Hello, I'm Red. I'm twenty-one years old and I live in the nicer part of Salford, near Manchester. I'm currently doing the 'real person' life thing, working in a bookshop and studying. How do you do?

I studied English Literature and History for three years at Keele University. The History part was a mistake but I enjoyed the past two English modules writing about angry condoms and unemployed postmen.

After graduating I moved to Manchester to experience life in the big city. I love it, although I 'regress' back to Keele for one day a week to study for a Masters in Creative Writing. When I'm not scribbling away half-heartedly in a notebook, I work in a bookshop. It's all very book orientated!

If I was a Superhero, my power would be waffling on about nothing in particular on profile sites! I'm not one for bragging about all the stuff I'm good at. I envy people who know their talents; I'm still discovering mine! I suppose I'm pretty good at stringing a sentence together, which helps what with the whole "I want to be a published novellist" thing. I can also make a pretty decent cup of coffee!

What with my name being Red, I get a lot of people who have 'heard of me' before I've ever met them. That's always surreal. I am told I have nice eyes. They're blue. I have a fringe that I don't really know what to do with, so people probably see me self-consciously adjusting it. I touch my hair a lot. If you see me from a distance, I'm usually laughing along with my friends or even bumping into you and spilling a cider black over your trendy new shirt. My bad.

Books: I'm not big on favourite authors; I'll usually mumble something about Richard Brautigan or Richard Yates (it's a Richard thing) to shut people up. Specific bookwise however, I absoloutely love The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood), The Road (Cormac McCarthy) and Grey Area (Will Self). Big ol' crush on Will Self, don't judge me..

TV: I'm a big Gilmore Girls addict. I speed-watched the entire show since moving to Manchester and wish Stars Hollow was a real place so I could move there. I am a diehard Buffy fan and resent this new generation of vampire lovers. I can happily watch Black Books, Teachers, Spaced and Peep Show over and over until the day I die!

Music: I am more than slightly obsessed with Bright Eyes at the moment. I enjoy a lot of stuff though and aren't really constrained by genres. To name drop my current favourites right now though, I would list Manchester Orchestra, The Smiths, Al Baker, Liam Frost and The Boy Least Likely To.

Food: I am rubbish at food. I forget to cook and eat proper meals a lot so mainly exist off sandwiches, cheese twists and bananas. I'm a fan of generic italian cuisine though, and have recently discovered Roasts.

Whenever I walk somewhere relatively unsafe I feel like Britain's Most Muggable. I have a Blackberry so I'm constantly connected to the internets, Facebook and Twitter. It's a mild addiction. I have a hot pink laptop and a mini Notepad laptop which fits in my handbag, plus an 80gb iPod that I'm rapidly filling up. I'm not some Geek version of Paris Hilton, but I would be pretty lost without them all.

Other things which make me happy: Friends, Cheese, Antiques, Polaroids, Tattoo Inspirations, Starbucks, Swimming, Writing Vitamin C, Genuine Hugs, Pop Art and Alphabetising Things.

Sassy oneliners to go in my novel and opening an Indie Bar in Manchester.

You're tall, dark and arrogant (in a nice way) and have something to say for yourself. No moody bastards, I've had my fill of those.

(Don't bother if you think that after ten messages and a coffee date, that you can sleep with me once then find someone else to chat up. Without sounding too serious, I'm not into hookups or a week-long flirtation. Call me boring. I'm also rubbish at IMing. Send me a good ol' fashioned message!)