what do you do?

hmm… i didn’t have the hugest response to my blogaversary faq request. am i too accessible already? too boring? self-obsessed? are you too uninquisitive? is there anybody out there?

those are my questions! now i will answer yours… i should say i am very grateful to the people who did leave/send in such intelligent questions…

first, the lovely sue hepworth asked me a book-related question:

when you’re in a bookshop buying novels, how much are you drawn to a book, or conversely, repulsed by it, merely because of the title? (i have a theory that book titles containing a personal pronoun - e.g. i, you, his - are more powerful/appealing than titles without.)

ooh. good question! titles definitely have an effect. some invite, some repulse, even before you have seen a book’s cover. i was actually kind of put off by the title [of HUGE bestseller] water for elephants - i don’t know why, as i love elephants, but i don’t like anthropomorphic stories. however, when i saw the cover and read some reviews, i couldn’t wait to read it, and it’s FAB. i agree with you that personal pronouns can be very arresting. (clever anita shreve uses them a lot!) then there are titles like the lovely bones which you just know will make an impact. and who could resist a heartbreaking work of staggering genius? (although i bought it, but haven’t read it yet).

next, former psychology student suz went all deep (typical!)

as the mother of an only child, i wonder how that experience was for you?

hee, mothers of only children ask me that a lot! (really).

and i’m never quite sure how to answer. i don’t see it as a disadvantage but nor do i see it as an advantage. there are times i would have liked a sibling (especially a sister), but who’s to say i would have liked it in reality?

i know being an ‘only’ made me more sensitive, more independent and okay with spending time alone.

having said that, i haven’t really had the typical only child experience… my parents split up when i was nine and my dad remarried twice. i found having stepbrothers challenging (especially as they ignored me at school - not great for the self-esteem). but now my stepsister and i get on really well and my stepmum gem is lovely, too.

most importantly,  i’m close to my parents and can talk openly with them both, and that’s  probably because i’m an only child.

phew! that’s enough i think - how much do i owe you for the session? ;)

my mum was a bit bamboozled by technology:

how you do that [write a blog post] when you’re not even in the city [and don’t have a laptop]?

when i’m writing something for the blog, each post has a time next to it - i simply change that to make a post appear yesterday, tomorrow or next week, instead of today. simple! (and only took me nine months to work out. ahem.)

and also asked:

why is the sky blue?

ha. it’s not, is it? colour is just a perception, not a reality and it’s all to do with… something. the concentration of light particles? i don’t KNOW, try wikipedia.

suz brought me back down to earth…

have you ever had intelligence testing? what is your IQ?

ha ha ha. i always do very badly at IQ tests - reasoning? logic? not so much. i once got a shameful score on one of those televised ‘test the nation’ thingies. i mean truly shameful. and no, i’m not sharing it. ever.

i later read in an official publication that M.E, being a neurological illness, is technically a form of brain damage and can negatively affect IQ by up to 50 points. so that’s my excuse. that or i’m stupid.

and finally, another (great!) book question from jas:

what’s the best book you’ve read this year?

ooh, hard one! i’ve read 100 books so far in 2007, so it’s not going to be easy to choose just one…

i think i’ll make it a joint prize! first, i’m going to go for becoming fearless. whether or not you all think it’s a great book might be another matter, but it spoke a lot to me on a personal level at that time in my life.

and! i adored there’s a (slight) chance i might be going to hell although i know for sure it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. it was funny, well-written and a great mystery.

i also loved the aforementioned water for elephants by sara gruen, upstate by kelisha buchanon, dear zoe by philip beard and the ice queen by alice hoffman. (and they’re all slightly more conventional reads, too!)

well, that turned out to be quite a few questions after all - thanks everyone!

i’m off to celebrate my blogaversay now… with a jacket potato - woo, rock and roll.