Why do I want a giant dumpling for my birthday?

You know me as a creative writing tutor, but here are a few things about me you might not expect...

Favourite book?

This one's difficult! My first thought is the tense To Kill a Mockingbird, but then I really enjoyed Room by Emma Donoghue which was amazingly gripping. Right now, I'm really looking forward to reading the sequel to Broken Crayons by Nick Davis, a novel about a psychotherapist in Sussex - it's fun to pick out all the places I know.

When I was a kidlet, I couldn't wait to read the latest Harry Potter ⚡ (a story about a boy and his magical powers), Artemis Fowl (another story about a boy and his magical powers), and Horrible Histories (surprisingly, not a story about a boy and his magical powers!)

Favourite subject?

Is this a trick question? English, of course! 😂 It would have been funny to study English literature at university and not to have liked English a tiny bit!

Also, if I went on Mastermind, I'd pick Pet Shop Boys as my topic - I know all there is to know about them!

Favourite TV show?

I love a good comedy (that's me in the pink wig, by the way!) and Bob Mortimer in Last One Laughing is one of the best things on TV right now. My all-time favourite is Frasier, though. I even wrote a script using its characters at college, and my tutor mistakenly thought I'd copied an actual episode! Thanks, I think, Mrs McGivney!

Favourite food?

It's got to be a casserole with dumplings. In fact, I once asked my dad to bake me a giant dumpling instead of a birthday cake... I'm still waiting for that!

Any hobbies?

Well, if you love school disco bangers and the Wombles, you might have heard me hosting the Party Show on Mid Sussex Radio! And if you have a keen eye, you might have even spotted me at a local fayre spinning the tunes too. When I'm not doing that, I pretend to be a bit more high-brow and read my poems at the Chequers in Steyning. OK, there was the one time I performed Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West) instead of one of my own poems, but they did let me back eventually!

Favourite writing lessons so far?

So many to choose from! The funniest was writing Edward Lear style nonsense poetry. Then there was the lesson editing a magazine about The Sims with a self-confessed Sims super-fan! And one of the most fascinating lessons was a debate on whether imagination makes human beings unique. How varied is that?

A surprising fact about me?

Hmm, a surprising fact... oh how about this one? I rang the bells at Jamie Theakston's wedding! Yes, the actual man from Heart Breakfast and Live & Kicking with Zoe Ball. I've been a bell-ringer since I was 11, and I jumped at the chance to ring for this one in Ditchling. Especially when I found out his guests included footballer Ian Wright and David Walliams!

So, that's me in a nutshell! Now, where's my giant dumpling?