Anything But Books ~ fun blog tag thingy from @ShelleyWilson72 and @BrizzleLass

I'm pleased to take part in one of those random questions things, after being tagged by writer pal Shelley Wilson ~ you can read her post HERE.  She in turn was tagged by Claire from BrizzleLass Books ~ I shall tag a few people later, too...

 Q1. Name a cartoon that you love.

There is no finer cartoon than South Park, ever.   I've watched some of them nearly as many times as I've watched The Walking Dead....  I have Eric Cartman on my mantelpiece and keyring!

Q2. What is your favourite song right now? 

I don't listen to the radio/watch music channels and have no idea what the popular music is these days, because about ten years ago I reached the point when I find chart/pop music mostly abhorrent (if you're younger than forty-five: you'll get there too, I promise!).  In our house we listen to all sorts.  Yesterday it was Rosemary Clooney.  Lately, there's been a fair bit of AC/DC.  Can never have too much.  😉

Film from 1970s of Let There Be Rock, which is one of my all time AC/DC faves... (note a few hours later: just found out that Malcolm Young has died...)

Q3. What could you do for hours that isn’t reading?

Watch The Walking Dead.  Can and DO!

 

Q4. What is something that you love to do that your followers would be surprised by?

I'm always stumped by questions that ask me to reveal something fascinating about myself.  I am possibly the most unfascinating person I know.  I've done a whole bunch of stuff but nothing I would want to put in a blog questionnaire.  Mostly, I just write.  And read, and watch telly.  Okay.  My husband says that doing the washing is my hobby.  It's true.  I get a little bit excited when, say, I come home from a rare few days away and there are at least four loads to do.  I love having all our clothes and bedding washed and ironed at all times.  There.  Told you it wouldn't be very interesting.  And ps, it's the only domestic chore that I do much of!

Q5. What is your favourite, unnecessarily specific thing to learn about?

History.  I read lots of non-fiction history, as well as the sort of historical fiction that teaches you about a time period (not the women in long dresses/castles/period unspecified historical romance type!).  I also watch lots of historical documentaries, read articles, etc.  Wish I'd developed the interest earlier and become a learnéd historian, or something.

Q6. What is something unusual you know how to do?

It’s not particularly unusual but (as per Shelley's answer), it's about the only thing I can do well that not everyone can.  I am very good at stuff like logic problems, and games on my tablet that require logic, like backgammon and Plague Inc.

Q7. Name something that you’ve made in the last year.

Made?  I don't make anything, except the bed!  I'm not arty.  I heat food rather than cook.  A friend came to stay for three nights last May, and I was panicking over what the hell I was going to give her to eat.  My sister has just stayed for three nights, too, and it was great, because she has the same attitude as me.  She had fish fingers and broccoli, every night.

Q8. What is your most recent personal project?

I became a vegan a few months ago.  I did so because I don't want to support the animal agriculture industry, which is the responsible for most of the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and, thus, a whole other bunch of crap things that are happening to the planet.  

 Watch....

Q9. Tell us something that you think of often.

My dad, who died in September.  Sorry, don't want to bring the mood of the post down, but it was my immediate answer.  And they're often happy thoughts, remembering all the lovely things about him.

Q10. Tell us something that’s your favourite, but make it oddly specific.

I will do as Shelley did, and name my current favourite TV shows.

The Walking Dead - of course!  A link to the many blog posts I've written about it HERE.

The Deuce ~ fabulous series set in early 1970s New York.  James Franco, nuff said. 😋 Read more about it HERE

Currently watching Mindhunter, terrific series set in 1977, in which two FBI agents visit lots of serial killers....

Just finished watching Tin Star with the fabulous Tim Roth playing an alcoholic cop who you loathe more and more as the series unfolds...

I'm tagging....

(Please don't feel obliged to do this, it just means I'm suggesting it to you!) 
 

My sister, Julia
My friend Andrea, because she has recently started up her blog again.
Book blogger chum Liz
Book blogger chum Abbie
Writer chum Georgia

If Twitter had been around in the 1980s.... #wwwblogs

... what would some of my Twitter friends have been tweeting about (and looked like???)?  To see what we're up to 30 years later, just click the user name above each photo...  😲😅

More to come after this one ~ here are the first six....

Terry Tyler @TerryTyler4 

@TerryTyler4 
No, it's not mine!  But you never know, it might be useful research for the novel I'll write one day ... #YeahRight 😂 😎

~~~

Julia Gibbs @ProofreadJulia

@ProofreadJulia 
Premier YUPPIE restaurant or not, I'm not paying £1.50 for a 'Spritzer' if the menus have spelling errors... 'hor d'ouvres', anyone? 
#amproofreading whilst #amdrinking

~~~ 

Shelley Wilson @ShelleyWilson72

@ShelleyWilson72  
Goals for my 16th birthday year:
1. See Wham! live - going tonight!
2. Eat birthday cake for breakfast! 😄😃😋

#MondayMotivation

~~~ 

Lizzie Lamb @lizzie_lamb 

@lizzie_lamb 
Hub says I look #NewRomantic in my #LauraAshley ~ great name for a #romance publisher?! @NewRomanticsPress ~ hmmm... 💘

Click @NewRomanticsPress to see if Lizzie's idea materialised...

~~~

Cathy Ryan @CathyRy

@CathyRy 
💏 English June wedding!  Reading Between The Lines ... it's so cold the guests are in fur coats...! 😍

~~~

Val Poore @vallypee

@vallypee  
Loving the Winter Sun in Port Shepstone #SouthAfrica.
Keeping a diary so I can write about it one day.... me and my African Ways 😎😎😃😃

Part two HERE

Part three HERE

Part four HERE

Getting To Know Me.....

I was tagged in this fun blogger tagging thing by the delightful Shelley Wilson ~ you can read her post HERE.

Now, some random facts about me, answering the same questions as Shelley, and I'll tag four more bloggers at the end, so they can do a post with their answers, too :)

Share your profile picture

It's 2 years old, really must change it...

 
Who are you named after?
My mother's aunt, Alice Theresa.  I've always hated the name Theresa, and became Terry when I was 12, though my father always uses my full name. 

 The lady with the black hat, white blouse and rather grim face standing behind

the lady in the front row with the round face, is my great aunt Alice Theresa,

after whom I was named.  The wedding couple are my 

maternal grandparents, getting married in 1919.

Do you like your handwriting?
Yes, but only for the first few words.  After that, it's like a mad, drunk spider walking across the page.  It's because I type all the time; I've lost the knack of writing legibly.

What’s your favorite lunch meat?
Lunch meat?  The hell is that?  As this was started by US bloggers, I'm assuming it's one of those things Americans say that we don't!  I sometimes have tuna on toast for lunch.  Or occasionally a ham sandwich.  Or some form of pasta and vegetables.  Is the ham in the sandwich 'lunch meat?'  Or just meat?  Hmm!

Longest relationship
The current one, and will stay that way!  

Do you still have your tonsils?
Yes.

Would you bungee jump?
Yes, I'd love to.  It would scare me senseless and I am sure I would change my mind a hundred times, but I like to think that I'd be brave enough to do it.

Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
I don't wear any shoes with laces.

Favorite ice-cream?
As much as possible.  The best I've ever tasted is sweet fennel flavour, which I've eaten in the Rose and Crown restaurant in Yardley Hastings, Northamptonshire.  And you used to be able to get this amaayy-zing raspberry and champagne flavour in the Cliftonville hotel in Cromer, Norfolk, where I used to live.  I love this stuff called Swedish Glace which is gluten and dairy free, and also Carte D'or strawberry.  And any salted caramel.  Generally, my answer is 'don't get me started'.   (btw, I don't eat all this all the time.  High days and holidays only!!)

The Cliftonville, Cromer ~ home of raspberry and champagne flavour ice cream

What’s the first thing you notice about people?
Whether they look open and sincere, or cagey.

Football or baseball? 
Neither, I have no interest in sport.

What color pants are you wearing?
I was just about to say, 'you what?' when I remembered that US thing, and realised it means trousers.  I am currently wearing my black velour 'leisure pants'.  They are dreadful.

Last thing you ate?
I am actually eating one of these, as I type.

 
If you were a crayon what color would you be?
If I was a crayon????  Does this mean you want to know my favourite colour, or what colour I consider relevant to my personality?  Couldn't you have asked 'If you were in The Walking Dead, which character would you be?', instead?  
Answers to these three questions:  Purple, Purple and Michonne.

Favorite smell?
Tea tree oil.  We have lots of oil burners around the house, and I like tea tree best, and rose.  I first discovered the former when I was at a friend's house some years ago, and we both had crashing hangovers.  She lit a burner with tea tree in it and it actually made me feel better.  I'd always thought aromatherapy was a load of rubbish before that.

Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone?
My sister.  I don't like talking on the phone.  Alot of the time I don't answer it.

Hair color?
Naturally, mid brown with lots of grey, fading to total white around my forehead and temples.  Unnaturally, varying shades of blonde.  I first went blonde when I was 24.  I have my colours done about once every 2 months.  I've been trying to go a bit darker for the past year or so, as befits my age, and have dark bits put in it as well as highlights.  I think they're called lowlights ;).

Me aged 20, with dark hair

Eye color?
Mucky green

Favorite food to eat?
Almost impossible to choose just one thing.  My favourite dinner is sea bass with tons of vegetables.  I'd eat that every day if I could.

Scary movies or happy endings?
Definitely scary movies.  I hate anything 'feel good', girly or romcom-ish.

Last movie you watched?
Lion.  Which does have a happy ending, admittedly, but it's allowed to!  Wonderful film.  I had to read the book straight after watching it.  My review is HERE

Favorite holiday?
Can't remember the last time I went on holiday.  And enjoyed it, I mean; I went to Turkey in 2009 and hated it, because I can't stand being hot.  My sister and I spent the whole week trying not to move, in order to keep cool.  I've had great holidays in the past, in the wilds of the Scottish highlands, and North Wales.  I like being outside, not hot, somewhere beautiful/interesting, with not too many people around.

Julia and me, very hot in Turkey, August 2009

Beer or wine?
Neither.  I scarcely drink.  Used to drink buckets of wine, but it gives me heartburn and guts ache now.  If I have a drink, it's whisky or brandy.

Favorite day of the week?
Thursday, but I don't know why.  Maybe because it was usually a good night out, when I was younger!

Three or (four) favorite bloggers you want to learn more about?
I've chosen four I think readers of my blog might like to know more about, instead!  Here goes (click name for link to their blog):

My favourite Rivergirl, Val Poore. 
My proofreading sister, Julia Gibbs
My book blogger chum Rosie Amber
The funniest writer I know, Barb Taub   

Who were the last three people to follow your blog?
Writer Adrienne Vaughan
... and two other people called Micaela Marcedo and Linda, but I don't know them  ~ thanks, ladies!

When I was looking for those photos in Turkey, 

I found this one that my husband took of me on my birthday in 2011, 

and, although it's blurred, I really like it, so thought I might as well put it on here!

 

A Meeting of the Pens

(FYI: I've linked all names to their Twitter profiles, in case anyone wants to have a look/follow them :)

Last Friday, December 2nd, I had a delightful day and evening out ~ I went with book bloggers Rosie Amber and Cathy Ryan, my sister Proofreader Julia* and fellow writer Shelley Wilson to the Belmont Hotel in Leicester, to meet up with Lizzie Lamb and her group of romance writers; it's a regular get-together for them, so a big thank you to Lizzie and all her friends for inviting us and making us so welcome!  Our chums Georgia Rose and Mark Barry also joined us later in the afternoon; Mark is up the road in Notts so just had to jump onto a train, whereas Georgia had to escape from darkest Cambridgeshire (or is it Bedfordshire?) while her dogs weren't looking.

(*nb, Proofreader Julia is not her birth name.  The first bit came later).

Julia and me in our hotel room

 

**Warning ~ this is a long post, as I've included loads of photos!**
 
The romance writers were in full swing when we arrived, so we hung around until they'd done their bit, then sat down over Prosecco and Roses chocolates to talk about... well, books and writing and blogging, and all the stuff you can't bore your non-writing friends about!  

Here are New Romantics Lizzie, Mags, June and Adrienne: our genial hosts :)

Really like this picture ~ I've met Cathy before, 

but not Mags Cullingford, a charming lady!

 
We were checking in at reception when Madalyn Morgan walked out, and I said, "Oh, look ~ it's @ActScribblerDJ, Foxden Acres lady..."  yes, I tend to remember people by their Twitter handle and their book titles.  I do like this picture, even though it's blurred.

Here's Julia with the uber glamorous Adrienne Vaughan - 

incidentally, she and June Kearns win the 'chic' award for the day.

June's hair is cut in this gorgeous 1960s bob and she wore an outfit I coveted, badly (the stripy jumper and tube skirt from the Mama b collection, HERE), and Adrienne looked stunning in a bright red tartan skirt and jacket, the sort of thing you can only carry off if you ... well, if you look like Adrienne, I guess!    

And me with Adrienne...

 

June, Lizzie, Sue Moorcroft....

Shelley told me that we had to hold the camera high above our heads to prevent double chins and facial sag.  

Seems to have worked for her, anyway.....

    
Rosie, Cathy, Alex Gutteridge, Carol Bevitt and Linda Sprott

Tip for people who really feel the cold ~ stay at the Belmont!  It was roasting in there.  Julia and I (we feel the hot, not the cold!) asked for the heating to be turned down, but apparently they only had two settings: off, or full blast.  We resorted to opening windows and sneakily turning off radiators.  I rejected some of the photos I was going to put on here because of people's sweaty faces, and mine was the sweatiest; on some I actually had bits of wet fringe sticking to my forehead, and my hair with heat-frizz (not quite as bad as Courtney Cox in that episode of Friends, but not far off!).  When Julia and I got our room at turning-in time, we had to peel off some of our clothes as if we'd been running a marathon in them.  Belmont ~ love the rooms, charming staff, and it saves you money on saunas.

......Shelley, me and Adrienne, a bit hot ;)

    
It's so great to meet those you've 'known' online for years, and the weird thing is that it feels as though it's not the first time you've met them... when Georgia Rose walked into the room, I almost carried on a conversation I'd been having with her by email.  I was so glad that I invited Mark in a moment of last minute inspiration, too; brave of him to be the only fox in the hen house, and wonderful to meet him and Georgia for the first time!  Mark and Georgia have worked together on the Brilliant Books project, an initiative that encourages school children to stand away from the video games and read a book ;).

I also met the very sweet Judy Bryan (a Virgo, her Twitter profile says ~ I keep wondering if I ought to re-establish my Zodiac Files series!), and publisher and business book coach Sarah Houldcroft, who was one of those people I felt as though I had known since the playground the moment we were introduced.  Also memorable because she wore a purple dress with her hair dyed exactly the same shade.  I thought I'd taken a photo of her with Julia, but, alas, I have a canny knack of accidentally deleting pictures....

After Lizzie and her ladies had departed, Group B retired to the lounge for several drinks, a light dinner and much laughter.  As with all good evenings, it lasted longer and more drinks were bought than had originally been intended (Mark never did get that 9.30 train).  I was fiddling around with my camera's settings and cocked it all up (as is my wont), but I have added some of the blurred ones because I really liked them anyway!

Something nice and festive about this one!

This would have been great if it had worked!

Had a really good night's sleep; sharing a room with my sister brought back memories of our childhood!  No Daddy coming in to tell us to be quiet and go to sleep, though.  The five of us who were staying the night met up at 9 for a breakfast of champions....

....and here are a couple of me, Julia, Shelley and Rosie at Leicester station, 

before we left to go our separate ways.

I have to include this one.  Note that even squashed like this, 

Shelley still manages to look tall and leggy!

I went off to Northamptonshire to stay overnight with my father.  I just wanted to include this ~ it's a birthday card I gave Dad when I was about seven or eight.  He keeps it on his dresser :)

That's Julia, our brother Eddie and me, in about 1966.

And here's Dad, aged 87, with his smartphone!  

I am most impressed ~ and he's recently bought a Kindle, too :)

It was a lovely weekend, thanks again so much to Lizzie for organising it and inviting us, and to Rosie for getting our group together.  Until next time! :)