“Roses of Success”, from “Ashes of Disaster”.

source ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’.

Me. In summary. ‘Despair?’ Not a great LinkedIn share. Post lockdown, freelance work went AWOL, cat lost all her teeth, bar one; I was left floundering in the lame duck fast lane. Hurtling on the North Circular to nowhere. “I've got 4 degrees, one's a BA in Drama”, I wailed to therapist, paid for by kids’ storytelling schools’ gig.

“Are you, an Actor?” Squeaked one 4-year-old space fan.

“Learning”. I gasped, neck in spasm from Klingon child grip.

I WAS. I AM.

I auditioned. City Lit. Acting Diploma. 300 applied. 15 places. I got one. I got good parts. I got ‘Best Actor’, nomination. I got picked for short film. I got one-tooth cat to ‘like’ liquid ‘Licky Lix’. I was on my way….