When I changed the toner cartridge in my printer all on my own – that was a day of pure euphoria.
When were you happiest?
Question
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Identity & self
Question
What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
Failure & regret
Question
What keeps you awake at night?
Daily life
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
Question
Aside from a property, what is the most expensive thing you have bought?
Money & investment
Question
What would you like to leave your children?
Death & what remains
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
Asked in 52 of the 131 consecutive instalments of The Guardian's The Q&A harvested on 2026-08-29.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
In 1993, making love on the beach of a deserted island in the Bahamas.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 June 2025 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 577 →
Rachel Whiteread
English artist
When my children arrived.
Rob Brydon
Welsh actor and comedian
As a boy in a tree.
Martin Freeman
English actor
When I am in Italy with the family, not thinking about work.
More from Lee Child
View profile →First loved, then laid, then paid.
“Try this, you’ll love it.”
Nothing. If I’m worried or upset or tormented, I go to sleep quickly and easily, to find welcome oblivion.
I’m from Birmingham. I’m not afraid of things. Things are afraid of me.
A painting by Renoir, paid for by demanding a huge fee for a screenwriting deal with a producer I didn’t want to work for. The movie was never made.
More than I can, sadly. I led the softest of lives in the softest of times, and my daughter will face sterner challenges.
More on time & hindsight
- What is the most important lesson life has taught you? 137 answers
- What advice would you give your twenty-year-old self, and what should they ignore? 77 answers
- What scares you about getting older? 61 answers
- What is the best advice you have ever received? 28 answers
- If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere, what would it say and why? 23 answers
- What is something you were told by a parent, teacher, or mentor that you still repeat to yourself? 22 answers
Also answered this
Chris McCausland, Alfred Molina, Mark Radcliffe, Jessica Hynes, Rick Stein, Clara Amfo
Search the directory for somebody in particular.
Explore further
- All time & hindsight questions
- The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject