5 Swedish National Parks that I want to visit

On 05/07/2014 By MikaelaIn Life

This was prompted by Paul Weimer’s guest post at Pornokitsch about US National Parks. 🙂

There are 29 Swedish National Parks. So far, I have been to 4 of them. But I want to go to so many more.. Here are the current top 5, listed in decreasing likelihood of an actual visit. LOL! .

Gotska Sandön:

This is a largeish island located North of Gotland. It is surrounded by the Baltic Sea on all sides. The soil is sandy, the island is flat yet it is very beautiful. I have wanted to go there for years, but I haven’t gotten around to. Yet.

Ängsö:

This is also an island, with a lot of meadows and fields. And a lot of flowers. When it was formed in 1909, it was because of its many flowers. Sadly, the government believed in wild nature, so they let it grow with out keeping up the traditional farming that was the reason for the diversity in flowers. They realised their mistake, and now it is maintained the old way. It is actually closeish from Stockholm, with ferries leaving regularly. It is a great day trip if you visit Stockholm.

Abisko:

Abisko is located in Northern Sweden. It has breath taking nature, with a lot of mountains, forests, and canyon. And it is one of the northern National parks that has the best communications. It is just 3 hours from Arlanda, and the train stops just outside the hostel. It is more pure laziness that I haven’t visited it yet. Also, you are supposed to hike. And I’m not a hiking person. 🙂 But I have a feeling that if I mentioned that I would like to go to certain relatives, they would encourage me.

Tiveden:

This is an ancient forest located in Central Sweden, 2-3 hours away with car from Stockholm. It is rugged, and wild. One of the few wild places that are left in this part of Sweden. Unlike Abisko, a car is necessary since there is no buses. Or at least that’s the impression I get from the webpage.

Sarek:

I think I was 16 when I read a book about Sarek. And ever since I have wanted to go see its breath taking views. Sadly, I am not a hiking person, and that’s why you visit Sarek. But I still long for it. 🙂

I honestly think the only way I will see the Northern parts of Sweden is by booking a trip on Inlandsbanan. Which is also on the to do list, along with Hurtigrutten. 🙂

If you want to read more about Swedish National Parks, you can visit www.svenskanationalparker.se

Utterly random update

On 04/05/201406/07/2014 By MikaelaIn Life, musings, Writing

I went offline during easter, and revised a whopping 11 000 words. After I got home it has been slower though. Part of it is because I’ve had health issues and part of it is because I need to recharge. ( That’s always the case for me. ) But I’m slogging along on the revisions of the Wild Hunt. I’m 2/3rds through right now, and the draft is at 33000 words. The goal is 35 000 words.

Once these revisions are done I’m going to work on Exile. Actually, that isn’t true. Once I’m done, I’m going to readthrough Daughter of the Dark before sending it to the editor. Then I’m revising Exile.

I think I’ve already mentioned that I signed up for Publit awhile ago. They are a Swedish distributor and one of the options they offer is a Widgetshop. Right now I’m thinking of how to best utilize their Widgetshop for promo. The reason is that I want to do somekind of free read/exclusive for Eurocon, but I’m not sure what. Hrm. It is still a couple of months left. I’m still thinking about promo in general.

I like the way Anne Bishop and Yasmine Galenorn posts stuff from their characters POV on Facebook and Tumblr. I’m thinking about doing something similar.

I’m also getting back the urge to blog about books. Not reviews, though, but more recommending authors and reading updates.

Oh, and I’m going to London in May! Just 2 days, but I’m happy. No firm plans, except hopefully seeing Kari and my brother.

My thoughts about World Fantasy Con in Brighton

On 04/11/201313/07/2014 By MikaelaIn Writing

I am back from World Fantasy Convention in Brighton, and I had a blast. There is no photos, though, since I forgot to buy an UK adapter on the airport, so I couldn’t charge my phone.

When I arrived to Brighton on Oct 31, it was almost Midnight. I’ll admit that I was a bit nervous, not about the people but about my hotel. Originally, I booked a room at Amblecliff in June, but I didn’t book the plane ticket at the same time. Which I should have, since I had forgotten it was Autumn break. So when I booked my plane ticket in Early September, Amblecliff recommended that I book a new hotel room since I missed Amblecliff’s check in time. Even if I was a bit panicked then, I was glad I switched hotels to Ibis, since it was next to the train station.

The Panels:

I went to an ecclectic mix of panels. From a panel about covers, to one about female Epic Fantasy writers, to one about YA novels, to one about fairy tales structure. And more. All of them was interesting, and filled with a lot of discussions between the panelists, and the audience. And the moderators did a really good job on all of them, and I’m the first to admit that not all of the subjects were easy to moderate.

The people:

I met Laura Anne Gilman and Catie Murphy for the first time, and I didn’t fangirl at all.:) It was kinda funny, on Friday I chatted a lot with Laura Anne, between going to panels and hanging in the bar, and I wandered around keeping an eye out for Catie, and Kari Sperring. On Saturday, I had lunch with Catie and Ted, and chatted briefly with Kari. But I couldn’t find Laura Anne! And I met Thirzah on both Friday and Saturday, too! Catie asked how we knew each other, and we said in chorus: Through you! While we both live in Sweden, Thirzah lives on the West Coast, and I live on the East Coast. It is at least 500 km between us :).

This time, I actually hang out in the bar. As a result, I met a lot of new people. I discussed everything from Australian movies, to fairy tales, to steampunk vs weird west. It was fun! I am definitely going to Shamrokon in Dublin next year.

The Conclusion:

In general, the Con was very well run, and I’m glad I went. A sign of this is that my biggest complaint is that I wish more authors at the Mass Signing had remembered to bring book plates. Since I know that I have books I would have loved to have signed, but I couldn’t bring them for a number of reasons. Lack of space is one. Although, I guess I could have done like the older man I saw that had a small carry on suitcase full with books. Or not! I am extremely proud that I only had 10 new books with me home. 🙂

I’ll do a blog post about the book haul later this week. Friday, maybe? But I am very pleased, since all the books were on my wishlist.

Ramblings about travels

On 01/08/201313/07/2014 By mikaelalindIn Life

The writing is progressing. Right now I am doing type in, which will take me the rest of August, probably. Or at least until the 19th, since I am leaving for Sicily the 20th. I look forward to it, even if it will be hot. If I had been asked, I would have suggested Dublin or Edinburgh.

And I just booked my lodgings for World Fantasy Con. Yay! I am staying at Amblecliff. It seems nice, have decent reviews and is reasonably priced 🙂 Now to I need to book plane tickets. Which I’ll probably do in Sept/ Early Oct.

I would love to go to WorldCon next year, but I am not sure if I can afford it. *checks Loncon’s webpage* Ooh. Loncon have an Instalment Membership Plan. Which means I can afford the membership. Yay! In fact, I think it will be a perfect birthday gift either to myself or from dad :).

Springsteen!

On 05/05/201313/07/2014 By mikaelalindIn Life

I went and saw Bruce Springsteen last night in the new megadont Friends Arena. And he played the whole Darkness on the edge of Town record! Which was a nice treat 🙂 (The first night, he played Born to run, which makes me wonder which one he will play May 11th…)

I am glad I had a chance to go, my only nitpickety is that the venue was too big which made everything feel a bit diluted. Anyway, if he plays at Friends the next time, I think I’ll pass. But if he plays at Ullevi? I am there. His concerts at Ullevi are *magical*. 🙂

My writer brain was happy too, since it gave me not one, but two ideas (!). First during Leap of faith when he sang ” Clarence is gone.” Which I heard as ” Clearance is gone.” Which made me wonder why and who 🙂 ( It might be tied to the notion of writing a steampunk version of WW II I also got yesterday). Then during Radio Nowhere, I got a flash of a character sitting in a radio studio saying ” This is Radio Nowhere. Is anyone alive out there?” Probably a short story, and post apocalyptic. No idea what catastrophe though. ( I know it isn’t a disease, but except for that it is wide open. )