Hi,
My name
is Susan Horsnell and it's my pleasure to be here on the Romancing the Genres
Blog. I'd like to thank Judith for inviting me.
I write
Historical Western Romance and under my pen name - A.L. Simpson - I write
Steamy Contemporary, M/M and Shapeshifter. I will leave all the links at the
end of this post but first, I'm here to talk about Winter in the Northern
Hemisphere and Summer here where I am in the Southern Hemisphere.
I'm the
eldest daughter of British immigrants, a first generation Australian and
citizen of both countries. My parents came to this country in January 1957
and to say they were shocked when they stepped ashore in Sydney would be an
understatement.
They left
England with the snow and cold winds, the rain and sleet, temperatures only
just above freezing.
They
sailed on the P&O Liner - SS Strathmore on her final voyage for six weeks
on the high sighs in some of the roughest conditions the Captain said he had
ever encountered. For three days in a row, my father and two other men were the
only ones who ventured from their cabins for meals.
 |
| SS Strathmore leaving England |
They
arrived in Sydney to be greeted by temperatures of over 100 degrees. Quite the farewell
and welcome - from one extreme to the other. My dad loved the outdoors and had
been a talented gymnast in his day, part of the representative Gymnastics Team
for the British Army and after their sponsor settled them in a flat in the
Northern Suburbs of Sydney, he decided to hit the beach nearby in Manly. He was
greeted with huge crowds, hot sand, sand flies and blue bottles - Welcome to
Australia!
 |
| SS Strathmore arriving in Sydney, Australia |
 |
| Manly Beach |
Eastern
Brown Snake - One of the deadliest on the planet and common to Australia
How did
the English and Europeans feel when they spent weeks at sea and then put ashore
in one of the harshest countries on earth with most of the deadliest and
largest insects and reptiles on earth? My mother often says she found it
distressing and overwhelming to deal with large, deadly spiders and snakes,
creatures she'd never encountered before.
Crocodile - Found in the northern parts of
Australia
and common
Our deadliest spider -
The Red Back - Common
Our largest spider - the Tarantula - non-venomous
but can grow
to the size of a dinner plate. Mum didn't care that
it
wasn't dangerous - Common.
Enjoy
your Winter while we enjoy Summer because it's not long before the seasons are
reversed. While we don't get the freezing conditions here in Australia (except
for a small alpine region in the southern part of NSW and northern part of
Victoria) we still feel the harshness of cold, wet and windy Winters. With one
exception.....
The
northern part of our continent is not subjected to seasons and it's why we live
where we do. For us, it either Dry Season - April to November, or Wet season.
We are blessed with luscious green countryside and beautiful days.
Once
again, I thank Judith for inviting me to come on the blog and hope you have
enjoyed hearing about Australia and a small part of my past.
Susan
BIO
My name is Susan Horsnell and I write Western
Romance. Mostly sweet but with knock-em down, drag-em out fights and outlaws.
Some have no sex, others have a small amount.
Under my pen name – A.L. Simpson, I write Hot
Contemporary – M/M, M/M/F and M/F.
In my personal life, hubby and I have been
travelling throughout Australia with our caravan, an elderly Jack Russell dog
and our 26-year-old, extremely opinionated, cockatiel. At this point in time we
have curtailed our overseas activities as we don’t like to leave our pets now
they are so old.
SOCIAL LINKS
Susan Horsnell Links:
A.L. Simpson Links:
FB: https://www.facebook.com/alsimpsonauthor
7 comments:
Sue, I'm with your mom on the creepy crawly and slithery things! Wouldn't make much difference whether it was poisonous or not. I'm not as tolerant of bugs in my house as I am in my yard. Figure they have their space and I have mine and we don't need to share.
And, don't you have a reader service that introduces them to authors and new releases?
Thanks for joining us all the way from Australia!
Judith
Great blog post! I really enjoyed it. Creepy, crawlies and I don't mix!! I'm with Judith, they can have the outdoors, and I'll take the indoors!
Sue, I enjoyed learning more about your amazing, if harsh, country. I remember reading books when I was a girl about the wild horses that live in the mountains you mentioned.
I spent five years in Alaska, another harsh environment, and it's the same: most people live along the coastline where the weather is much less extreme due to warm currents. We humans prefer our creature comforts!
Hi Susan,
I enjoyed your post and maybe now have second thoughts about visiting Australia, LOL. Does New Zealand have those creepy-crawlies?
What a mis-adventure your parents had crossing the ocean. Fascinating and thanks for sharing.
Madelle
Great post, Susan! Your Western books look like something I'd read, will go check them out....
Great post Susan. Wonderful to hear about your family and how they came to Australia.
That would have been quite scary back in those days.
I'm so glad they did come to Australia, otherwise I wouldn't have got to meet you, dear friend.
I can't seem to reply to each individually so will do here.
Judith, Thank you for having me on this wonderful blog and yes, our "wildlife" gets some getting used to for those who don't grow up here.
Diana, When you grow up and live here, you barely notice them. I live in a rural village in the midst of a forest and don't give them a second thought.
Sarah, Yes wild horses are down south in the alpine regions and also in the vast uninhabited expanses in central Australia. They are called "brumby's" and to see them in full flight as a group is a sight to behold.
Madelle, Haha, NZ doesn't have the creepy crawlies we have. I think Australia has the market cornered!
Lynn, Thank you for showing interest in my Westerns.
Cheryl, Yes, we would have missed out on our beautiful friendship. I will always be grateful to the Australian soldier Dad met when with peace keeping forces in Kenya.
Thank you all for visiting and commenting on my post.
Sue
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