A photo journey of my travels so far...

It's time for a postcard from me. I can't believe my trip has gone so quickly. And I can see my return date rapidly approaching, too, argh!

So, what have I been doing? Well, looking back over my photos from the past few weeks, it would appear I've been doing a lot of eating and drinking, because there seem to be an inordinate number of photos of wine, cups of tea, and plates of beautifully arranged food.

But it hasn't just been an orgy of dining. I have also seen some pretty amazing places. And hung out with some amazing people.

And seen amazing things.

Like Bevo, who I met in Austin, Texas:

Me and my best bud, Bevo.

Bevo is the official mascot of the Longhorns, the Texas University football team. I have a friend who is an exceptionally passionate fan, who took me to visit both Bevo and the Longhorns merchandise store (all three levels of it). Let's just say I now own more Longhorns merchandise than is entirely savoury for someone who's never actually seen a game (and isn't entirely sure on the rules, despite having watching most of the Superbowl (we turned off when the lights went out, it was getting boring, and besides, Downton Abbey was on.))

I can't wait to wear my Longhorns charm bracelet one night out in Melbs. :)

I also visited some amazing stores in Texas.

Proof I was really in TX.

It got a little chilly, so although I've been keeping a tight hold on the purse strings, I did need a cute new hat to keep my head warm. This one has been doing the trick nicely.

Austin is filled with quirky stores. Lots of Mexican-style handcrafts and decor items too. I adored this wall of crosses.

Although if I was going to take one home, it would have probably been one like this:

All covered in skulls and icons. Love it.

Then there was this store:

                   

It was huge and each little alcove was filled with treasures in the same color family. Red is my favourite color, and there were so many things I wanted to take home, but had to keep remembering luggage limits. So I settled for a photo instead. So much cute stuff in one place.

And just in case you're thinking that Texas has a monopoly on awe-inspiring stores, here's a photo of a place in my very own neighbourhood:

It appears to be primarily filled with a huge number of layered cake stands, but there are also shelves of gorgeous little treasures, and heap of sparkly costume jewellery.

But when it comes to the just plain amazing, nothing beats a store I visited just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. Mr Clines Antiques is a very unique place. It's filled with what I guess some people might call "junk": old signs, old furniture and just plain weird stuff that defies description.

Like these little guys:

I just want to know what they're looking at. Are they watching a Hitchcock movie? Or waiting on the last lotto number to drop in? Or just really, really busting to pee?

And then there was this cute-as-hell little money bank that I desperately wanted to buy. When you put your money in the businessman's head, the hot dog vendor hands over the hot dog. Seriously, how cute is that??

But it was made from cast iron. I could barely lift the thing. Let alone ship it back to Australia with me. Shame. I pouted about that for a while.

These next items were intriguing but there was definitely no chance of them being slipped into my suitcase for the ride home.

Those of you familiar with The Bloggess will no doubt recognise this as a field of poor, neglected Beyonces.

And yes, these chickens will cut you. 

(Did you notice me wearing the sheepskin coat in the previous photo? That belonged to my lovely friend Lee Ann, and I'm so lucky she loaned it to me, because I was woefully underprepared to wander around outside in -2C weather. There was ice on the ground!)

Did I mention that this place is full of just plain weird stuff that defies description? This next photo definitely falls into that category.

It's entire purpose seems to be to enable juvenile-minded people such as myself to take a series of rude photos. But seriously, if it was you, you would have done just the same thing, wouldn't you? Of course you would.

And after all that absurdity, now I want to share with you my favourite photo so far.

I took this photo of the sunrise at Badin Lake.

Those of you who know me well have just gasped twice. Once at the sheer beauty of the photo, and second at the idea of me even being conscious at sunrise, let along taking photos. Well, I was, and I did, so there. With a view like that, who wouldn't make the most of every day?

That's about it for my travel tales today.

I am writing a post in my head about the wonderful (and bizarre) food I've encountered, so stay tuned for that soon!

Emmie's adventures in La La Land

Hello everyone! A few days ago, I packed up my belongings and got on a plane for a (very) long time.

Setting off on my journey! 

Apart from being very bumpy, the plane ride went off without a hitch, and I'm now safely ensconced in my new, temporary home in Los Angeles. It's the cutest little apartment, just a bit back from the street. I'm in Venice, about a ten minute walk to the beach. I have a courtyard, an office and -- most importantly for this little princess -- a very comfortable bed.

My little courtyard -- the perfect spot for an afternoon vino
after a hard morning's writing...

In my neighborhood, there are funky shops, innumerable cafes, palm trees -- in other words, it's about as close to St Kilda as you could get outside of Melbourne. (So I like travel, but I also like being at home -- this is the best of both worlds.)

It's winter here, so it's a little chilly. But after doing a little wandering and exploring over the past few days, I've discovered that the best time to be out and about is between 11am and 3pm. It's quite warm and pleasant -- jeans and a jumper (sweater) weather. After 3 it starts to get a little cool and the sun begins to go down. To be honest, I knew I was coming into winter, and packed accordingly, but I'd kind of forgotten about that whole sun-going-down-early thing. At home right now it's still dusk at 8.30-9pm. Here it's pretty much completely dark by 5.30. Should have thought about that.

Why am I here? Well there are lots of reasons, but part of it is to get a change of scenery and reinvigorate my writer's brain. So far, it's working. I wouldn't say I've been exceptionally prolific, but I have been writing every day and that's a change from how things were in the final part of last year. I've also had a few writerly things to get done, like the AAs for Just For Today, as well as going back and having a look over Spellbound, my newly contracted erotica story for Destiny Romance. (Still doing jumpy claps about that one!)

A photo of a mural I spotted on my walkabout this afternoon.

I've only just arrived, really, but I'm heading off shortly for an adventure with a friend in Texas. I'm going to Dallas and Austin, and I've never been to either place, so I'm very excited. I've heard great things about Austin in particular, so I'm going to take lots of photos and come back and give you all an update about that!

In the meantime, happy writing to all of you -- hope 2013 is off to a great start with words flowing!

Cassie Goes Global

So it seems Cassie is really getting out there! I have proof myself having just seen my actual book in an actual store! Check it out: Cassie in the Las Vegas Walmart!!

Yes, a silly grin, but I can't help it!

I've also been thrilled to receive more entries from readers around the world. Here is Maria M in Lucknow in North India!! She tells me that the book isn't yet on sale on shelves in the country, but she ordered her copy online. Thanks for taking a chance on a newbie author, Maria!

Maria in India! I think from that secretive smile she must be reading the
scene where Cassie and Ronan are on the beach in Perth...!

Our second entry today comes from Louise R and she's sent us a glorious photo of Cassie on the Freycinet Peninsula in Tasmania.

Gorgeous scenery and gorgeous reader! 

 Here's one more submission -- this one is from me. Yesterday I had the enormous pleasure of driving from Lake Tahoe to Las Vegas through the Sierra Nevadas and down through Death Valley. It is seriously some of the most breathtaking scenery ever.

Nothing to see here -- just a mad author...

After passing through all the secret US bases and missile silos (some parts along that road are seriously a little creepy and had us recalling movies like Independence Day) we stopped on the side of the road to take some photos.

I'm spending the next few days in Las Vegas and then heading for parts as-yet-unknown. I'm sure there will be more opportunities for photos of my book in bizarre places though, so stay tuned!

While I'm off wandering the the world, Emmie's global blog tour of world domination continues unabated. Check out my author blog tour page which lists all the places I'm "appearing". Comments are always welcomed!