Kate Walker tagged me on the ‘five things that not many people know about me’ meme. Um. I’m such a WYSIWYG person that I’m not sure I can think of any.

However, the note from Sharon, the creator of People Collection (which seems to have originated this "Five Things..." list), says: PLEASE LEAVE THE FOLLOWING IN ALL ‘PEOPLE COLLECTION’ POSTS: Remember that it isn’t always the sensational stuff that writers are looking for, it can just as easily be something that you take for granted like having raised twins or knowing how to grow beetroot. Mind you, if you know how to fly a helicopter or have worked as a film extra, do feel free to let the rest of us know about it!  So here goes.

1. When I was younger, I wanted to be an astronaut – most of the stories I wrote before the age of 8 involved visiting other planets. I really wanted to walk on the moon but the nearest I’ve come to it was seeing a piece of moon rock exhibited in Norwich castle when I was about five years old.
2. I played the Wicked Stepmother in Hansel and Gretel when I was 10 (and I can still remember my first lines: looking back, I played her as Terry Jones would’ve done. “’Ansel, Gretel, come ’ere, ya lazy pair – playin’ arahnd outside again, I ’spose, and me wiv my bad back and all…”).
3. I can make a scoubidous helicopter. (I can also do tapestry and – although it’s been a while since I last did it – sew my own clothes. But I can’t knit.)
4. I used to do Egyptian dancing. (Which is why Miranda in The Heart Consultant’s Lover does that instead of going to the gym. Much more fun. And no, it isn’t the same as belly-dancing: you’re covered from neck to toe.) Sadly, our teacher moved away so the class folded.
5. In my last year at uni, we had the option of handing in a folder of creative writing. Mine included some riddles (similar to those in the Exeter Book): and yup, I wrote them in Anglo Saxon. (I was horribly pretentious in my late teens/early twenties. Nowadays, I’m just eccentric.)

Tagging. Hmm. Ip, dip... Fiona Lowe and Julie Cohen.