11/28/2017

​This is the Twelve Days of Christmas promotion – twelve ‘down under’ authors who are each giving personal prizes away, plus we have a $50 Amazon Gift Card to finish with a flourish.
The Joy of Travel at Christmas inspired Snowbound, A Chicklit Christmas Novella
Anyone from Australia or New Zealand, where all of the authors in this hop are from, learns pretty early that if you want to travel anywhere you’re probably going to be on a plane for a while.I consider any flight under eight hours to be a quick one.

Part of what makes our countries unique is our isolation. We have summer while most of the world has winter, much of Australia never sees snow and we do things just that little bit differently. I drew on that inspiration when I was writing Snowbound, A Christmas Chicklit Novella.

My main character Zara is heading off to the USA for Christmas to meet her boyfriend who works in New York. She’s never been on a long-haul flight, she’s never seen snow…there are a lot of firsts for Zara. Apart from the lovely Kyle who sits next to her the journey is really not that great.

I’ve done a lot of long-distance travel and much of it on my own – I quite like flying alone now – but when I was younger and more self conscious I didn’t so I channeled that into Zara’s character. Just like her I have woken up by a random teenage boy asleep on my shoulder – then I had to decide if I could get up – I didn’t want to wake the poor kid but sometimes you just have to move.

I also remember the magic of seeing snow fall for the first time and the wonder of waking up to a world made new by being covered in white. I’ve never had a White Christmas – only a white Boxing day and I think we can all agree no one has ever sung a song about that.

One of the things I love about books and writing is how you can hold a mirror up to the way we live our lives differently to others – after I wrote this novel I had readers emailing me to say it never even occurred to them someone might not have seen snow. That makes perfect sense if you’re Canadian!

I’m hoping for a sparkling sunny and hot Christmas myself. It will include a swim at the beach and sweating my way through cooking a ham, a turkey and a Christmas pudding. I’ll be getting my tree close to the big day because I love a real tree and if I put it up too early it might wilt before the big day. My Christmas might look a little different than yours but hopefully we’re all surrounded by love and laughter.

As part of the Hop I’m giving away a copy of Romancing the Holidays 2 – a multi author box set I’m in this Christmas and a copy of Snowbound…to enter just comment below and tell me if you get a real tree or a fake one. (I’ll pick a winner randomly at the end of the 12 days promotion)
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Click here to enter to win the $50 Amazon Giftcard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the Twelve Days of Christmas promotion – twelve ‘down under’ authors who are each giving personal prizes away, plus we have a $50 Amazon Gift Card to finish with a flourish. Here’s the schedule so you don’t miss your favourite authors!
Day 1 – Kris Pearson
Day 2 – Joanne Dannon
Day 3 – Cassandra O’Leary
Day 4 – Annie Seaton
Day 5 – Monique McDonell
Day 6 – Kate O’Keeffe
Day 7 – Cathryn Hein
Day 8 – Tracey Alvarez
Day 9 – Leeanna Morgan
Day 10 – Wendy Vella
Day 11 – Charmaine Ross
Day 12 – Aislinn Kearns

Comments

Mel Bowers
12/5/2017 12:27:31 pm

We get a fake tree with the kids homemade decorations on it and some from my nan who died 9 yrs ago. One son and I are allergic to real trees….not books tho 😊

Christine Hann
12/5/2017 05:05:30 pm

We have a fake tree currently, but would luv to have a real one like in my childhood again!

Jill Broussard
12/5/2017 05:22:57 pm

We’ve done both real and fake, but for the past 7 years since we’ve had our dog, Rusty, it’s a table topper. We’re afraid he’ll claim it at his spot!

Rose
12/5/2017 06:00:33 pm

Fake. We travel so a real tree would be a hazard!

Cat
12/5/2017 08:22:42 pm

Fake! Much easier and tidier

Sonia
12/5/2017 11:13:21 pm

Realistic fake tree- 180cm tall

Julie Zammit
12/6/2017 01:50:07 am

Fake because hubby says real make a mess 😥

Dianne
12/6/2017 08:42:49 am

A fake tree – this year it’s a duo of cardboard trees decorated with recycled items! Thanks.
PS: I’ve never experienced real snow yet either – it always snows the week after I visit the Blue Mountains.

Wendy
12/6/2017 11:27:30 am

I prefer a fake tree as I hate the smell of pine
Reply
Monique McDonell
12/7/2017 03:10:10 pm

I’m a real tree all the way…I’m getting mine from the Scouts tomorrow.

Karen Teasdale
12/9/2017 03:58:56 pm

No tree this year, real or fake – my fun thing this year is lots of candles and lights, including flickering orange ones that look like flames in the fireplace! Merry Christmas!
Reply
Monique McDonell
12/17/2017 09:23:04 pm

Karen, you’re the winner of my books – email me at mcdonellmonique(at)gmail.com and I’ll send them off to you.

Nancy Burgess
12/9/2017 06:32:47 pm

My children are grown so I put up an artificial tree.
Reply
Debbie Martin
12/9/2017 10:06:41 pm

We have a fake tree that the lights blink with the music.

Carol
12/9/2017 11:23:00 pm

I have a small fake tree that I can put up high on a shelf so the cats can’t get to it. I also have a crocheted tree my mother made me.

Margie Rico
12/10/2017 07:04:07 am

We have a fake one because real ones bother my allergies. There are some beautiful fake ones though! I also have a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. It is so cute!

Gail
12/11/2017 06:31:12 pm

With the kids and dogs – we use a fake tree

Deborah Sisk
12/11/2017 07:19:21 pm

A fake tree. Unfortunately, I am allergic to real ones.

Laura Slider
12/11/2017 08:28:05 pm

I do a fake tree, but hang scent sticks in it to get the smell of Christmas.

Jean White
12/12/2017 09:29:45 am

I do a fake tree every year since we a real tree and were finding pine tree needles still in the carpet at Easter!! They got under the couch and chair.

Lori Payer
12/12/2017 03:44:06 pm

We have a fake tree. With having allergies, mess from the pine needles and the bugs the fake works better for us.

Michelle Catallo
12/12/2017 05:45:41 pm

I have had the same fake tree for around a decade and the one prior to that for two decades. It works for me. I may get a small real tree next year just to downsize as it will only be my youngest son and I for the holidays.