Curious Incidents of a Flailing Mermaid

Honesty Box Interview

I was asked to do a interview for a magazine, so I thought I'd share my answers with you all.

If I could bring about change, I would…

Deliver thousands of workshops to teach the world about disability and impairment to rid society of prejudice and misconception. Oo oo and encourage more people to try their hand at writing and reading for pleasure.

Nobody knows this, but…

I spend all my free time writing poems and stories. I’ve nearly finished my first novel. (technically loads of people know this, but shhh)

I wouldn’t be where I am now without…

The support I get from numerous people, especially my mum and now my husband.

The last concert (gig) I went to was…

Ooh that’s sad that I cant remember. I must go to more gigs! I used to go to loads, maybe I’m getting old.

I often dream about…

My next challenges and succeeding. Winning, basically.

My heart was broken by…

Most recently? By a box of Heroes… they’ve removed Crunchies (the best one) and replaced them with Toblerones (yuck!). Why would anyone do such a thing?

The last time I cried was…

At my wedding in July: I swore I wouldn’t cry but I failed at my attempts. (this is a lie; I've cried since then, but I'm not going to be THAT honest in a national magazine!)

My ultimate indulgence is…

Chocolate. Just chocolate… lots of it, too.

My ideal dinner party guests would be…

Nelson Mandela, Stephen King, Queen (the band) and Big Bird.

Before I die, I want to…

Ooh I want to do lots of things before I die! Publish a book, see the world, change the lives of others (for the better, obviously), and maybe bring up an amazing child! Not much, really.

The biggest lesson life has taught me is…

You have to be passionate and a little stubborn to get what you want. Life will put obstacles in the way that will make you think about giving up: don’t! Keep going!

My favourite way to relax is…

With books; I love to read and on a good day I can read entire books in one sitting.

My favourite book/ film is…

To Kill a Mockingbird is my favourite book, and it is probably my favourite film too. Although, I am a big Harry Potter geek too.

If I wasn’t doing this I’d be…

Well, currently I am working in schools to motivate students, and working with charities too. I feel like I have a great life because every day is different. I don’t ever want to change. But, if I had to, I would like to dedicate myself, full time, to one of the many amazing charities we have in this world.

The hardest thing I’ve had to do is…

Oh, I think it might be a tie between swimming with a very severe shoulder injury at the Beijing Paralympics and deciding to retire just a year before London 2012.

I owe my parents …

Technically, my life!

My heroes are…

It sounds a bit cheesy but my sporting heroes are all the members of the British Paralympic swim team (past and present) I swam with because they inspired me to be successful. My writing hero is Stephen King – I wish I could fire out novels like him.

Following Rebecca Adlington’s decision to go into the jungle on I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, would I, if asked, prefer to go on Strictly Come Dancing or the jungle programme?...

I’d definitely go into I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here. I think I’d love it.

If I could spend my fantasy 24 hours in any way I wished with no restriction on travel, how would I spend it?
Doing a whistle-stop tour of all the beautiful places in the world I have yet to see and eating lots of ridiculously tasty food!