Sally Jane Smith, Travel Author
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journeysinpages.bsky.social
Sally Jane Smith, Travel Author
@journeysinpages.bsky.social
450 followers 440 following 36 posts
Book 1 - Unpacking for Greece
(Winner of the Greek-Australian Cultural League’s 2024 Book Award for Prose in English)
Book 2 - Repacking for Greece
#Binders she/her
www.linktr.ee/SallyJaneSmith
Writes on Darkinyung/Guringai land
Posts Replies Media Videos
journeysinpages.bsky.social
Aging (dis)gracefully...

If only everything else could be retouched so easily 😉

#TattooTikTok #NazcaLines #NazcaPeru #PeruTattoo #TravelWriting #TravelWritersLife #AgingDisgracefully #AgeingDisgracefully
December 12, 2024 at 2:24 AM
journeysinpages.bsky.social
🧿 Kindle readers: If you haven't yet picked up your copy of Repacking for Greece, now is the time 🧿

To celebrate all the good stuff going on, R4G is on a 99p (www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0645625728) / 99c (www.amazon.com/dp/0645625728) special for one week only: 1-7 December 2024. That's a 70% discount!
The cover of Repacking for Greece shown against the backdrop of a photo taken at Delphi. The words read “Kindle countdown deal, December 1st - 7th. £0.99 on amazon.co.uk. $0.99 on amazon.com.”]
December 2, 2024 at 7:11 AM
Reposted by Sally Jane Smith, Travel Author
welovememoirs.bsky.social
Two fabulous #travel memoirs about Greece from our @journeysinpages.bsky.social
www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5HLBVK2
#welovememoirs #BooksWorthReading
Packing for Greece travel series
Visit Amazon's Packing for Greece travel series Page and shop for all Packing for Greece travel series books. Check out pictures, author information, and reviews of Packing for Greece travel series
www.amazon.com
November 26, 2024 at 4:19 PM
journeysinpages.bsky.social
POV: That time I set out to trace a map of Greece

So many fiddly little islands

So many scrunched-up balls of paper hurled across the room!

Planning a multi-stop itinerary for next year’s Greek trip and it feels a bit like that

#greeceislands #greecetravel #literarywanderlust #travelwriterslife
November 25, 2024 at 8:08 PM
journeysinpages.bsky.social
Unpacking for Greece has won first place in the "Prose in English" category of the Greek-Australian Cultural League Book Award!

Greece is the country that turned me into a writer and helped me fall back in love with life – I never forget what a privilege it is to be welcomed by Greek readers.
November 20, 2024 at 7:46 PM
journeysinpages.bsky.social
Sometimes all you need is a simple snapshot of a Greek village sunset to set you up for the day.
 
Katapola, Amorgos, April 2023
A cobbled lane leads down to a blue-domed church. The sun is setting behind the church’s belltower. This photo was taken from just outside our room for the night.
February 1, 2024 at 4:35 AM
journeysinpages.bsky.social
Claire Heywood’s ‘The Shadow of Perseus’ cuts through the romanticised magical realism that often obscures the brutal underbelly of Bronze Age tales. That’s not to say there isn’t magic in these pages... Review at www.goodreads.com/review/show/6073033599

@claireheywood.bsky.social
A library paperback copy of the ‘The Shadow of Perseus’.
January 27, 2024 at 4:00 AM
journeysinpages.bsky.social
This interview with Greece is the Word touched on moments of joy and moments of vulnerability, and somehow it tapped into that indefinable something that made me fall so head over heels in love with the awe-inspiring natural and cultural landscape of #Greece.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy2_OGSZKkw
A collage of five screenshots. The first is from the Greece is the Word email newsletter showing a photograph by Vasileios Arsenis of a snowy Mount Olympus, a site in Greece I have yet to visit. The rest are stills of Peter and Sally chatting on a Zoom call. One of the images shows Sally holding her mother’s tiny red travel journal.
January 22, 2024 at 5:17 AM
journeysinpages.bsky.social
Most of you know, by now, that libraries are among my favourite places. For January’s #MidMonthMapMystery, can you tell me the name & location of this one in Turkey?
 
PS: Mid-Month Map Mysteries are posted in the present tense, because that's more fun, but are based on memories of years of travel.
Views of a partly-ruined (but wholly-impressive) multi-story building. It has a striking portico with marbled columns and statues in niches. Two of the photographs show the façade of the building from a distance. The other two look upward from inside the portico.
January 8, 2024 at 8:42 PM
journeysinpages.bsky.social
A Theatre for Dreamers by Polly Samson, set on Hydra, Greece

Samson, no stranger to sharing her life with other creatives, portrays the bohemian expat community of writers and other artists living on the Greek island of Hydra in the 1960s.

Review at www.goodreads.com/review/show/6046216092
The book, held up in front of a blurred, waterside background. Not Hydra, unfortunately.
January 1, 2024 at 6:16 PM
journeysinpages.bsky.social
 It’s already 2024, here in Australia, and today’s the first day I can say “Repacking for Greece will land on shelves THIS year.”
 
Happy New Year to you all – and my deepest wishes for health, happiness, and peace in a world that desperately needs it.
An early morning photograph of Delphi, with an e-reader superimposed. The screen of the e-reader is covered in what looks like black paper, but a vertical rip in the covering shows a small section of the front cover for Repacking for Greece. The caption reads: “Coming soon, Book Two in the Packing for Greece series, Repacking for Greece, newsletter subscribers always see it first, www.sallyjanesmith.com/newsletter”
December 31, 2023 at 6:35 PM
journeysinpages.bsky.social
‘Greek Chats’ features Tony Kariotis in conversation with creatives and entrepreneurs from the Greek diaspora.

But I’m not Greek, and I'm definitely not in Tony’s league. So I’m hugely honored to be on his show.

Have a listen at www.greece-media.com/greecechats or anywhere you download podcasts.
A photo of Sally holding up three advance proof copies of ‘Unpacking for Greece’. The text reads: Greece Chats Podcast with Tony Kariotis. Now streaming Episode 59. Sally Jane Smith. Greece Media.
December 27, 2023 at 9:38 PM
journeysinpages.bsky.social
What happens to shared travel, when what makes one person’s heart sing causes the other’s to fall?
 
If you enjoyed Unpacking for Greece, chances are you’ll love Aphrodite’s Breath by Susan Johnson.
 
Review at www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Two photographs of Johnson's book resting against the trunk of a slim, smooth-textured tree.
December 22, 2023 at 7:36 PM
journeysinpages.bsky.social
Yesterday, on the train to Sydney, I started Polly Samson’s A Theatre for Dreamers. It features fictionalised versions of the community of artists and writers living on Hydra in the 1960s, including Aussie writers Charmian Clift and George Johnston. So it was a lovely moment when I spotted this:
Two shots of a round bronze plaque set into brick pavement. There is a library book placed next to the plaque. Two shots of a round bronze plaque set into brick pavement. There is a library book placed next to the plaque.
December 13, 2023 at 7:35 PM
journeysinpages.bsky.social
Clytemnestra is the figure from Greek mythology who most fascinates me, so I’m looking forward to reading about her and her famous sister, Helen. I'm so privileged to have visited the three cities where these women lived: Sparta, Mycenae, Troy.
 
Do you have a favourite mythological hero / antihero?
A hand holding a book in front of a pleasant waterfront backdrop. The cover is coloured orange and decorated with golden foliage. In between the flowers and leaves, there are small symbols of the story – a ship, a hand mirror, a dagger and a distaff. The book is called Daughters of Sparta and it is written by Claire Heywood.
December 7, 2023 at 6:50 PM
journeysinpages.bsky.social
Give the gift of (armchair) travel this Christmas 🎄 … or just stop by for a chat.
 
Bring along your copy of Unpacking for Greece for signing, or pick up a paperback on the day. Or just drop in to say hi to 5 local authors on Australia's NSW Central Coast, no purchase required.

Sun 17 Dec, 9am-2pm.
A slide showing photos of local authors Sally Jane Smith, Fiona Lloyd, Valerie Clifford, Vivienne Lee Fraser (also writing as Lee Williamson) and Selina Fenech, The text reads: Give the gift of reading. Umina Markets. Sunday 17th December 9am-2pm. A slide showing the cover of Unpacking for Greece, a photo of author Sally Jane Smith in Santorini, and the Umina Beach Markets logo.
December 4, 2023 at 6:53 PM
journeysinpages.bsky.social
Hoping to complete the edits on my Aegina chapter today.

I return to my photos, again & again, to recall my sense of awe as I wandered the deserted settlement of Paleochora. Deserted, but not abandoned. Three dozen churches (of a legendary 365) still stand as testament to the care of the faithful.
A photo taken from above a precipice of grey rocks speckled with orange lichen. In the valley below, there is a small, time-worn church with a tiled dome roof. From puzzling out a rudimentary map of the site, I believe this to be the church of Agios Taxiarchis, the holy archangels. If anyone knows more, or differently, I’d love to hear about it.
December 2, 2023 at 7:47 PM
Reposted by Sally Jane Smith, Travel Author
filmcritic.bsky.social
Hahahaha! 😂😂
November 29, 2023 at 6:31 PM
journeysinpages.bsky.social
My #5amWritersClub partner has gone on strike and refuses to get out of bed. She has passive resistance down to a fine art.
 
This is the sunrise she’s missing.
Small black-and-white dog lying on top of a bed. Her eyes are looking up at the camera, but her head is flat on her blanket and she’s not going anywhere. A sunrise over what appears to be a lake but is actually an inlet from the sea.
November 29, 2023 at 6:47 PM
journeysinpages.bsky.social
I’d never have guessed, 15 years ago when I first read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, that one day I’d be sitting on one continent chatting with Chinese American author,
Lisa See, on another!

JourneyWoman / @tripfiction.bsky.social book club:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_EbUNNZsJ4
A YouTube screenshot showing the book cover set against a background photograph taken in a Chinese garden. The text reads: “JourneyWoman Women’s Travel Book Club. November 2023 Book of the Month. Set in 15th-century China. Lady Tan’s Circle of Women, by Lisa See. Meet Lisa See at our last book club meeting of 2023.”
November 20, 2023 at 7:20 PM
journeysinpages.bsky.social
Having fun right now in the We Love Memoirs group on Facebook.

I am so grateful to this wonderful family of memoir readers and writers. I may never have had the confidence to publish Unpacking for Greece if it hadn't been for their support and mentorship.

www.facebook.com/groups/welovememoirs
The cover of Unpacking for Greece with a sticker saying "Thank you Thursday. This author rocks". Under the book are the words: "Thanks for mentioning We Love Memoirs in your book! If you love reading or writing memoirs, join us!"
November 16, 2023 at 1:29 PM
journeysinpages.bsky.social
The design of this museum – on a site associated with one of the most enduring legends of ancient Greece – was the subject of a national contest. The winning architects were inspired by the idea of an “excavated artefact”.
 
For November’s #MidMonthMapMystery, where in Turkey am I?
Four photos of a building resembling a large, rusted cube standing in the middle of a field.
November 6, 2023 at 7:33 PM
journeysinpages.bsky.social
Holiday special!

Until 31st Dec '23

1. Buy an Unpacking for Greece paperback as a gift (or for yourself, I won’t judge)
2. Tag me in a photo or send proof of purchase
3. DM me the recipient's name (& your own address)

For Aussies, I'll post a signed bookplate

Outside Australia, I'll email a PDF
The cover of Unpacking for Greece superimposed over a photograph of Santorini’s caldera. The text reads, “Holiday special: Personalise your paperback” with the website address www.SallyJaneSmith.com
November 3, 2023 at 6:55 PM
journeysinpages.bsky.social
Somewhere else I'd rather be...

...the hills above Chora Sfakion, on the southern coast of Crete.

Where would you rather be?

[Image description: Two photographs from a hilltop overlooking the sea, with the sun just starting its descent at the end of a long day.]
November 1, 2023 at 7:54 PM
journeysinpages.bsky.social
OK, I’m jumping the gun.
 
The cover isn’t final. But I’ve worked out just a sliver I can share, and it’s coming to you in this week’s newsletter.
 
If you’d like that first glimpse ahead of everyone else, sign up at www.SallyJaneSmith.com/newsletter
 
PS: Repacking for Greece arrives mid-2024.
A book wrapped in brown paper, with a few tiny burn holes and tears showing a hint of warm colour underneath. The text on the image reads, “Repacking for Greece. Newsletter subscribers always see it first. Subscribe at www.SallyJaneSmith.com/newsletter". The background photo shows an archaeological site surrounded by hills, with a hint of pink in the cloudy sky. The main distinguishing features of the site are hidden by the wrapped book.
October 24, 2023 at 2:42 AM