Coastal Christmas Blog Hop!

 
Well, what better for a blog revival than a Christmas blog! Thanks for dropping by!

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I meet so many people who don’t like Christmas. I’m sure their reasons are sound to them, but I love it! It’s without a doubt my favourite time of the year where all of our family come together on the banks of the Mighty Murray river and we eat, drink and be very merry.

My husband’s family are European and celebrate on Christmas Eve so it’s like an early present to kick things off a day before the rest of the country. Our table is set with hand-stitched runners, silver cutlery, the best crockery and little crystal glasses to hold home-made seafood sauce. We then dig into crayfish and prawns, roast meats for the not seafood inclined, herring salad, potato salad, the list goes on. Omi makes strawberry punch to cool everyone down and then the kids open presents until we’re all yawning and ready for bed. The next day we do it all again at my parent’s for dinner. By Boxing Day, belts are loosened, a near fatal food coma claims the hubby and the kids sit knee deep in toys and giggles. It’s magical! What’s not to love!

As much as I absolutely adore all of the above, we’ve had a very long winter here in the Adelaide Hills and I’ve been literally craving white sand and blue water. So much so that when my kids have beach volleyball, I slip my shoes off and dip my toes in the sand at the edge of the court rather than sit with the other mums.

It’s been said a few times that water feeds creativity. If your writing is blocked, you take a shower and reenergise. You could go for a walk in the rain, on the beach, go for a swim. I like to have long hot baths and read. It’s the only time I get (almost) total relaxation. Generally I find my difficult scene unlocks itself and I usually have to keep a notepad nearby so I can jot down ideas wrapped in a towel sitting on the edge of the tub.

When I was asked to be part of this great blog hop, I started thinking, none of my books are Christmas themed. I did start one once, a Regency that begins with a stolen Christmas tree to honour a long-standing tradition in a family down on their luck. One day I’ll finish it and get it out there.

The thread a lot of my books do seem to have is the water. Mixing Business with Pleasure takes a turn to the ocean after the heroine is injured by a loan shark and needs a break from it all. The Road to Ruin is a delicious romp with pirates so there’s water there too. I have an unpublished novel set on the Gold Coast and therefore, ocean, and a rooftop swimming pool. Bath scenes in historical novels always go down a treat and She’s the One is onset with filming of The Bachelor at the holiday destination that is Port Douglas in northern Queensland.

I guess water leeches into just about everything I do. Sometimes I run the warm water a little longer when I’m washing my hands I love it that much. Maybe I was a mermaid in a past life?

So my question to you is, what is your sign? What calls to you? Is it sinking your hands in the dirt, is it playing with fire (and not in a light-everything-on-fire-kind of way, more of a winter firelight kind of way) or is it the wind howling through the trees?

Make sure you hit the rafflecopter below for entries into the blog hop comp and feel free to take a look around while you’re here!
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Thanks for coming J  

One click my latest contemporary romance novel here -- She's The One

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