About Me

Photo courtesy of Ki Price (http://kiprice.photoshelter.com)

Hello you ; )

What can I tell you?

I’m a writer and artist from  North London, my parents came to the UK in the ’60s from Pakistan. I am your classic middle child, such a cliche it’s laughable. My dad has twelve siblings, my mother five, when I was growing up I wanted my mum to adopt children as I have a love of variety. She said four children were more then enough thank you. I still think it’s a shame she stopped there!

I am a total variety freak, I don’t understand women who have a ‘signature’ perfume. I have about 70 bottles in my boudoir alone as my mood and vibe changes so much, and I need scent to evolve with that. Same goes for bubblebath….and breakfast cereal. In 2011 I was featured talking about Dior’s Fahrenheit on BBC4’s documentary ‘Perfume‘

My favourite writers are Poppy Z.Brite and Lisa Jewell. I thought Lost Souls, Drawing Blood and Brite’s short fiction anthologies were works of genius.  I’m in awe of her imagination. Though I believe she now wishes to be referred to as a ‘he’.  Lisa Jewell’s novels captivated me consistently from my twenties onwards. Thirtynothing will always hold a special place in my heart.  My tastes in fiction are pretty broad from the classics to children’s books.  All I care about is originality and intelligent self-expression. I was knocked for six by Katherine Dunn’s Geek Love. A book doesn’t have to be perfect to emblazon itself on your memory, it just has to move you or be daring. Though typos and bad editing are my bugbear!  Check out my Goodreads page to find out more about my preferences.  Though it’s by no means exhaustive ; )

I’m also insanely passionate about film and music too. I get obsessive about great culture and can easily watch a film I love over and over again. Movies I’ve especially loved include Heat, Thelma and Louise, Tootsie, Manhunter, Drive, Last of the Mohicans, Out of Sight, Deuce Bigalow, Male Gigolo, Just Friends, Green Card and Chasing Amy.
I could easily name many, many more.  Musically, I am drowning in CDs, vinyl and tapes. I like it old school from The Kinks through to Glam rock like Roxy Music to punk to the 80s Liverpool scene with The Teardrop Explodes to grunge like Hole to post-rock like Mogwai. Between 2006-2008 I saw a band called Hush The Many (Heed The Few) play live over twenty-five times. They were amazing, so special. I blame Ed Harcourt for that one. He’s special too.

My first ever 7″ was Depeche Mode‘s ‘ Never Let Me Down‘ though I didn’t have a record player to play it on for four years. My first 12″ was Donna Summer‘s ‘All Systems Go’ – an amazing song, why it wasn’t a hit still bewilders me. My first pop album purchase was a-ha’s ‘Hunting High and Low.’

My favourite pop video of all time is U2’s ‘With or Without You.’ There is a look that Bono gives the camera that just slays me before he starts spinning around clutching the guitar.

I have an extra inch of length in one of my thighs. A Bangladeshi tailor in Koh Samui enlightened me on that score when I was 30. I am actually only 5ft 2 and a bit, and most people have to look twice when I tell them that, just to be sure as apparently I don’t ‘seem that small.’

My middle name is also the middle name of the daughter of a security guard called Vic who also had a daughter called Yasmin. It was the name of the midwife who delivered her. He was very touched when I asked his permission to poach it.  I’ve repaid him by naming the concierge in my debut novel GUNSHOT GLITTER after him.  I have my sister to thank for my first name, she actually named me Yasmin.  She was nine years old!

I was once in a supermarket and heard a woman calling for Yasmin and Selena. They were the names of her daughter and the next door neighbour’s child. It was weird but cool.

Ten facts that are true about me.
Actually that’s a lie. Nine of them are. One of them is a great, whopping fib

1. When I was a child, our family once had 11 cats.
2. And when I was 11 I broke the world high kicking record for the most you could do in a minute. The record was 91 and I did 93. But sadly I am not in the Guiness Book of Records as there was no one official to witness it.
3. When I was 16, I had an all-consuming, devastating crush on Spock from Star Trek.
4. I shared the bill with Mercury Music Award nominated singer Ed Harcourt in Hackney on my 32nd birthday and recited a poem called ‘Ode To Rik‘ about my genuine adoration of Rik Mayall
5. I couldn’t do a cartwheel if you paid me. I couldn’t even try!
6. But I can touch my nose with my tongue.
7. I made athlete, all round good guy and the smiliest man ever, Kriss Akabusi, cry.
8. I once did try and eat fifty eggs in an hour to get one up on Cool Hand Luke.  And you know what? I succeeded.  It was foul!!
9. My face is on a tile on the side of a KLM aeroplane with a sage-like saying beneath it.
10. I once rescued a stray puppy in Pakistan from a bad man when I was 7 by hitting him with a big stick. He thought it was fun to drop a brick on it. I thought that was pretty heinous. Then I took the puppy home and insisted we keep him.

So which one is the lie? : )

Thank you very much for visiting my blog. I hope you enjoy your time here : ) Do leave comments on posts if you do.  I love comments, I love a good conversation.

Yasmin x x

p.s. Please note all written content and personal photographs on this blog belong and are credited to me.  Please do seek my permission, as copyright owner, before reproducing anything on a third party site. Thank you ; )

THIS BLOG claims no credit for any other images posted on this site. I try to acknowledge the source where possible.  Images on this blog are copyright to their respectful owners. If there is an image on my blog that belongs to you and you do not wish for it appear on my blog, please email me at yasminselena@gmail.com with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed. I never use images which are clearly copyright stamped.