The Sunshine Blogger Award

The Sunshine Blogger Award empowers bloggers to celebrate other bloggers who are creative and bring positivity to the blogging community.

I was surprised and delighted to be nominated by Jessie Cahalin for the Sunshine Blogger Award. Thanks, Jessie! It was just what I needed on such a grey blustery day. Having started my blog in January 2014 to trace my writing journey, I am thrilled to receive this accolade from such a prestigious blogger as Jessie, whose ‘Books in My Handbag’ blog is well known and followed globally. I’ve got to know Jessie over the last twelve months and value her support, enthusiasm and, above all, her friendship within our local RNA Chapter.

Here are the 11 questions set by Jessie for her nominees, with my answers:
Which three photographs would you present to capture your life? 

In my grandad's garden. I was extremely lucky to have a very happy childhood growing up in rural mid-Wales.

Walking on a beach in Crete on one of our many holidays in Greece. It came as no surprise to set my first novel on a fictional island there.

Holding my very first book in my hands.
Amazon Link

I believe laughter is one of the best tonics in life.  When was the last time you could not stop laughing?

The silliest things set me off laughing. I love Christmas cracker jokes, the cornier the better, and puns. This is a typical Facebook post that made me laugh from ex-colleague and writer, Paul Manship. Go on, you know you want to sing it.

Explain the last act of kindness you showed to a friend or stranger.
I consider myself to be a good listener and people have said it helps when they're able to share something that's worrying them and know it won't go any further.

Do you prefer the winter sun or the summer sun?  Explain your response.
Although I love crisp sunny days in Winter, especially as this year there haven't been very many, I much prefer the long days of summer with lots of warm sunshine. I would love to live in a country with guaranteed summer sun. Every year we try to spend our main holiday somewhere in Greece. The wall to wall sunshine is my idea of heaven. 

Describe your perfect Saturday evening.
It depends on the time of year. Last Saturday, it was horribly wet and windy so we ordered a Thai take-away meal cooked locally and then settled down to watching a new-to-us Scandi Noir series starring Rebecka Martinsson on the TV. 

What sorts of characters do you prefer to meet in novels? 
I like to meet well rounded characters with whom I can empathise. To be authentic, they may have some flaws but they will be people I'm rooting for to overcome the obstacles set in their way. Above all I need to like them.    

Give one sentence of advice to yourself when you were sixteen.

I would tell her to smile more! I seem to be pouting in every photo taken at that time. Perhaps I thought it made me look more interesting, ha, ha.






Is there a friend from the past you would love to get in touch with and why?

My friend, Pauline, and I were inseparable until she left for Art College after Form 5 (Year 11) and we lost touch. These days I'm sure we would have kept up the friendship with social media. 

What is your food heaven and food hell?
My food heaven is fish. I like all kinds of fish especially sea bass, maybe garnished with succulent juicy prawns, too. Food hell would be kidneys. It would be offal - boom, boom! (I told you I like silly jokes.)   

Share your favourite recipe.
My husband, Alan, does most of the cooking in our house and is good at it. However, I do like to make Welsh cakes using my mum's recipe. When our three children were in university, they often received a parcel containing Welsh cakes from their Nan. Nowadays, our grandchildren are learning how to cook them and then enjoy sampling them.



If you could travel back in time where would you visit and who would you take with you?

I'd love to go back with Alan to any Greek island before tourism arrived and sample the real Greece. We'd live a simple life, spending time in idyllic fishing villages and mixing with the locals. 

And now it's my turn to nominate 11 lovely bloggers whose blogs I enjoy:

• Carol Lovekin
• Cass Grafton
• Christina Hollis
• Evonne Wareham
• Jen Gilroy
• Jill Barry
• Kirsten Hesketh
• Lynn Forth
• Lucy Mitchell
• Susanna Bavin
• Tara Greaves

I know how busy everyone is so please don't feel obliged to respond. Just enjoy your nomination. If you do choose to accept, here are a few rules to follow:

• Thank the blogger(s) who nominated you.
• Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.
• List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award in your blog post.
• Nomin ate 11 new bloggers and their blogs. Do leave a comment on their blog to let them know they have received the award and ask your nominees 11 new questions.

Here are the questions for my nominees. I look forward to reading your answers.

• What is your favourite room in the house and why?
• What is your proudest moment?
• What is your biggest fear?
• What would be the biggest compliment a reader could give you about your writing?
• What question would you ask your main character at the end of your novel?
• Where would you take a guest visiting your home town for the first time?
• What song has a special meaning for you?
• If you could choose to be a famous person in history, who would it be and why?
• Name a treasured possession.
• What is your best quality and what is your worst?
• Are you a lark or a night owl?

I hope you have enjoyed reading the blog and hope that my nominations will lead you to these other bloggers and find out more about their books.

You may also follow me on Twitter @JanBaynham and on my Jan Baynham Writer page.