Tag! I'm It: 10 Random Facts About Me

I was tagged over on ... wait, where was it? The Book of Faces? The Stack of Subs? Well, somewhere, a lovely person named Author on Wheels tagged me to present 10 random facts about me, not related to writing.

I don't think Author on Wheels is their real name, but these days who knows?

Also, although it takes away some of the fun, I won't tag 10 other authors to do the same. I always thought it made people feel like they have to do something, and there are enough things we have to do in the main periods of our lives: childhood and adulthood.

Of course, for a lot of years now I've been telling people everything about me in my columns/blogs, so the real question is, can I surprise you with something interesting? Probably not.

10 random facts about me, not related to writing:

1. Everyone knows I was a volunteer firefighter, but the first time I crawled into a burning building, at age 18, the extent of my protective gear was a pair of pull-up thigh-length rubber boots. Other than that, it was jeans and a windbreaker. We don't do that anymore.

We were smoke eaters ... and young.

1. After graduating high school I moved seven times in seven years, without ever leaving town limits ... and now I've been in the same house for 36 years.

2. I only spent the night in a hospital once, with mono when I was fourteen. Now you have an idea of how extreme my dumb luck is.

3. As a youth I suffered from severe shyness (no, not the same as being an introvert, although there's that, too). But I got it in my head that I wanted to be an actor, and forced myself in high school to join drama club and choir, and take a speech class. To this day, I don't know where I got the courage.

4. I have a comical inability to do any kind of physical handiwork or maintenance whatsoever without completely screwing it up. It's why I prefer my tools to be electric: Small engines and I are not friends.

Now, destroying things isn't a problem.

1. When they were first married my parents had no money, so on the day the previous month's comic books were priced down they'd buy a stack, and read them over the weekend. This (and the Oz books they bought) is how I became an avid reader.

2. For my entire life I've had absolutely no interest in dressing to look good; as long as I'm warm, I'm fine. Emily has turned me around a little, though.

8.) Despite being allergic to cats, there's been at least one in my home most of my life. When I was a kid I thought everyone walked around with a stuffy nose.

You think shooting pool while sneezing is easy? It is not.

9.) The first time I ever got my picture in the paper was when I was very little and the first customer at a new store (My parents bought me a U.S. map puzzle). The article said I won a large stuffed animal, but I never received it.

1. I can raise or lower my own pulse rate. Sometimes I used that to mess with EMT students.

There are probably odder facts about me I haven't even thought of, but I can't think of them.

I’ve never blown up something while writing (well, except for that one laptop), so keep me out of trouble and buy our books here:

· Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

· Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

· Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4898846.Mark_R_Hunter

· Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

· Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

· Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

· Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

· Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

· Substack: https://substack.com/@markrhunter

· Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/ozma914

· Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914

· Audible: https://www.audible.com/search?searchAuthor=Mark+R.+Hunter&ref_pageloadid=4C1TS2KZGoOjloaJ&pf

Remember: Reading is a low-risk activity.