To celebrate being part of the Kid’s Books Holiday Blog Hop I am offering
2 Kindle versions of The Golden Scarab as prizes
 to Blog Hop visitors who leave a comment on this post during the blog hop.

Christmas Down Under

As I was growing up, I remember that all movies or tv shows I saw about Christmas included snow. ‘Of course it does!’ you say.

There’s always snow on the mountains, snow in the yard, snow on the garden. You watch it fall from the sky while you’re toasty warm inside the house. Christmas cards nearly always have snowmen or snow scenes. Even the Christmas tree has (fake) snow on the ends of its branches.  Tree decorations are the shape of snowflakes, or have snow on them in one form or another. You also spray stencils on your windows, with snow from a can. You build snowmen, have sled rides and snowball fights on Christmas day. Santa lives in the snow.  His reindeer love the snow. His sled is made to fly and glide across snow. I think you see what I mean … Christmas and snow goes together. It’s the natural thing.

WRONG! Now let’s flip this whole thing upside down. Now imagine you’ve magically transported yourself Down Under. Based on what I’ve just listed above, Christmas is not what you would expect. The sun is shining high in the sky. The temperature is usually in the mid-to-high 30s C (90s). The weak breeze blows offering a little respite. We sit around the tree on Christmas morning and the kids’ excitement fills the air as the presents are handed out and opened.  Soon after, the kids play cricket in the back yard. At lunch we all feast on a barbie (BBQ) with steak, snags (sausages), prawns (shrimp) and salads.  We drink cold beer, soft drink (soda) and wine as the family gathers.  Then we have our fill of the cakes, pavlova, fruit and ice-cream. The kids jump in the pool and spend hours splashing in the cool water, while the crazy uncle joins them, and the adults sit and share fun and jokes. Some of us need to travel from one place to another to spend time with friends and family, each place loaded with more food, more fun and more sun. We drink in the awesome summer weather as we head to the beach to walk along the sandy shores, or catch some waves, or have a surf.  Sometimes we play beach cricket or footy or Frisbee.

It’s what we grew up with, so it’s quite normal to us.

The weird thing is, that since I was a kid I’ve dreamed of a white Christmas. I’ve never had one, but I will one day – it’s on my list.

Isn’t it strange how we always long for the opposite of what we have.

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Speaking of Christmas. I bet you will need some time to relax once it’s all over.  That’s the perfect time to curl up with a new book, or to read one that you may have received as a gift. Let me suggest a couple of the most outstanding books that have ever been written … mine :^)

They are Middle Grade books, but they are also loved by parents. These books are perfect stocking stuffers for the kids.  The first two books of The Quest Series are:

The Golden Scarab (Book #1)

The Cursed Nile (Book #2)

This is a fast-paced and exciting middle grade time-travel adventure, that’s sure to knock your socks off. Try putting Percy Jackson, Matthew Reilly, Indiana Jones and Harry Potter in a blender … you get The Quest Series.

To celebrate being part of the Kid’s Books Holiday Blog Hop I am offering
 2 Kindle versions of The Golden Scarab as prizes
 to Blog Hop visitors who leave a comment on this post during the blog hop.

PLUS

The Kid’s Books Holiday Blog Hop itself has a Grand Prize Giveaway as well.

(see below for Grand Prize Giveaway details then click the Blog Hop link to continue your hop)

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Grand Prize Giveaway!

As part of the Kid’s Books Holiday Blog Hop we are giving away a $30 Amazon Gift Card to one lucky winner. To enter, just leave a comment on this blog along with your email address and you will be in the running to win. You can enter on all of the blogs – that will give you multiple chances to win!

The Giveaway starts 12/7/12 and ends 12/10/12 at midnight. I will notify the winner on 12/11/12 after noon. Good luck!