1. Although heterosexual, I always wanted to be a boy. 2. I am by nature a risk-taker. This did not stop me being afraid to write a novel for the better part of thirty years. Nowadays it mostly comes in handy for getting hurt riding certifiably insane horses.

3. I am idiotically face-blind. At Parents' Night last week, it took me a minute to recognize my own daughter (though in my defence, they all dress alike).

4. I studied steel sculpture at St Martins college of art under Anthony Caro and Philip King. I had no clue what they were talking about. Ever.

5. In my 20s I played bass guitar in a rock band. We performed at CBGBs.

6. Nick Ferrari once told me a I wrote like an angel. This was long before I wrote books, but while he was programmer on Live TV, responsible for such fine literary content as Topless Darts and the news bunny.

7. Memorizing lines is torture to me.  I don't understand how anyone does plays. (My daughter has a near-photographic memory.)

8. David Letterman once asked me out to dinner.  The guy I was with (not a boyfriend) said, 'Sorry, we're busy.'  I nearly decked him.

9. I briefly rowed crew at Harvard.

10. The best job I ever had was coming up with movie titles for Tristar Pictures.

11.  I can ski, skate, sail, play tennis, rappel, weld steel, and speak French -- all very badly indeed.