Book meme

I've got some time free today, so I thought I'd catch up on some book memes (all nicked off other blogs/sites). Feel free to join in, I'd love to see what your answers are.

What is your favourite:
Work of historical fiction?
The Love of Stones by Tobias Hill

Piece of comic writing?
Any of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books that has Gytha Ogg in it; The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Work of poetry and/or book of poetry?
OMG, too difficult, too many! I recently re-read Mark Doty's My Alexandria, and got a lot more out of it than I did when I was eighteen.

Essay?
Lady Love Your Cunt by Germaine Greer

Science fiction novel?
Neverness by David Zindell, A Scanner Darkly By Phillip K. Dick, Rogue Planet by Greg Bear (which I think was a huge influence on James Cameron's Avatar); The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin

Fantasy novel?
Any Tolkien; all Terry Pratchett; Robert Holdstock's Mythago Cycle is a big influence on my own writing

Romance novel?
Berta La Larga by Cuca Canals

Book about food?
Food For Free by Richard Mabey

Epistolary novel and/or novel in diary form?
Dracula by Bram Stoker (not too sure I've read many, to be honest. I loved Adrian Mole when I was a kid, but Sue Townsend's books about him being in his thirties are just plain boring)

Murder/crime novel?
Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite

Work of classic fiction ?
Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy, or Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Horror novel?
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, genuinely scares the hell out of me!

Biography or autobiography?
I'm not really one for biographies, but I did enjoy Mozart by Peter Gay (so much so that I bought Mozart's Letters, Mozart's Life by Professor Robert Spaethling straight away)

Work of children's literature?
Harry Potter, obviously; Hobberdy Dick By Katharine M. Briggs; The Tree That Sat Down (and The River That Stood Still and The Mountain of Magic) by Beverley Nichols; The Hobbit (of course); I also love Rupert the Bear

Piece of young adult fiction?
I Am David by Anne Holm; Toby's Lie by Daniel Vilmure; The Book of Dead Days by Marcus Sedgwick (the rest of the series is pretty damn good too)

Short story?
Ping by Samuel Beckett; Oh, whistle and I'll come to you, my lad by M.R. James; Pastoralia by George Saunders

20th century novel?
Queer by William S. Burroughs, heartbreaking; The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things by JT Leroy (or whatever her real name is) - I don't care that she made it all up, her writing is superb, and I appreciate what she was trying to do. The whole JT Leroy literary scandal says a lot more about us as readers, than it does as her as a desperate writer. Think about it.

8 questions

Questions from Annekata (go and look at her lovely, lovely blog)

1. If you could have a dinner with a famous person (alive or dead) who would you choose?
There are so many people both dead and alive that I would love to answer for this question! Alan Turing. He's the father of computer science, and sadly he killed himself because society was so against homosexuals at the time. A great man, and we share the same birthday.

2. Where would you have that dinner?
There's a lovely little restaurant on the Rue de L'Eglise in St Généreux. It hasn't got a name, or a menu - you just get whatever they decide to make that day. Six courses of good French country cooking, vin compris. C'est magnifique!

3. What book written (in the last 300 years) had a real influence on your life?
There are many books that have influenced my life. Here are a few, in no particular order:
Folk Music by Sheenagh Pugh, and
Kirstie's Witnesses by Sheenagh Pugh
Berta La Larga by Cuca Canals
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling (yes, really)
1984 by George Orwell
The Poems of Max Ehrmann
The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien
Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs (it was after reading this, and all his other novels in quick succession, that I decided to concentrate on being a writer)

4. If you could live anywhere, in any time, what place and time would that be?
I like living now, and where I am, is that weird? I'd like to visit loads of different times, I'd love to be a hunter-gatherer living in Wales in the Neolithic (is that when hunter-gatherers lived?); I'd also like to go and visit the 1700s, just so I could wear some fantastic clothes! There are also so many turning points in gay history that I'd like to visit - being a young man paired with a strong Roman warrior as my teacher; learning Polari and visiting underground gay clubs when gay culture was still being created, also seeing it being decriminalised would be amazing; I'd also love to go back to June 28th 1969 to be part of the Stonewall riots.

5. What season would reflect you best?
Autumn. Cold, sunny days made for scarf-wearing, long walks, fruit-picking, blankets, knitting, making dens, hot tea, baking cakes, warming stews, game pie, blackberries, gloves, Halloween/Samhain, fires, fireworks, lots of soup and reading stories. That's me.

6. What do you wear when you don't want to think about what you wear?
Boring. Jeans, t-shirt, sneakers.

7. What does craft/making mean to you?
Literally everything. All the creative stuff I do, whether that be writing, sewing, painting, pyrography, knitting, crochet, sculpting, soldering, drawing, folding, sticking, is a part of who I am. I make, therefore I am. Lolz.

8. If you project yourself into the future. Is there anything you would like to achieve in the next 2 to 5 years?
I want to get one of my novels published. I'm over halfway writing one, and about a fifth of the way through the other.

Book meme

Nicked from Sheenagh Pugh (but it's okay, she nicked it first)

1. Which book has been on your shelves the longest?

The Hobbit

2. What is your current read, your last read and the book you'll read next?

Current read: Troll Fell by Katharine Langrish, because I needed something easy after...
Last read: David Zindell's Neverness books.
Next Up: The Horrific Sufferings of the Mind-reading Monster Hercules Barefoot: His Wonderful Love and His Terrible Hatred by Carl-Johan Vallgren, because I've been promising Nina I'll finish it for ages

3. What book did everyone like and you hated?

The Time Traveller's Wife, put it down after about 20 pages

4. Which book do you keep telling yourself you'll read, but you probably won't?

Ooh, I dunno... Crime and Punishment, War and Peace

5. Which book are you saving for "retirement?"

See above

6. Last page: read it first or wait till the end?

Never! If a book is any good I'll wait, if it's not I'll get rid of it. I'm not one of those people who have to know what happens, if I don't like the book or the characters then I don't care what happens to them

7. Acknowledgments: waste of ink and paper or interesting aside?

I like them

8. Which book character would you switch places with?

Lol, great question! When I was about 8 I'd have said Frodo or Tolly (from the Green Knowe books by Lucy M. Boston), when I was 15 I'd have said Nothing (from Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite), but who now? I'll have to come back to this question

9. Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time)?

My tatty copy of Hounds of the Morrigan by Pat O'Shea reminds me of a lovely holiday in Cornwall when I was 7 or 8.

10. Name a book you acquired in some interesting way.

I once bought a black, leather briefcase in a jumble sale for 5p when I was 6, and when I got it home I discovered a book hidden in a pocket inside - Eva Ibbotson's Which Witch? A book I love and still read.

11. Have you ever given away a book for a special reason to a special person?

Yes of course

12. Which book has been with you to the most places?

Drawing Blood by Poppy Z. Brite

13. Any "required reading" you hated in high school that wasn’t so bad ten years later?

Nope, it's all still awful. Step forward Jane Austen. I also disliked William Golding's Lord of the Flies when I was in school and, if anything, it's become even more disturbing.

14. What is the strangest item you’ve ever found in a book?

I once found a beautiful and very old bookmark in a book about table-rapping from the 1800s

15. Used or brand new?

Used if they are old, new if they are new

16. Stephen King: Literary genius or opiate of the masses?

He's alright, I've read a few of his books but found myself skimming quite a lot

17. Have you ever seen a movie you liked better than the book?

Yes, but only once. Interview with the Vampire the film is way better than the yawnfest that Anne Rice wrote

18. Conversely, which book should NEVER have been introduced to celluloid?

I won't get started on Lord of the Rings! One that made me quite angry was Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. They got rid of really good bits, and replaced them with special effects-laden bits that totally underwhelmed. A pity, as the book is rather special

19. Have you ever read a book that's made you hungry, cookbooks being excluded from this question?

In the Hounds of the Morrigan, there is a description of a meal that sounds delicious. Mushrooms cooked on a hearthstone, hot soup with butter floating in it "like a thousand golden suns", and fish cooked in their skins on the fire.

20. Who is the person whose book advice you'll always take?

Michael has introduced me to some fantastic books that I would never have found otherwise, and Nina has been spot on every time so far; my book taste is most like my newphew Bryn's though, we like similar stuff!

Character questionnaire

I found this questionnaire online, to help you get to know the characters you write about. I’ve answered this one for my favourite character Geraint.

• What is your character’s name? Does the character have a nickname?
His name is Geraint Hopkins. Lots of people just call him ‘Hopkins’, or ‘Hoppers’.

• What is your character’s hair colour? Eye colour?
Brown hair and brown eyes.

• What kind of distinguishing facial features does your character have?
His nose is quite big.

• Does your character have a birthmark? Where is it? What about scars? How did he get them?
Her has a hernia scar, and has cut scars on his wrist.

• Who are your character’s friends and family? Who does he surround himself with? Who are the people your character is closest to? Who does he wish he were closest to?
His two best friends are Nathalie and Rosie, but Rosie has moved to Australia. He doesn’t really get on with his parents, who are separated. But he is quite close to his older brother who lives away with his wife and kids.

• Where was your character born? Where has he lived since then? Where does he call home?
He is from Llanelli originally, but now lives in Cardiff.

• Where does your character go when he’s angry?
Shouts. He is very loud.

• What is his biggest fear? Who has he told this to? Who would he never tell this to? Why?
Dying alone. His best friends know this but that’s all. He should never tell this to his boyfriends as when he does they always leave him.

• Does he have a secret?
He fancies a straight boy named Emyr that he went to school with!

• What makes your character laugh out loud?
Talking rubbish with his mates, they are like his family and he needs them to survive. Possible the relationship he has with them is too cloying. His friend Nathalie moved to Cardiff to be with him.

• When has your character been in love? Had a broken heart?
He has been in love only once, but had his heart broken many times.

Another bloody questionnaire

1. What is your middle name? Craig
2. How big is your bed? Double
3. What are you listening to right now? The cars swooshing past my window in work
4. What are the last 4 digits in your mobile phone number? 8117
5. What was the last thing you ate? A sugar free mint
6. Last person you hugged? Simon
7. How is the weather right now? Gloriously sunny
8. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? Nina
9. The first thing you notice about the sex (that you fancy)? Face
10. Favourite type of Food? French, Italian, game, seafood, tapas, cake
11. Do you want children? Yes, I'd love to have kids
12. Hair colour? Dark brown
13. Do you wear contacts? Nope, 20/20
14. Favourite holiday? Prague
15. Favourite Season? Autumn
16. Have you ever cried over a love lost? Oh constantly
17. Last movie you watched? Aliens
18. What books are you reading? Watership Down by Richard Adams, Toby's Lie by Daniel Vilmure, and Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling (again)
19. Piercings? Yep, 12. Ears (6) lip (2), tongue, nips (2) and belly button
20. Favourite Movie? I can't say Star Wars, that's cheating, so I will say Pan's Labyrinth
21. Favourite football team? Favourite what?
22. What were you doing before filling this out? Trying to recruit volunteers in Amman Valley School
25. Favourite animal? Dogs, wolves, frogs, unicorns, dragons, lolcats
26. Favourite drink? Pop
27. Favourite flower? Daffs
28. Have you ever loved someone? Of course
29. Who would you like to see right now? Seriously? A beer garden. With a certain someone waiting in it with a cold beer for me!
30. What colour are your bedroom walls? Bloody magnolia
31. Have you ever fired a gun? Yes
32. Do you like to travel by plane? Nah
33. Right-handed or Left-handed? Right
34. If you could go to anywhere right now where would you go? See question 29
35. Are you missing someone? Kind of, it's complicated
36. Do you have a tattoo? Yeah loads
37. Do you still watch cartoons on Saturday mornings? I never stopped!
38. Are you hiding something from someone right now? Nope, I am secret free
39. Are you 18? In my head, I'm only 15
40. What is the wallpaper on your mobile phone? An old fashioned clock, with hands
41. Are you afraid of the dark? Yes, sometimes
42. Favourite hangout? Bar 33
43. 3 things you can't live without? Creating things, music, friends, cake, er, that's 4 I know!
44. Favourite songs? The Hidden Cameras - Hump From Bending, Bearsuit - Shhh Get Out, Suede - Where The Pigs Don't Fly.
45. What are you afraid of? Zombies, spiders, the dark, being alone, the sea... the list is endless
46. Are you a giver or a taker? How rude! Lol. I give of myself too much I think
47. What are your nicknames? Andy, Sandshoe, Fflwcs
48. What is your dad's middle name? Wyn
49. What do you sleep in? Jamas when it's cold, pants when it's not
50. Stuck on a deserted island, and can only bring one thing? Sewing machine, I'd make clothes out of the leaves
51. Favourite TV commercial? The one for a car where the man slams the door in time to the music
52. First thing you'll save in a fire? My computer, then keyboard, ukulele and 303
53. What is your favourite colour? Blue
54. What are the things you always bring with you? Lipsalve, mp3 player, phone, paper and pens, banana, diary
55. What did you want to be when you were a kid? A chef
56. What do you usually do when the alarm turns on? Press snooze
57. What colour is your bedsheet? Navy
58. Who do you want to meet? Prince Charming
59. What do you think about before you go to bed? See question 45

My knitting obsession

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibres)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?
I will knit anything. The cheaper the better, then it doesn’t matter if it fucks up.

2. Do you spin? Crochet?
No chance.

3. Do you have any allergies? (Smoke, pets, fibres, perfume, etc.)
Mayonnaise makes my skin go red.

4. How long have you been knitting?
Only a few months.

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Yes of course.

6. What’s your favourite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
Vanilla, ylang ylang, dragon’s blood, lemon, cinnamon, clove. In that order.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth?
All of ‘em.

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
I love making anything.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s?
I have eclectic musical taste. Classical to hard house, jazz, big band, bubblegum, drum ‘n’ bass, but indie is my true love.

10. What’s your favourite colour? Or–do you have a colour family/season/palette you prefer? Any colours you just can’t stand?
I love all colours, but I love brown more than most at the moment. I also have a navy blue scarf that goes nicely with a brown pinstripe blazer.

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
Living with partner, lots of plants.

12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)
To be as happy as possible and make lots of things.

13. What is/are your favourite yarn/s to knit with?
Anything.

14. What fibres do you absolutely *not* like?
Not keen on mega eyelash, unless I’m knitting it with another wool.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
Freeform, inspired by Jan Messent.

16. What is/are your favourite item/s to knit?
Scarves, they’re quick and satisfying.

17. What are you knitting right now?
A mohair scarf for my sister.

18. What do you think about ponchos?
I like them, I think they’re good. I need more practice before I attempt one though.

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
Straight.

20. Bamboo, aluminium, plastic?
Metal, or plastic. Never tried bamboo.

21. Are you a sock knitter?
Not yet.

22. How did you learn to knit?
Inherited the knitting gene from my Mam, but didn’t learn until a few months ago.

23. How old is your oldest UFO?
Less than a fortnight.

24. What is your favourite animated character?
I love Spongebob Squarepants.

25. What is your favourite holiday?
Samhain.

26. Is there anything that you collect?
Objet d’arte.

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
Knitty.com

28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on?
Alterknits

29. Any patterns you have been coveting, but haven’t bought for one reason or another?
My Mam had just given my some Jean Greenhowe ones – but I get all mine from off of the internets.

30. What are your foot measurements, and what kind of socks do you like? Size 8. Warm socks please, I have very cold toes.