Blog | Books And Travel

15 Strange Underwater Places

I first learned to scuba dive on the West Coast of Australia in 2000 and have spent a lot of time diving off the coast of New Zealand. The pictures below are from the Poor Knights Islands.

Living in England now means I don’t dive much – it’s just too cold around the coast here, but watching Blue Planet II recently gave me the itch to get back underwater!

Diving is a fantastic way to reach the world’s strange underwater places, some of which I’ve featured in my thrillers. You can read more or listen to my scuba diving adventures here.

For example, The Sunken Cities exhibition at the British Museum in 2016 laid bare the lost Egyptian cities of Thonis-Heraklion and inspired my short story The Dark Queen.

Here are 15 more sites around the world that harbour strange underwater places.

Myth And Reality. Beauty And Decay In Venice With J.F.Penn

Travel Memoir

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Today I’m talking about The Myth and Reality Of Travel, and focusing on Venice in particular, as well as giving you some tips and book recommendations if you are going to visit.

There is a problem inherent in travel, especially in a world of filtered Instagram photos, social media bubbles and glossy travel magazines.

There are some places in the world that are so famous it can be difficult to know whether they live up to the hype or not. There is the myth and then there is the reality, so how do you manage the two? How do you decide to go in the first place in case it doesn’t live up to the myth, and how do you deal with the reality if you have to face up to it?

In this episode, I’m talking about Venice, which is definitely one of those places. I’ve been to Venice three times under very different circumstances and today, I’ll share some of my thoughts on the myth versus the reality.

The myth of Venice

What does the word Venice evoke for you, regardless of whether you’ve been there or not?

Granada And Cordoba In Andalusia, Spain With Historical Thriller Author, David Penny

Unusual Places

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Andalucia brings to mind balmy evenings with the scent of oranges in the air, the sounds of flamenco guitar, and the exotic architecture of the Moorish Alhambra. In this podcast interview, I talk to David Penny, author of The Thomas Berrington Historical Mysteries, which are set in medieval Spain.

You can listen above or on iTunes or your favorite podcast app, read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and full transcript below.

Show Notes

The inspiration for David’s detective novels set in Moorish Spain

Writing about an ancient place from modern time

Weaving religion into historical fiction

Finding an authentic flamenco experience in Spain
Recommendations for local food and drink

Getting used to local customs, like shop closure times

Adjusting to the slower pace of life in Spain

You can find David Penny at DavidPennyWriting.com and on Twitter @davidpenny_

Reinvention, Escape, Curiosity, Perspective. Why I Travel

Travel Memoir

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One of my earliest memories is looking out my window over the fields by night at the back of our house, wishing I could be out there. I cuddled my white fur seal teddy, fingers clutching the white window ledge. I must have been six or seven and my Mum lived in Malawi, Africa after my parent’s divorce. My little brother and I lived with my (wonderful) Dad and I was safe and happy. It wasn’t that I wanted to leave him. It was that “out there” seemed so much more exciting and that preference still underlies my need for travel.

Some call it wanderlust, an almost uncontrollable desire to travel, sometimes at the expense of common-sense.Click To Tweet

Others call it ‘fernweh,’ a German word meaning far-sickness, the opposite of homesickness.

I also like Jack Reacher’s explanation in Lee Child’s thriller, Never Go Back. “Ninety-nine of us grow up to love the campfire, and one grows up to hate it. Ninety-nine of us grow up to fear the howling wolf, and one grows up to envy it. And I’m that guy.” [Or presumably girl!]

I love the Reacher series for the vigilante justice he metes out, a sense of restoring balance to the world, but perhaps I’m also jealous of how Reacher leaves at the end of every book, with only a toothbrush in his pocket …

Here are some more reasons why I travel.

Intimate War. How Ireland Inspires The Writing Of Orna Ross

Places

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Orna Ross is an Irish novelist, a poet, non-fiction writer, and creative coach. Today, we’re talking about how Ireland features in her writing.

You can listen above or on iTunes or your favorite podcast app, read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and full transcript below.

Show Notes

Writing about a country you’re from vs. writing as an outsider

Why Orna writes about Ireland

Common misconceptions about the country

Writing from memories of a childhood in a small Irish village

Poetry and writing about W.B.Yeats

Modern practices that rose out of Celtic myths

Food and drink recommendations when visiting Ireland

What travel brings to Orna’s writing and the importance of travel for writers

You can find Orna Ross at OrnaRoss.com and on Twitter @OrnaRoss

Lake Malawi, Jerusalem, And Blue Water Sailing To Vanuatu. The Three Trips That Shaped My Life

Travel Memoir

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Hello Travellers, I’m Jo Frances Penn and this is episode 1 of my new Books and Travel Podcast.

So why this show after 10 years of The Creative Penn Podcast?

It’s all about reinvention, which is part of what travel means to me. When I think about what I want to do with my life for the next 10 years, I always come back to books and travel. I’m fascinated by the inner and outer journeys that both can bring — a change in perspective, empathy, perhaps an entirely new direction. If you know what I mean, then hopefully, you’re going to enjoy this show and my website.