1. I grew up in an old house without central heat or running hot water. We had to pump oil into a can in an even colder basement and light an antiquated oil stove which took hours to heat up a room. As much as I complain about the Texas heat, I doubt I'll ever move to a colder climate.
  2. I have always believed that walking equals brainstorming; the forward motion as you walk propels the mind to advance as well and a recent Stanford study backed up my conviction that walking promotes creativity.
  3. I collect physical items that play a part in my novels. Some I simply find on my walks, some at flea markets, and some I purchase online. It's neither muse nor superstition, just something I feel compelled to do. And they make for great conversations at book signings.
  4. I talked to a squirrel once, in the park. It jabbered back at me and we went back and forth for a while-I'm not entirely sure what the conversation was all about-but it prompted my dog to jealously jump up at me and interrupt the conversation. It's a true story, I have witnesses.
  5. While in college, I worked at a travelling carnival. Unprompted, a gypsy grabbed my hand and foretold my future. She revealed the year of my death, unfortunately I can't remember the order of the digits; let's just say if live to see my 69th birthday, I'm good to go until 86.
  6. I have extremely ticklish feet and by extremely I mean I can't even touch my own feet. I dread pedicures and I welcome any suggestions. Numbing creams do not work.
  7. As a bilingual person I am often asked which language I think in. I'm not sure how to answer that because I'd like to believe I think in concepts rather than languages but here's an odd fact: I only count up to 12 in English and switch to German at 13.
  8. I am the third generation of women in my family to leave their homeland and live in a foreign country. It's an interesting family history to have but I secretly hope that my daughter won't follow in my footsteps.
  9. I suffer from an extreme aversion to sounds, a condition called misophonia. The sounds of people eating and breathing and many other types of sounds produce anxiety and a fight/flight response. There's no cure for the condition and I spend most of my life with earplugs and headphones and white noise.
  10. I love the way my dogs smell. I don't mean when they're wet or rolled in the mud, but their everyday scent. I love to sniff their paws, they are my favorite. Their necks smell particularly pleasant and very comforting.

Little Girl Gone is out now in Ebook and paperback

Alexandra Burt

Alexandra Burt