Hi friends, and happy Wednesday!  I just returned from hosting a writing retreat, and I had the best time. While I was the one teaching, the sweet attendees taught me just as much, if not more. We stayed at two cabins in West Virginia, and while that might bring something rustic to mind, these cabins my family loves to stay at are anything but. The owner has the best … [Read more...]

I recently shared about my experience participating in a book festival in Hungary. (You can read about it here.) During that same trip to Europe, I also had the opportunity to participate in one more book event. This one took place in Bratislava, Slovakia. Martin, the publisher who produces my books in the Slovak language arranged an event at a large bookstore. As authors, we never have … [Read more...]

Today our adorable first granddaughter becomes a teenager! This is a special day of memory for our family because July 22 was also my amazing mother-in-law’s birthday! This will be Mom's third birthday in heaven but she had a couple of very sad birthdays over the years. Mom's brother—her only living sibling—died on her birthday in 1991. And unbelievably, five years later, Ken’s dad, my dear … [Read more...]

I recently read an article about medieval dog names found in a book called "The Names of All Manner of Hounds." Someone was thinking about commercial appeal even in the 15th century. How do you decide on a name for your dog? Once my family ran through a series of US general names: We had Patton and MacArthur and Ike, but I couldn't bring myself to name a dog Schwatzkoff (sp?), so we then went … [Read more...]