I love answering the questions posed to celebrities and others in magazines, don’t you? Found a series of intriguing ones in the most recent O Magazine, which fell right in with my reflective mood following a birthday last week.

Here goes:

When I was younger I wanted to be…all kinds of things – a nurse, an astronaut, a teacher, daring explorer – mostly based on the books I was reading, or the movies I saw, I think. My deepest desire was always to be a full time writer, but for most of my life that didn’t seem possible.

But I’m glad that I became…well, actually I can’t say I’m deeply, heartfelt glad I became a business professional, doing government contracting and process improvement and  change management at the day job! Except that the career allowed me to provide for my family all these years and I was never bored. And I’m still a writer on my own time, as I’ve always been, except now I’m published (dream of a lifetime) and working on getting some more books out there.

When I need inspiration, I…If I’m stuck about a plot in general, I love to get in the car and just cruise the California freeways (not at rush hour), with the music cranked way up, and think. If I’m working on a story set in ancient Egypt, I like to browse through all the many books of Egyptian lore on my bookshelves and study the gorgeous photos…taking a walk is always a good thing but there’s nowhere good/safe/peaceful to walk close by.

I’ve learned to love my…ok, truth again here. I don’t love my ears (they stick out a bit) but they are good for displaying long, dangly earrings. And I don’t love my walk but since I grew up in the country and the nearest neighbors were a mile away, I walk fast. I cover the ground! Not graceful maybe but effective. And I’ve read that the faster you walk, the longer you live. Good stuff!

Most people don’t know that I… Have occasional psychic flashes (no, not hot flashes, psychic ones LOL)?  I don’t mention that attribute any too much at the office!

If I weren’t me, I’d be…a dragon!

I hope my future self…has a bookcase full of her books, published in many languages, and at least one novel that’s been made into a movie or TV mini series. (Dream big or go home!) Of course if I don’t write every day, this outcome isn’t too likely….so, only time for one more question and then it’s back to the Work in Progress:

The best compliment I ever received was…that I looked like a swan in the moonlight. Be still my beating heart! And yes, the guy was tall, dark and handsome…what better situation for a romance writer?! This could possibly explain the rather large collection of swan figurines I now possess…

So what’s your hope for your future self?