When I was studying, I was part of a children's entertainment company, and I'd have to dress up as a pirate or fairy and go to corporate parties and entertain the children. I will never, ever do that again. The worst was the demanding children - I've never been so exhausted doing a job as that one.
I have four older siblings and one younger, and all three of my brothers are in the music industry. My dad was really involved in music, too, with the disco, and he also started Radio Caroline and was the one who invented pirate radio, if you like, off on a coast in England on a boat.
The notion of a writer sitting in a library doing research isn't what I want. The research I love doing isn't found in a book. It's what it feels like to rappel down the side of a building; to train with a SWAT team; to hold a human brain in your hands; or to dive for pirate treasure. Those are things I've done to research my stories.
Life's pretty good, and why wouldn't it be? I'm a pirate, after all.