Please help me welcome author Lynn Crain! After some electronic difficulties yesterday, Lynn has brought us a fantastic post today:) You can find out about all of Lynn's writing at http://www.twitter.com/oddlynn3;%20www.lynncrain.blogspot.com
Welcome, Lynn!
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
I know, I sound like Mr. Rogers or something from my childhood but my neighborhood is much, much different than the average place. Every day I look out my window and see...palaces...you heard me right. Sure, there are a few other things as well, but my up-close-and-personal view is of two palaces; one well-known, the other not so much.
In May of last year, my husband and I moved to Vienna, Austria for his new job. At first, I didn’t like it because the culture shock took me by surprise. Yes, I was expecting the normal getting-use-to a new place syndrome but this went far beyond that. I’d never been anywhere where I couldn’t communicate with people yet I landed in Vienna without a word of German in my vocabulary. Now...that’s not quite true...I knew nein was no and ja was yes. But that’s it...which is sad in a way...my mother’s family came from Germany in the mid-1800s and I’d never really thought about it before living here.
While I’m here, I plan to explore all that I can by traveling around Europe. We’ve already went to Rome, it was smaller than I expected, and are planning another trip, destination unknown, for our anniversary this month. Still, every weekend is an adventure as we discover the city we now live in.
On any given Saturday, we start by looking out our windows. If I’m in my office, I look to the left and can see the Palais Schwartzenberg. Straight out the window, I look upon the guardhouse of Belvedere and if I look right, I can maybe see the tiptop of that Palais. The grounds are a beautiful sight to see first thing in the morning...see for yourself...here’s a bit of what I see.
Once we take the dog for a walk, have breakfast then shower, we’re off to a place called the Naschmarkt. This is like a huge Farmer’s Market, only better. Parts of it are open every day while others, like the flea market, are only open on Saturday. There are all sorts of fresh fruits and veggies as well as restaurants, bakeries and a variety of cheese and souvenir shops. It’s an interesting and wonderful place to be.
One of the final things we do on a Saturday is to go on a long, long walk with the dog. Sometimes we go here in a place called the Prater. It used to be a royal hunting ground, one of many, for the Hapsburg. Sometime in the late 1700s, it was decided that it would be great to open it up to the people. As you can see, the hauptallee, or street as we would call it, is long and tree-lined. It is pretty much the purview of pedestrians as well as bikers, skateboards and inline skate enthusiasts. There’s an occasional car or two but they are mainly service vehicles and or the police.
The Prater is also an amusement park with plenty of rides for kids and young adults. There are arcade games, places to eat and a Ferris wheel that allows one to see the whole city from the top. There is even the occasional dining experience in the cars, which are the size of a small bus. They were originally built in 1873 for the World Exposition.
After the long walk, we come home and reflect on anything new we’ve seen and plan for Sunday. Nothing is open at all in Vienna and it is truly a day of leisure. Again, we’ll either go for long walks, visit a museum or try to go see something new that we’ve never seen before. No matter what we do, the neighborhood is always wonderful and now that winter is gone, warm, sunny and a sight to behold.
Hope you enjoyed a little peek into my life in Vienna.
Lynn
Here’s a little more insight to Lynn and her world...enjoy!
Was your road to publication a delightful stroll in the park or a tiring jog over hot coals? It was a tiring jog but most of the time the coals were cold. LOL! It just took me a long, long time to get it done right.
Do you have critique partners? Absolutely, my work wouldn’t be what it is today without the women of my crit group!
If you were going to cast the hero of your book, what actor would get the part? Most of the time it’s either Hugh Jackman or Ryan Reynolds. They are both hotties in my book!
How likely are people you meet to end up in your next book? Funny, you should say that...LOL! I have a t-shirt that says, ‘Careful: You might wind up in my next NOVEL’ and I was wearing the other day. My husband started snickering and I asked him why. He told me there was never a more true t-shirt he’d ever seen in his life. Go figure. LOL!
If you could time travel would you go forward or backward? Wow...this is a hard one...I would have to say both. There are times I’d love to go back to...like the building of Stonehenge and Roman times...but I’d sure love to be around when they cure all the diseases and to see man land on a planet far away.
What is your favorite dessert/food? A cake called Belvedere Cake. It is divine and that’s saying something from a woman who doesn’t care for sweets or chocolate. Yeah, my husband says that too! LOL!
What is your favorite writing conference to attend? Desert Dreams in Phoenix. It’s only every couple of years but it reminds me of the early years of RWA. I love it!
Check out Lynn’s latest work, A Lover for Rachel.
BLURB The magic of love comes to everyone.
Rachel Hamilton comes to Stonehenge to celebrate her birthday on Summer Solstice, only to find herself trapped beneath the massive rhyolite bluestones with sexy wizard, Dewin Kingston, who convinces her that she is the key to their escape.
NOTE: This is a SHORT STORY with EXPLICIT language and adult situations.
Lynn Crain realized at an early age she wanted to write. She took the long way to being published by doing a variety of things like nursing assistant, geologist, technical writer and computer manager all of which have added to her detail-oriented stories. Now she’s a full-time storyteller and weaves fantasy, futuristic, and paranormal tales, as well as erotic stories for various publishers. She normally lives in the very hot southwest with her husband, son, two dogs, three cats, and she’s gotten rid of her snakes. Don’t ask. Other members of her clan live nearby and include another son, daughter-in-law, and two grandsons, plus various long-time friends. She is a past national board member of the RWA; founding president of Las Vegas Romance Writers Chapter of RWA; has held the positions of president, vice-president, secretary and contest chair of EPIC. Her latest adventure has taken her to Vienna, Austria with her husband as he works for a UN-affiliated organization. You can find her hanging out at A Writer In Vienna Blog (www.awriterinvienna.blogspot.com) and various other places on the net (www.theloglineblog.blogspot.com; www.twitter.com/oddlynn3; www.lynncrain.blogspot.com ). Still, the thing she loves most of all is hearing from her readers at lynncrain@cox.net.
Wow Lynn,
ReplyDeleteFrom Vegas to Vienna. I'd be suffering from culture shock too. What an awesome opportunity for you and your husband, and for your readers as well, who will surely benefit from your observations in your writing.
*waves* Hiya, Jen. Hugs for mom.