Reason #5,354 to love Rome – Pope Joan
I live close to this little shrine and I love that people always leave flowers here. In summer, winter, rain or shine… and a couple of times, even in snow! … people come to this little portico to leave their floral offerings. My children like to pass by and count how many flowers have been…
Read MoreWhere do you develop your ideas for stories?
I love to read author interviews or talk about writing habits with other writers. What I find most fascinating is that there’s no one blueprint for writing a novel or short story. Everyone seems to have a different method for developing a story: hearing an idea in something said by an acquaintance, the kernel of…
Read MoreEating potatoes in Vilnius, Lithuania
Every year in December my birthday rolls around. Some of my friends and colleagues grumble about adding another candle on the cake, but some years back, I discovered a foolproof way to enjoy myself as the years pile on. I absolutely love to travel. I plan it. I look forward to it. I have fun…
Read MoreContext reading
You know the term context drinking, don’t you? Ever noticed how that bottle of wine you share on a sun-drenched table perched on the cobblestone square of a charming little town in Tuscany or Provence tastes ever so much better than the same bottle you bring back home to drink in Peoria? True, isn’t it?…
Read MoreSnow Day in Rome!
Today – Monday, 6 February 2012 – is actually only the second official Snow Day in history for Roman schoolchildren. The first was way back on Friday, 3 February 2012. Yes, Roman children had the unusual pleasure of listening to the Mayor of Rome declare a long weekend due to snow. Snow rarely falls on…
Read MoreIt takes a village to write a book
Yes, yes, we all know the old mantra that writing is a lonely profession. But is reviewing and editing lonely, too? Does it have to be? I’m pretty new to this, and I was slogging along on my own, but I recently joined a writing group in my city. I had seen an announcement for…
Read MoreMatera Women’s Fiction Festival
This past September, I signed up for my first writer’s conference. It was the easiest decision to make once I discovered the destination – the beautiful city of Matera, in Italy’s southern region of Basilicata. I had been to Matera over a decade ago, with my Italian husband who looked at me oddly when I…
Read MoreSurviving exotic meltdowns: Tantrums on the road… and in the sky… and on the sea
Thinking twice about bringing those little bundles-of-joy on your next exotic get-away? I wrote about some of our more ‘joyful’ family moments on-the-road on the excellent family travel web site, Travel Savvy Mom. www.travelsavvymom.com/blog/family-travel/surviving-exotic-meltdowns
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