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Monday, 3 October 2016

An Aussie Summer Christmas by Narelle Atkins


BITB welcomes inspirational author Narelle Atkins!


Photo credit: www.amazon.com
I love reading Christmas romances. I often dream about experiencing a white Christmas like the characters in the inspirational romances I read by my favourite North American authors. My real life Aussie Christmas experience is very different to the winter-themed stories.

I grew up on the northern beaches in Sydney. My aunt and uncle lived across the road from Long Reef Beach in Collaroy. When I was younger I'd enjoy our Christmas day family lunch with turkey and all the trimmings. After lunch I'd head to the beach with my sister and cousins. Swimming in the ocean on Christmas Day is a foreign concept to most of my friends who live in the Northern Hemisphere.

The contemporary inspirational romance novellas in An Aussie Summer Christmas are set in coastal Australia and reflect our hot summer Christmas. We play in the sun instead of the snow and love our outdoors lifestyle.

I've invited a few of my co-authors to share what they love about Christmas.

Andrea Grigg lives in Queensland. She says: 'I love our family barbecue brunches on Christmas Day and the fact we have a Christmas baby! She'll be 29 this year. It's a special time.'

Photo credit: Andrea Grigg

Meredith Resce lives in Victoria, and says: 'I love the warm summer Christmas Eve, where we get together with family and friends to sing carols outside, under the stars. If it's not too high fire danger, we might carry a candle as well.'

Marion Ueckermann lives in South Africa, and says: 'The Christmas Eve dinner - the table, the food, and then the presents - my favourite tradition, everyone's favourite memory. My latest favourite tradition is making a gingerbread house.'


Photo credit: Marion Ueckermann      
Photo credit: Marion Ueckermann

GIVE AWAY ALERT!!

What do you love about Christmas? I'm giving away an Amazon Kindle copy of An Aussie Summer Christmas to a reader who leaves a comment on this post. (Winner announced on next week's blog!)

 

Narelle Atkins

 

Love to love:

Everything about Christmas. I agree with the song - It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. My family enjoys watching Carols by Candlelight on television on Christmas Eve and seeing the Christmas lights in our neighbourhood.

Photo credit: Narelle Atkins

Love to laugh:

...about how our daughter learned the truth about Santa at the age of five. She snuck out of bed and caught us wrapping presents at midnight! We made her promise not to share her discovery with her friends.

Love to learn:

More about the craft of fiction writing. My New Year's Resolutions always include professional development goals for my writing career.
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26 comments:

  1. Malvina3 October 2016 at 07:20

    What a lovely blog about Aussie Christmas, Narelle. I loves reading it amd looking at the photos. I only know what it's like to have a hot summer Christmas; I've never been away for a 'cold' one. I'm looking forward to reading this box set, it's now waiting on my Kindle.

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  2. Sharon Bryant3 October 2016 at 08:14

    Thank you for sharing the fun of an Aussie Christmas with us, Narelle. I love being able to swim on Christmas day and staying outside together in the evening enjoying family conversation, Christmas cake and drinks.

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    1. Narelle3 October 2016 at 08:22

      Hi Sharon, You're very welcome :) I do miss swimming in the ocean on Christmas Day - the downside of living away from the coast. My mum makes a Christmas Cake each year for our family celebrations.

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  3. Narelle3 October 2016 at 08:17

    Hi Malvina, Thanks for the opportunity to visit your lovely blog :) I remember one Christmas Day in Melbourne when it only reached 18C. That was cold by my standards, lol. I hope you enjoy the stories in An Aussie Summer Christmas. Congrats to all the Sharkie fans on the great NRL Grand Final victory last night! I'm sure everyone in The Shire is still celebrating today. :)

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  4. Unknown3 October 2016 at 09:56

    Thank you for a great post, Narelle. Unfortunately my copy of your box set novellas is still on my To Be Read pile, Narelle! If the stories are anywhere near as good as your novels, they will be great reads. Good to find this blog site as have at least a couple of friends who are members! Hi, Malvina and Enisa. congratulations on this very active writers' group.

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    1. Enisa3 October 2016 at 10:02

      Hi Mary. Lovely to see you here. Thanks for visiting.

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    2. Narelle3 October 2016 at 20:03

      Hi Mary, I hope you'll enjoy our Aussie stories when you have a chance to read them :) We won't talk about how long our Kindle tbr lists are, lol. I just can't resist adding new books to my tbr list.

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  5. Enisa3 October 2016 at 09:58

    Hi Narelle. Thanks for an enjoyable read about Aussie Christmas experiences, so different to those in the midst of a snowy winter. I love looking at the lit up homes and the displays in shop windows. Unlike you laughing at yiur daughter, I cringed at my nephew. He was only 2. We had been to one shopping centre where he saw Santa. The same day we were at another shopping centre with a different Santa. He spotted the difference and yelled at every passerby: "Santa's not real! He's a man dressed up!" I had to drag him away and get him to quiet. His cleverness took him from his childhood too fast.

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    1. Narelle3 October 2016 at 19:59

      Hi Enisa, Wow, your nephew is way too smart! The Christmas displays are pretty, and it won't be long until we see them again. :)

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  6. Jeanette O'Hagan3 October 2016 at 10:14

    Hi Narelle, my closest to a white Christmas was visiting England (snow as far as Devon) and Canada in January. Christmas for me is often a summer storm, enjoying Christmas lunch with family in the park or at the pool.

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    1. Narelle3 October 2016 at 20:11

      Hi Jeanette, Yes, summer storms and Christmas do seem to go together. Very different to snow in England and Canada. :)

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  7. Rita Galieh3 October 2016 at 11:34

    Oh yes, for me heat and Christmas go together. And beaches, barbecues. AND our traditional Christmas rag pudding. The recipe was passed down from my great grandmother and now my son is a dab hand at making it. In fact I couldn't resist sharing the recipe in my last book A Parcel of Promises where the heroine was an apprentice cook at Windsor Castle.

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    1. Narelle3 October 2016 at 20:12

      Hi Rita, I love the traditional rag puddings! I'm glad your son is carrying on the family tradition. :)

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  8. Unknown3 October 2016 at 12:33

    Hi Narelle, thanks for the blog about Christmas. My fathers birthday is Christmas day so we always had a combined xmas and birthday lunch. Usually a hot roast with pudding or a BBQ followed by swimming in the backyard pool. I loved it. We still do that but its now at my place. We also have a street competition as to who can decorate their house with the most xmas lights. It gives a great atmosphere and my neighbours come out to enjoy the warm nights and the lights. This usually leads to a few glasses of wine and a get together. Its a great time of year. Although our electricity bill is a bit scary...

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    1. Narelle3 October 2016 at 20:20

      Hi Karen, My aunt's birthday is on Christmas Eve, and we celebrated her birthday on Christmas Day. I love visiting the streets near us where all the houses are lit up. Lots of fun. :)

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  9. Marilyn Forsyth3 October 2016 at 16:13

    Hi Narelle. For me, Christmas is all about family. Our two boys bring their babies to our place in the morning for the present opening (always so much fun with littlies!) and then comes the barbie. We eat around the same huge round table that once belonged to my grandmother. I'm hoping our grandbabies will have similar wonderful memories of family Christmases to the ones I have from my childhood.

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    1. Narelle3 October 2016 at 20:22

      Hi Marilyn, It's lovely to share Christmas with small children. Mine are older now, and we all enjoy our family Christmas celebrations. :)

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  10. Marionu3 October 2016 at 19:57

    Great post, Narelle. And it was super fun being in this Aussie boxed set. In 2014 I had my one and only winter Christmas when we went to Finland, and then on to Lapland for a few days so I could research for my novella, Poles Apart. We got to meet the 'REAL' Santa ... was all good fun and I used all the experiences in my story. Also interesting to experience Christmas in a totally different culture - some things totally different, some quite similar.

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    1. Narelle3 October 2016 at 20:25

      Hi Marion, I loved reading Poles Apart, and hearing about your family Christmas in Finland. :) Meeting the real Santa is definitely a once in a lifetime experience!

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  11. Melissa Woods3 October 2016 at 20:56

    Christmas is magical no matter where you live. Seeing the happiness of your children on Christmas eve knowing someone special is coming is truly unique.

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    1. Narelle6 October 2016 at 17:35

      Hi Melissa, Yes, Christmas is a very special and exciting time of year for children. It was always hard to convince my children when they were younger to go to sleep on Christmas Eve. :)

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    2. Miranda12 October 2016 at 09:34

      Hi Melissa, you've won a copy of Narelle's wonderful box set, An Aussie Summer Christmas! Please email us at breathlessinthebush@gmail.com and leave your email details, so you can receive you prize! CONGRATULATIONS!

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  12. Cassandra Samuels3 October 2016 at 22:07

    You know what is scary about your post Narelle? It's made me realise that Christmas is just around the corner...and I am so not ready! I love Christmas stories and really look forward to this box set. My Christmas seems to go for weeks. We have St Nick (I'm half Dutch) early in December, then a gathering of my father's side before Christmas and then the family on Christmas day and then my mother's clan on Boxing day. It's full on but a lot of fun too. Love catching up with all my family.

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    1. Narelle6 October 2016 at 17:43

      Hi Cassandra, The Christmas decorations are already on display in the stores! It's lovely when we have the opportunity to catch up with family at Christmas. :)

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  13. Unknown4 October 2016 at 00:07

    Hi everyone - thanks for allowing Narelle to visit and let you all know about our box set. I've loved working with this group of authors. Most of all, I've loved being able to write about our Aussie-style Christmases. We live in an amazing country, don't we? Again, thanks for having us :)

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    1. Narelle6 October 2016 at 17:51

      Hi Andrea, I've loved working with you on our boxed set. Thanks for stopping by. :)

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