I’ve probably spent years pondering what my introductory blog post should be. Writing an introductory post solely to introduce myself seemed a tad egocentric, then I figured jumping into a book review would be quite the dive. You need a springboard.
When I was growing up, I went through phases in terms of the authors I read, not the genres of the books I was reaching for. Enid Blyton came first. The excessive googling my 8 and 9-year-old self did led me to discover that she isn’t regarded as the greatest of humans to ever live. I didn’t piece together why, though. Whilst modern critics have gone as far as to ensure her works are banned in schools, I have fond memories of endless Bank Holiday picnics with the Famous Five and climbs up the Faraway Tree. The inconsistencies, repetition and lack of character development within the mysteries never bothered me. I was floored by The Mystery of the Spiteful Letters - probably my first experience with a plot twist!
When I was 10, I turned to Roald Dahl. I reached for his autobiographies (but Dahl insisted on the synopsis that he didn't want the books to be called autobiographies because he regarded such texts as thoroughly monotonous) as much as I did Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I was a total square at school, a book was never not on my desk. Just to assert that statement, I watched You’ve Got Mail for the first time a few years back and squealed at a 12 second scene in which Meg Ryan reads from Dahl’s Boy, Tales of Childhood. I recognised the chapter straight away. My class teacher in Year 5 had had a flick through the book, lifting it from my desk whilst we were in the middle of a maths test. She’d found Dahl’s recall of ‘The Great Mouse Plot’, in which him and his classmates placed a dead mouse in a sweet jar of their local sweets shop, so humorous and well written that she proceeded to read it to us after we’d finished the test.
My favourite Jacqueline Wilson novel (my obsession, aged 11) was Jacky Daydream. Don't get me wrong, the likes of Secrets, Clean Break, and Vicky Angel had me in a choke hold. Lola Rose was actually the first book of hers I read, and it was probably the first time I'd ever read a novel about a family where emotional and physical abuse was taking place. The parents in Roald Dahl's works are pretty dreadful (looking at you, Mr and Mrs Wormwood) but as a child, their neglect for their daughter went over my head. But Lola Rose was traumatic. I was so grateful that it had a moderately happy ending.
But I could relate to the "character" Jacqueline Wilson wrote of in her autobiography. Massively so. She details her life up until the age of 11 in the book, the same age I was when I first read it. We had so much in common despite growing up in different eras. She was a Blyton child too. She knew she wanted to write from a young age and was top of her class in English. She just about succeeded in Maths despite spending the better part of her lessons staring outside of the window. She failed her eleven plus. She was not a robust child by any means, constantly catching every cold and flu bug that came along. She received a book and doll each birthday and Christmas, the only gifts she wanted. She was me, but in a different time. The only large difference was that I shared these experiences with two siblings. Jacky is an only child.
What I’m saying is, I loved learning every detail about the lives of the author’s I was reading. I read about their lives almost as obsessively as I read their fictional texts. I'm pretty introverted and it takes a lot for me to open up but for a writer...you need to put a little of yourself in your works. Sometimes it's unavoidable.
And so, here are 10 facts about me to kick this off.
1. I’m a Libra. I got asked this at university a lot, sometimes before people asked for my name. I go back and forth on how credible I believe star star signs are, however, my primary school best friend Chloe is a huge astronomer. I can’t even roll my eyes at her, she’s found too many feasible links and made several accurate observations. For instance, I’ve never met a Gemini that I disliked. Her being one of them.
2. Autumn is my favourite season, I’d live in it perpetually if I could. My birthday is the 30th of September so right at the start of the season. Nothing brings me greater joy than to kick through autumn leaves with Taylor Swift's Red and Evermore albums blasting in my ears. I’ve never actually celebrated Halloween though - I never went trick or treating as a kid. In my defence, the UK has only really begun catching on in recent years. Last year was the first time I saw Halloween decorations (not just the odd carved pumpkin a few days before, real decorations) so sometime soon I hope. Every year I tell myself I'll do something but it doesn't happen. I also love pumpkin-flavoured things.
3. I historically have tripped in front of every guy I have ever liked.
4. My most played artist on Spotify last year was Taylor Swift. I spent 28,736 minutes listening to her. I’ve been a diehard Swiftie since the age of nine when she first released Love Story; I absolutely adore her discography.
5. I have two younger siblings; a sister called Mallika who is 20 and a brother called Ryan who is 18.
6. My Hogwarts house is Hufflepuff and I personally believe that says more about me than my star sign ever will. Sorry, Chloe.
7. My favourite television shows include The O.C and Grey’s Anatomy. I discovered The O.C during my second year of sixth form and began watching it beginning to end, an episode a night after four hours of A Level revision. That show truly got me through that time. Grey’s has been the source of my comfort (and mental illness) since I was fourteen.
8. Aside from every single Disney film, some of my favourite features to watch are Breakfast at Tiffany's, Titanic, Love Actually, When Harry Met Sally, You've Got Mail and Dirty Dancing. The final kiss between Johnny and Baby in the latter film is objectively the most romantic scene in cinematic history. And the way he deftly lifts her? *heart eyes*
9. I have no desire for the ‘last word’ or any kind of revenge; I avoid confrontation like the plague. I've been trying to work on this in the last few years, admittedly with little success. Very unfortunately I've had people I'm very close to take advantage of this and even more unfortunately, I fail to do anything about it. It's the reaction that scares me - the not knowing what they'll say or what they'll do and whether they'll hold it against you. Whether they'll treat you differently in the future is another troublesome factor. And whether they'll hold an internalised grudge against me that even they're not aware of.
So, when someone upsets me to the point where I can’t see anything past it I just won’t talk to them anymore. To them, it probably seems haphazard. It makes me want to drown myself in guilt. However, the relief that comes from cutting someone off who drains your energy makes it totally worth it. It's the INFJ in me for sure.
10. I've wanted to start this blog for years.
I could quite literally burst with joy that we've finally got here! I guess that's an eleventh fact. What has stopped me starting one before? Well, that would entail my twelfth, thirteenth, heck, we'd probably get to twenty facts. But if you're still reading this for whatever reason, I'm sure you'll soon find out.
I can't wait to start this journey. Thank you for reading - take care of yourselves and have the best day. X
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