I was born in 1966 in Bromley, Kent, UK. I was the first in my family to attend college, which raised the question: "Who did he get his brains from?" The answer settled upon was my great grandmother who, as a poor London child of Irish background, won a scholarship to a private school for girls in the very early 1900s. A fine comparison indeed, with a sharp mind and a penchant for dirty jokes. My only hope is that I can live up to her intellectual standards, although I readily share her taste in jokes, usually courtesy of my Dad.

It was during my school years that my English teacher helped me develop my writing skills, which, as is often the case, were then abandoned when real life took over: college, work, leaving home, career pursuit, nightclubbing, dinner parties, holidays to far-off places, political demonstrations etc. Personally I blame London life and the folly of youth - a rather lame excuse really. Meantime, I diverted those writing skills to proofreading and then editing, then back to proofreading again, mostly in the dry subject of law and the somewhat more intriguing subject of psychology, despite having no formal training in either. Throughout, various friends and relatives have insisted I should write. So here I am, tentatively testing the waters with a size seven big toe.

My passion is ...

food, hence the constant yo-yo dieting.

I know too much about ...

taxation.

My parents always told me ...

to face the consequences of my actions.

My childhood ambition ...

was to become an artist.

My favorite memory ...

is my granddad dancing around the dining room with cherries over his ears.

Why I write ...

Opinion, creativity, cathartic

My first job ...

part time was as a bakery assistant for a supermarket; full time was as a VAT officer for HM Customs & Excise (as it then was).

My best moment ...

was walking out of my last job because I'd had enough of the boss - it was so utterly liberating to just walk away and not look back. The best thing I have ever done.

My inspiration ...

... my family, my friends, my life, my lovers, the utter social and political madness around me.

Religion & Spirituality > Bible Study Is the Bible outdated and irrelevant?

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How would a modern-day critic review the Bible?

"This is an ambitious saga of sorts, with all the makings of a good yarn - death, destruction, war, famine, magic and mysticism, and heroes and bad guys. However, the downsides are that it is overly long and the language can at times appear as impenetrable as a Shakespeare play.

In volume one, God, a mysterious chap who has no past to speak of, decides in the space of a week to create a world within a universe, and populates it with creatures and plant life. When He gets rather bored with this new world He has created, He adds two troubl...

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