Festive Fun with... Me

As well as hosting the 12 Days of Christmas giveaways on the blog this month I also wanted to do a fun festive feature so between now and Christmas Eve I'll be welcoming a variety of guests to the blog for a Festive Fun with... Q&A. So here goes, I'm kicking off the proceedings!

Tell us a little bit about yourself. 
Hi, my name is Sharon and I live in Salisbury now infamous for the Novichok poisonings although as an army brat I have lived in Omagh, Northern Ireland (which was my mum's hometown and where I was born), several different bases in Germany before eventually moving to England just before my 10th birthday and I've lived here in Wiltshire ever since. First on an army camp, then moving to a local village when my parents split and moved into the city in my mid twenties where I've lived ever since. 

As a child I was always reading and this continued throughout my teens which was when I discovered Crime Fiction books, especially anything to do with forensics, and was a voracious reader. When I wasn't at school or working at my part-time job I'd have my head in a book. Thank god for libraries although most of my wages also went on buying books during our weekly shopping trips. 

Having experienced a few traumatic events during my twenties followed by the loss of my mum which affected me for many years to come I found that books were my solace, I could forgot about everything else that was going on in my head and just escape into the power of words. 

I can't remember when I first discovered the book community online but I remember I used to read a lot of book sites to discover book recommendations, mainly Novelicious which sadly is no longer active and one of the first book blogs I remember visiting is Rea's Book Reviews and I'm happy that Rea is one of my online friends that I've had the chance to meet many times at various book events.

It was during another bad spell for me personally that a friend recommended that maybe I start reviewing some of the books I read as a way to focus my attention and distract me from what was going on in my head. So I started leaving reviews on Amazon before eventually plucking up the courage to start this blog so Shaz's Book Blog was born (although originally was called Shaz's Book Boudoir, as all my books are in my bedroom, but was getting a lot of unwanted bot attention so changed the name!) 

What are you most looking forward to this Christmas? 
Personally for me Christmas has not been the same since my mum died. For the first few years after she died we tried to carry on celebrating but then relationships changed, my brother got married then divorced then moved abroad, and my mum's partner built a new life for himself. So for me I love the build up to Christmas as love seeing the excitement on friends and neighbours kids faces when they talk about all things Christmas but what I look forward to most is my break from work when I can just switch off and hibernate and not see anyone if I don't want to.

Do you have any favourite family Christmas traditions?  
Not a tradition as such but as a child I can remember thinking I was grown up being allowed to go to Midnight Mass, although in reality it wasn't a proper Midnight Mass as was earlier due to being for families on army bases. But then in our teens we were giving the choice as whether or not to attend and sadly we stopped going which is one of things I now regret since my mum died as religion was important to her. 

Once we left home, Christmas usually meant coming home on Christmas Eve which was when my mum would start decorating the Christmas tree as she'd wait for us all to be home. We'd have Christmas Carols on in the background and I loved hearing her sing as she had a great voice and was part of a Choral society. 

Christmas morning always began with bacon sandwiches, and I still do this, followed by the opening of presents before preparations for lunch began. When my brother brought his first girlfriend home she wanted to open a present on Christmas Eve (which is a tradition we carried on for many years) but I can clearly remember her disappointed face when she unwrapped a pack of batteries and had to wait until the next day to see what they were for!! My mum's partner had such a wicked sense of humour and I can clearly remember him specifically looking for the same presents for all three of us, me, my brother and his girlfriend, as we'd all been bought the same present that the batteries were needed for!

What is your best Christmas memory? 
As a child living in Germany I loved that we used to get a lot of snow especially over the Christmas period and one of my earliest memories is of Santa arriving by army helicopter to our school Christmas fete.

Another couple of memories that are linked due to my lack of balancing skills were the first Christmas after we moved to the UK when I got my first bike and then a couple of years later when I received some roller skates. Let's just say that gravity is not my friend and I was on the floor more than I was upright!! 

Describe your ideal Christmas 
Christmas movies on the TV all day, chatting to friends, and despite not going away for Christmas I do still make the effort and cook myself a mini roast Turkey dinner with the trimmings. 

If you could choose one person, dead or alive, to celebrate a one time special Christmas with, who would you choose and why? 
I think you can probably guess the answer to this one, my mum who was my best friend. Like all mothers & daughters we had our fights but we used to talk to or see each other daily especially in the later years as we worked for the same company. 

This year will be the 21st Christmas without her and it doesn't get any easier especially as I get closer to the age she was when she died (52). 

What is your favourite festive book of all-time? 
Over the years I've read so many fabulous Christmas books so I guess I'll have to go with one that I've re-read many times over the years, and watched many TV adaptations of, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. 

What Christmas book would you like to see turned into a film? 
I struggled to pick just one book for this as so many fabulous Christmas books in recent years but I've actually chosen a book I read almost 10 years ago that I loved at the time due to its setting, Winter Wonderland by Belinda Jones. This story features staying in an ice-hotel, a Winter Carnival and a husky sleigh ride... all of which I'm sure would love fabulous on screen. In fact, writing this is wanting me to dig out my copy of the book to read again over the festive period. 

If you could spend Christmas with any fictional character, who would you choose and why? 
Hmm this was a tough choice but in the end I decided to go with Jake from Katie Marsh's Unbreak Your Heart due to his mischievous nature. I can imagine spending Christmas with this young boy would bring back some Christmas magic into anyone's life.

Do you have a favourite Christmassy cover? 
I have to confess that I'm particularly drawn to covers especially the Wintry covers for most of the Christmas books that have been published in recent years. I love reading stories that are going to whisk me away to places I have never been such as Lapland so one of the books I'm definitely planning to treat myself to is A Winter in Wonderland by Isla Gordon. I also love Christmas Markets and have done such visiting one in Germany as a child so last year's festive book by Jo Thomas Finding Love at the Christmas Market caught my eye although I have to confess I still haven't read the copy I bought so maybe I'll finally get around to it this Christmas!

Do you have any Christmas book traditions? 
Sadly we didn't really have any book traditions when I was younger but since I set up the blog I've always tried to do some Christmas features including giveaways. This year we have the 12 Days of Christmas which has 6 books plus a whole plethora of other bookish goodies to be won. 

In recent years I've also taken part in book Secret Santas so love choosing books from my recipients wishlists and including other bookishs goodies. 

What 3 books would you love Santa to have in his sack for you? 
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman  
Call of the Penguins by Hazel Prior 
Last One Alive by Karin Nordin

What is your favourite Christmas song? 
I have a couple and both are sentimental choices linked to my Mum. As mentioned above, Mum was in a choral society so was always singing around the house but without a doubt the one you'd hear her singing the most is O Holy Night.

Another Christmas favourite that I can always remember being played is Fairytale of New York which we'd all join in and sing along with Mum. 

What is your favourite Christmas film? 
I don't really have one absolute favourite but I am a Christmas movie addict so as soon as the Christmas channel comes on the schedule you can guarantee I'll choose films to record to watch at a later date even if I've seen them before. I'm also a sucker for the Hallmark films so have to search out for any of them being shown over here in the UK either on Sky, Amazon Prime or Netflix. 

And finally, what are your hopes for 2022? 
I think this is one that's probably going to be the same for everyone, that the risk of death or serious illness due to Covid is reduced so that we can get back to some semblance of normality again. 

Although I have gotten used to working from home I do miss my daily in-person interactions with my friends and colleagues, it's just not the same by phone or email. That being said, I have actually chosen to work mainly at home going forward with just the odd day going into the office but once it feels safe to do so I'd like to get back to meeting up with friends and going out for meals and chats. 

Blogwise, I'm just hoping that after a spot of Christmas hibernation that my reading mojo finally makes a reappearance so that I can return to sharing reviews on the blog!   

Quick-fire questions

Roses or Quality Street? Quality Street but mainly the toffee/caramel ones
Mince pies/Christmas cake or Yule log? Definitely Yule Log  
Turkey or ham? I'm going to cheat and say both as we always had Turkey and Ham when Mum was alive 
Brussel sprouts or roast parsnips? Sprouts although I do always have a couple of roast parsnips with my Christmas dinner 
Gravy or cranberry sauce? Gravy 
Fake or real Christmas tree? Neither - I don't have room for a tree with my desk in the living room so normally just get a mini plant one to sit on my TV unit.   
White or coloured lights? See above 
Giving or receiving presents? Giving 🥰 As I don't have any family to buy for, I love spoiling friends who are the family I've chosen as well as hosting giveaways on the blog as you can probably tell from the 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways that started today.