Sunday Brunch with Jaffareadstoo ~ Susan Grossey

On this quiet Sunday morning why don't you put the kettle on, make your favourite breakfast, and settle down for Sunday Brunch with Jaffareadstoo

 I'm delighted to welcome author, Susan Grossey

☼ Good Morning, Susan. Happy Sunday!

What favourite food are you bringing to Sunday brunch?

My very favourite brunch dish is a stack of Eggo waffles (available in the frozen aisle of any cheap American supermarket, and a Proustian memory from staying with American friends when I was little) with maple syrup carefully drizzled into each little square.

Would you like a pot of English Breakfast tea, a strong Americano, or a glass of Bucks Fizz?

None of those: please may I have a large glass of iced tea with plenty of ice? I’m teetotal and I can’t bear hot drinks.

Which of your literary heroes are joining us today?

I’d like to bring Jo March from “Little Women”, for her determination to succeed as a writer and her ability to put her foot in it, and Paddington Bear, for his sunny nature, his politeness, and his ability to put his foot in it. I would bring Ross Poldark too, but I’d be too distracted and would drool unbecomingly.

What’s the title of the book nearest to you?

“Girl in a Green Gown” by Carola Hicks – it’s a close look at the portrait of the Arnolfini marriage, currently in the National Gallery in London, and it was recommended so highly by a friend that she gave it to me (and she was right – it’s terrific)

What’s the oldest book on your book shelf?

A complete set of the Poldark novels, which were owned by my mother when she was a young woman

Which book do you really want to read but haven’t had time for …yet!

“Middlemarch” by George Eliot – everyone tells me it’s wonderful

Do you have a guilty reading pleasure, and if so will you tell us about it?

I download free romances onto my Kindle – usually American, and often involving a damaged man (fireman, farmer, rancher, fisherman – strong but with a soft centre) and a woman who shows him how to love again. They’re uniformly ghastly and predictable, but I just can’t resist.

If the house was on fire which book would you rescue?

“The Little White Horse” by Elizabeth Goudge – I was given my worm-eaten paperback (already about third-hand by then) when I was eight and I re-read it every year

Do you have a reading/writing playlist on Spotify, or a favourite CD to listen to when reading/writing? And if so will you share with us a favourite song or piece of music that makes you feel happy?

I cannot write with any noise at all in the background – I was an only child and am used to quiet surroundings. As for songs to make me happy, anything by Abba or the Bee Gees is bound to do it.

Do you have a favourite place to settle down to read/write?

I sit on the sofa with my legs up on a footstool (a leather elephant that we brought back from holiday in Canada – not the most practical souvenir to transport…), the cat on my ankles and my laptop on my lap. It’s comfortable for about an hour until blood-flow to the feet is halted.

Give us four essential items that a writer absolutely needs?

This writer absolutely needs silence, chocolate biscuits, a laptop (my handwriting is shockingly messy these days) and the encouragement of good friends

What can you tell us about your latest novel, or your current work in progress?

I am about to embark on a new series of books – five historical crime novels set in Cambridge in the 1820s – so I am at the very beginning of my research, which is both daunting and exciting. I’m looking forward to creating/meeting a whole new cast of characters.

Where can we follow you on social media?

• Twitter handle: @ConstablePlank

• Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ConstablePlank

• Blog/web url: www.susangrossey.wordpress.com