As today is the release day of her new book- Born Bad, author Marnie Riches shares with us ten things she wants us to know about her.
Marnie Riches
Ever since I was a child, I’ve had a recurring nightmare when I get stressed out that I watch a plane crashing at close quarters. If I’m really, really stressed, sometimes I’m actually on the plane itself and blow up! Luckily, I’ve always woken up in once piece.
Growing up, I lived on one of Manchester’s roughest council estates called, “Fairy Lane Estate”. Fairy Lane still exists – it’s very close to Strangeways Prison – but the housing has all been knocked down and replaced since the 1990s.
I’ve run three half marathons in aid of Cancer Research since 2009, including two valiant but slow efforts at the Great North Run. I have dreadfully stocky little legs but I do believe I could crush a man between my thighs! What fun! Now that my joints are ageing and my knees are getting wonky, I prefer spinning to running. I do it three times per week.
In 2014, I appeared on Sarah Beeney’s show, “Double Your House for Half the Money”. I get bored of my kitchen within three years and seem to have got into the habit of moving frequently and doing old wrecks up!
In my 20s, I played guitar and was the co-lead singer of an Indie band called Interference. We used to have record company A&R turning up to our gigs in London’s Camden and Islington and had interest from Oasis’ label, Creation at one point. Sadly, we disbanded before we were offered a deal because our (apparently) irreplaceable drummer emigrated to Canada!
I’m scared of standing on steep inclines. The first and last time I ever went skiing, I accidentally found myself on a red run on the first afternoon out. Unfortunately, I hurtled down the mountainside so fast that I could only stop myself from certain death with my nose (I fell face-first onto hard packed ice) and ended up with two black eyes. Never again!
I used to work for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and was once told by Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace during a reception that my car might have been blown up in a controlled explosion by security, as I’d left a bag of ericaceous compost in the boot. He was joking, of course!
The most scary experience I’ve ever had was being petrol bombed by members of a gang on my estate when I was a teen. I wrote about it in my first crime thriller, “The Girl Who Wouldn’t Die”.
I’ve lived many places, including Manchester, London, Kent, Utrecht in the Netherlands, Cambridge and Huddersfield. If I could spend some months of the year somewhere warm and tropical like Thailand or the Maldives, I probably would!
In addition to English and swearing, I speak Dutch, German, Italian and French. I wish I’d learned Spanish and I’d like to learn Arabic, Japanese or Mandarin.
Marnie Riches’ Born Bad (Avon, £7.99) is available now.