Dear Friends ~ During my month of travel to France and England, I enjoyed meeting many people and visited several vineyards. I especially looked forward to meeting Robert Eden, the inspiration behind Chateau Maris. During my research, he stood out
GRATITUDE
When I was a girl, we often visited my grandparents on Thanksgiving. My mom’s dad was my favorite, as he was a talented chef and included me in his preparations. Assigned the job of removing the turkey’s stuffing, I loved
SEEING RED OVER BLACK FRIDAY?
If you’re seeing RED over BLACK Friday coming up—and doesn’t it seem to extend for a longer period every year?—You’re not alone! I’m right there with you. I’ve made my peace with peeling away the rituals that take time. After
EUROPEAN ADVENTURE: VIEWING the CHATEAU HAUT-BAILLY VINEYARD in BORDEAUX
Relaxing with a glass of wine is no longer the same for me. I see things differently because I’ve researched vineyards and wineries so my books will be authentic. When I lift a glass, check the color, sniff the wine
Happy Fall, Readers and Friends!
As I promised, Nicole La Brocca has returned as our guest host this week. Her musings on developing fantasy are intriguing and offer readers insights into how an author can create new worlds with lush, rich environments. She’s particularly explicit
CREATING WORLDS
As an author, I’m always thinking of the setting, characters, and details of the world I’ve created for each book. I hope you’ve looked over the short story I’ve offered, The Bride Wore White. (Just sign up with the sign
EUROPEAN ADVENTURES: CONTRASTS IN LIGHT AND DARK
Traveling fine tunes your senses to light and dark and other contrasts. During the late 1600s to the onset of the French Revolution in 1789, the French royal family used Versailles as its primary residence. The enormous Palace, which began
EUROPEAN ADVENTURES: QUIRKY DIFFERENCES
You may ask, why is “quirky differences” worthy of being called a “European Adventure?” If you’ve been reading books in the Louisa’s Vineyard Series, you’ve noticed that life in all aspects is called an adventure—birth, marriage, education, careers, and definitely,
EUROPEAN ADVENTURES
Our trip started from Phoenix for a short flight, then we landed in LAX (Los Angeles) for the very long flight that lasted over 10 hours, but somehow managed to arrive early. The distance to the departure gate for the
LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT IS NOT GETTING LOVE
Last night, I went to bed very late after spending most of the day trying to submit my files for my new book, Love at First Sight, to both Amazon and Draft 2 Digital. Not successful after many tries when