Describe a perfect weekend getaway

 I surprisingly had a bit of trouble with this topic from Long and Short Reviews. My husband and I go away for the weekend a few times a year, and where I want to go can vary wildly depending on my mood. Pretty much everywhere we've been has been perfect at some point.

For instance, last weekend we popped down to London as I had tickets to the Globe and he wanted to visit the RAF Museum. While I was busy watching King Lear he roamed around the capital taking photos of things and then we met up in the evening to visit our favourite restaurant. It's all good.

We've also been to Rome, the Lake District and Scotland for weekend getaways, all of which I would do again - Rome in particular is a beautiful city, I could have stood at the Trevi Fountain all day - and I would love to go back to Amsterdam one day.

However, at the moment my idea of a perfect getaway would be Iceland. It's not cheap, but I would dearly love to see the Northern Lights.

So what's your idea of a perfect weekend getaway?

Character in a book you'd love to meet and why

 This sort of topic has come up a few times on the Long and Short Reviews list, and I always find myself turning to Jane Austen and the Brontes for inspiration. So this time I decided to go a bit closer to home and pick one of my own characters.

As you might imagine, I spend so much time in my characters' heads that I would have to like being there, so there aren't many that I wouldn't want to meet. Possibly my arrogant medium character Reed James from I Heard Your Voice and its sequels would be one to avoid. But one I would particularly like to meet would be Azure Wilder from Photograph.

Part of this is practicality - Azure is extremely rich and lives in an American theme park, so you're already guaranteed a good time. However, as well as being fun, Azure is also caring and thoughtful, very much the type of person who would see to all your needs and keep you entertained with sparkling conversation.

So which character would you like to meet?

Have you met anyone famous? Who?

 This topic from Long and Short Reviews depends entirely on how you define the word "met".

A couple of soap operas are filmed in our area, so I've certainly seen several actors around town. I saw Stephen Tompkinson having dinner with his family in the same restaurant we were in, and encountered Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan in a theatre. However, they were out in public and I didn't bother them - as an autograph collector I make it a rule never to bother a celebrity when they're off the clock.

I also encountered Ricky Gervais out jogging in Central Park once, but again I let him go straight past me. I doubt he'd have appreciated being spoken to.

I got autographs from Darren Day and Philip Schofield at a Radio One roadshow in a theme park once, which was certainly fun, but extremely fleeting.

However, the one celebrity I can say I've properly met was Lee Otway of "Hollyoaks" fame. My brother-in-law knew him and invited him to a party I was also at. I can't say I spoke much to him - he was much more interested in the food and waitresses - but he did get us into the VIP room at a nightclub afterwards, so I can't complain!

So have you met anyone famous?

Your list of auto-buy authors

 This topic from Long and Short Reviews was an easy one - I follow a lot of authors on Amazon and there are three in particular that I always buy from when a new one comes up. It's good to know that an author will always be reliably good.

The first is Richard Osman, of "Pointless" fame. I loved The Thursday Murder Club and its sequel, and have the third book on pre-order. He takes what could have been a bland cosy mystery and makes it irresistible.

The second is Anne O'Brien. I love historicals and Anne O'Brien is very good at taking strong women and making them come to life on the page. I used to automatically buy Philippa Gregory too but her recent books have been fictional characters rather than historical ones, so I've bowed out of those.

And finally Kate Andersen Brower, whose books about the US presidency satisfy my need to read up on American history.

And while I'm here, I couldn't resist mentioning that it's release day for my new novella "Hyperventilating".

With her, he can reach the stars – but can she reach his heart?

Amber Blake is fleeing a terrible betrayal in her past by touring with rock band Puppetmaster as a make-up artist with her best friend Elyse. Knowing the band is struggling, she hopes to use her make-up skills to reinvent their image, but when a member of the crew drops out, Amber finds herself asked to contribute in a different way – in the form of heated sexual conversations with hot lead singer Cassian Marsh to put him in top form before every concert.

Despite her past, Amber is unable to resist Cassian’s charm and raw energy, and enjoys knowing she can drive him wild with just her voice – but their increasingly passionate meetings leave her longing for more. Can she move past the betrayal she suffered – and can she convince a man as commitment-phobic as Cassian to break his no-dating rule and let her into his heart?

So who are your auto-buy authors?

Design your perfect wedding

 I'm in a fairly unique position with this topic from Long and Short Reviews, because my own wedding was pretty damn perfect in my opinion. So, rather than try to blue-sky it too much, I thought about how I might improve on it with hindsight.

As beautiful as many locations may be, I could never have a wedding somewhere hot, so I would still base it in the UK. I did consider a boutique hotel on the Isle of Wight at the time - The Enchanted Manor - which is decorated like a fairytale, so that would be on the list.

For my dress, I went to The Dark Angel in Sowerby Bridge. The actual dress isn't on the site any more, but frankly anything they sell would work for me. I love the medieval-gothic look. I would also go for a mantilla veil - I didn't bother with one at the time as I didn't think a modern veil would work with the dress, but a mantilla (just covering the hair) would work nicely.

Food? Well, it's my choice, so I'd go with an Asian menu. I love Chinese and Thai food. I would also go with a five-tier fruit cake with a swirl of sugar flowers and plenty of glitter. The one we had was only three tiers and the hotel saved the top tier for us, so the pieces were a bit small.

I would go nuts with the decorations at the venue - violet roses are my favourite, so I 'd have plenty of those. I would also get in ice sculptures and a champagne fountain, although only pink champagne. And for music, I'd hire the Darkness for the first part of the evening and then get in a DJ for later so that everyone could dance.

So what would you have for your perfect wedding?

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?