Book, movie or TV Show set in or near your town

 I had a tough time with this topic from Long and Short Reviews. I live in Yorkshire, and I suppose the obvious answer is to go with the Brontes for books since they lived around here, but I seem to think of them every time. I wanted to think of something different this time.

Then I remembered the show Last of the Summer Wine.

I gave up watching it years ago, but I've visited Holmfirth where it was set. Essentially it was a gentle comedy about three retired men (in the case of one, possibly never having had a job at all) having fun in the Yorkshire countryside. I stopped watching after Compo died and they tried to diversify the cast, but I remember it as being funny in an inoffensive sort of way.

And Holmfirth is a lovely little village which is well worth visiting, even if you aren't walking around going "I recognise that!"

So what has been set near your town?

Favourite quote from a book?

 When this topic from Long and Short Reviews came up I had to think a little. I've already posted about the Isaac Asimov quote that inspired my novel Photograph, so I thought I would try to find one from a novel this time.

Then I remembered my favourite scene from Jane Austen's Emma - the proposal by Mr Knightley.

"I cannot make speeches, Emma... If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more. But you know what I am. You hear nothing but truth from me. I have blamed you, and lectured you, and you have borne it as no other woman in England would have borne it. Bear with the truths I would tell you now, dearest Emma, as well as you have borne with them. The manner, perhaps, may have as little to recommend them. God knows, I have been a very indifferent lover. But you understand me. Yes, you see - you understand my feelings - and will return them if you can. At present, I ask only to hear, once to hear your voice."

For me this is the most romantic proposal Austen ever wrote, and I will never forgive the Anya Taylor-Joy adaptation for playing it for comedy by having Emma get a nosebleed in the middle of it.

So what's your favourite quote?

Do you believe in aliens? Why or why not?

 This topic from Long and Short Reviews was interesting. I'd like to give a better answer than "don't know", so I gave it a decent amount of thought, but whether I came up with a good answer is open to question.

I dealt with aliens in my short "Watch the Skies", about a group of alien hunters whose lives are transformed when they end up encountering more than they bargained for. This was inspired by numerous paranormal shows I had watched on Really and Syfy, and came from the fact that - unsurprisingly - none of these shows ever find anything. They might see the odd light in the sky, but it's probably a plane or a planet.

My own thoughts? I think it's plausible that there is alien life out there, but much as I like the idea of a Star Trek Federation, I highly doubt I'm ever going to encounter one. It's probably for the best. I don't think any aliens would be remotely interested in me.

So do you believe in aliens?

Best mother in a movie

 This topic from Long and Short Reviews was a tough one. Mother characters aren't ones I tend to notice and I also watch a lot of horror, so I've seen a lot of mothers who were utterly horrible, abusive or absent entirely.

Then I remembered Rosa Vasquez from Shazam! 

The parents in Shazam! are foster parents who run a group home for foster kids. Given superhero films are also famous for having broken family backgrounds and foster families are also often portrayed as abusive, it is extremely refreshing to see Rosa written and played as a loving, caring mother who works hard to provide a secure family environment for her foster kids.

So who are your favourite mothers in books, TV or films?

Book, movie or TV show you can't wait for

 This topic from Long and Short Reviews was a straightforward one. I've been re-watching all the MCU films as well as the TV series that have recently been showing, such as WandaVision and Hawkeye, so I know exactly which one I can't wait for.

Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.

I'm not sure it's going to go in the direction I wanted - Wanda is one of my favourite characters, and it looks like she's going to be the Big Bad in this film - but I love Elizabeth Olsen and Benedict Cumberbatch, so it's still going to be worth seeing.

So what can't you wait for?

What's on my TBR list

 I always have a TBR list as long as my arm, so I've decided not to go too mad with this topic from Long and Short Reviews - I'll just stick to a few that I have on preorder from Amazon.

I have three books due later this year:

Undoctored by Adam Kay. I loved his previous two books and so am looking forward to this one.

The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman. Again I loved his previous two cosy mysteries and am expecting nothing less from his upcoming one.

Back to the Prairie by Melissa Gilbert. I've read a lot of the autobiographies of the "Little House on the Prairie" cast and am always interested to read more of what they have to say.

So what's on your TBR list?

A unique talent I have

 This topic from Long and Short Reviews was an interesting one. My husband would probably say my most unique talent is the ability to make a mess and not notice, a talent I share with my two cats. While he has a point there, it's probably not that unique. In fact, I'm struggling to think of one that truly is.

The one thing that I did think of was related to my day job as an admin. I have a gift for organisation. I am very good at arranging meetings, having all the paperwork in order, planning residentials. And something that for some reason seemed to floor people I had meetings with - I could always anticipate them. 

What that last means in real terms is that somebody would be holding forth on a particular topic and would need a particular document to prove their point. At the moment they needed it they would turn to me to ask for it and I would already be holding it out for them. Apparently people don't realise just how predictable they can be in these situations - or maybe it was just that I had been reading their paperwork for ages and knew it inside out.

So what unique talent do you have?