Are you recoiling in horror from just reading that title or is a little bit of you secretly thinking ‘It’s not just me then’? Apparently  74% of the mothers that were spoken to for a study last year confessed to having a favourite child. I know! That’s a lot of mums.

I have thought long and hard about this and have concluded that I really don’t have a favourite. I find each of my children as delightful and/or irritating as the next. They are so different to one another that trying to pick a favourite would be like comparing Chihuahuas to Afghans.

But put me in a particular situation and I might select a certain child to share it with me. A long car journey might be improved by a chatty one or a quiet one depending on my own intentions for the trip. I might like a child with a bit of pluck for something daring or a house-trained one if they were having to spend some time with my friends. In my book, that doesn’t make the one I choose my favourite, just the one best adapted to deal with the circumstances. Maybe having four to choose from makes this easier for me? I don’t know.

And what about the favoured child? Do they know they have special status? My brother was the Golden Boy at our house. I knew it. He knew it. We laughed about it and the more we mention it now, the more upset our mother gets at the idea that she might not have treated us equally. Surely though, if you set out to treat your children all the same you are destined to fail? There are too many other factors that will colour your actions. And don’t children believe that the world is out to get them and that nothing is fair anyway?

The reason why I’ve been thinking about this is because it’s the theme of the novel that I’m currently working on. I’m having fun working out why each of my character siblings believes that another is the favourite and who their mother is actually favouring. And why…..!

Speaking of novels, there is a new review over on the review page so just click here to go and have a look.

Also comments are open on Forum for A Boy Made of Blocks. If you’ve read it or if you are interested in what others thought click here and have a look. People are finding it a bit tricking to find where to post comments and I’m not sure I’ve found the best way to use the Forum yet as  comments have found their way into the Comments sections of Facebook and here in my Blog. We can develop what works best as we go. Just let me know.

To get in, click on A Boy Made of Blocks and then on each topic to see people’s views and please add any comments.

The NEXT BOOK will be Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough. It’s a psychological thriller with an ‘unguessable’ twist so try to avoid reading reviews with spoilers. It caught my attention because I wasn’t sure what I thought about the twist and would love to talk to you about it! Here’s a review to give you an idea.

Anyway, this is a bigger post than usual because I’m trying to only post once a week to encourage people to SUBSCRIBE ( see right for where to do this!)

Imogen. x

PS. Know anyone else that might enjoy this book? Then send then this link.