The Facts of Me

The Facts of Me is hosted by I Wore Yoga Pants to Work. The idea is to share fun facts about yourself - things people might not know, things that define who you are, or just zany little facts. I think this is such a great idea and when I discovered this (thanks to my friend Michelle at Book Briefs), I knew I had to participate!

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I've wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. I was always making up stories and songs when I was little. However, I didn't want to go to school for it, so I went to school for early childhood education, and spent a few years working in schools, daycares, and then being a nanny. Finally I did correspondence with a school in the States for print writing, but I still didn't publish anything for several years. I started selling short stories online, then writing articles, then finally published my first book in January 2012. I've published a book of short stories and another novel since then, and my third novel comes out this April.

My mum is my best friend. She’s the most amazing person, bar none. We live together, share expenses and the work around the house, and have a blast together.

My brother is ten years and three weeks older than I am. When I was born, he wanted a sister (my parents didn't find out my sex). I was born the last day before Christmas vacation and my parents got a call in the hospital from one of my brother’s teachers saying he wouldn’t leave the school until he found out he had a sister so he could tell his friends. I’ve often wondered what he would have done if I were a boy.

I was almost pickpocketed on a subway in Paris when I was 17. I was so shocked, I slapped the guy and he and his friends ran off the subway screaming and cursing at me and my friends in French like we were the criminals.

When I was in my early 20s, I met a girl online, we became fast friends, and within a few months, we travelled across country together. We covered a good chunk of Ontario, plus 9 States in as many days. People told us both how dangerous it was (either of us could have been axe murderers, according to family and friends), but we didn’t care. It was EPIC.  

I believe in signs. And when I go on a kick about something (right now it’s Ireland…I will be going to Ireland this year no matter what), everything becomes a sign. Like, Ooh that guy has an Irish accent, it's a sign! or Hey, they mentioned Ireland, it's a sign! or They’re playing a U2 song on the radio, it's a sign! or Look, this movie is set in Ireland, it's a sign! You get the idea. It's bizarre, but that's just how I am.

I get so much mail (mostly books - I’m also a book blogger) I’m on a first name basis with my mail lady.

U2 is my favourite band, and I’ve seen them three times. The most recent time, July 2011, my sister-in-law and I had general admission tickets and stood (sat/slept/wandered) in line for 12 hours and managed to not only make it into the pit, but also into the 3rd row.

I love taking pictures and I just discovered the macro setting on my camera last year (it was a real ‘duh’ moment - how did I not know that before?). I’m obsessed with finding things to take macro shots with. I just bought a new Canon PowerShot A810 a couple weeks ago and even though I’ve been taking plenty of pics with it I’m looking forward to nicer weather so I can get outside and play with it.

I was in the delivery room when my youngest nephew was born. It was the most amazing, beautiful, disgusting, life-altering thing ever. My sister-in-law, brother, and I all let out a cry at the same time and the baby whipped his head around to look at us, and in that moment I swear his personality was defined...he's been surprising and astonishing us ever since.

I’m addicted to buying books. ADDICTED. It’s become an unhealthy obsession. Before last year I was struggling so much financially that I couldn’t afford to buy any books but last year I was able to and once I started I couldn’t stop. Someday I’d like a library like the Beast’s in Beauty and the Beast.

 

My bedroom walls resemble that of a teenage girl’s. They’re plastered mostly with posters of U2, a few prints of Camelot (knights, ladies, etc), sparkly blue stars, and glow in the dark stars (that still glow, even though they’ve been on my walls for about 15 years).

On the same trip to France that I almost got pickpocketed, my best friend and I bought so many souvenirs we had to buy an extra suitcase. Like, a full-sized suitcase.

I’ve only had my hair cut professionally once in the last 3-4 years. Otherwise I cut it myself. 

Also, my hair is naturally curly, and right now (because I haven’t gotten out the scissors in about a year...yeah, I know that’s bad), my hair is just a few inches from my bum. I have to beat it into submission to get it to behave, but I’ve found that the length weighs the curls down a bit so they don’t spaz out so much.

So, those are some fun facts about me. If you're participating in this event, link me up in the comments and I'll come by your post. If you're not participating, feel free to leave me some fun facts about yourself!