Monday I returned from a trip to London -- Eric, two of our kids, and I spent 2.5 weeks there with 16 students on study abroad. It was a great time to explore -- and for me to teach in a compressed timeframe, but what I wanted to share with you today is some of the delightful bookshops we explored while we were there. There were other bookstores we explored, too. We love Waterstones, and Oxford … [Read more...]
Gone To My Happy Place
Hello, Inspired by Life and Fiction friends! I am happy to say that I am presently in England (Lord willing) leading my first-ever group trip to the country where all of my books have been set so far. I am blessed to be traveling with a group of 39 reader-friends and colleagues from many different states. Together with two travel professionals, we have been planning and dreaming about … [Read more...]
Stepping out of Comfort Zones
Life is full of choices. Sometimes the biggest choice is whether to move forward or stay where we are comfortable. This week I'm making a presentation in Nottingham, England, at the Society of Legal Scholars conference. It's a definite step outside my comfort zone. Now, don't roll your eyes. Yes, I teach a couple times a week at Purdue University, but I don't teach other professors. … [Read more...]
It’s the People that Matter Most
For my last few posts, I've shared photos of some favorite moments during a recent trip to England. As I mentioned, the memories that stand out most are not the many interesting sights we saw, but the people we connected with along the way. Like the reader, Katie, who took us horseback riding around her family’s stables, then to tea at her mother-in-law’s 500-year-old cottage. And like Linda, the … [Read more...]
The Kindness of Strangers
One of the places I really looked forward to visiting during our recent trip to England was Great Chalfield Manor, the estate that inspired the manor in my new book The Secret of Pembrooke Park (December 2014). We arrived more than an hour before the last tour at 4:00, but were told by a man and woman working the table at the gated entrance that the tours were all sold out for the day. The man … [Read more...]