I’m catching up with some of the challenges I’ve missed for  the Romance Writer’s Blogging Challenge. So week twelve’s theme was to share and write about your greatest strengths, week thirteen was weaknesses so here goes, a chance to know me personally…

I’d say my greatest strength as a person is probably my hard work ethic, anyone that knows me personally knows I’m not work shy in any respect. In fact, hard work kind of motivates me depending on what’s at stake, and how much something means to me. Putting aside the fact that as a writer it’s hard work naturally,  a writer with a three year old son and working part time now that’s fucking hard work!! LOL. But I actually thrive on it in a strange way I think my best work comes when there’s work to be done or some kind of non easy route.  Aside from this “hard work” generally as a person, stripped down bare  removing the fact that writing is hard work, for me work ethic is important to me. I think this comes from my mum.  I was raised by a single mum we only had her and she supported all three of us well, and the best she could with her strong work ethic which I observed all my life. Don’t get me wrong life was not hard with just Mum, I was just always aware how important it is to work hard, follow dreams and anything can be achievable with the right attitude. This is what I’ve learned and observed. This message I for sure will pass to my own son. It’s a very important one.

Another strength of mine stripped bare not as a writer, but  as a person is creativity generally. I love to create, whether it be with make-up artistry, customising a piece of clothing using just a sewing machine, or deciding what colour to paint the living room walls I’m a visual learner and person. I think being more visual feeds into my creative strengths when writing.

So that’s a few good things, now for the weaknesses … drum roll please.

Well, I’d say I am overly organised and this can piss people off if I’m honest. Take for example at work, I can’t hot desk for the life of me, when people work in “organised chaos” that pisses me off! I can’t do MESS of any kind ( well I try not to) it throws me off balance, and I can’t’ think if there is too much mess going on. At home try living with a three year old, ( maybe you do and you know what I am talking about), once upon a time I my home was pristine clean and neat now it’s neat but not as neat as if did not have a family on my own, with no one else to disturb the “organised karma” I like. *Shakes head* what can I say I’m laughing at myself as I type looking around my living room now. To be fair, if I had my way everything would be neat all the time, but in reality my efforts to keep things neat can leave others a bit worried about me lol.

So what about as a writer? Well my strength I think is creativity in writing and description. Being a visual person, this comes out I think in how I (try) to transport readers into the story. You’ll always know what a character looks like, what they feel, think etc due to visualising my characters and their traits. I guess it’s basic character development. My weakness as a writer is … humm * thinking*. I like to plan ( that’s my organised side) and I guess at times this means inflexibility. I set out with a plan, it helps me overcome writers block ( I did a writer’s block blog and how I overcome it here if you want to read it).  I guess if I do what many writers do, just write it would lead to more flexibility. I have (when I wrote A Stranger in France) deviated from the plan for one particular character on the spot, while writing as something creative came to me and it worked.  But generally I think a weakness is  an inflexible style of writing?? I heard Stephen King calls it ” a pantster” meaning you write and create as you go. It’s worked for him that’s his style and  he writes brilliantly, but never works for me!  I’m no pantster I never will be. I plan, create, write. Not just write.

What are your strengths and weaknesses? Blog it put your link below I want to know!

Taken from the 365 Days of Writing Prompts book, under today’s date this is the prompt.

When you were 16,what  did you think your life would look like? Does it look like that? Is that a good thing?

No, my life looks nothing like I imagined it at sixteen. At sixteen I was just leaving school I gained good grades, I went down the traditional route to do academic study at A-Level I started to study sociology, English and media studies. I dropped out! The only real subject I really worked hard in was English. I really enjoyed sociology. But as a typical sixteen year old girl I had other ideas and got distracted. I dropped out and went to beauty school instead. I ended up finishing a make-up, hair, nail and beauty course. The creative person in me was born outside of writing, I have always loved fashion and beauty.

Back then, my idea of how my working life would be was to  become some kind of creative person working within make-up /fashion. I worked for a few years in salons and kept up the dream. Drooled over Vogue magazine and the like. Played around with make-up like there was no tomorrow. But life changed and I needed to earn a better living so I fell into an office role, kept working, loved what I was doing for so long and then started my degree worked, then did a teaching degree and started teaching, I kept writing… Then became an author.

I’m  thirty- four next month, the sixteen year old me would look at my “day job” now and say no way! A teacher??? You messed up! You should be doing make -up on every super model, TV- presenter, singer, song writer  out there by now.  A sixteen year old me would look at my job as a writer and be like wow, I never saw that coming. But maybe if you did not drop out of college to go to beauty school you may have done this earlier … 

At sixteen I imagined, I’d be living a much more glam life than I do now by the time I reached thirty- four LOL. I imagined I be flying all over the world working on projects, the main make-up artist for London fashion week each year, maybe even my own make-up range  and drinking an endless supply of Cosmopolitan cocktails. In reality  I’m a content and very happy  mum, writer,lover of make-up, fashion and beauty who indulges on You-Tube in her passion or sews the odd dress or skirt at home in the privacy of my living room. Is that a good thing? That my life is not one of  the most high flying, make-up artists or fashion designers out there earning mega bucks? Well, in a way yes as I probably would not be a very happy and content mum, writer and to be honest that’s fine with me as life feels about right. In my thirties I’ve felt the best I’ve ever felt, like fine wine life gets sweeter the older I get.

What were your dreams at sixteen??