Armchair Travels


Have you ever been to Maine? I haven’t, and yet somehow without ever setting foot in the state, I’ve fallen in love with Christmas Town. If you’re not familiar, Christmas Town, Maine is a fictional place which first appeared in the Christmas, Actually in a series stories by Anna Adams, Anna J. Stewart, and Melinda Curtis. Since that time, dozens of couples have found their happy-ever-afters there, and eight more will be finding romance this Valentine's Day. (More on that later.)

Christmas Town is a place I feel right at home. I know all about magic kissing gazebo, the famous window displays in Dockery’s Department store, and the peppermint pie at Posey’s Diner. I’ve seen couples skating on frozen Reindeer pond and the newly restored carousel. I know where to get a great cup of cocoa and a lemon-thyme scone.



Books have always transported me to new places. I’ve gone to Scotland with Rosamunde Pilcher and to English country houses with Agatha Christie. Other books have taken me to Italy, China, Peru, Antarctica, and Mars. In the Heartwarming series, I’ve visited Butterfly Harbor, the Blackwell Ranch, an elephant refuge in the Serengeti, and dozens of other wonderful places, both real and imagined. 

When I have a vacation planned to a place I’ve never been, I like to find a romance or mystery set there. I love it when I see the fountain where their first kiss took place, or the waterfall where they found the clue. I’m hoping when some of the people who’ve read my Northern Lights stories come to Alaska, they’ll come across some of the places mentioned in my books. Maybe they’ll try a Moose’s Tooth pizza and remember the characters in the book eating there. And they'll smile.

Where are some favorite places you’ve visited only in books?


BE MY HEARTWARMING VALENTINE: A Heartwarming Christmas Town Box Set

It’s not always Christmas in Christmas Town. This Valentine’s Day, the town will come together for a bachelor auction to raise money for the library. And for eight couples, life will never be the same. Preorder now for only $1.99.

Christmas Town to the rescue!

An abnormally cold and snowy winter wreaked havoc in Christmas Town. Pipes froze, snowy roofs caved in, and even the famed gazebo in the town square was blown over! But the hardest hit was the historic town library, where pipes burst – flooding the main floor and destroying all the books and computers. While insurance helps, it won’t cover everything. Christmas Town’s solution?

Calling all bachelors!

The Knotty Elves decide a Valentine’s Day Bachelor Auction kills two birds with one stone – raising money to save the library while working their matchmaking magic. From a personal chef to the town’s snow plow operator, there’s one thing all these handsome, homespun heroes have in common: they’re about to find love, Christmas Town style.

To find out more about other books set in Christmas Town, visit the Heartwarming Christmas Town website.



Comments

  1. I just answered that question this morning on another blog! I read a Betty Cavanna book called PAINTBOX SUMMER when I was a kid and have longed to see Cape Cod ever since. However, I've yet to set foot in Massachusetts. I long to see your state, too, Beth, and Janice's island, and...

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    1. I've read book set in Cape Cod, and like you, I've longed to see it. Someday...

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  2. As a chiLd I travelled by armchair to the prairies (Little House on..) and the coast of England (Enid Blyton) but adult travels have taken me to Russia, France, Italy and the Serengeti, Butterfly Harbor, Blackwell Ranch and Alaska! I love the premise behind this new Christmas Town series and to your own addition to it, Beth.

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    1. Oh, yes, Little House on the Prairie. I lived on the prairie then, but those books transported me back in time to when dresses were all hand-sewn and Laura could become a certified teacher at 16! Thanks for the kind words about Christmas Town. It's a special place.

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  3. I've been to Maine and I love it. We got stranded there for a day and night when one of my tires went flat and we had to wait for the repair place to order a new one. The small town we were in was straight out of a fairy book (except for the Walmart a mile from the small hotel that the visitors center sent us to). Don't think of the visitor's center as a big building. It was the size of a small bathroom. I passed it three times before seeing it. Anyway. Maine was beautiful.

    The book that sent me to places I'd never been was Time and Again by Jack Finney. It was a time travel and I wanted to see if the places in the book really existed. They were in New York City and one of them was the Dakota Hotel.

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    1. I googled the Dakota Hotel--it's beautiful! Speaking of traveling via book, I really enjoyed seeing New York City through Lauren's eyes in Healing the Doctor's Heart. It's another place I'd love to see in person someday.

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  4. I've actually visited Maine and love it! And I've preordered the anthology and can't wait to read it!

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    1. From the pictures I've seen, it's lovely. Someday I'll see it in person. And thanks!

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  5. I lived in Maine for several years and started writing articles there--the best home office view I ever had was my first! The ocean and islands. I really do believe books are travelogues, and I went to places all over the world in books before I got there in person, with many places to yet to go. Recently, I've traveled to Afghanistan in A Thousand Splendid Suns--an unforgettable book. Now that you've got me thinking about this, it will be on my mind all day!

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    1. That view sounds spectacular. I'll have to look for A Thousand Splendid Suns.

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  6. I've visited many places only through the eyes of another author. Some are real such as China (example - The Joy Luck Club). Some are fictional (an island with an unknown world inside- The Island Stallion, a favorite when I was a kid.) Another place I love visited through books is the past. I've been to Maine and many places that I've also visited in books, but what's wonderful about that kind of traveling is getting the chance to see it through the eyes of someone else, so it has a whole new perspective.

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    1. You've hit on it, Callie. A visit through someone else's eyes is what makes book travel so special.

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