Taste of Kiwi: Blog of Author Shelley Munro

A couple of months ago we purchased a new printer. It’s one of these new-fangled ones that does everything…if you can work out the instruction book that is! Fast forward to last weekend, and hubby decided to try out the scan function. He ended up scanning quite a few photos from an overland trip we did from London to Kathmandu.

This was the first big trip we did, and despite me catching malaria, we fell in love with many of the places we visited. I used this trip as the inspiration for one of my books, Wanderlust.

Instead of just posting a selection of the photos today, I thought I’d give you small snippets from my book, Wanderlust and some matching photos. BTW – Wanderlust is part of the Value in the Vaults program at Ellora’s Cave. You’ll pick it up at the bargain price of $0.99 there or $1.49 at Amazon Kindle.

I thought back to that day in Aleppo, Syria. My eyes narrowed while I remembered. The entire group had wandered through the crowded marketplace. Donkeys laden with huge loads of vegetables or bolts of cloth plodded down the narrow streets. Both locals and tourists jostled for space, the local people trying to carry out their business while tourists dallied, gawking at everything. It was noisy. Dusty.

The scent of petrol and oil was heavy on the air. We walked on, pushing our way through with all the panache of the locals. We learned quickly and we’d already visited the bazaars in Turkey. They were no place for correct and proper British manners and queues. The bazaars and marketplaces were every man or woman for himself. You pushed without being too pushy or else the locals walked all over you. And bargaining. We’d all learned to do that as well.

Without another word, we ambled down the dusty street, heading for Pushkar Lake. Other tourists wandered the streets, checking out shops and restaurants. Some wore red string bracelets on their wrists, reminding me we’d need to do the same—donate some money and receive a bracelet passport in return. Giving in and donating money stopped further harassment. Some of the priests were very persistent.

Top left: At a Pushkar cafe
Top right: The annual Pushkar camel fair
Bottom left: The crowded streets.
Bottom right: The beautiful lake

The sun lay low on the horizon when we drove in the old city of Jaisalmer, painting all the ochre-colored buildings a soft pink. I slowed the truck and waited for a cow to amble across the road in front of us.

A chill breeze blew over the flat rooftop but the knee-high wall plus the air-conditioning unit protected me from the worst. The sky glittered with a canopy of stars. I stared up at them, idly picking out fantastical shapes until my eyelids grew too weighty to hold open. A dog barked, the mournful howl picked up and repeated by another animal. Gooseflesh rippled over my arms. Talk about creepy. I heard others come up to the roof and settle down for the night, their chatter a low, background noise.

The mosquitoes came out about ten minutes later, the whine irritating and loud. Very loud. They flew in kamikaze circles around my head. I slapped my hand around my head a few times and snatched at the source of the sound. Missed. Muttering, I sat up and pulled out my mosquito net. I hadn’t put it up because there was nothing to hang it on. But desperation called for ingenuity. I covered my head and upper body with the netting, tucking it under my sleeping bag. It didn’t halt their whine but at least it stopped them landing and taking a bite.

“Don’t forget your water bottles and hats,” I said. There was always one who forgot if I didn’t remind them.

One of the camels grunted and made a loud whistling sound.

“Oh god. I think that camel farted,” Rosa said, waving her hand in front of her face.

“That will be your camel,” I said, attempting to keep a straight face.

Everyone laughed except Rosa, who pulled a face. “I expect farting is the least of our problems,” she said. “I hope I can walk by the end of the day.”

Shelley’s notes: I have very vivid memories of the mosquitoes and the dogs in Jaisalmer.  Between the barking and the buzzing around my head, I didn’t sleep a wink. I actually caught cerebral malaria on this trip and spent time in a New Delhi hospital. It’s part of the reason I look so skinny in the photos.

We enjoyed our camel ride very much but most of us walked like ducks the next day! Talk about sore muscles.

I’ve added some new photos to my online photo album. There are photos of the Forbidden City and the Chengdu pandas, and I’ve also uploaded some photos from England, Ireland, Nepal and India.

To explore my photo album follow this link and select the category you’d like to explore. Double click on the thumbnails to enlarge the photos.

More photos to come. Enjoy!

I managed to fool most of you with my lie last week. Without further ado, let the truth unfold…

1. A mountain gorilla almost sat on me in Rwanda.

TRUE! Visiting a family group of gorillas in Rwanda is my number one travel experience. We walked for miles through thick bush and hilly terrain before we found the gorillas. The silverback did a mock charge and came to a halt almost on top of me and this other guy from our group. It was thrilling and terrifying at the same time. I managed to sit on top of some ants, and when I had a shower back at camp they’d bitten my backside. At the time I didn’t feel a thing. Here’s a link to a few photos and my memories of the day.

2. A tiger growled and scared me half to death in India.

FALSE! I’ve visited India twice and loved it. In fact India is my favorite travel destination. I’ve never seen a tiger in the wild, but I’d dearly love to. Maybe next visit.

3. A stingray played with me during a helmet dive in Bora Bora.

TRUE! Hubby and I did a helmet dive during our recent cruise and had a close encounter with a stingray. I’m glad I did the helmet dive but was a little nervous beforehand. (I intend to do a post on Sunday about our dive and the stingray.)

4. Our hot air balloon crash landed and my glasses broke in Australia.

TRUE! We did a balloon ride over the vineyards in the Barossa. The wind had picked up while we were aloft and getting down proved a problem. The basket hit the ground hard, bounced and toppled over on its side, dragging on the ground for a hundred meters. We, and the rest of the basket occupants fell in a heap. The lenses popped out of my glasses and rattled around the bottom of the basket. Amazingly, I retrieved them in one piece and was able to get them put back into the frames.

5. A baby camel tried to lick me in Egypt.

TRUE! He was a curious wee chap and got up close and personal with me. He was a cutie and it was the best camel ride we’ve ever done.

6. Elephants milled around my tent during the middle of the night in Kenya.

TRUE! Our guides had to chase the elephants away in the middle of the night. Hubby and I didn’t hear a thing, but the proof was indisputable–big footprints and poop all around our tent.

7. Some pygmies took me hunting for dik-dik in Zaire.

TRUE! We visited a pygmy village and went hunting with them. We didn’t catch anything during our hunt. They were very fit and thought it was funny when we couldn’t keep up with them. The ants also attacked (they have horrid big ants that bite) and they laughed themselves silly while they helped to pick the ants off us. We were the sideshow for the day!

And the contest winner is…. Gayle O!

Congratulations, Gayle. I’ll email you privately about your prize.

I love going on holiday, but one of the things I always miss while I’m away is my own bed. There is nothing worse than an uncomfortable bed.

During my travels, I’ve slept in some interesting places:

1. Koa Cabins where the beds had rock-hard bases and no pillows. I didn’t sleep well until we went to K-Mart and purchased a small pillow each. Note – I do love Koa cabins though, despite their rock-hard beds!

2. In Egypt, one of the places we stayed had mouse dirt on the pillows. We changed rooms and the second room had the same problem. In the end, we gave up and made the best of it. I slept with one eye open all night, on the look out for rodents.

3. In Africa – we pitched our tents after dark, and they were on a slight hill. We slept on thin sleep mats and mine was on top of a rock. I ended up sliding down the hill, just trying to avoid that rock! Actually, this has happened in lots of places. Murphy’s Law applies here – if there’s a rock you will pitch your tent on it.

4. In Pakistan – the “hotel” where we stayed was owned by a very strange man with only one eye. At one stage, he was brandishing a gun after drinking a little too much alcohol. Several of us shared a room that night and we barricaded the door. We were pleased to leave the next morning!

5. In India – all the hotels were booked out because of a festival. Several of us had to sleep on the hotel roof with our sleep mats and sleeping bags. The mosquitoes had a real party that night and the dogs started barking in the small hours of the morning. They serenaded us for HOURS! The roof was very hard and uncomfortable. You might recognize this since my characters in Wanderlust experienced the same thing.

6. In Africa, we had to pitch our tents on the road because both sides of the road were thick jungle. It was wet and rainy, hot and humid and uncomfortable. We also had to get up really early before the trucks started coming through.

The ideal situation: We have a slat bed (I think you call them sleigh beds in the US). I like at least two pillows so I can prop myself up and read, but always sleep with one fairly flat pillow. I like crisp cotton sheets, hate flannelette sheets and electric blankets and king-size beds are good. My hubby is like a furnace, which is good in the middle of winter when I have cold feet, but not so much fun when it’s summer and really hot!

What is your preference when it comes to beds, linens, mattresses and pillows?

Travel-Ready Packing: Pack Light, Dress Right—Anytime, Anywhere
by Julie Ann Martin
Publisher: Argo & Cole Publishers
ISBN: 978-0-9791186-1-6
Publication Date: 1 Jan, 2010
Website: www.travelreadypacking.com
Amazon link: Travel-Ready Packing: Pack Light, Dress Right – Anytime, Anywhere

Any of my friends or family or people who visit my website knows how much I enjoy traveling and exploring different parts of the world. Since my marriage, my husband and I have spent months in Africa, America, Europe, Central America, India, Asia and Australia. Sometimes we traveled with our backpacks, and at other times, we went more up market. You’d think with all my experience in traveling that packing would be a breeze. Not so. It’s one thing that remains a bit of a trial for me, so when I saw that Ms. Martin’s publisher was offering Travel-Ready Packing for review, I grabbed the chance to learn from an expert.

Travel-Ready Packing has an intro which discusses things such as culture in different countries, fabric types and types of climate. The next part of the book is split into sections for each country or region of the world. Each of these sections gives the temperatures for different months of the year, a list of recommended clothing for both males and females, the risk of danger at the destination, recommended colors to wear and how casual or formal the dress-code is in the country being visited. There are also sections for business travelers and those who travel to adventure destinations, multi-climate packing and also a list for expatriate packing. At the rear of the book there’s a world map, which makes it a simple matter to find the country you’re visiting and look up the corresponding page reference. In fact the book covers everything I could think of from clothes to bags to accessories.

When I decided to “test” the book and relive my trip to Africa, the packing list was spot-on—exactly what I should have taken for my trip. It was also very accurate for my recent trips to Samoa and Phuket, Thailand. The only gap I could see was for a cruising holiday, but I think the lists for the South Pacific, which is where my cruise holiday is taking place, will do the trick nicely. I found the book easy to use, very readable, and as I mentioned very accurate with the suggested packing lists. No more back-breaking suitcases for me!

I recommend this book for anyone who intends to travel for work or pleasure. And romance writers, if you’re heading to a conference and you’re not sure what to pack, this is the book for you.

Shelley Munro

You can see from above that I’m all sorted with my packing now since I have this book to refer to. How do you approach packing for a trip or a holiday? Are you a good packer or do you forget half the things you need?

I’m doing a guest spot at The Rainbow Studio (part of the Romance Studio) and talking about reality shows and Fallen Idol. Here’s the link to my post at The Rainbow Studio.

James Belshaw, 26, and his girlfriend Sophia Severin, 23, from London, shared an unbroken kiss for 31 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds. They began kissing in the Plaza Shopping Centre in Oxford Street at 11:15 BST on Wednesday. The pair broke the previous record, which was set in the US four years ago, by more than half an hour. Throughout the event they were not allowed to sit, or fall asleep, could only take sustenance through a straw and had to stay kissing even while visiting the toilet.

Now that sounds a little extreme. I like kisses. I like reading about them and writing them, although I’m not sure about 31 plus hours of kissing. It makes my lips hurt thinking about it, but I thought we could share a few virtual kisses today.

Writers: post your excerpts up to 500 words maximum showing a kiss from your published book or work-in-progress. If it’s a naughty kiss with lots of explict language please post a WARNING at the top of your comment. Excerpts from m/m books are okay, but once again, post a warning at the top of your excerpt. If your book is published also leave us a buy link so we can explore further.

Readers and Writers: Tell me what you like to see in a kiss. If you have any kiss trivia you’d like to add, tell us about it. I’m giving away several spot prizes of downloads from my New Concepts books. All you need to do is post a comment and you’re in the draw. I’ll announce the winners on Sunday. If you like a kiss excerpt, tell the author. We love praise!

Kiss Quotes

It was brief, swift, and then it was done. It was a professional job. I needed to be kissed, and I was kissed. ~Actress Uma Thurman

This girl said “Yes” when I wasn’t ready. I kissed her lightly and got so dizzy I had to sit down. ~Actor Antonio Banderas

The first kiss I had was the most disgusting thing in my life. The girl injected about a pound of saliva, into my mouth, and when I walked away I had to spit it all out. ~Leonardo DiCaprio

If you kiss on the first date and it’s not right, then there will be no second date. Sometimes it’s better to hold out and not kiss for a long time. I am a strong believer in kissing being very intimate, and the minute you kiss, the floodgates open for everything else.
~Jennifer Lopez

A kiss can be a comma, a question mark or an exclamation point. That’s basic spelling that every woman ought to know. ~Mistinguett (Jeanne Bourgeois), Theatre Arts, December 1955

People who throw kisses are mighty hopelessly lazy. ~Bob Hope

Kissing is like drinking salted water. You drink, and your thirst increases. ~ Chinese Proverb

I’ll leave you with a kiss from my latest release, Wanderlust.

Sebastian moved closer, stopping when we almost touched, his expression cloaked in shadows. “Is that it? Don’t I get a kiss good night?”

“I—” His lips came down on mine, interrupting my train of thought about mixing business and pleasure. He nibbled my bottom lip, nipping and soothing the sexy bite with his tongue. When I gasped, he took advantage, pushing his tongue inside. Our tongues moved together in a sensual dance. Our breath mingled. It was as if we’d never parted. Sebastian drew me closer, fitting our bodies together. My breasts squashed against his muscled chest, increasing the throb of excitement that pounded me. It had been so long. It would be so easy to open the door to my cabin and let him inside. Apart from the fact that Elizabeth would arrive back at some stage and it was against hotel rules.

My mind hazed with pleasure, moisture starting to form between my thighs. Temptation slithered through my veins, and it was with deep regret that I pulled back from the kiss. “Good night, Sebastian.”

He smoothed his palm across my cheek. The tender gesture brought renewed desire and the siren lure of lust and temptation. So enticing just to step into his arms, hold on and never let go.

“Good night, sweetheart. Happy birthday.” He smiled before turning away and walking off into the darkness.

When my husband and I traveled through India, we went with a group. Much like the characters in my new release Wanderlust, we traveled in a truck, both camping and staying in hotels during our circuit of India. At the beginning of the trip we decided we’d play a game that’s all about murder. Here’s how it works:

Everyone receives a slip of paper, one of which bears the word “murderer”. Once the murderer is picked he or she quietly tells one member of the group they are murdered and how they must die. That particular person must pretend to die in the chosen manner and then he or she is out of the game. The murderer chooses his next victim and waits for them to die before choosing another. The object of the game is for the person acting as the murderer to kill off everyone before someone in the group discovers his “or” her identity.

One person acts as the judge. All players can take one guess at the murderer’s identity. If they make an incorrect guess, they are out of the game.

Here’s a little real life drama from when we played the murder game during our trip to India. My husband was in charge of lighting campfires each night, and the murderer suggested he died very realistically with fire. He scared me half to death. I was so angry and upset I refused to play the game any longer. I also didn’t talk to my husband for a few hours. Mr. Munro won the prize for the best death, and we still have his small plastic Oscar trophy. It’s bright orange – for those who’d like to picture it.

In Wanderlust, the passengers play the murder game. Anna, the tour leader isn’t very amused with her passengers when they pretend to die. And when her passengers start dying for real, she’s not impressed with the game at all!

I’m guest blogging over at Jenyfer Matthew’s blog today. The excerpt over at Jenyfer’s site shows the first death in the murder game. Everyone who comments on Jenyfer’s blog goes into a draw to win a download of Playing to Win. What are you waiting for – hop over and say hello.

An excerpt from Anna Tietjen’s travel journal. Anna is the tour leader of OE68, a Wanderlust Adventures overland trip from London to Kathmandu.

~*~
Felixstow, England.
There are eleven passengers on the tour, and for a change the male/female split is about even. The ages range from 19 – 32 and there’s a mix of Australian, New Zealand and British passengers with one lone American. Like most trips, all the passengers seem pretty subdued at the moment, feeling their way with people who will become close friends or possibliy enemies for the next four months.

After checking off names, Greg and I loaded the luggage in the back locker and the passengers piled on board Alice (our truck). Home for the next few months. It should be a good trip. I’ve driven the route from London to Kathmandu a couple of times before. This is my second trip as leader. Greg, my co-driver is great to work with and thankfully, he doesn’t spend time trying to talk me into sex. Not gonna happen. Ever. It’s a personal rule. I don’t sleep with my co-driver or the passengers, although I might share a room to keep costs down. This is work. My personal life (Sebastian) is separate and that’s the way I like it.

Once we were on board the ferry, we left the truck and headed up to the passenger deck. I had a quick word with the passengers, trying to connect faces with names, and arranged a meeting point for them in the morning. That done, Greg and I went to the bar for a quick drink before finding our cabin. The passengers were on their own…

Wanderlust by Shelley Munro, coming to Cerridwen Press on 17 April 2008. Read an excerpt here.

Coming to Cerridwen Press on 17 April 2008.