A Summer Sun Award... For Me?

Ooooh look!

I got nominated for a Summer Sun Award from the delightful Incy Black, who I hope is very near publication with the first of her book deal. Hint hint. (Okay, forget hints; where the heck is it already, Incy?!)


Anyway, I now have to answer some lovely summery questions and then pass the buck to nominate eight more wonderful bloggers. Easy peasy, huh?

Umm...

Yeah right.

Here we go!

Favourite song with summer in the title or the lyrics (give the line):

Oooh, an easy one to kick off with...

This absolutely has to be 'Summertime' by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince. An awesome summer anthem that never fails to put a smile on my face. Just remember to crank up the volume and wind the windows down.

Favourite book about summer:

I'm struggling on this one, and I can't for the life of me remember if these are summer books or not, but I seem to recall good weather and I absolutely love these from Susan Elizabeth Phillips and will most definitely be making my way through the other Chicago Stars/Bonner Brothers books:

     

Favourite hot summer film:

I'm not quite sure what the context is for 'hot' so I'm going to go with temperature.

My film of choice is so lame, but I do love it, and it was the only one that sprang to mind for a 'summer' theme.

Credit/movie download

For what it's worth, I much prefer the third film... High School Musical 3 is easily in my top ten, but I probably shouldn't be admitting to that, huh?

Favourite summer memory:

This one is a bit of a struggle too, so I'm going to go with the first holiday I took with my 'then' new boyfriend - my 'now' husband of seven years - coming up ten years ago because it was a huge turning point in my life.

Hubby and I lived at opposite ends of England at that point, and had only got to spend a few weekends together, having met only a couple of months earlier through mutual friends, so it was the first big chunk of time we'd spent together. Two weeks in each others' pockets was either going to make us, or break us, and thankfully it was the former. The two weeks sped by far too fast - five days of it spent under water in the Red Sea as we took our PADI Open Water qualification - but during our time in Egypt, the decision was made for me to relocate to the North.

We got back off holiday and I noticed a flat for rent in the local newspaper, then managed to arrange a viewing before I returned south that same day. The flat was gorgeous! I drove home then went back into work the next day after two weeks away and handed in my notice. Within a month of jetting off on holiday, I had moved from Southampton to Liverpool, to a flat overlooking the Irish Sea, and lived only two miles from hubby, instead of two-hundred and fifty (ish).

Favourite summer holiday destination:

I don't really have a favourite summer destination.

To be honest, I'm not really a big fan of hot, sunny days as I tend to get cranky. I much prefer bright Spring and Autumn days, where I don't fear burning to a crisp within minutes, and I don't have to find a extra ten minutes before the school run to slather the kids in all-day sun cream.

So, with all that in mind, I prefer to stay in the UK in the summer...see answer below ;-)

What books will be in your suitcase this summer?

I have so many books I am desperate to read but this summer is all about getting Popping The Cherry ready for release in September, as well as writing Christmas is Cancelled... Again. I may just have time to draw breath before getting stuck into A Girl Called Malice, which is the sequel to Popping The Cherry and needs to be written by Halloween.

At least you can now understand why I'm struggling to find time to read, especially with the school summer holidays less than a week away.

What’s your likely destination this summer?

This summer, like most summers, me and my little family will be headed to our usual retreat in North Wales. We'll stay in a fabulous old quarryman's cottage situated halfway up a mountain and overlooking the bay at Penmaenmawr (which is in-between Conway and Bangor if you were wondering).

Sunset in Penmaenmawr
(c) Aurelia B. Rowl

What hottie would you most like to be sharing the hot days and long nights with his summer?

Oh come off it...

If you follow me on Facebook, you've seen some of the fine specimens making it into my inspirations file. It's like asking me to choose my favourite child, or favourite meal, drink, whatever.

With that in mind, I shall name my lovely hubby.

Yep, total cop-out LOL

And that's me all done!

To my fellow nominees, rules of the award are as follows:

1. Display Summer Sun Award logo and link back to the blog of the person who nominated you.
2. Answer the questions as listed above.
3. Nominate a further lucky eight recipients (one for each sunray on the picture).

Bonne Chance!

Brandi Kennedy

Sarah Painter

Katlyn Duncan

Bookend 2 Bookend

Megan D. Martin

Kate Hewitt

Bex 'n' Books

Emma Hart

For the record, it was really hard choosing just eight bloggers to pass on the sunshine. so I tried to avoid my 'usual' crew and go for a bit of a mix-up of authors and reviewers, whose blogs I follow and would happily suggest checking out.

Just For Fun: Quick Fire Questions

I was recently tagged in a Facebook game of 'Quick Fire Questions', but just in case you missed it, here it is...

The rules:

If you've been tagged or you are reading this, you should copy all these questions, write your own responses, and tag me plus 9 other animals or vampires or ghosts… or humans!

To do this, go to 'notes' under tabs on your profile page, paste these...AND you must delete my answers and come up with your own. [remember this was on Facebook]


1. Morning, noon or night?

Morning.

2. How do you like your steak?

Alive and mooing.

3. What was the last film you saw?

Flight of the Navigator was on TV the other night, I haven't seen it in over twenty years!

But if you mean at the cinema, it was Breaking Dawn pt. 2.

4. What's your favorite place to watch TV?

On the sofa at home.

5. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

I love the Peak District and am very happy here, but still can't shake the notion of moving to Stirling, Canada, or possibly even further afield to New Zealand.

6. What did you eat for breakfast?

Milk chocolate crunchy nut clusters...mmmh!

7. What is your favorite cuisine?

Either Italian (pasta) or Chinese (Singapore-style vermicelli) - vegetarian option, of course.

8. What foods do you dislike?

Meat, fish, yogurt, cream cheese, celery...and more ;-)

9. What kind of car do you drive?

Peugeot 307 Estate

10. What are your favorite clothes?

Jeans and tops for three seasons a year, long gypsy skirt and vest top in the very brief British Summer.

11. Where would you visit if you had the chance?

Canada, New Zealand, the USA (a few days in New York was not enough), and back to the Caribbean.

12. Weapon of choice?

My own bodyguard?

13. Where would you want to retire?

I have no idea, but presumably somewhere near the kids.

14. Gold or Silver?

White gold, and if that's not possible, silver.

15. Where were you born?

Solihull, West Midlands, UK.

16. What is your favorite sport to watch?

The Olympics! But if I'm not allowed that, then football (soccer to my US friends).

17. Who do you think will not tag you back?

Does it matter? We're all busy people.

18. Underwear?

But of course! What else will hold me in and up, in all the right places?

19. Hard or soft? 

If we're talking eggs, then hard. If we're talking water, soft. If we're talking men, then they need to be a bit of both.

20. Sub or dom?

Depends on my mood.

21. Are you a morning or a night person?

Both, but isn't this this same as #1? 

22. Do you have any pets?

Yep, a rescue dog. He's a crazy black labrador/collie cross.

23. Any new or exciting news you'd like to share?

My debut story as Allie A Burrow, my wilder alter-ego for over 18s, is out THIS Friday. Woohoo!! It's called For One Night Only and is featured in Serviced, a military themed anthology from Breathless Press out March 1st. 

24. Nickname?

Aurelia B Rowl and Allie A Burrow are both pen names, so I guess they work as nicknames.

25.What is your best childhood memory?

Camping holidays with extended family, and playing sports on the central green with my cousins.

26. Favorite color?

My favourite colour is either red, burgundy, hot pink, or purple - all red based though!

27. Are you married?

Yes... it took me a few goes to get it right though.

28. Always wear your seat belt?

Always. I make my passengers wear theirs too. Who needs their head mashed through a windscreen?!

29. Been in a car accident?

Yes, but nothing major.

30. Any pet peeves?

Rude people, text speak, snoring, sniffing, poor grammar... I could be here all day LOL.

31. Work out preferences?

A brisk walk, or a session on the Wii on one of my various workout 'games'. I also love pilates but it's so darned expensive.

32. Favorite Flower?

Gypsophilia, and red roses.

33. Bed size?

Double, but hubby desperately wants a kingsize.

34. Do anything spontaneous lately?

I was a last-minute cyclist in a sponsored charity event to raise funds for brain tumour research. I also signed up for a charity tandem skydive this month. 

If you can spare a pound/euro/dollar/whichever, please go to www.justgiving.com/aureliabrowl

35. Like your job?

It doesn't get any better for me than being a mother and an author. 

36. Last Person you went to dinner with? 

My lovely little family.

37. What are you watching right now?

My 4 year-old daughter doing yoga on the Wii (she's into Wii Fit Plus today).

38. How many tattoos do you have?

None but I did once design one myself, only to be told it wouldn't really work. I certainly haven't ruled one out though.

39. Are you in love?

Yes, still. Even down the little tingles when I see him.

40. Have you jumped out of a perfectly good airplane?

Not yet, ask me again after July 28th.

41. Has your world ever been rocked?

Yep, not always in a good way though.

Oh, yay, I'm done.

[I was a good girl then and tagged nine Facebook friends - a mix of authors and reviewers - over on Facebook]

Just For Fun: Favourite Disney Characters

I read a blog post by Carmen Falcone this morning that got me thinking about Disney characters. Here it is if you missed it: Hero and Heroine: How Much Have They Changed?, it's well worth a look.

Even now, I can remember my very first trip to the cinema - I'm guessing it must have been around 1981/82 but can't be sure, I was probably about 6 or 7 though (showing my age now) - when as a family we went to see Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. That ancient film proved to be the spark for a lifelong love of Disney films. I feel no shame in admitting that I still love them and have been to the cinema on many occasions to watch the latest release. I talked my family into going to see Tangled last year and when the kids got fidgety and bored, hubby took them out and left me there to watch the end. (As an aside, I came out of the cinema and booked a visit to my hairdresser and got my waist length hair chopped off to what you can see on my profile pic)

Poem from a 'Cranky Old Man'... (removed)

Edited: 20 July 2012...

I have removed the photograph at the request of the family - if you can recall the image and happen to see it elsewhere e.g. Facebook, please do not share it and spread it even further.

The poem itself, although beautiful, was a fabrication and the details can be seen here.

Based on my current WIP, I write like...

Over the weekend, I copied 37,000 words from the first draft of "A Resolution Too Far?", my current WIP, into the I Write Like website to analyse my writing and came out with...

I write like
Ian Fleming

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

How amazing would it be if I really did write like the creator of James Bond and Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang? I doubt very much that it's true but a girl can dream.

Just for fun, why not analyse your writing too? Don't forget to come back here and share your result...

Just for fun: how fast do you read?

The weekend is over so here's a little bit of fun for a Monday morning...

Source: Staples eReader Department

Oooh la la, Stephen King huh?!

Based on the first 1,100 words drafted for my romantic short story, 'Love in the Aisles', the analyser came up with this...

I write like
Stephen King

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

Based on today's blog entry...

I write like
H. P. Lovecraft

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!