This is a new thread I would like to introduce. It sprung from questions people have asked me over the years about which books or authors have influenced my writing and I wondered which of them had influenced ME. So I got to thinking and mentioned it to a few people and already I have one taker, so today I have the great pleasure of introducing a wonderful piece from the lovely Nancy. Hi Nancy, tell us a little bit about yourself and which three books have meant a lot to you in your life?

Thanks for having me on the blog today, Wendy. I always love to talk about books! I was born in California (and always a California girl at heart). I'm now a teacher in the Upper Midwest. My husband and I are lucky enough to have two smart, wonderful children who live on opposite coasts of the US. There are way more than three books that are important to me, but I chose ones from three different stages of my life and my writing career. 

When we first discussed this series of blog posts, I mentioned that it would be interesting to see whether a Yank like myself would have different choices from the Brits. So, of course, the first book I picked was by an English author on a quintessentially English topic, The Once and Future King, by T. H. White. I read this book in my teens and was completely, entirely entranced. It had everything -- noble knights, a beautiful queen, a cause worth fighting for. Everything except a happy ending. That wasn't White's fault, but it always seemed wrong to the future romance writer hidden deep inside the Arthurian legend geek. 

In my twenties I hadn't discovered romance yet, outside of Jane Austen, but I read a lot of literary fiction. That's when I discovered Ada by Vladimir Nabokov, another story of forbidden love. It does have a happy ending, but only after everyone who knows how forbidden the love between the protagonist and his beloved actually is has died. This book is, in fact, perfect. The wacky alternative reality in which it is set, the wry humor, the grand passion, and above all the exquisite language blend into a world far less perfect than Camelot, but one you never want to leave. Which was exactly the problem. The book was such an utter delight that the would-be writer who had bubbled to the surface of my consciousness by then knew she could never writer anything so magical, and for a long time she gave up trying.

Mumblety-mumble years later I'd discovered romance novels (thanks to my mother) and even started to write, but wasn't yet able to see myself as an author. Then someone recommended Nora Roberts's Born in Fire. Although the novel is set in Ireland, Roberts's was clearly an American voice. A voice that let me believe for the first time I could do this. I could write stories that might not be as rich and meaningful as White's or as beautiful and witty as Nabokov's, but stories that could touch a reader's heart. 

So I guess this ends up being about Yanks vs. Brits in a way, after all. The literary and romance worlds I read in was so British (or otherwise non-U. S.) for so long that it became a barrier, not to finding my voice, because I always had that, but a barrier to owning my voice. White and Nabokov gave me something to aspire to as a writer, but Roberts gave me permission, as it were, to be a writer.

What an inspiring ode to greatness. I will have to find Ada, it sounds right up my street. Thank you for telling us about those three books. I'm sure others will be inspired to search too.Nancy has had a lot of success with her latest book out, Found: One Secret Baby

LA lawyer Rosalie Walker will do whatever it takes to protect her adopted son. She promised his mother before she died that she’d look after him and keep him safe from his paternal family. So when delectable Morgan Danby walks into her office in search of his nephew, she must keep the baby in her care a secret—even if one look from Morgan makes her want to share everything with him…
   As a favour to his step-mother— the woman who actually raised him, unlike his real mother who abandoned him as a child—successful businessman, Morgan is searching for the son of his incarcerated step-brother. He can tell Rosalie is hiding something and the temptation to seduce her for her secret is strong, but will he be able to handle the consequences once all is revealed…?
Buy links: B&N   http://tinyurl.com/j63ycn3 
Amazon  http://tinyurl.com/ht7jxhq
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Thanks so much for coming on. And if you would like to hear more from Nancy Holland, you can find her here: 
Twitter: @nancyholland5
FB: Nancy Holland
Website: nancyhollandwriter.com

And if anyone else would like to share their 3 special books with me, please do get in touch. All welcome. :-)

The other week I was cleaning. I say the other week, because I'm not the house proud type. Once a month I blitz my home. It is a house of boys, so any more frequent and I'd top myself. The cleanliness lasts about a day, if I'm lucky and no way am I doing that every day, but I digress.
   So I'd collected all my supplies together to do the upstairs and grabbing my ipod to listen to music while I worked, I was soon getting on with the cleaning.
   Now, it has to be some reflection on my state of mind, that it wasn't immediately apparent that something had gone wrong, but as the morning went on, I came to realise that there were only 2 songs playing on repeat. There should have been more like 60.
    At lunch, I checked it with the computer and it seemed it was 2/3 full, but still only 2 would play. Then I realised, I got a new laptop recently and was no longer using itunes and so the wrong type of file had synced ... syncked ... synched ...transferred over. I had been late starting that day, so it was either not finish the cleaning and have to carry on another day, ruining 2 days instead of 1, or put up with it. So I put up with it.
    To be fair, they were 2 brilliant songs and so it wasn't much of a hardship:
Sam Smith's theme tune from Spectre, Writing's on the Wall and Lana Del Ray's Blue Jeans. Both really emotive, powerful songs. Imagine these pumping loudly into your ears all day - fantastic.
   And then, from within the cloud of thoughts cluttering my mind, came an insight into what would make my current manuscript better. Eureka!
  It always works. Cleaning and listening to music. Emptying your mind and feeling the emotional impact of great songs. A good day.

​Thanks for reading! To return to the FICTION WRITERS BLOG HOP on Julie Valerie’s website, click here: http://www.julievalerie.com/fiction-writers-blog-hop-july-2016

​It occurred to me yesterday evening, as I was doing the laundry, getting the kids uniforms ready for the week, that there is so much unnecessary technology in my house.
   Take my washing machine, for example. It has 16 settings, of which I have only ever used 3: 40', sports shoes, and a hot one for towels and bedding. I have no idea what the others are for and it’s never occurred to me to seek out their untapped use. So programme 4 (delicates) is my go-to place on the dial – probably has an imprint there by now. 

​So I wash the clothes and then pop them across into the tumble drier and here we go again. The day my drier arrived, I looked at it and thought, ‘Oooh, errr … cupboard dry? We’ll start with that and see if it works.’ It did, so I’ve never used anything else. It's stuck in a corner, so I can barely read it anyway, but would you bother to find something new, or vary it if they came out dry?

I’m convinced my new phone – (a smart one now!) - has a brain the size of a planet, and yet I use it just to call and text and take the odd picture.
   The dishwasher – same story!
   What technology do you ignore?

​Sadly this is the last star in our sky today, but what a lovely smile! My final blogger willing to put themselves in the spotlight. It's been such an interesting thread. I'm glad I started it. So, last but not least... Introduce yourself. What’s your name and where (abouts) do you live?
Hi, I’m Lynn known as Linby in blogland and I live in Nottingham a city I love.

How long have you been blogging and what is the name of your blog?
I’ve been blogging since 2009 with my craft blog craftylinby.blogspot.co.uk but only started to book blog in 2014 because I found no one was reading book reviews on my craft blog. So I started Booksimo.blogspot.co.uk. Which is short for Books In My Opinion.
Clever!

How do you fit all this reading into your life? (marriage/kids/job)
I do have a lot going on and some days it feels like a chore to read a book, which I never want to get to be the norm. I always have my kindle with me, so any opportunity to read, I take it.

What keeps you blogging?
I love the blogging community and also getting to know about new titles before release, especially if it is by a favourite author.

And what is your favourite genre?
I am a little eclectic in my reading. I guess thrillers are probably my fav, as I do like to see if I can work  out “who did it” before the reader gets told.
A closet sleuth, then?

Are you an e-reader or a paperback girl?
I am about 75% e-reader 25% paperbacks. I still have a lot of books on my personal shelf to read, so until they are read (!?!) I will always have a paperback at some point. I do love the feel of a book, but practicality favours the kindle, it’s like the juke box of reading!

Who would you cast as the male lead for a romantic movie of your life? (artistic license expected!)
I think I would go with Daniel Craig.
​Nice choice

​Do you have a favourite classic?
My favourite classic is One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel  Garcia Marquez. It’s a long book to get through but so worth it.
Oh, never heard of that...

What are you reading at the moment?
The Bachelor’s Girl’s Guide to Murder – Rachel McMillan

Well thank you for joining me today, Lynn, and I'm sure I'll speak to you soon on the ether. :-) And if you would like to hear more from Lynn, for books or craft, click on the links above.