Rock-Rock-Rock- Rockaway Beach – in Queens, New York
Love that when you’re in New York, you can have a fabulous beach day by simply hopping on the subway’s A train. My New York apartment is on this line, so the trip from Harlem to Queen’s Rockaway Beach is one I do frequently in the summer. It’s a long trip, but well worth it.…
Read MoreSelecting short stories from our submissions to Feisty Deeds III
I am very excited to be a co-editor of the Feisty Deeds anthologies dedicated to women’s fiction and historical fiction. We have published Feisty Deeds: Historical Fictions of Daring Women and Feisty Deeds II: Historical Tales of Batches and Brews. Both collections are well worth exploring – historical fictions by a wide range of authors…
Read MoreWalking the medieval walls of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany
The adorable medieval town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber – referring to the Tauber River – dates back to the tenth century. I had been here as a young child, then again as a young teenager – meaning it had been many, many years since my last visit. Since I was nearby in Würzburg with…
Read MoreTaking my May Flowers at The Three Coins Inn to visit Todi
My latest release, May Flowers at The Three Coins Inn, is the third in my Three Coins series. While the first in the series took place mostly in Rome, the second and third in the series are set primarily in the lovely hilltown of Todi, in Italy’s Umbria region. The story is centered around an…
Read MoreNew York’s 9/11 Memorial and Museum
This is one of those anniversaries no one wants to mark, but mark it we must. This year marks twenty-five years since 11 September 2001, when terrorists slammed their hijacked planes into New York’s Twin Towers, destroying the towers and killing almost 3000 people. On the same day, another plane crashed into the Pentagon and…
Read MoreHave library card, will travel
I’m always thrilled to return to New York, and one of the (many) advantages of my time in New York is whipping out my library card and having the chance to choose between 53 million books spread out across 92 New York Public Libraries across the five burroughs. My husband is an historian, and he’s…
Read MoreHanging out at Todi’s Porchetta Festival
Back in May, I went to Todi with my husband to take part in Todi’s Porchettiamo Festival for its sixteeth edition. Todi is a beautiful Italian hilltown in the Italian region of Umbria, and most of the festival was held on the town’s postcard-perfect medieval square, Piazza del popolo. Porchetta is a pork roast, where…
Read MoreJoining the Bookouture Book Tour for The Girl Who Took Flight
I’m excited to join the Bookouture Book Tour for The Girl Who Took Flight, part of The Airline Girls series. I’m pleased to be able to help promote Lizzie Page’s newest novel during its release week. As a devotee of travel myself, it’s fun to read this series set in those early, glamorous days of…
Read MoreKeeping cool in the mountain air of Abruzzo
It’s been a hot summer in Rome. But then again, every summer is a hot summer in Rome. Come weekends, my youngest son and I were often escaping the heat in the nearby mountains of Abruzzo. Our little town of Ovindoli is 1400 meters from sea level, das are warm but minus humidity, and evenings…
Read MoreSummer is perfect for short stories…
This week, I was finalizing a short story. I am one of five co-editors of the Feisty Deeds anthology – historical fictional tales of women around the world and across centuries. In addition to my editorial duties shaping the collection, I’m also a contributing author. Since submissions open in August, I needed to get that…
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