Seriously. I kept diaries, I wrote about everything and anything, sometimes even scribbling on the blank pages of books I was reading. Poetry - or what I thought of as poetry - was big during my teenage years and into my twenties. One thing I could never do however was rhyme. I still struggle with reading rhyme. I prefer free-verse, or as someone called my own attempts, 'vertical prose'.

3#) If you could be any Disney character, who would you be & why?

Hmmm... Can I say I have never been into fairy-tales and don't like Disney characters? There's no particular one that comes to mind and usually if I feel strongly about something, it's in there somewhere. So no Disney character for me.

4#) What is your favorite music video!?

Meatloaf... Go on, laugh. From my teens, his music has featured prominently. In the car on long drives, walking the beaches with headphones, playing in the background as I write... I have been teased mercilessly, especially by my two boys. He's been part of my life though, through all the ups and downs. Sometimes I dream of meeting him and telling him of the impact he's had...

5#) How do you calm yourself down after being angry, stressed, or anxious?

I write. Caring for both elderly parents and two boys, the above are constants in my day. So I hide in my room and pour it all out on paper. Some of it is so bad it makes me smile re-reading it, and the mood lifts!

6#) What is your favorite game to play & why?

It's not a game as such but for years now, we have been into geocaching. Something about walking around random places with a phone, looking for some small thing cleverly hidden by someone else... I love the adventure of it, the not knowing what someone else has left behind for you to find... Once we were in a forest down on the coast and came across this beautiful and rather large castle, full of trinkets and souvenirs from foreign places. It has been there for years, yet only geocachers know it exists!

7#) What's the worse injury you have ever suffered from?

I lived most of my life accident and pain-free. Never broke a bone. Then just over two years ago we were rear-ended by two cars. Now I suffer from permanent nerve damage in the middle of my spine. It is debilitating and stops me from doing a lot of things I used to enjoy :(

8#) What is your favorite thing to do when you have time?

·        read

·        write

·        explore the internet

·        talk!!!!!!!

9#) Favorite fast food restaurant?

As a vegan, my options are sadly - none. I once walked into a McDonalds and asked for a burger without the burger. There was a lot of head-scratching, the supervisor was called and eventually the Manager. The teens behind the counter couldn't understand my request. True story. Subway would work, but one look at the bits of meat mixed in with the salads and vegetables as they rush to scoop out fillings... my stomach turns.

10#) If you could have any animal you want as a pet what would it be & what would you call it?

Definitely a Maine Coon. That's a lot of cat. I saw one manyyears ago at a cat show and have wanted one ever since. Doubt I could lift itlol, but they're like miniature lions, and I love lions. If I could have a lion- but then I would want it to be free, not a pet... So yeah, a huge Maine Coon! I'd call him George ;)

11#) If you could choose one fictional world to live in what would you chose & why?

I'm not into fantasy or sci-fi. If I had to choose, it would be some futuristic world, where there is no illness or death or any other social problems; where people would be free to pursue knowledge and the arts and not have to contend with 'work' and trivialities...

12) What is one word you always miss spell?

I hate to admit this but I know most words so don't often misspell - inless I am two-finger typing too quickly. See what I mean?

13#) What is your favorite word to use?

Feel.

Who's next...

@KevinTroxel

@ScottGoldman

@Klaius

@jeshi99

@seechelle

@Anniemena

@bayaBlue

@TheAlvarezChronicles

@RJ_Humphries

@ThePessimisticOreooo

@PricklyLulu

@jeeboombaa

@scorpio-25

@Eleanorlyn

@FelixRyker