40 - argh! - with Linda King

In honour of my birthday, I decided to invite some fabulous bloggers to help me celebrate.
Their task? To create a post with the theme 40. Today's guest is Linda King...

Happy birthday, Annalisa and welcome to your next decade!

So… 40. What to write about 40? I feel myself drawn to the Top 40 (the British music chart, for our friends from other places), remembering laying on my belly in my best friend’s bedroom on a Sunday tea-time, listening to and – this shows my age – taping our favourite tunes. We’d be in a state of hushed excitement, waiting to discover whether The Boomtown Rats were at number one or whether David Bowie’s new, unusually ‘dancey’ single had made it into the chart. It mattered to us, back then. Now, I have hardly any idea what’s in the chart. Sad, in a way, but right in another way. Kids don’t want us grown-ups laying claim to their musical territory.  

Music seems so much less exciting now. It’s lost its raw edge, its inventiveness, its shock value (unless you count the recent ‘twerking’ and that wrecking ball video – and to be honest, I didn’t find it shocking, just a bit pitiful.) I don’t know if anything will ever again be as deliciously shocking as the Frankie Goes to Hollywood video for ‘Relax’ was at the time. Even the way music is delivered to our ears is less exciting… CDs, those sterile, shiny silver disks, so far removed from the black vinyl we were used to. Tapes got chewed up in the machine or wore out – vinyl was the medium of choice! Vinyl had album covers that often opened out and a lyric sheet printed large enough to read, sometimes even in the artist’s handwriting. I don’t often bother trying to sing along with the right words these days – the print on CD covers is so tiny.  And then, there are downloads. No physical album cover, let alone lyric sheet, although of course you can go online and find the cover and (probable) lyrics for anything. I think I remember lyrics being published in The Record Mirror, somewhere near the back. In an age of ‘wait and wonder’ as opposed to the instant scurry of a computer mouse, that was really exciting!

I’m not meaning to come over as a fuddy-duddy. I love progress, technology and all things that genuinely move us forward, but I think we all hanker a little for the days of our youth; days of discovery, of new feelings, of innocent anticipation and thrill. I miss looking forward to the Top 40 on a Sunday, even if it was slightly tainted by the looming prospect of school the next morning!

In honour of your birthday, Annalisa, I was going to collate my own Top 40 of favourite singles and albums, but I think I’ve probably rambled for on long enough already!

Instead, here’s one of my best-loved album tracks by Bowie, who really has to be my all-time favourite artist, and which takes me straight back to my early teenage years. It’s not too long and I think it’s rather beautiful!

)

Which track or artist would have to make it into your Top 40?

Thanks for reading – and thank you so much for having me, Annalisa! 

Linda King blogs at Excuse Me While I Note That Down

The story that made me blush

I'm back in Britain today, visiting Linda King's Excuse Me While I Note That Down... blog, and I'm talking about the story that made me blush to write it!

In other news, I'll be attempting a personal best deadlift at the gym this morning (a feeble PB, but one nonetheless) and hopefully editing/additing my WIP. I actually made it to halfway yesterday, until I realised that I'd lost the voice again, so I'm going to have to go back and figure out why that keeps happening.

How are your current projects going?

Reality strikes!

The lovely Linda King has passed this award on to me, and I'm very honoured. I especially love that it includes the word Yippee!

So, now I have to answer the following questions and pass the award on to some deserving people. I'll do the questions first, far easier!

If you could change one thing, what would it be? 
Umm, I have no idea. More shelves for my books, being able to apply make-up properly. And - due to constant badgering from my youngest - I wish I had a little bit of extra money at the end of the month to give to charity - he'd love to save all the animals!


If you could repeat an age, what would it be?
17. That was the year I finally figured out who I was, and had fun. But only if I could take all the lessons I've learnt ever since and apply them to that age, because unfortunately I got lost again for most of my twenties.

What one thing really scares you? 
Heights! I'm slowly conquering this  - for years I'd only walked over my local bridge a handful of times, until the year I started walking across it daily to get to work. I thought it would apply to other heights, but it didn't. I'm scared climbing the ladder into my own loft! But worse, I am now really scared watching other people climbing ladders etc. I have to look away!

If you could be someone else for a day, who would it be?
I'd be everyone. It would be the ultimate in people watching, wouldn't it? And I adore people watching!

And now I'm going to pass this award on to...

Julie Luek, Tina and Joanne Faries.

I haven't checked to see if these wonderful ladies have received this award yet, but even if I have I think they deserve it again... they just don't have to answer the questions!  

The start of the Cat and The Dreamer Tour

Thank you to everyone who took part in the Imaginary Friends bloghop on Friday - I had a great time reading everyone's posts. There were some really inventive twists on the theme - and I really can't believe how many of you didn't have imaginary friends. Because I had them, I was convinced it was really common, but apparently it's not. Now I have to decide whether I'm the normal or abnormal one!!

Kyra and I will be announcing our winners tomorrow, so don't forget to check us out!




Today though is the start of the Cat and The Dreamer blog tour. My novella has reached its first birthday, so I thought it was a great time to have a tour and look back over the past year. Each post on the tour will have a different theme.

Today I'm at Linda King's blog talking about books - you might be able to guess which books feature!

I'm also being interviewed by Ailsa Abraham and Cameron Lawton. If you haven't met them yet, you really don't know what your missing, and I urge to you pop over and check them out!