Admiring Gaudí ‘s Palau Güell, Barcelona
On a recent trip to Barcelona, Spain I was excited to see that Antoni Gaudí’s first major project, the Palau Güell, is now open to the public. The impressive family home of the wealthy Güell family, built between 1885 and 1889 is now a UNESCO Heritage site. I was unable to see this beautiful family home on…
Read MoreMy short story, Stari most, is now online at Milk Sugar Literary journal
One of my short stories, Stari most, had been accepted in the online literary journal, Milk Sugar, and is now available online in the October/November 2013 issue. I always enjoy reading Milk Sugar, so I’m pleased to have my story included here. My story title is the Bosnian word for Old Bridge, the name for…
Read MoreJourney 5000 years back in time in Malta’s Hypogeum
I’ve already written about lots to see on the Mediterranean island of Malta, including the historical town of Mdina, tempting swimming at the Blue Lagoon, and the colorful local buses that will ferry you around the island. But Malta’s history stretches far back, as evidenced by the Neolithic temples scattered around the island. One of the…
Read MoreRead international short stories and poems for a good cause…
I am very pleased to have, for the second year in a row, one of my short stories, Amica del cuore, included in the Writers Abroad annual anthology. One of the things I love about this anthology is that writers and Writers Abroad members who put together the annual publication are not paid for their…
Read MoreThe next time your kid complains about school…
If your kids subject you to Monday morning grumbling when it’s time to wake up for school, you may want to take them to see this film. Even if they wake up eager for class, you should still see this excellent documentary film by French filmmaker Pascal Plisson, originally entitled Sur le chemin de l’école…
Read MoreHow to tighten your manuscript
This was very good timing. Literary agent Rachelle Gardner just ran an interesting post entitled ‘How to tighten your manuscript‘. I, um … blush, shuffle feet … always seem to be facing this dilemma. After pitching sessions with agents at the recent Matera Women’s Fiction festival, I need to start cutting word count for my…
Read MoreVisiting Oxford, UK with kids
On a trip to London with my kids, I looked forward to a day trip to nearby Oxford. Although I hadn’t planned specific child-friendly activities, it was a pleasant surprise that my young children stumbled across so many entertaining things to do in that charming university town. As parents traveling with children know well, this…
Read MoreThe new Women’s Fiction Writers Association
I wrote a post about this new association when it was still an informal Yahoo mail loop. But about a month ago, the group became an official association and I just paid my annual dues and became an ‘official’ member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association a few weeks ago. See their web site here.…
Read MoreZipping through the trees in Bali, Indonesia
This past summer I was alone with my two boys on holiday in Bali, Indonesia. We managed to squeeze in lots of fun things to do during our ten days there (see my earlier post ), but one of their favorites was the TreeTop Adventure in northern Bali. This is a great adventure rope course,…
Read MoreWrap-up of Matera Women’s Fiction Festival 2013
I am just back from my fabulous annual pilgrimage to the Matera Women’s Fiction Festival. This is my third year participating in this inspiring event. Once again, I’ve learned a tremendous amount about publishing from the experts, had a great time at live pitching sessions to agents and publishers, met a wonderful group of interesting…
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