I have Jesse Owen to thank for this – which is finally prompting me to write a post! If you don’t know Jesse, he’s a fine chap and a well-respected book blogger whose mere word can reduce an entire publishing house to rubble. It’s rumoured that, without him, JK Rowling wouldn’t be where she is, today. In short, to refuse his challenge would end my prospects of writing anything ever again. If you want to quake in fear of his terrifying influence, you’ll find him on Twitter as @ThatJesseBloke or lurking on his website, here: www.thatjessebloke.co.uk

So, according to what I understand, I have to come up with 11 facts about me, answer some questions and nominate some other folk to do it. Here goes:

11 Facts About Me

1) I am a huge fan of the Rolling Stones.

2) I don’t like Twiglets. To my mind, it’s like eating twigs that have been dipped in Marmite.

3) I don’t like Marmite, either.

4) I have played in a few bands: One Man Short, The Furtles, The Sunday Club and The Raggedy Dogs. None of them were any good. Although, there was a band I briefly played in, called Hot Slacks and we nearly appeared in a Franco Zeffirelli film about Maria Callas.

5)  I always wanted to be Bodie whenever I played The Professionals at school.

6) I broke the index finger on my right hand, during a broadsword fight with my best mate. Miserable Jim. It never quite healed straight and still gives me gyp in cold weather.

7) I had 11 teeth extracted at the age of nine. For a couple of years after, I could pull the best faces in my class. Lower jaw up to my nose – that sort of thing.

8) My younger brother is taller than me, which he takes great delight in reminding me.

9) My first pet was a hamster called Migel. Apparently, a cousin of mine had one called Nigel and I was so enamored of it that my parents got me one. I was very young and couldn’t say ‘Nigel’, so Migel  it was.

10) My mum knitted me a 24 foot long Dr Who scarf. I still have it.

11) The first girl I sent a Valentine’s card to was called Sophie. I was about four and I couldn’t write properly, so I had to get my mum to help me do it. She drove me to Sophie’s house and I stuck it through the letter box. On Monday, Sophie announced that she was in love with Martin and was probably going to marry him. I still loved her, anyway.

The Questions

Why did you start blogging?

It was part of the deal of becoming an author. I didn’t – and rarely do – have a clue what to write about. My first blogs were about what it’s like to live on a boat. Thankfully for everyone else, I decided they weren’t that interesting.

Which is your favourite book?

The Lord of the Rings. I have others I like, but that’s the one I keep going back to.

Which is your favourite film?

There are loads, but I think it’s Star Wars: A New Hope. As a kid watching it in Exmouth’s ABC Cinema, it completely blew me away.

Which documentary would you recommend and why?

Gimme Shelter – the documentary about the Rolling Stones; ill-fated concert at Altamont is a fascinating glimpse into how music once had an enormous social and cultural impact on things. I’m not sure it does to the same extent, today. And I know it’s not a proper documentary, but the film, Microcosmos is just incredible. And anything with that Attenborough chap in.

What has been your favourite vacation destination ever and why?

I’m not much of a one for holidays – it’s not something I was brought up with, so I don’t really do them. If I do go away, I go to Exmouth, where I was born. It’s where my mum lives and seeing her is a holiday in itself.

 If you had an open ticket to wherever you wanted in the world, where would you go?

Exmouth.

What would be your dream job?

I think dream jobs should stay dreams. Once you do them for real, you find out all the bad stuff about them that you don’t know about. But, in dreamland, I regularly play guitar with the Stones.

 Who is your biggest blog inspiration?

I think all the book bloggers I’ve encountered have been pretty inspirational. The fact that they do it for nothing and completely out of passion never ceases to amaze me. I might have something to say about that in December…

Which other hobbies do you have aside from blogging?

I play guitar and harmonica, paint miniatures and read.

 Who is your biggest life inspiration?

My mum and my son.

I Nominate

No pressure to do this if you don’t want to, but here you go. The nominations are *drum roll*….

Dave Cousins

Bev Sandford

Philip Reeve

Sarwat Chadda

Sarah Benwell

Sarah McIntyre

Jo Nadin

Karen SAunders

Matt Imrie

Darran Stobbart

The Rules

• Link back to me in the blog post
• Tell us 11 facts about yourself
• Answer the questions above
• Nominate 10 other bloggers or authors
• Create your own 10 questions
• Let those you’ve nominated know
• Let me know you’ve taken part so I can see your answers