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The Girl at the Back of the Bus
1. I’ve Always Wanted to be a Recording Artist: according to my mother I sang before I could talk. Growing up in church provided a perfect place for that melodic passion. I can still remember singing in the children’s choir...and anywhere else my heart desired. I was that kid who sang my siblings to death. My older sister used to get so sick of me always singing that she’d tell me to “shut up!” (Believe me, I didn’t). My professional aspirations may not have panned out, but I’ve been blessed to render background or lead vocals on ten Gospel recordings. So...is it too late to consider a music career when you’re married with two quasi-adult children, and you’re over the age of… Never mind. Next.
2. I Hate Heights: and dizzying, curving, mountain roads that climb and climb.
3. I Love Sweets: unfortunately, I have a diploma in Pastry & Baking and my throne room is the kitchen where delicacies dangerous to the hips and waist are created. But it’s not my fault! My grandmother, aunt, and uncle were phenomenal bakers. They influenced me. I must carry on their chocolate-loving legacy.
4. I Collect Costume Jewelry: “collect” is a nicer euphemism than hoarding so let’s go with that.
5. I Love Eating Leftovers for Breakfast: Whenever we dine out, I rarely finish a meal and wind up with a carryout container of my uneaten portions. Intentional? Accidental? Maybe it’s a bit of each but, sorry not sorry, there’s nothing like heating up food that has the benefit of seasoning that has marinated overnight. Just yum and amen!
6. I Adore Train Travel: I already told you I hate heights, right? So, airplanes are like a necessary punishment. Now, trains? It’s a love relationship! I’ve traveled from California to Louisiana by train, and have a goal of journeying from one end of the U.S. to the other, and back again, in grand railroad fashion.
7. I’m an “Accidental” Novelist: as a child I wrote poetry. Nothing earth-shaking, just sentimental cards for my mother. Constantly! As I aged my poems grew from cute and sappy to a bit more substantive and produced my first publishing experience when several of my pieces were included in my junior high school’s creative journal. When that same thing happened while I was in college, I considered myself a potential poet. But several years later I had a divine encounter with literature that altered that trajectory and rerouted my focus onto fiction. My poetic tendencies worm their way into my writing, yet I’m a story-telling novelist at heart.
RELATED: Seven things I'd like my readers to know about me by Hayley Doyle, author of Love, Almost
I met Shirley Temple: Yes, the real Shirley Temple, not the drink! When I was a little girl, I loved watching her films with my nan. I would dance around the house and copy her. So, in 1989, when adult Shirley Temple Black did an interview on Wogan, she announced that she would be signing copies of her autobiography in Harrods’ the following day. My mum and my nan took me to London (from Liverpool) on the train and we queued for hours in the huge store. Shirley told me to “never change my hair” (it was in two braids) and that when I smiled, I had a dimple, “just like me!”.. to read more click HERE
