Books set in my city or state

This topic from Long and Short Reviews was a tough one. For a while I honestly couldn't think of any book set anywhere near where I live. However, I then remembered that Haworth is within an hour's drive of me, which means only one thing... Bronte Country.

While the Brontes liked to obscure the names of the places in their stories, they famously set them in Yorkshire. "Shirley" is particularly well known for taking place in a Yorkshire mill town dealing with the Luddites, while "Wuthering Heights" is set up on the Yorkshire moors. I've often gone walking around the area to enjoy the moors the Bronte sisters would have enjoyed during their lives.

In my own writing I have often set stories in Yorkshire, but rarely described it to that degree. I did, however, write a short for Smut By The Sea called "I Like It Wet" which was set in Scarborough - a place I would love to visit again now that I'm stuck indoors.

So which books have been set near you?

How I'd fare in a zombie apocalypse

I can safely say this topic from Long and Short Reviews was not one I had ever considered. I don't generally watch zombie movies, I don't watch The Walking Dead, and I don't really read zombie novels, either. So I had to really think about what would be required during a zombie apocalypse.

I admit I'm not much use for practical purposes. I'm not a great hand-to-hand fighter, not much good at scavenging or McGyvering equipment, I don't like leading groups and wouldn't know much about building shelter if necessary. So that's not a great start.

On the other hand, if I got the chance to spy on zombies from afar I think I'd be quite good at figuring out their behavioural patterns and ways to defeat them. I'm also a good follower and, having watched many horror movies, have no qualms whatsoever about using weapons - I would quite happily pick up a gun and blow a zombie's head off.

So I'd be the intelligent follower in the group. Whether that would help me survive long is open to question. I can't speak for zombie films, but I do know that in horror films it's often the comic relief that gets killed, so I'd be behind them at any rate.

So how would you fare in a zombie apocalypse?

A villain that I wish could be redeemed and why

I struggled a bit with this topic from Long and Short Reviews, because I don't tend to think about redeeming villains. I suppose there was Draco Malfoy of the "Harry Potter" series, but from what I read he was mostly redeemed already by the end of the story.

So the only one I could think of initially was Heathcliff. I love "Wuthering Heights" and Heathcliff's doomed love for Cathy drives the story even as he ruins the lives of everyone else around him. I've read the Clandestine Classic version which shows him living an eternal life in Cathy's arms and definitely found that to be a great ending.

I did, however, come up with one of my own - Reed James.

In my shorts "I Heard Your Voice" and "Tamar Rising" Reed is very much the antagonist - I've had readers tell me they want to slap him. A celebrity medium who secretly uses the sensitives around him to leech their psychic powers, he is an arrogant jerk and I very much enjoyed making him suffer. So I thought when writing the third part of the trilogy, "Spiritwalker", I would try to redeem him.

Sadly for anyone who will read this later this year, I failed. Reed is basically irredeemable.

I did, however, manage to make him suffer a bit more.

So which villain would you like to redeem?

Favourite holiday of the year and why

This topic from Long and Short Reviews was an easy one, because for me there is only one real holiday in a year. I don't tend to do anything for Easter (apart from the odd egg), we go out for dinner on Halloween to avoid having to pretend we're not in to trick-or-treaters, and as we're in the UK Thanksgiving doesn't happen - although I do envy Americans for the fantastic Thanksgiving feast.

No, for me it all comes down to Christmas.

I love the build-up, the dark nights lit with fairy lights, the mulled wine and the presents. I love having Christmas dinner with family and cooking beef on Boxing Day. For me it really is the most wonderful time of the year.

So I'm hoping the current circumstances have settled down by then and we can actually spend it with family, because we haven't seen them in weeks.

So what's your favourite holiday?

Reason why I stopped reading a series I loved

This topic from Long and Short Reviews was a tough one, because when I start a series I usually finish it even if it is driving me mad. So I struggled to find one that I had actually given up on.

I did, however, find one.

"The Forest of Hands and Teeth".

I had never read a zombie novel before so I thought I would give the series a try. The first one I enjoyed, although I did notice a couple of points which should have given me an idea of where the series was going. Unfortunately these points became serious annoyances in the second novel, which is why I gave up.

The reason? The utter inertia of the characters. Nobody could make a decision, nobody could do anything, they just sat and agonised about everything. I spent most of the second novel screaming "Just DO something!" Needless to say, the third novel and the prequel remained unbought, because I couldn't face any more characters who let the world go past them.

So what led you to give up on a series?

My silliest pet peeves

Another tough topic from Long and Short Reviews, because I struggled to think of pet peeves that could be considered silly. All mine seem quite obvious to me. I did, however, manage to think of a few which might not fit into everyone's world.

My first is best explained by saying that I hate, absolutely hate, being in the cab on the way home from a restaurant thinking "I wonder what that would have been like?" If there is something weird or new to me on the menu, I have to try it. Often this has worked out (cactus sorbet, anyone?) but a number of times I've been left with a meal I couldn't stand, leading my husband to get annoyed that I didn't just order the spaghetti bolognese like a normal person.

Another hate? Streets that don't show up properly on satnavs. Mine is built into my dashboard and can't be updated, which means new streets (like the one I live on) completely confuse it - but even without that, I have spent many times driving in circles because my satnav has decided that there is no number 125 on this street even though I know that's where the restaurant is.

And finally, as a film lover - trailers that give away the plot. Particularly, as a horror fan, trailers that give away all the good bits. I recently saw a film called "The Prodigy" which had, in its promo, announced that they had had to re-edit a scene after test screenings because audiences had been so floored by one scare that they missed all the dialogue in the following scene. It was a good scare, I agree, so why the hell was it in the trailer? What a great way to ruin a film!

So what are your weirdest pet peeves?

Characters I'd invite to a dinner party

Since I'm not a dinner party person, this topic from Long and Short Reviews was a tricky one. I ended up going from episodes of Come Dine With Me for inspiration as to what makes a good dinner party guest. And going from that show, what I really want is someone who doesn't nitpick over whether I hand-rolled my pasta. However, I did manage to come up with a few possibilities.

Emma Woodhouse and Jane Fairfax. Two rivals from Jane Austen, to a degree anyway, as both are far too polite to openly rival each other so wouldn't be bickering over the soup. Emma Woodhouse has the wit and charm to carry a good conversation, while Jane Fairfax could entertain everyone by singing and playing the piano.

Eric Northman. Primarily because he was my favourite character from the Sookie Stackhouse mysteries, although I can't remember if vampires can eat, so maybe he could just stop in for drinks afterwards.

Lorraine Warren. I'm thinking of the character from the "Conjuring" films rather than Lorraine in real life, who obviously I didn't know personally. Lorraine in the films is a fascinating, caring woman who I think would be a great conversationalist.

So who would you invite to a dinner party?