I've been awarded the Sunshine Award!

(a Sunshine Award is especially appreciated as today is very cold, very wet and very blustery - with no sign of even a glimpse of sunshine!)

This blog, Let us Talk of Many Things, has been nominated by Carole Freeman to receive The Sunshine Award - thank you Carole, how kind of you!

The Sunshine Award is given by bloggers to other bloggers. The recipients are “Bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere.” 

The way the award works is this: thank the person who gave you the award (thank you Carole!) and link back to them. (done) 

Then answer ten questions about yourself. (see below). Finally, select up to ten of your favourite bloggers, link their blogs to your post, and let them know they have been awarded the Sunshine Award! (also done!)

Carole nominated the following ten bloggers and their blogs to receive the award. Congratulations to all...

1. The Madwoman in the Attic @ http://lisareadsbooks.blogspot.ca/

2. Charlie Books @ http://charlebooks.blogspot.ca/

3. Historical Tapestry @ http://historicaltapestry.blogspot.ca/

4. Impressions In Ink @ http://impressionsinink.blogspot.ca/

5. Let us Talk of Many Things; of Books and Queens and Pirates, of History and   Kings @ http://ofhistoryandkings.blogspot.com/

6. Littlequeen Rules @ http://litlequeenrules.blogspot.ca/

7. Novel PASTimes @ http://www.novelpastimes.com/

8. Reading the Past @ http://readingthepast.blogspot.com/

9. SarahsHistory Blog@ http://sarahshistoryblog.wordpress.com/

10. Mindful Mundanes @ http://mindfulmundanes.blogspot.com/

Carole says: 'These are in no particular order...I love your blog and books Helen. Please check out my blog for my 10 questions and answers. I think one in particular you will like!'

thank you again Carole Freeman - her blog is: History Odds and Sods

so for MY ten questions:

1. What inspired you to start blogging?

I must confess - marketing. I was dropped by William Heinemann (Random House UK) several years ago because publishing houses seem to be abandoning their mid-list authors who do not maintain sales figures in the thousands. I also, unfortunately, had an agent (now ex-agent) who was not banging the drum for me - and I realised that my books were not being read because there was no marketing for them. No one knew they were out there! My UK novel A Hollow Crown (titled The Forever Queen in the US) received no marketing whatsoever upon publication. Compare this with my US Publisher, Sourcebooks Inc - who did an excellent job of promoting the US version - to the extent that the book reached the USA Today Bestseller list!

Rather than give up my career as a writer I decided to go Indie here in the UK - and that meant marketing. 

From the initial need, however, I discovered the pleasure of running a blog - in fact, I now have several of them!

2. How did you come up with the name of your blog?

Originally I called it Muse and Views but I re-launched with something a bit broader - so Let Us Talk Of Many Things seemed an obvious choice. I didn't want a blog that was just about me - I wanted somewhere as a platform for lots of interesting things with varied articles offered by interesting people.

3. What is your favourite blog that you like to read?

Elizabeth Chadwick's Akashic Records

4. What would be your dream Job?

I'm doing it. :-)

5. If you could spend a day with 8 authors discussing novels as a group, who would you invite? (past or present authors)

Hmm - I've spent days with authors discussing novels, as I know several writers who are dear friends - so let's go for something fanciful: I would like to spend the day with: 

Roald Dahl

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Rosemary Sutcliff

Ruby Ferguson

Dodie Smith

Rumer Godden

James Herriot 

(the BBC set for All Creatures Great & Small

and

Dick Francis

6. What is your favourite place to travel?

The UK. I love England and Wales - I've not been to Ireland yet, so I can't count that, and have only briefly visited Scotland (on my to-do list!) 

Best place in the world? 

Devon.

7. What is your favourite book out of all the books you have read?

The one I would rescue in a fire? Rosemary Sutcliff's Mark of the Horse Lord.

8. What was your favourite book as a child and how did it influence your choice in books today?

Jill's Gymkhana by Ruby Ferguson. I was given it for a birthday present when I was about 11, 'How boring,' I thought, 'a book.' Then I realised it was about ponies and fell in love with it. I so wanted a pony of my own - this book made me realise there was a next best thing - a world of imagination where anything could happen. From reading pony stories I started writing pony stories.... 

(I still have the book although it is now a bit battered!)

9. How much time do you spend blogging?

Too much.

10. What would you say to your favourite authors if you got the chance?

Stop writing books that are better than mine! *laugh*

And my nominations for the Sunshine Award go to these 

Blogs and Bloggers who were among those lovely people 

who kindly hosted my recent Blog Tour:

1. Sir Read-A-Lot sir-readalot blogspot

2. Because This Girl Loves Books www.booksandbeverages.wordpress.com

3. Layered Pages http://layeredpages.com/

4. https://rpridepublishing.wordpress.com/2013/03/19/pirates-and-mayhem/

5. Keep Going You Fool www.keepgoingyoufool.blogspot.co.uk

6.  Lou Graham's Blog lougrahamiiblog.wordpress.com

7. According to Me rivashaw.blogspot.co.uk

8. The Riddle of Writing deborahswift.blogspot.com

9.  Jo Barton Jaffa Reads Too

10. Little Reader Library www.thelittlereaderlibrary.blogspot.com

thank you everyone for being such delightful Bloggers!

next time on my Blog: Tuesday Talk: 
I welcome author David Ebsworth