Below is the post I wrote for the “Virtual LGBT Fiction party for all not able to attend GRL ;)” (jeez that’s a mouthful) so you will find this post at Rainbow Gold Reviews (sometime on the 18th October EDT).
I live in Australia. Far, far, away from the exciting events of GRL. I’d love to be there in Chicago and maybe I’ll get there one day but at the moment, the thousands of dollars and countless hours of travel put it well out of my reach.
In fact living in Australia puts a lot of things out of reach. Quick jaunt to US during your one week holiday? I don’t think so – most of the time would be spent on the plane. What about visiting Europe during our long holidays at Christmas? Not exactly the weather for it. Those opposite seasons work against us.
Travelling overseas requires lots of planning, lots of time and unfortunately, lots of money.
So GRL is one of those things that’s on the Wish List – something I hope will happen but no guarantees.
Thankfully, I live in the so-called (very accurately) lucky country. Australia really is beautiful. I know some of you will point out the spiders and snakes and other killers but we’re bred tough over here. 🙂
I’ve been lucky enough to travel through a bit of Australia and I’d like to share a couple of holiday snaps (aren’t you glad I haven’t invited you over for a slide show of the hundreds of photos I have?)
New South Wales
This is a photo of the Grose Valley in the Blue Mountains, only an hour or so from Sydney.
NSW is my home state. It’s also the home of many great m/m authors. One of those is NR Walker. I’m sure she needs no introduction.
Check out her Red Dirt Heart series and all her other wonderful books at her website.
Queensland
This photo was taken on Dunk Island in the beautiful Whitsunday’s. It was taken before a cyclone destroyed the resort and much of the island.
Queensland is home to Jack Byrne. Jack’s covers also show beautiful examples of the Australian landscapes. Check out Jack’s latest release, Dingo Run, available for pre-order from Dreamspinner Press (click here) and releasing on 22nd October.
Victoria
What’s a blog post without some cute animals? These sheep were wandering the paddocks in Rutherglen.
N.M. Harris lives in the Melbourne CBD. Check out Homecoming (click here) and keep an eye out for A Paying Client.
Australian Capital Territory
The ACT is only a short drive from Sydney so makes for a good weekend away. This photo is taken at Floriade in Canberra, a huge flower festival in Spring with millions of flowers. Spectacular!
Our capital gives us author L.J. Harris. Her latest novella, Just Like Pulling Teeth, is available for pre-order on Amazon now. (click here).
Northern Territory
I’m sure you recognise this one. It’s Uluru, previously known as Ayres Rock.
The Northern Territory is the home of the Toni Griffin. The lucky thing is currently at GRL (but I won’t hold that against her). She’s definitely worth a checking out for some great shifter romance. (click here for her website).
Western Australia
This location is a short walk from Cable Beach at Broome.
The lovely Renae Kaye is from Perth in Western Australia. Renae is the author of Loving Jay, The Blinding Light and The Shearing Gun. You can visit her at her website.
South Australia
South Australia has many wine producing areas – Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills, Coonawarra – and others that I’ve probably forgotten. What winery/vineyard is this? Goodness only knows because I’ve been to so many! It’s amazing that our SA authors get any writing done at all – luckily I don’t live there.
Make sure you check out the new release from SA author, LJ LaBarthe – Mythica. LJ can be found at her blog, her website or on Twitter (@brbssiberia).
Tasmania
This is Cradle Mountain – amazing!
If you find an m/m author living in Tasmania. Please let me know. 🙂
And now for my shameless self-plug! (and a chance to win an ebook)
I have a new novella releasing on 29th October 2014. A Day At A Time is available for pre-order from Dreamspinner Press (click here).
If you’d like a chance to win a copy when it’s released, just leave a comment about your favourite holiday destination. I’ll draw a winner on the 1st November. Good luck!
A Day At A Time – The Blurb
Sean Vargos is quiet, well respected, and dedicated to his job. But Dave Simpson sees Sean as more than a coworker. He’s fought his attraction to Sean for months but can’t get him out of his thoughts.
They tentatively embark on a relationship, but Sean isn’t all that he seems. He struggles to put his past behind him and overcome his fears.
Dave, with his good looks and open nature, accepts that sometimes Sean’s doubts get the better of him and he runs. Dave just wants the chance to show Sean he can be trusted and the past doesn’t have to dictate their future.
Australia looks very beautiful and has such a diverse landscapes. I’ve always wanted to visit and the pictures make me want to visit even more.
We are very lucky to live in such a beautiful country, Shirley. But I wouldn’t mind a few more photos from farther away for my album. 🙂
Maybe one day I will get to visit your beautiful country. I had not realized how diverse the landscapes were. I loved the picture with the tulips as they are my favorite flower. Thanks for a chance to win a copy of your book.
Tulips are beautiful. Floriade is definitely a festival worth visiting. I hope you get here one day, Denise. Here’s the Floriade instagram link if you want to check out some more photos. http://instagram.com/floriade_australia <3
I have to admit that my favourite holiday was GRL in Albuquerque in 2012. I left the family in England and flew over by myself for 10 days, I spent time in Toronto too. I had an amazing time, met some truly awesome people and made some life long friends. It was supposed to be a one off trip, but I had such a wonderful time I went back last year. And I am determined to be able to afford to go next year!
How exciting – GRL and a break from the family! Sounds the perfect holiday. 🙂
Australia is a place I’d love to visit someday! I’ve always been drawn to it. 🙂 My favorite holiday was to California when I was 13, my parents, brother and I travelled from Los Angeles to Lake Tahoe to San Francisco and back to LA. We slept wherever night caught us and visited many quaint and interesting places and we played in the snow! Living in Central America (Guatemala), we had never seen snow anywhere but in the movies, so it was a fantastic experience I don’t think I’d ever forget. 🙂
I must admit that beaches, sunshine and cocktails win for me over a cold snow holiday but I can imagine the thrill of seeing snow for the first time. We have some snow in Australia but you generally need to travel to a resort location to see and play in it. My kids are really keen for a snow holiday but I’m not a very good skier which is probably why it’s not my holiday of choice 🙂
It’s amazing to me how much people travel. My “holiday” trips might be to E Texas or Austin to visit family. I rarely ever leave the state. I went on a driving trip from Texas to Alaska (which took us through lots of states, through Vancouver and the Yukon) about 16 years ago. I don’t think I’ve left Texas since then. I live vicariously thru the stories of a few friends I have who travel. I absolutely love looking at travel photos and hearing about new places. 🙂
We are so lucky to have the internet to bring all these wonderful places to us! My hubby loves to watch documentaries which show locations from all over so our travel bucket list is very long (of course the budget doesn’t match it) 🙂 I’d love to take on e of those Alaskan cruises but I think my hubby would prefer your road trip idea as he loves driving holidays.
I have always wanted to visit Australia and New Zealand. We met some people on a cruise and hope to visit whit them.
I do hope you get to visit, Debby. I’ve only been to NZ twice. The first time for 4 days and it was all work – I only saw the airport, the hotel and the office. The second trip was 1 day and just for a meeting. But New Zealand has some gorgeous places so I’m very keen to get back for a proper visit.
I have never been to Australia but it looks beautiful – maybe one day. My favorite place to visit is Italy – where my family immigrated from around the first of the century. I still have relatives living in Montecatini.
Lisa, I am very jealous! Italy is at the top of my ‘definitely going to get there one day list’.
Queensland Gold Coast is my favourite place I’ve been…..Canada is the place I’d love to go to if I ever have the cash flow for it!
The Gold Coast is popular with my family too. I love the warmth and there are some great restaurants. My hubby and the kids love the theme parks. 🙂 I’d love to see Canada too – maybe a trip on the Rocky Mountaineer? *dashes off to buy a lottery ticket*
I agree with Lisa G. My family came from Italy more than a century ago so I always wanted to go there. But I was also drawn to Australia because my brother used to have a pen pal living there and she always told him how beautiful it is.
I can vouch for Australia being beautiful but I’ve never been to Europe. I imagine it would be lovely to visit a place where you had history. I’ve done a lot of genealogical research and my family are all English/Scottish/Irish – a nice mix of free settlers with a dash of convict thrown in. 🙂
As I’ve never left Australia…my favourite holiday was travelling to Melbourne with the kids and stopping at Dubbo- for the zoo, Lithgow- for the Zig Zag railway, Maitland for the history, and Bacchus Marsh for the Avenue of Honour. We had such a fun time in all the smaller towns finding out about how others lived. The kids still think this is the best holiday ever. Of course we did Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney. Funniest comment from the trip was ” all those big things in Australia, aren’t that big” from 7 year old daughter.
Great list of places. I think I’ve been to all of those apart from Bacchus Marsh. I haven’t heard of the Avenue of Honour so will definitely check it out. You made me laugh remembering our ‘big’ things – prawns, pineapples, merinos… 🙂
The book Boys of Blood and Bone talks about The Avenue of Honour. Great YA fiction
I don’t really travel and I’ve never gone away for a holiday. I want to visit Japan one day though in the spring time to view the cherry blossoms. I wouldn’t call it my favorite holiday destination but it’s somewhere I want to go.
I hope you get there someday.
I would love to visit Australia and New Zealand. My dream destination is to hit all of Ireland and Scotland on one long vacation.
Let me know if you make it as far as Sydney and I can show you around 🙂
I’d love to visit Australia and New Zealand, and I’d also love to revisit Ireland.
I haven’t done much research on Ireland as a travel destination but I’ll definitely add it to the list
I’m in Sidney at the moment so, my dream came true!!! I really liked to see all these amazing pictures!! Thank you for the giveaway!
How exciting to have your dream come true! I hope you have many more wishes fulfilled <3
Tasmania sounds a great place to be
Tasmania is beautiful. We spent 3 weeks driving around Tassie a couple of years ago and there was so much to see.
Wow!!! These pics are terrific!!! My fave destination will be Japan:) I have several Japanese friends and I studied Japanese in College <3 Thank you for this amazing chance to win your new book <3
I’d have to travel with you to that you could be my interpreter! 🙂
I can see now why my friend Lu didn’t want to come back home when she went in Australia for her honeymoon, two years ago. My favourite holiday destination has always been Paris and when I went there for my 30th Anniversary, I thought I was going to faint: so poetic. Now, I’d like to visit Greece because I speak Greek (thanks to my sister in law that she lives in Athens for five years) and I’ve always liked its culture and there are several places to feel close to its past. Thank you for this lovely giveaway and please, count me in 🙂
Paris and Greece. I’m drooling. 🙂
What a lovely post with very beautiful pictures of a land so far from mine! My favourity destination will be Egypt. It’s not very far from where I live but money has been very tight in the last years so, no Egypt 🙁 I like everything about Cleopatra.
Plz, count me in for the giveaway. Thank you 🙂
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have the money to follow our dreams? Luckily we have our imaginations and the internet. But I have my fingers crossed that you get there someday.
Australia has always been a dream destination to my father and I’ve been convinced (by him) to visit it next January soooo, Australia? here we come!!! Count me in for the giveaway, pretty please!!! P.S.: My father and I loved the pictures you posted!! <3 <3 <3
I’m excited for you, Kejara, and I’m especially happy to see you’re travelling with your dad. It’s so special to have those times together.
like any beach
A person after my own heart..give me a beach and lots of sunshine every time! 🙂
Loved the photo’s! Living in Texas makes me want to visit somewhere where it snows. Just for a few days. Then be able to get back on a plane and get back to the warmer weather.
Hmm my dream is to travel on the Orient Express from London and onwards and travel around Europe, but it cost so much! My next dream place is Oregon down to San Francisco, but it would have to be at the coldest or less sunny time of the year. I would love to go to Australia, but the sun hates me and I am not that fond of it, as I burn to a crisp with my fair skin and I have an allergic reaction to sun block!
Thank you for a chance to win your new release A Day At A Time and for a lovely post & images of Australia 🙂
I randomly selected a name and Julie Small was the lucky winner. Congratulations Julie!
* the winners name was randomly picked using http://www.miniwebtool.com/random-name-picker/