Books, buckets and blogs…

Tagging has been the order of the day in the last couple of weeks.

First of all I got tagged on FB to list ten books that have stayed with me over the years. (Thanks, Julie – although I agonised over the list, it was great fun!) I finally came up with:

• The Cuckoo Tree by Joan Aiken – a fantastic adventure story I re-read endlessly as a child
• Septimus and the Danedyke Mystery by Steven Chance – the book that  introduced me to crime fiction
• I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith – a brilliantly observed, funny and moving coming-of-age story
• Bleak House by Charles Dickens – I never forget the chilling way in which Rick is transformed by his hopes of an inheritance
• Wildfire at Midnight by Mary Stewart – romantic mystery at its best. The way Stewart reveals the murderer is shiver-inducing
• Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier – another great example of the genre: atmospheric and compelling
• Look to the Lady by Margery Allingham – classic crime, and Campion and Lugg are brilliant creations
• Scoop by Evelyn Waugh – simply very funny
• The Sea House by Esther Freud – I love the setting, which is based on Southwold, and also the dual plot lines, one contemporary and one historical
• The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver – the powerful way Kingsolver uses the voices of the four daughters, and the role of the father in the book, really send shivers down my spine

The next tag involved the MND ice bucket challenge, with my entire family being nominated at once. We managed a coordinated effort with a combination of buckets and washing up bowls, and I hope synchronised bucketing might eventually become an Olympic sport. Anyone who’d like to donate in the UK can text ICED55 and an amount to 70070. 

Finally ace-blogger and writer Julie Stock kindly tagged me in a list of recommended blogs when accepting the One Lovely Blogger award. Julie’s site is full of information for writers, posts on her journey to publication, and much more besides – definitely recommended.

And in writing news

I’ve just heard that I’ll receive my first set of edits next week. I’m a bit nervous, never having been through this process before! I’ll let you know how it goes. (Unless I make a complete mess of it, in which case I might mysteriously forget…)