Have you heard about The Proust Questionnaire? I first came across it back in 2003 when I was completing my Master of Arts in Professional Writing and Literature. I was spellbound. It wasn’t created by Marcel Proust, the French novelist and essayist, but he is widely credited for its popularity. He believed the answers to the 35 questions showed a person’s true character and would bail up people at parties to share their answers. They’re a fabulous way to get to know someone beyond the level of superficiality that often comes with the online world and so I have asked some of my fabulous writing friends to answer five of the questions.
I didn’t want them to have all the fun, so here’s a little Proust-style insight into me:
What’s your idea of perfect happiness?
A beautiful beach, my family, the sun, the surf, a bag full of books and nowhere to be!
What is your most treasured possession and why?
My engagement rings (both my own, and my late grandmother’s ring) as well as a necklace from my mother: a question mark set with diamonds that she gave me when I completed a fairly significant draft of Summer, in Between.
I also have a beautiful Mont Blanc pen gifted by my husband when I finished the first draft of that same novel, as I wrote chunks of it by hand, beside the trampoline. The meaning behind that gift, of the value he saw in my writing, means the world to me.
What is your most marked characteristic?
Physically, while my hair seems to get a bit of attention of late, it has to be my smile. I’m Holly and I’m a grinner, something that only became obvious to me in my early twenties when I left a long term role. In my farewell card, almost all of my colleagues made mention of my smile. I had no idea that I was walking around beaming.
Personality-wise, it’s my laugh. I love a good laugh and I’m often the person that brings a smidge of lightness and irreverence to a conversation, quite often inappropriately.
Who is your hero of fiction?
I have a soft spot for Jo from Little Women and Anne of Green Gables. I wanted to be both of them growing up.
Who are your heroes in real life?
I’m blessed with family and friends that I look up to every day, who inspire me in a thousand different ways. More specifically, I think teachers are the most incredible, undervalued humans we have.