LittleElfMan's Bibliotherapy: Blog Tour: Pan's Whisper by Sue Lawson

Very excited to be hosting a stop in Sue Lawson's Blog Tour for Pan's Whisper!

If you haven't already, you can read my review of it HERE (I'm still a little chuffed that my review made her speechless!)

The other stops on the tour have been asking all the hard and interesting questions about Pan's Whisper and the writing process and all that melting pot of goodies that resulted in the brilliant book. These are all great, and I wanted to know them too, but I read them elsewhere and decided to do something a bit different here.

I thought I'd use this as an opportunity to get to know Sue a bit more, so I've asked her a series of less serious questions for a fun and frivolous way to start this, the last week in the lead up to Christmas.

So let's jump in!

What was the last book you read?
I’m studying my masters, so the last book I read was for that – Pagan’s Crusade – loved it!
Now I’m reading masses of short stories.
Plus, I have also just read Karen Tayleur’s latest manuscript. WOW!
(Oo! I've got Six sitting on my to-read-sooner-than-later pile at home. And Snap! I'm doing my Masters too.)

Score out of 10?
Pagan’s Crusade – 8/10
Short Stories – vary
Karen Tayleur’s manuscript. 10/10
(Can't wait to read it then!)

Any books you have re-read over and over?
Heaps – The Outsiders, SE Hinton, Dirt Music and The Riders both by Tim Winton, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee and a few others. Generally though I’m flat out keeping up with my reading pile, so it’s not often I re-read books.
(I know what you mean! Sometimes I find myself thinking I'd LOVE to re-read something, but where's the time?)

Where’s your favourite place to read?
I’ll read anywhere. I do love reading in bed, though I often read until my eyes hurt and have had the book fall on my face more than once.
(What I've noticed recently, is that I'll be reading in bed and then I'll find myself thinking, Wait, why isn't the story progressing? oh, that's right, my eyes are closed!)

What book would you most like to see turned into a film?
That’s a tough one as generally I don’t love film adaptations (see below for those I did!). I’d probably like to see Dirt Music because the setting (WA) is so amazing.
(Hehe, I've got a t-shirt that says: 'MOVIES: Ruining the book since 1920')

What is the best film adaptation of a book that you can think of?
Atonement. Man I loved that book and to be honest was a little scared about the film, but loved it. My advice to anyone who is a romantic, leave or turn it off when the old lady is about to be interviewed!
The other film adaptations I’ve enjoyed are Lord of the Rings (Wow! I like that far too much!) and Harry Pottter.
(Have to say, I'm a bit more than partial to the last two... I've never read Atonement though, but I thoroughly enjoyed the first half the that movie.)

Where was the best Holiday you’ve taken to?
Last year, my husband, daughter and I went to Italy, Switzerland, France and England. We had the most amazing time.

(Nothing like a bit of public nudity :)

Favourite Dessert?
Baked Cheesecake with berries. Or Lemon Tart.
(Mmm Cheesecake with berries...)

Dogs or Cats? (or something else entirely?)
Dogs – preferable robust, loving and personality filled dogs like Labradors (We had two labs when I was growing up – Sam and Rocky) We used to have a Cairn Terrier called Dougall – now he was a sensational dog!
(Is it too embarrassing for me to say I've got a soft toy dog called Dougall?)

Who would you cast in a Bio flick about you?
Susan Saradon. She is just a fantastic actress.
(Ooo, good pick! She's great! I loved her in Elizabethtown)

Ideal night out?
With friends, at a restaurant – Thai, Indian or maybe Malaysian.

Ideal night in?
Either have friends over for a barbeque or watch a movie with my husband and daughter.

If you had to pick one food that was the only thing you could eat for the rest of your life, what would it be?
One food – you’re kidding. Okay - fruit, especially berries. So it’s cheating, but I love food too much to be stuck to only one kind!
(Yes, I know what you mean, Just one??? It is a cruel question.)

Name a guilty pleasure when it comes to your reading life.
Jilly Cooper. I love her books – they baddies are so bad and the goodies so good.
(They do look like a bit of a guilty pleasure...)

Are your dinner plates patterned or plain?
Plain. Hope that isn’t indicative of my personality! In my defence, I love the look of food on plain plates – we eat lots of veggies and the colours are spectacular. Okay, now I just sound weird!
(Not at all! In my opinion, patterned is a thing of by-gone tastes - with few exceptions - who knows, in another 30 years our children or grandchildren might think we're so daggy for having plain plates!)

How many members are there in your family? (let’s start with immediate then move to extended)
Immediate – three of us – my husband and daughter.
Extended – two brothers, one sister, Mum, Dad, (who died 14 years ago) two sister in laws, one brother in law, two nieces, three nephews, six cousins, 17 second cousins, two aunts, one uncle…then there is my husband’s family…his parents, sister and brother, sister in law, six nephews…okay I’ll stop.
We’re a relatively small family. A friend of mine is one of 18 brothers and sisters!
(Sounds like it's big enough when you start looking at extended members.)

What was your favourite board game as a child? (or now, if you’re anything like me).
As a child I loved playing Monopoly – not so much now. My daughter has been able to whip me since she was about 8. Not good for the ego.
(Monopoly was never one of my favourites, I always seem to loose. But I'm a sucker for Board games in general)

And finally,
What’s the most random/left-of-field thing anyone has ever said to you?
“Oh – I thought you’d be blonde.” (Guy at a pub when I worked in radio. He was so disappointed when he saw me. Wish I had the words to describe his face! Apparently I sounded short and blonde when I was on radio – not sure how to take that.)
Then there was the time when…I’ll stop shall I?

(Well, sometimes you just can't live up to expectations! But, that's his problem. I can think of a few witty remarks, but lets keep it PG, shall we?)