Five Things…
November 1, 2006
I’ve been tagged by Jess to reveal Five Things You May Not Know About Me. Here goes:
1. I have a Blue Peter badge. I won it in an art competition when I was 15. I drew a portrait of John Richards who at the time was quite a famous footballer with Wolves. I still have the badge but have never tried using it to get in free to places of interest.
2. I ran in my first ever cross country running league match at the age of 41. It was a Midlands Cross Country League match and I’d only started running 9 months before. I lined up (well -behind) teenagers and pensioners. By the end, I was tenth from the back, on my knees and covered in mud but it was one of the best days of my life. I now have Achilles tendonitis and can’t run – too much, too soon, too old I’m afraid.
3. I once shared a mug of tea with John Mortimer, a mineral water with Ian Rankin and a phone call with actor Richard Armitage.
4. I HATE creepy crawlies and I’m terrified of heights.
5. I am distantly related (by marriage) to Glenn McGrath, the Australian fast bowler, and also to a serial killer, according to my mum. She’ll kill me for saying that which kind of proves it’s in the genes.
A 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! 🙂
I tag Monica and new Headline Review author Rosy Thornton who will have to reply via this blog.
Posted by Phillipa @ 9:45 am | Leave a Comment
Rosy Thornton Says:
OK, Phillipa, here are my Five Things:
1. I’ve got a Blue Peter badge, too. Won it for drawing a picture of a city of the future when I was seven. Can’t remember anything about what I drew, except that I’m sure there were jet-packs. I always fancied a jet-pack.
2. Are we meant to confess stuff? Because when I was a student I worked on an archaeoloigcal dig in France, and had to excavate a Roman skeleton. I nicked one of the toes and posted it home to my boyfriend of the time as a souvenir.
3. My real name is Rosamund, because when Mum was expecting me, Dad was reading a novel about Henry II’s mistress, Fair Rosamund, and had developed a thing about her. Irritatingly, he cannot remember the name of either the book or the author.
4. Before turning my hand to fiction, my only previous published book was the nail-bitingly exciting ‘Property Disrepair and Dilapidations: A Guide to the Law’. Seriously, I kid you not – look on Amazon!
5. I have a puppy named W.G. Snuffy Walden, which is now a double allusion: to The West Wing and to my new debut novel.
Will this do?
Phillipa Says:
LOL Rosy. The skeleton confession had me sniggering out loud. I like people doing bad things. I hope your ex was happy with his illicit toe!
Jessica Raymond Says:
I laughed at the toe, as well!
Did you know that there is a “black market” in Blue Peter badges? Unscrupulous people are buying them on eBay and therefore getting free entry into places that they’re technically not eligible for. Society today, eh? 😉
Jess x
stella Says:
Monday afternoon call with RA?… Now the girls will run over you to find out more. You’ve warned. 😉
Phillipa Says:
Stella et al
THIS IS OLD NEWS – REALLY VERY OLD NEWS.
I do the ‘odd’ celebrity interview and this included RA in Feb 2005. I wrote two different articles for two regional publications. One is posted on http://www.richard-armitage.com and I posted a link to the other in the Newbies thread on your board when I joined. I write copy and features under my real name so I won’t post a link here in public. 🙂 for all kinds of reasons. I also can’t enter into further correspondence about him other than to say he was, unfailingly, charming.:)
I’ve also interviewed Brian Blessed, Tim Henman, Sue Barker and Robert Powell among others.
Maggie Says:
Hi Philippa and Rosy
Love the Five things each. And as Stella warned the girls are in a fever to know about the call with Guy the Gorgeous!!
BTW love this look Blog, it’s great.
M xx
stella Says:
got me there *ducks* 😉
btw: I second everything Maggie says – they girls are running wild and I had a lot of fun reading your five things!
huggles!
Monica Says:
Apologies for the delay. I’ve been busy AND I’ve been trying to think of something interesting to post!
At the risk of boring you, here at my five things:
1) I used to work as an asparagus picker in the summer in New Zealand when I was a student.
2) I had soooo many accidents that required stitches when I was really little that my mum swears my head would look like a baseball if I shaved my hair off!
3) I’m on a waiting list to get an allotment. I think it’s been about two years now. The waiting list was about three years long when I put my name on it so I should get one soon!
4) I’ve interviewed two New Zealand prime ministers during my short career as a journalist.
5) Also during my career as a journalist, I did a story on a local blood bank needing donors urgently which featured several photos of me giving blood for the first time and explaining the process. Several months later when I went to the newpaper’s general manager and asked for a pay rise, he asked me what I’d done to deserve it and I answered “I gave blood for my job”. I got the pay rise!
Phillipa Says:
Monica – these are brilliant! Interviewed TWO PM’s and gave blood for your job – that deserves a pay rise and it’s a great scene for a book. Good luck with the allotment.:)
Andrew fryer Says:
Yes Phillipa, I was happy with the illicit Roman toe that Rosy sent me and still have it, along with the orange ‘colour in my hair on black and white photos’ crayon and the ‘Conspicuous Consumption, Boycott May Balls’ sticker printing kit. I thought at first the toe was one of Rosy’s, as in ‘a little piece of me’ – it’s amazing the lengths some people can go to in the name of love. Congratulations to Rosy on the publication of her novel, an intelligent and brilliantly humorous illumination of the difficult subject of asylum. Andrew Fryer.