Posts by Kimberly Sullivan
A city for readers – Salzburg
Heaven, I’m in heaven, and my heart beats so that I can hardly speak… That’s how I felt one early morning in August as I stumbled upon Salzburg’s Mozartplatz, just as they were setting up the square for avid readers. The beautiful square, with its stunning views up to the castle and watched over by…
Read MoreReason #5381 to love Rome: Snow in August
Snow is pretty rare in Rome. And even rarer in August. But every August, since Ancient Roman times, snow falls over at least one part of the city to reenact the Madonna della neve (Madonna of the snow) tradition. Each August – to be precise, the 5 August – the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore…
Read MoreRobert Frost was a pantser, too?
I have never started a poem yet whose end I knew. Writing a poem is discovering. ~ Robert Frost Who knew – poet Robert Frost was a pantser (a.k.a. non-plotter), too? I’m always interested to read about techniques of various authors: some are meticulous plotters, while others are unabashed pantsers. It never fails to surprise…
Read MoreAlpine Tuscany: Monte Amiata
I’ve already written about my ‘find’ this summer when my son, an aspiring Usain Bolt, went to a track and field camp in the pretty Tuscan town of Abbadia di San Salvatore. The town is on the foothills of Monte Amiata, a volcanic cone that is 1730 meters from sea level. Luckily, this volcano has been dormant for…
Read MoreMore summer favorite reading … That Summer
After reading and enjoying Lauren Willig’s The Ashford Affair, I was happy to pick up That Summer. Willig’s new novel is a dual narrative following both modern Julia Conley, a victim of New York’s financial crisis who finds herself out of a job, but inheriting a house – Herne House – from a mysterious aunt…
Read MoreReason #5381 to love Rome: San Teodoro church
This beautiful church gives its name to a Roman neighborhood – San Teodoro, the neighbohood bordering the edge of the Circus Maximus and the Campidoglio. The San Teodoro church can be found on the street by the same name. It’s a Greek Orthodox church, nestled at the foot of the Palatine Hill. The church was…
Read MoreHolidays = writers’ daydreaming time
Ah, holidays. Even if it doesn’t necessarily afford the extra writing time one might have imagined, it almost always is an ideal time for the daydreaming so important for planning and plotting your next novel. It’s helpful to step out of daily routines, and to have a more fluid schedule someplace new. This always helps…
Read MoreAmongst the dinosaurs at the Brussels Museum of Natural Sciences
A work conference brought me to Brussels, a city I’ve visited many times. But the location on the conference was somewhere I hadn’t yet been – the Brussels Museum of Natural Sciences. Since my kids weren’t in tow, I felt slightly guilty taking in the exhibition without them. In actuality, I didn’t have much time to…
Read MoreJane Smiley’s trilogy experimentation
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jane Smiley was interviewed for the September 2015 edition of Writer’s Digest. In the interview, she discussed numerous topics, including her new trilogy, The Last Hundred Years. The three novels will follow the Langdon family and their five children for a period of 100 years. The saga begins on a farm in…
Read MoreBasking in the sun and scenery on Lake Geneva
Last summer I spent a lot of time in Geneva ferrying my son to camp and back. It was great fun being there with my family for summer weekends, when Geneva is at its best. One of the things I enjoyed doing with my children was taking the scenic ferry boat on Lake Geneva. Geneva…
Read More