Hello from Down Under

It's great to be part of the YA Squad with some of my favorite authors. I'm Sara Hantz and I currently live in Australia. I say currently because we do have a habit of moving around. I originally come from the UK and 14 years ago we moved over to New Zealand. We stayed there for 10 years and then moved to Australia. We're now planning to move back to New Zealand - hopefully in the next few months. And is this where we'll end up? Well, that's an interesting question, because at the moment we're thinking about spending a few months in Portugal to see what we think. That's the great thing about writing, you can do it anywhere.

Apart from my love of travel, I'm also a HUGE TV addict, especially anything to do with singing. I also love old musicals (my favorites include Calamity Jane, High Society, Sound of Music).

I write a mix of light and dark contemporary fiction, though even my lighter books have some darker elements. At the moment I'm working on a sequel to Falling for the Wrong Guy - Blake and Andi's story.

Anyway, introduction over. Before I go, I thought I'd mention holiday season here in Australia. It's very different from the UK or USA. Christmas in the sun, even after 14 years, still feels odd. I really miss the dark evenings with lots of lights everywhere. I miss seeing people wrapped up in coats and scarves, and the Christmas music being played in all the shops.

Over here people do put up lights and trees. But there's no atmosphere. So below is the beach where we live, and where we'll be spending our holiday. Yes, I know it looks a real hardship :)

I hope you visit the YA Squad blog often and enjoy our posts!