Meg Gardiner

Countdown with ...

Meg Gardiner

Meg Gardiner was born in Oklahoma and raised in Santa Barbara, California. She graduated from Stanford University and Stanford Law School, and practised law in Los Angeles. She also taught writing at the University of California Santa Barbara. After living in the UK for many years, she recently moved back to the US.

 

Interviewed 12 July 2014

Ten words to sum up your working life to date ...

Eclectic, unexpected, challenging, full of uncertainties and rewards. No regrets.

Nine things you can see from where you're sitting ...

Storm clouds, Mini Cooper, Union Jack, teapot, beans on toast, Christmas tree, Sky News. Britain.

Eight minutes to prepare a meal. What's it going to be ?

Huevos rancheros: scrambled eggs, grated cheddar, chopped tomatoes and salsa, stuffed into tortillas. Works for breakfast or dinner, depending on whether you serve it with coffee or cerveza.

Seven people you'd like to go for a drink with ...

Stephen King, Mo Farah, Jennifer Lawrence, Brad Pitt, Pope Francis, Professor Brian Cox, and Michelle Obama. (I know Stephen King doesn’t drink, and Mo Farah is training. Pitcher of water for table seven, please).

Six things you can't live without ...

Coffee, family, friends, books, pen and paper.

Five favourite words ...

Story. Imagination. Adventure. Song. Home.

Four places you'd run away to ...

Maui, San Francisco, Paris, and my mom’s kitchen.

Three books you've bought recently ...

The Reversal – Michael Connelly. Salinger – David Shields & Shane Salerno. A Game of Thrones – George R.R. Martin.

Two things that make you rant ...

Politicians who want to close libraries to save money – because ignorance and illiteracy always work out so well, right? And every movie featuring Idris Elba – he is never on screen enough. I demand more Idris Elba.

One thing you'd tell your teenage self ...

Don’t be afraid.