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A few favourite books and authors when I was A LOT younger …
• Tunes for a Small Harmonica by Barbara Wersba. I got totally obsessed by this book when I was about 12 years old and used to carry it around with me as some kind of talisman. I think it heavily influenced the way I write now.
• Anne of Green Gables and the Anne series by L. M. Montgomery. Probably the first ‘feisty’ girl heroine I ever read. I loved the depiction of turn of the century life on Prince Edward Island too.
• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and the Narnia series by C. S. Lewis. Wow, fantastic in every sense of the word. Aslan was an early hero.
Current favourite books and authors …
• The Cross Stitch series by Diana Gabaldon. This is a great series that starts off with an intriguing Sci-fi premise and becomes a great historical saga set (mostly) in 1700’s Scotland, France and America. Really good writing and it has one of the best male heroes I’ve ever read.
• The Dragons of Pern books by Anne McCaffrey. My favourite is Dragonsinger, the first one I ever read. I also love her Crystal Singer series.
• The Sweep series by Cate Tiernan. A highly entertaining and well written witchcraft series that my lovely US publisher, Sharyn, sent me.
• The Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich which starts with One for the Money. A comedy crime series about a female bounty hunter that is a real hoot.
• Harry Potter – yep, I’m a fan of the boy wizard. Love the books and when a new Harry movie comes out, Ron and I go and see it on Christmas Eve; one of our favourite yuletide rituals.
• The Scapegoat by Daniel Pennac. This is one of a series of crime books by French author Pennac. They are dark comedies with a touch of the absurd about them. The writing is masterful.
• The Gandalara Cycle series, starting with The Steel of Raithskar by Randall Garrett and Vicki Ann Heydron. A fabulous sci-fi series that starts with a modern day man ‘waking up’ in another man’s body in a desert that is not like any on Earth … It also has a huge telepathic war-cat. I’m not sure how easy it is to find, but it is well worth the trouble.
• Jhereg by Stephen Brust. Very funny fantasy with a great first person narration. There are others in the series too.
• The Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton. Vampires, werewolves and a sassy female narrator makes these books swing.
Some of these are favourites from way back …
• Star Wars – the film that started my love affair with science fiction. I saw it as a kid when it first came out … WOW it was like nothing I’d ever see before. When that space cruiser slid over my head for the first time, I didn’t know what hit me.
• West Side Story – Romeo and Juliet with danced knife fights … what more can I say.
• Dirty Dancing – this is a really neatly put together film and the two leads are so right. Plus, loads of sexy dancing and hot bods. Great music too.
• Four Weddings and a Funeral – that beautiful mix of humour and poignancy that the Brits do so well, plus the main character reminds me of my husband.
• Amélie – an absolutely charming and beautifully shot French film with the lovely Audrey Tatou as Amélie. The script is very funny and I watch it when I want cheering up.
