New Year’s Resolutions, ugh. Lose weight. Join a gym. Straighten out finances. These are worthy resolutions to be sure. But they’re not for me, because they feel punitive. I’d rather give myself goals that feel more like gifts. Trite but true, this time of year is perfect for recalibrating our lives. In my case I’ve […]
….even if you’ve already written dozens of them. Today is a guest blog by romance writer Devika Fernando on the art of writing a great kissing scene. “A kiss is a secret told to the mouth instead of the ear.” – Ingrid Bergman When some people find out that I write romance novels, they ask […]
Guess who doesn’t own a car? Lena Dunham, Tina Fey, Ricky Gervais, Quincey Jones, Vincent Kartheizer, Dan Savage, David Sedaris and Barbara Streisand. Neither do I, as I said in my last blog Three Tips for a Youthful Body and Mind. My decision to go carless happened by accident. And, no, I don’t mean car accident. Before going […]
Multilingualism in the U.S. – Presidents Martin Van Buren is the only President whose first language was not English. It was Dutch. Herbert Hoover and his wife, Lou Henry Hoover, both learned Mandarin. They lived in China for several years around the turn of the 20th century. Multilingual presidents who spoke French include: John Adams, […]
Fabio The Romance Cover Model Fabio. Just one name, and 1980s and 1990s romance novels come to mind. I first learned of him when I was at a book signing for my second medieval, The Viking’s Bride (1989) and someone exclaimed, “Oh, you got a Fabio cover!” I saw him once in the flesh at […]
There is no more “off the beaten path.” In this era of global travel all paths are sufficiently beaten. About 30 years ago I heard about the pilgrimage route known as St. Jacques de Compostelle in northern Spain. It’s a route you walk and stay at hostels along the way. I thought it might be cool […]