In my newest novel featuring protagonists Nara Blake and Alex Collier, they work at the Tate Britain, one of the foremost art museums in London. This is a natural and fun setting for me, since I love visiting art museums. I overdid it a bit on my last trip to the Netherlands, and visited fourContinue reading “Loving Art Museums”
Category Archives: travel
It’s About the Senses
Barcelona is all about the senses. On my first trips to Europe over twenty years ago, the streets smelled of exhaust fumes. One whiff told me I was in Europe. No more. The air is cleaner. I walk down the Passaig de Gracia in Barcelona and inhale the freshness of bread baking, meat grilling, andContinue reading “It’s About the Senses”
The Value of Color
“I Think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.” Alice Walker Market in Granada, Spain Our eyes are drawn to color. Visual color attracts us and demands our attention. Like a magnet, it pulls us in. Advertisers and film makers know the value ofContinue reading “The Value of Color”
Starting the Whole Dang Process over Again
A dungeon in Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. Might work it into a new novel. Beginning a new novel is both exhilarating and scary. I enjoy the new ideas for plot details, setting, and characters that pop willy-nilly into my brain. Old characters poke their heads in to say, “Can I be in this one? You saidContinue reading “Starting the Whole Dang Process over Again”
Food, Drink, and Travel
Fresh squeezed pomegranate juice! On a recent trip to Israel, my husband and I had an opportunity to stroll through the Turkish market in Akka, or Akkó. After running into a falafal restaurant to escape a rainstorm, we found fellow travelers from Peru, and enjoyed our lunch with a Spanish conversation. We parted ways andContinue reading “Food, Drink, and Travel”
The “Nature” of Setting
I have always wondered how a person’s surrounding affect they way they live. How is it different to grow up on the flat land of Illinois in the midst of corn fields and soy beans, compared to a city overlooked by an ancient castle (Edinburgh, Scotland), or the lushness of tropical trees and flowers. DifferentContinue reading “The “Nature” of Setting”