Oh you guys are so much fun and clearly far more clever than I. I love that many of you answered questions, no questions asked. My newspaper interview was published over the weekend and, just as I feared, it was a whole page with my mug taking up the entire upper half. My nerves. Anyway, in case anyone is remotely interested and because there’s not an original thought in my head today, here are my answers:

What is your full name?

Roberta Joan French

Where and when were you born?

St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, middle of March, latter half of the 20^th century.

Where is home today?

Semur en Auxois, France.

What is your favourite food?

Anything cooked by someone else.

What was your favourite year?

2001 (met my husband) followed closely by 2010 (ran away to France with said husband).

What are you reading?

Everything. My Kindle is jam-packed. I’ve read 130 books over the last year and a half. I just finished Michael Crummey’s The Wreckage (wonderful) and Amor Towle’s The Rules Of Civility (also wonderful). Unfortunately I spend a lot of time reading the riveting 501 French Verbs.

What is your greatest indulgence?

Funemployment and copious amounts of dark chocolate.

Do you have a favourite movie?

No. I love movies too much to choose just one. I think my recent favourite is Midnight in Paris but off the top of my head I’d say Away We Go, Miller’s Crossing, Road To Perdition, The Contender, La Vie En Rose, I’ve Loved You So Long and one of my all time favourites, The Apartment.

Who would play you in a movie about your life?

Kristen Wiig, aged a little and on stilts.

What do you like to do when you’re not working?

What is this “working” you speak of?

What bugs you?

Misogyny, any kind of intolerance and discrimination.

Where is your favourite vacation spot?

The bench in my garden and Cortona, Italy.

What are your best and worst qualities?

Best: empathy. Worst: impatience.

Who inspires you?

My husband. He’s so clever and even-tempered. It’s incredibly annoying.

What is your most treasured possession?

It’s a three-way tie between my wedding ring, my laptop and all my pants (I’m six feet tall).

Do you have any hidden talents?

Is obsessive neatness a talent?

Who would you most or least like to be stuck in an elevator with?

Most: MacGyver, obviously. Least: Celine Dion, obviously.

Who is one person, living or deceased, you’d love to have lunch with?

I’d like to have lunch with Angela Merkel or Christine Lagarde. Women in such powerful and influential positions in the world fascinate me. If they were too busy I’d gladly share a sandwich with Gabriel Byrne.

If you were premier of the province, what is one thing you would try to do?

I would build a mental health care system that is the envy of the world. Plus free toutons for everyone on Fridays.

What would you do if you won the lottery?

Share, donate and travel, in that order.

So there you have it, 20 insights into my soul. Hardly. It was fun and I’m very grateful to Tara Bradbury for asking me to participate. I should’ve kept my moaning about public probing to myself. The minute I posted my whine on Friday, I received a request from Atlantic Books Today to do an author interview for their spring publication on April 20, perfect timing for the blook release. What does the interview entail? 21 different, dig a little deeper questions including “How you want to die.” I can see the coroner’s report now. Cause of death: exposure.

ps Touton: Bread dough fried in butter or pork fat.