1) I can't function without several cups of tea in the morning. It's not even strong tea - there's an embarrassing level of milk in there - but the idea of having to do anything like, say, communicate with other human beings, without it is unthinkable.
Claire Hennessy
2) I love musicals (my favourites include Wicked, Les Miserables, Avenue Q, and Jesus Christ Superstar) but I can't sing. I mean, I can sing, but not without everyone within earshot (family members included) wincing painfully and/or asking me politely to stop.
3) I read tons of Mandy and Judy and Bunty comics and annuals in my youth. The first stories I ever wrote were bad rip-offs of the kind of tales you'd get in there - anyone else remember 'The Four Marys'? I adored them.
4) I went to a summer camp for 'talented youth' from the ages of ten to sixteen and worked there every summer in my twenties. I think summer camps are magical places - so much happens in such a short space of time, it's so intense - and someday will absolutely have to write a book about one.
5) I think passion and kindness are the two most important things in life, and apathy should be a deadly sin.
6) I don't really believe in 'deadly sins' but I was raised Catholic and went to a school that was only barely out of the clutches of the nuns, so there are things that stay with you. Marian Keyes has a beautiful bit in one of her books where the characters are talking about being 'lapsed Catholics' and then amend that to 'collapsed', which definitely fits.
7) Everything is better with humour, even if it's gallows humour. I love books or other media that tackle really difficult topics but still make you laugh in some way, and somehow lighten the load or make it more bearable. Bryony Gordon's 'Mad Girl', which I read earlier this year, is a brilliant example of this - it's talking about mental illness and self-destructive behaviours but it also makes you laugh (and cry).
8) I'm not a huge fan of travelling. I find airports really stressful and the whole 'travelling to find yourself' or to somehow realise that the world is bigger than your own backyard (don't any of us with half a brain know this already?) just doesn't work for me. The idea of 'backpacking across' anywhere fills me with terror.
9) I hate dressing up for Halloween or any kind of themed costume party. Sometimes I try to be clever and say that this is because we all wear masks of one kind anyway, but honestly I just feel silly in costume.
10) I love writing. I think you have to. The idea of the tormented artist is really unhelpful, and I get very annoyed with the idea that mental illness or other difficulties are somehow inspiring and inherently creative. Even when writing is frustrating it's still satisfying - you're making a thing! Out of words! From your brain! It's incredible.
Claire Hennessy
Twitter: @clairehennessy
Website: http://www.clairehennessy.com
