Ten things you didn't know about me

OK, so I'm still waiting.  And I think I could be waiting a while.  The editor I'm working with will have been busy with the medical fast-track all through the month of August, and she is part of one of the teams for New Voices, Romance is Not Dead which starts on the 6 September.  So I think that will keep her pretty busy too.
So in the meantime, here is an idea blatantly stolen from Jane Holland.  So here it is...

Ten Things You Didn't Know About Me

1. I wrote my first book age 8.  It was called Shirley and the Magic Purse and I was very proud of it.  My favourite part was the full page describing an army of mice all with names beginning with M....
2. I am an absolute sci-fi fanatic.  Especially Star Trek The Next Generation.  In my dreams I am Captain Picard's daughter, which means I get away with anything.  But I enjoy all forms of sci-fi and yes, I do have a Star Trek outfit which I have been known to wear on occasion.  But the biggest giveaway is my son, Elliott, who was named after the little boy in ET.
3. I had a spat with J-Lo's manager.  My friends and I had tickets for TFI Friday in London and managed to blag our way into the bar where Chris Evans did all the interviews.  J-Lo was a guest (it was before she was HUGE) and came with an entourage that almost filled the already packed bar.  Her manager was standing behind me and was a hideous, frantic woman.  As J-Lo walked in and sat down next to Chris this woman was wittering behind me in my ear "Is she okay?  Is she okay?  Do you think she's okay?"  The bar was free at TFI Friday's and I'd had a few.  I couldn't hear the interview for this daft woman so eventually I turned round and said "OF COURSE SHE'S BL***Y ALRIGHT, SHE'S ONLY WALKED FIVE STEPS AND SAT DOWN.  NOW SHUT UP SO I CAN HEAR!"  I think the thick Scottish accent flummoxed her and she shut up.
4. As a child I was a great singer and had star parts playing Joseph in Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat and the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz.  Today I could clear the room by singing the first few lines of any song.  I am AWFUL.
5. I am a learning junkie.  I trained as a nurse, then did a BSc degree at night school while working.  Then I trained a health visitor and did a BA degree.  I started an English Literature degree with the Open Uni.  Then did a Masters.  Finally, last year I did a few extra modules in the Masters in Public Health, Epidemiology and Communicable Disease, because I thought they would be interesting.
6. I've been diabetic since age 8 and do 4 injections a day.  I was a boring teenager and never did any of the rebellion stuff and have always did my injections the way I should.  I had a wonderful Diabetic Liaison Nurse who gave me a reference to do nursing, then spent the next few years trying to persuade me to be a Diabetic Liaison Nurse too, as there aren't any in Scotland who actually have the condition.  I love chocolate and as long as I don't use it as my sole food source there is no reason I can't eat some.  The experience of being a patient is VERY different to the experience of nursing someone with diabetes.  And I firmly believe, that no-one can know everything.  I generally keep well, but like anyone can have spells where things are difficult.  For a control freak like me that can be hard, however I've been blessed with 2 healthy children, so I must be doing something right.
7. 
   

This is my dirty confession - I am a Radley-a-holic.  I can't resist them and firmly believe that a girl can never have too many Radleys.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
8.  I spend an absolutely ridiculous amount of money on books.  I am a book addict.  I subscribe to the medicals, but buy everything else I see recommended anywhere.  In the last two years I've catalogued every Mills and Boon/Harlequin book I've read.  That's 223.  Taking notes on conflict, black moments, story arcs.  The bonus is that I registered for Gift Aid at the local Oxfam, where I donate all my books.  In the last six months I've made them over £300, so even though you can't find a surface in my house without books on it, I can smile.
9.  I have absolutely NO patience.  A bit of sad confession for a mother of two and a nurse.  It's kind of strange because as a health visitor I had lots of patience for other people's children and as a nurse I had all the patience in the world for my patients.  But put me in queue and I'm guaranteed to flip my lid.
10.  Finally, I really, really want to write Medicals and hope that one day, the dream will become a reality.
Last thing, I want to say a HUGE congratulations to Joanne Coles and Suzanne Jones who both submitted to the Medical Fast-track and received requests.  GO GIRLS!  (Jo also gave me an idiot's guide to learning to link names in blogging, so if it hasn't worked....)