I'm an author, journalist, editor, mother and expat. I'm also through-and-through a sun-worshipper, happiest when floating in the sea with my face in the sun and absolutely nothing in my head. Though that last bit's never true, is it?
In terms of career ('Annabel, your ideal job would be tax accountant,' said the school careers officer), I've worked as a non-fiction book editor, produced and presented radio shows, edited a glossy woman's magazine, run a magazine publishing company, worked as the Telegraph's Expat blogger and as a magazine columnist, given news anaylsis on the television, and written four published novels (to date – number five is currently in production).
Other jobs I've had over the years include perfume saleslady, sales assistant in various shops, child-minder, supermarket cashier, stable hand, German translator (I used to be able to speak at length in German about concrete injection systems, though, hand on heart, those days are gone) and of course I started out with the obligatory paper round, which earned me £3.33 a week for delivering 238 papers.
Other snippets:
I travelled behind the iron curtain when I was 16. This was definitely the biggest adventure of my life at that point. I saved up my wages from my Saturday job, flew to West Berlin, walked through the checkpoint to East Berlin and took the train down to Leipzig to see a penfriend, then I did it all in reverse. It was an absolutely incredible experience.
I played alto clarinet in a music competition on the television when I was at junior school. The day spent filming at the ITV studios was amazing: my ensemble didn't win the competition, but I got in a lift with a man who, to this day, I believe was Tom Selleck!
The first book that ever had my name on as author was a baby record book, published in 1999. It was my first commission in Dubai and I knew nothing at all about babies so I had to crib all the key stages from text books. It's called First Steps in Arabia and, amazingly, you can still buy it.
I hold a BSc Hons degree in psychology from the University of Warwick. It was a really interesting degree and I absolutely loved it, especially the clinical stuff. I still believe I'll go back to uni one day to get my Masters degree.
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