I was born in London, 1982 shortly after my dad (English) had whisked my mum and sister there from Zimbabwe. A true Chelsea girl until 8 months, the family upped sticks and moved all the way to Wandsworth, to a massive house overlooking the common. In 1989, after a traumatic (sob) divorce, me, my mum and my sister moved to Battersea (or Ba-a-sea if you're from there)and there I remained until my dramatic departure, to the sunny climes of Norwich, in 2002.

Naturally, having been an 80's child, Judy Blume played a major role in my early years. The diaries I kept during the years 1993 to 1997 were heavily influenced by her work. I think I managed to identify with each and every one of her key characters at one or more tines in my life at that point. In fact, I'm now not sure whether life was as dramatic as I remember it, or if I merely remember visual representations of my own 'character empathy' more clearly than actual events that took place...confused? Me too. I suppose, what I'm really trying to say is that Judy Blume's a complete dude.

I think I am quite a confused writer, but I'm not sure. Take into consideration years of being told writing dos and don'ts, on the surface I was conforming to bureaucracy inside I yearned to rage out with anarchy. This schizophrenia has seeped into my writing and I am currently trying to channel my energies into something productive, think laterally about what I'm really going to do with my interests and skills, and on a broader scale, what I'm going to do with my life. Now is the time to decide what sort of impact, other than my carbon footprint, I am going to make on this planet.

My passion is ...

Food: Buying; Cooking; Eating

I know too much about ...

Student debt

My parents always told me ...

"Never talk with your mouth full"

My childhood ambition ...

Ambulance Driver

My favorite memory ...

My house overlooking Wandsworth Common

Why I write ...

Boredom

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

My Ear at His Heart by Hanif Kureishi/ Grand Designs on Channel 4/ Someone else's conversation

My first job ...

sales assistant in a skate shop in Camden Market

My best moment ...

Watching Chemical Brothers on Friday night at Glastonbury 2000

My inspiration ...

My dad (he's a real-life Indiana Jones)

Creative Writing > Memoirs Memoirs: Family memories

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Treece was busting for a pee, we were surrounded by the bush, but with her dignity to protect we wandered off in search of some form of outhouse.

I forget precisely who 'we' were; my sister, granny, papa, and mum for sure...and a number of cousins, second cousins, uncles and aunties and innumerable family friends who were referred to as aunties and uncles, but were infact cousins or even not related to me at all. My first impressions of my Indo-African roots were confusing, I found the distinctions between family, friends and acquaintances slightly vague, to say the least.

It was hot...

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