By Narelle Atkins
Last week I read Marion Ueckermann’s debut contemporary romance novella, Helsinki Sunrise, set on an island near Helsinki in Finland. A great read, and you can check out my book recommendation here. One thing that struck me as I read Marion’s novella was the authenticity of the Finnish culture and setting that flavored the story. I consider Finland an exotic setting, and a place I’d love to visit. I live in Australia and many of our American readers consider Australia an exotic setting. A country they dream of visiting in real life, and enjoy reading about in books.
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| North Curl Curl Beach in Sydney, Australia. |
My conclusion is an exotic setting is like beauty, and very much in the eye of the beholder. We all have different ideas on which locations we consider exotic, often depending on our heritage and life experiences. I have a Friday Weekend Escape travel feature on my blog. Many of my guests showcase their home towns in locations I’d define as exotic.
I love travelling and reading fiction books set in different parts of the world. I was recently browsing our blog backlist titles page and 2013-2015 Releases page, which categorizes our book releases by country.
Through my reading I could travel to exotic locations outside Australia including:
- Africa with Lisa Harris and LeAnne Hardy
- historic India with Christine Lindsay
- China with Kathi Macias
- Japan with Jennifer Rogers Spinola
- England with Donna Fletcher Crow
- historic Scotland with Eva Maria Hamilton
- Ireland with Grace Bridges
- historic Siberia with Janice L. Dick
- UK, USA and Australia with Ian Acheson
- North America with Sandra Orchard, Valerie Comer, Jenn Kelly and Lisa Harris.
I can travel to other worlds and read sci-fi books by P.A Baines and Grace Bridges or fantasy by Valerie Comer.
Which settings do you consider exotic? Is there a particular exotic location or setting you enjoy reading, or would like to read?
Leave a comment on this post with the name of a book you'd like to read that's set in an exotic location, and I’ll put your name in the drawing. One lucky reader will win a $10 Amazon.com Gift Card that they can use to buy the books on their wish list. Don’t forget to include your email address with your comment. Good luck and happy reading!
NARELLE ATKINS writes contemporary inspirational romance and lives in Canberra, Australia. She sold her debut novel, set in Australia, to Harlequin's Love Inspired Heartsong Presents line in a 6-book contract.
Her debut book, Falling for the Farmer, was a February 2014 release, followed by The Nurse's Perfect Match in May 2014, The Doctor's Return in August 2014, Her Tycoon Hero in November 2014, and Winning Over the Heiress in February 2015.
Narelle blogs regularly with Australasian Christian Writers and Inspy Romance. http://australasianchristianwriters.blogspot.com/
She is also a co-founder of the Australian Christian Readers Blog Alliance (ACRBA).
Website: http://www.narelleatkins.com
Twitter: @NarelleAtkins https://twitter.com/NarelleAtkins
Definitely Japan! Sonja dot Nishimoto at gmail dot com
ReplyDeleteHi Sonja, I'd love to visit Japan and read books set there :)
DeleteHi Narelle,
ReplyDeleteI'm always encouraged by international friends who tell me that, in their opinion, Australia has an exotic mystique. It reminds me that since that's the case, those of us lucky enough to be born here are free to enjoy it.
I'd like to read Marion's Helsinki Sunrise too, and also several of the other books on the list you've mentioned. I wouldn't want to stop once I started.
Hi Paula, I agree, we're blessed to live in Australia. I have a large number of international books on my wish list and in my tbr Kindle queue :)
DeleteYes, definitely the eye of the beholder. I've come to realise that most people in the world view Tasmania as rather exotic, but to me it's as normal as it gets.
ReplyDeleteOne book with an exotic setting that I'm looking forward to reading sometime soon is Pennsylvania by Michael Bunker, which is about an Amish community that settle on a distant planet.
Hi Adam, I agree, many people would consider your beautiful island state an exotic setting. An Amish community in space...definitely an unusual and exotic setting :)
DeleteAdam, just the name TASMANIA sounds so exotic. Kind of like Timbuktu. :-)
DeleteI'm a big fan of exotic settings (which to me is anywhere but here - New Zealand!).
ReplyDeleteJeanette Windle has transported me to Afghanistan, Lisa Harris to Africa, Carla Laureano to Scotland, and Ronie Kendig to South America. I'm looking forward to Christine Lindsay taking me to India sometime soon :)
Hi Kara, I really enjoyed reading Christine's books that are set in India :)
Deletethe Snowgum Creek series, Australia is intriguing to me. I would love to sit on that beach & read one of your books! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Deanna, I hope you'll have the opportunity to read my Snowgum Creek books. The beach in the pic was one of my favourite beaches when I lived in Sydney. Thanks for stopping by :)
DeleteIts hard to say but to me places like Prince Edward Island is exoctic and Susan Paige Davis has a book Love finds me in Prince Edward Island. The other place is Alaska and Janet Tronstad has a new dry creek book that will be set in Alaska coming out soon.
ReplyDeleteHawaii is exotic to me also and Austria or Switzerland.
Hi Jenny, I've wanted to visited PEI ever since I read the Anne books as a young girl. It's on my travel wishlist, as well as an Alaskan cruise. I love Hawaii and I consider anywhere in Europe exotic. Thanks for stopping by :)
DeleteSo many places hold appeal to me as places I'd love to visit, although I would tend to reserve the word exotic for sun-drenched beach locales. :D
ReplyDeleteHi Sandra, I grew up on sun-drenched beaches and I tend to think snow and a white Christmas is exotic, lol. I know, you're roflol at my comment! :)
DeleteThanks for a great post, Narelle. I love writing in these exotic, foreign places. Currently I'm flitting between Glasgow, Scotland and Melbourne, Australia, as I work on my next two submissions for the Passport to Romance series. These novelettes by Pelican Book Group offer readers a great opportunity to travel to wonderful cities all over the world. Early next year readers will be able to travel to Oslo, Norway when Oslo Overtures releases. I'm so excited, not only to be able to whisk readers away to this beautiful location, but to have the opportunity to introduce them to the fascinating world of human flight as my hero and heroine are both professional wingsuiters.
ReplyDeleteWhat I find more exciting than the exotic locations I've been writing in for this series, is the way God just leads with the right story ideas - eg. when I chose wingsuiting for my Norway story, I had no idea that Norway was a wingsuiting mecca; when I chose a street busker and a barista for my Melbourne story, I had no idea that there's a huge busking and coffee culture to the city of Melbourne. Same goes for my Glasgow story and the choice of an opera singer for the heroine ... I subsequently discovered something that said "Glasgow...the city of music." The writing journey with God to these places is definitely the best thing of all.
Oh, ps. marion(dot)ueckermann(at)gmail(dot)com
DeleteHi Marion, Wow, it's amazing how the ideas for your foreign setting books are such a good match for the locale. Excellent coffee and busking is very Melbourne :)
DeleteTotally a God-thing, I have no doubt :)
DeleteClever post, Narelle. One of my next reads is journeying back in time to the Saba Kingdom (modern Yemen). It's where Tosca Lee's latest "The Legend of Sheba" is set. Yes, the story of the Queen and her visit to King Solomon.
ReplyDeleteI'm keen to read Lisa's novels soon, too, especially those with an African flavour. But Marion's sounds fascinating - Helsinki would be fun to explore both fictionally and in reality.
Hi Ian, Tosca's new release is on my wishlist, too. I've enjoyed reading Lisa's African books, as well as her LIS books and her latest series set in the USA :)
DeleteIt is interesting that exotic seems to be somewhere we are not. :-) What is exotic to me, might not be to you. There are also some settings I love reading, like historical England, but I don't see that as exotic. Maybe because, like Sandra said, exotic does bring to my mind sun-drenched beaches and places I see as beautiful, perhaps even glamorous, or maybe simply a place that is very different from my own culture. Thanks for sharing, Narelle!
ReplyDeleteHi Lisa, Yes, this is true! Different cultures definitely hold an exotic appeal :)
ReplyDeleteA romance in historical Scotland would suit me just fine! I'm fascinated by that part of the world.
ReplyDeleteandreagrigg@live.com
Congratulations Jenny Blake! Random.org drew your name as the winner of the Amazon Gift Card :)
ReplyDelete