Of all the amazing writers gathered here, I have the honour of being the most "Southern" one of us all. So, as we say here, kia ora, from New Zealand.
Firstly, where on earth am I? Well if you pull out your trust globe or atlas (or Google map) and go down down down to the bottom of the world, you have Antarctica. Nope that's not me :) But if you head up a little you'll come across two islands that look like this.
I have the pleasure of living in our capital city (the one with the red star), Wellington. The best way to describe Wellington is like a mini version of San Francisco. Harbourside, hills, hills and more hills, big cafe, coffee and arts cultures and with winds that will have little people, like me, hanging onto traffic lights so they don't get blown across the road.
The other big thing that you need to know is that, with all due respect to my lovely Australian colleagues, we are not part of Australia, their colony or far flung outpost. And telling a Kiwi that New Zealand is part of Australia, is the equivalent of telling a Canadian that Canada is a state of the USA :)
And, while we unfortunately don't have hobbits, my country is every bit as beautiful as it looks on Lord of the Rings, or, for the more cultured among us, The Bachelor. In fact, having travelled a lot, and been privileged to see many amazing places, I am still constantly blown aware by the shear beauty of this amazing country that I get to live in.
None of which has anything to do with writing, but I'm afraid I just can't help but brag about New Zealand when someone foolishly gives me free reign and column inches to do so ;)
Anyway, I figure that you'll have plenty of time to hear about my writing (mis)adventures so my question for today is - if you were given an all expenses paid vacation to anywhere in the world that you have read about in a book, where would it be and why?
Mine are Vienna and Prague because I have a fascination with World War II and I've been wanting to go especially to these two places ever since I was 14 years old and read Brock and Bodie Thoene's Zion Covenant series.
Kara Isaac lives in New Zealand where she is a paper pushing bureacrat by day, and wedding planner extraordinnaire by night (but only for 58 more!). When she manages to blow the dust off her laptop, she tries to write stories that make people laugh. While her literary comic genius has yet to be recognized by a multi-gazillion dollar contract, she's confident that's just a glitch that the universe will soon rectify.
If you're a real sucker for punishment and want to hear far more about the dramas of her upcoming wedding than any sane person should, she can also be found at www.karaisaac.com.
Oh, and in case you can't tell by the picture, she really likes cake.
Kara, wonderful post. Congratulations on the upcoming nuptuals!!
ReplyDeleteI'd visit England if I had the opportunity. I love the historicals set there.
Oh ye of little faith - of course you have Hobbits. You just can't see them.
ReplyDeleteNew Zealand is on my list for places to visit if I can find enough sedation to get me there in one piece. We have very good friends who live somewhere in your country. Such good friends that I have no idea where...haha, but hope to track them down again some day! Australia is somewhere I would love to see because of the Thorn Birds. Loved that book.
Great post, Kara. We're heading over to New Zealand for a Christmas cruise next year. Can't wait to see the country, it's so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteoh gee ... which country??? I've gotten quite a few of them checked off both in Europe and Asia. If I say New Zealand, now I look like I'm sucking up :) - but my DH is dying to fly fishing in NZ. Other than that, I'd like to check out Chile and Peru since I've yet to hit the Southern scene. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm another suck up who has had NZ on my travel wish list for years -- because of Essie Summers. She made those islands sound heavenly. We did make is as far as the Cook Islands a few years ago so maybe we'll make it the rest of the way sometime.
ReplyDeleteBTW as a Canadian I appreciate your objection to being lumped in with Australia. I did it once but promise never to do it again. : )
I have always wanted to visit Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. My first Harlequins that I started collecting were Joyce Dingwell, Essie Summers and Margaret Way. I've seen a lot of pictures of Ireland and I would love to visit. I have some beautiful postcards of Irish Lighthouses that have incredible scenery. I am a postcard collector and have a special interest in lighthouse ones. They take up much less room than my book collection. I'm disabled now due to my severe RA so I do all my traveling through my books and postcards.
ReplyDeleteThere are lots of places I'd love to visit. A friend of ours moved to NZ a few years back and it would be cool to visit there. Or Australia. But I'd really love to go someplace with a sense of ancient history, like...Greece, maybe. I think in Western Canada where our towns are celebrating their centennials we just don't understand the depth of history! It doesn't feel 'new' to us here, but in the grand scope of things, it really is.
ReplyDeleteKara, great post! There are so many places I'd like to visit. I've read a few regency romances lately and I'd love to tour England. BTW, my son has enjoyed learning about NZ from your map :-)
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