I’m very thankful that in my life I’ve had the opportunity
to travel and experience new places and realities. I think my passion for
travel comes from my father. Although we had little money, we still took
regular vacations, staying with family or camping out. Growing up in the Midwest , he took us to visit museums and libraries in Chicago and Milwaukee . In the summer
we went west to where my mother’s family lived and drove all over Wyoming , to the Black Hills and up to Montana . When I was fourteen we drove out to
northern California to visit my aunt and uncle and cousin and toured the
Redwood Forest, Monterrey, San Francisco, and all over Imperial Valley. At
fifteen I spend the summer in Chicago
with my sister and walked and took the L, exploring the Windy City
Everywhere I went I drank in the thrill of new experiences,
whether it was the peace of a hidden mountain valley or the excitement of
walking through a big city’s downtown. I took in the invigorating scent of pine
and fresh air in the mountains, the slow, inexorable rhythm of the sea lapping
at my feet, the exotic noise and color of Chinatown .
Travel fed my spirit and also made me ever more inquisitive and restless. Getting
to see how other people lived made me curious about what went on in their hearts
and minds. What made them different than me, and also the same?
I’ve taken many, many more journeys in books than I have in
real life, and I made up stories from a very early age. But I’m not certain I
would have become a writer if I hadn’t visited all those different places.
Travel gave me a window into realities that were different than mine, and that
helped me create the fictional worlds in my head. It gave me an appreciation of
the exotic and different and opened my mind to all sorts of experiences outside
my sheltered, small-town life.
When I was a young adult my father died. With that loss, my
sense of adventure and wanderlust also vanished. For several years I found
travel stress-inducing rather than exciting. Anxiety got in the way of my
enjoying new experiences.
But over time I healed and came to once again love travel.
Now it is like an addiction: Warm weather trips to Mexico and the Caribbean .
Research trips to Ireland
and the British Islands
When
hardened gamester Marcus Revington wins Horngate Manor in a card game, he is
delighted to finally own property. Even discovering he must marry the heiress
of the estate doesn’t deter him. The heiress, Penny Montgomery, is happy with
her life raising horses at Horngate and has no desire to wed anyone. When she
learns about her guardian’s Wicked Wager,
she schemes to convince Marcus she’s unsuitable as a wife so he’ll forget his
plan to marry her. Who will win this battle of wits and wills? Or will they
both discover the name of the game is love?
Wicked Wager buy links:
Amazon:
Barnes and Noble:
The Wild Rose Press:
Mary Gillgannon is the author of seventeen novels, a Celtic historical fantasy and historical romances set in the dark age, medieval and English Regency time periods. She’s married and has two children. Now that they’re grown, she indulges her nurturing tendencies on three very spoiled cats and a moderately spoiled dog. When not writing or working—she’s been employed at the local public library for twenty-five years—she enjoys gardening, reading and travel.
Traveling is one of my favorite things to do as well. There's so many places and things to see in our beautiful world. Good luck with sales and promotion of "Wicked Wager" and have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteYour post brought back all those treasured memories of my own family vacations, Mary. I grew up in California, so we explored the beauty of the state. I love traveling and blessed to have visited other states and countries. I'm eagerly planning my next trip! Wishing you all the best! :)
ReplyDeleteHello Mary. Lovely post. And so happy for you that you regained your wanderlust. I too have been blessed with an adventurous spirit and have been lucky enough to travel the world. Wishing you many more wonderful adventures. Anni. xx
ReplyDeleteGreat post Mary! You are a traveler in word and in deed.
ReplyDelete