Under the microscope: Best-selling author Lynda La Plante, 77, takes our health quiz
Best-selling author Lynda La Plante, 77 takes our health quiz.
Can you run up the stairs?
I live in a three-storey house, so there are many stairs. I also walk every morning with my cockapoo, Max.
Get your five a day?
Most definitely. I like a proper cooked lunch with broccoli and carrots, and I also snack on fruit.
Ever dieted?
I have sometimes, but I’m very fortunate because I’m quite small. I’m 5ft 2in and normally a size 8 but I think I’m a size 10 now. I’m not somebody that likes chocolate. I never eat cake.
Lynda La Plante, 77, keeps fit by walking her cockapoo and climbing the stairs in her three-storey house. She enjoys a ‘proper cooked lunch’ with broccoli and carrots and snacks on fruit
Pop any pills?
I take vitamin D every day [for healthy bones] and vitamin C if I feel rundown. I’ve also been taking statins [to reduce cholesterol] for five years.
Any vices?
Rhubarb and ginger gin. I have it with sugar-free lemonade or tonic most days at around five o’clock. Liquorice Allsorts are a treat — in small doses.
Worst illness/injury?
The past two years have been the most difficult, as I’ve had problems with my neck and eyesight. I work long hours hunched over a typewriter and, one day, I got an electric-type shock in my neck. I had eight operations to fix discs which were not aligned properly — but it didn’t help with the pain. In 2019, I had an ablation procedure, which did fix the problem. I had cataract surgery, too. I had both eyes done at the same time, so I was unable to work on the computer and had to dictate my latest book.
Cope well with pain?
I have had plenty of experience of it, so I am very good with it.
Tried alternative remedies?
I tried it when my neck was bad and now have a wonderful masseuse.
Ever been depressed?
I’ve felt quite low because of the issues with my neck and eyesight over the past two years.
Lynda said her book plots often keep her awake as she tries to sort out who is a murder suspect
Hangover cure?
I don’t drink to excess, so I don’t get hangovers.
Ever have cosmetic surgery?
You only have to watch the TV show Botched. You wouldn’t want it after that.
Is sex important?
I think it is if you have a wonderful relationship.
What keeps you awake?
My book plots. I can be ready to crash when I suddenly think: ‘I put the man in the room at the wrong time. If he’s in the room, he couldn’t have done the murder.’ I wake up in the morning — after an average of six hours’ sleep — and the plot is sorted.
Like to live for ever?
No, but I’d like to see my son Lorcan married with a child.
- BURIED is out now in paperback, eBook and audiobook.