Book I wish they'd make into a movie or TV series

 This topic from Long and Short Reviews took a bit of consideration, as a lot of the books I read were chosen because I saw and liked the film. As for TV series, I don't really watch them. However, I read two books recently which I think would be interesting to show on film.

As a movie, I would say Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. Set in a dystopian future where near-human robots are kept as companions, this is the story of Klara and the secret of the family she goes to live with. It's a slow burn, but would make for an interesting and thought-provoking film.

As a TV series, I recently read All Girls by Emily Layden, which is a series of interconnected vignettes set at a girls' boarding school, all leading up to a shocking climax. The episodic format of the story, each chapter following a different character, would work well in a TV series. As it's a fairly new release, there's still time for someone to pick it up.

So what would you like to see as a movie or TV series?

One task I wish I never had to do again

 I had a few ideas for this topic from Long and Short Reviews, and came up with one that I am frequently faced with as a writer - writing a synopsis.

A lot of writers will tell you they hate this part of the process. Condensing your work down to a page of text, trying to establish what best to include to emphasise the right plot points and depict your characters properly. If you get it wrong it can affect whether or not your story is accepted - I had to redo my synopsis of The Hand He Dealt after a publisher I'd submitted to rejected it on the grounds that it didn't sound like a love story, which obviously meant I'd screwed up somewhere.

I've found it slightly easier with shorter stories but even then it's frequently a nightmare. My last short Spiritwalker had so many plotlines I thought I would never get it onto one page.

And, as I've nearly finished my new short Hyperventilating, I'll have this to do again before long. It's an unavoidable part of submission, unfortunately.

So what task do you wish you never had to do again?

My bad habits

 From a nice easy topic from Long and Short Reviews - meeting my pets - to a more difficult one. My bad habits. I can think of two specific ones, partially because my husband likes to tell me one of them, and partially because I recently did a quiz at work that brought out the other one.

The one that my husband notices? Being untidy. I grew up in a messy house - my mother hated to clean and my father only cared about the garden - so I tend not to see mess and will happily walk past it. Couple this with our two cats who like to leave fur everywhere and carry socks around the house (I suppose it's better than them bringing us dead birds) and it's a nightmare.

The one that work brought out? I hate, absolutely hate, asking for help. I grew out of this a little when I started my current job as it had a very steep learning curve requiring us to ask for help all the time, but now that I'm past that stage, I'm back to hating doing it. It's something I really need to get over because, as I often discovered, if you don't ask for help then people assume you never need it and then when you do need it, nobody knows what to do.

So what are your bad habits?

Meet my pets

 At last, a topic from Long and Short Reviews that's nice and easy. Let's face it, a pet owner can talk about their pets all day, and I am no exception. And I've got plenty of photos; it's just a matter of choosing the best ones.

In the beginning there was Tigger, an RSPCA rescue who loved his food and liked sitting in boxes.

After Tigger sadly passed away, we decided to get a bonded pair. The RSPCA wouldn't touch us as we didn't have a garden at the time, so we went to Cats Protection and found a brother and sister duo who suited us perfectly.

This is Spot.

"He's my big handsome boy," his foster owner told us, and we had to agree. He's friendly, adventurous (he likes to roam the neighbourhood) and very protective of his sister.

This is Dash.

"She's a miserable cow," was her foster owner's comment, and she had a point. No matter where you are or what you're doing, Dash will be sitting there silently judging you. Fortunately she's also adorable, as long as you don't do silly things like stroke her for too long, then she'll have your arm off.

We wouldn't be without them, and I think they'd agree, even if they mostly tolerate us.

I'm very much looking forward to meeting everyone else's pets!