SEDGEMOOR author Miranda Rose Shearer was born in Taunton on May 11, 1982.

Miranda lived in Spaxton for 24 years, and recently moved to Over Stowey. Her mother, Tamasin Day-Lewis, is a journalist, food writer and television chef. Her father John Shearer, worked for the BBC for 35 years.

She has a younger brother and a sister, Harry and Charissa.

After school, Miranda travelled around the whole of South and Central America for a year. She then moved to Spain and lived in Andorra, Ibiza and Barcelona.

In 2002 she came home and went to Bristol University to study history of art and Hispanic studies, and was aiming to do a law conversion course, until her publishers offered to publish her second book.

A journalist and author, she has written two books. Both books were written for people who "have been amazing in my life".

The first was a student cookbook for her ex-boyfriend Tom. It was called My Turn To Cook and was re-printed under the title Cheap As Chips Better Than Toast.

Her latest book was for her sister Charissa. It is a book for dazed and confused teenagers to twentysomethings, full of non-patronising advice on how to survive as a girl at parties, with boys, with friends, travelling, at school, moving in to a student house and of course it includes a lot about fashion and sex education.

What is the best and worst thing about the place you live in?
"The best thing is the beautiful countryside. No matter where I go in the world I always miss the Quantocks. I have noticed people born in Somerset may go away to university or to London, but they always move back. It gets you hooked and you can never find anywhere as nice. The worst thing, if you are young, is being in the middle of nowhere, and everyone buying the same clothes as you from the only three funky shops in town."

What is the best and worst thing about your job?
"My job is amazing. It is diverse, interesting, I love representing a local newspaper and I work with a brilliant team. The worst thing is telling people I meet, I am a journalist. People don't trust journalists and it is hard persuading people I am not like the sleazy hack on Coronation Street, hiding around the corner trying to sniff out the dirt."

What was your ambition as a child?
"My ambition as a child was to be a private detective, or a policeman, so I am not far off the mark."

What has been your greatest achievement?
"Writing two books, and surviving this long. Life can get cut short, and the world is not a very nice place."

What characteristic do you dislike most in others?
"I think a lot of people are dishonest, and think that white lies are ok. I hate liars, I can always see through them. I hate people shouting at me too, it never works. People who take but never give back are pretty rude too."

What characteristic do you dislike about yourself?
"I have to do about one hundred things a day or I feel I have not used my time properly. I organize too much at the same time, and forget where I am supposed to be at what time, so sometimes I let people down, which I hate doing."

What is your biggest fear?
"Not being good at something, at least one thing. People thinking I am not genuine. With me, what you see is what you get."

When and where were you happiest?
"I am always happiest in the sea. Floating, swimming, wake boarding, wind surfing, sailing, you name it. I just need to be in or on some water, especially when the sun is blazing. Being hot and bothered is the worst feeling ever."

What three items would you take to a desert island?
"I am a survivor, a pen knife, a flint stone, and I hate being lonely, so a friend. The problem is you don't get left with what you want on a desert island."

Who are your dream dinner party guests (maximum five)?
"I would like to get five dictators like Franco and Hitler in a room and listen to what they have to say for themselves and their strange beliefs, which is a bit far fetched, so it would have to be: Mariella Frostrup, Julia Roberts, Barbara Hepworth most famous female British sculptor, Germaine Greer, and my mother."

How would you like to be remembered?
"I have never thought about it before, it seems to be tempting fate. Probably as a friend, daughter or sister who might have been grouchy and argumentative from time to time, but would never let anyone down if they needed help or advice."