I’ve turned over a new leaf–really, I promise.  Finding the right time to get back on a horse–or a blog–when you’ve fallen off is always difficult.  I kept waiting for the perfect post, which somehow never quite materialized.  But having spent a good bit of time the last few months updating the web page (although [...]

After such a long and unplanned absence from these posts, I thought it only fitting to mark the Winter Solstice, the tipping point between the old year and the new, by wishing that we could all manage the sort of peace and contentment displayed by Hallie (our German shepherd) and Jolly (our tuxedo cat) in [...]

August is fast approaching, and that means it’s time for the Edinburgh International Festival, one of the world’s foremost celebrations of art, dance, and music. And with the Festival comes the Fringe, an alternative festival launched in 1947, the same year as the Edinburgh Festival, with the mission of allowing access to all performers. [...]

A red letter day today! I have my complete tour schedule, and the cover proofs for the book arrived in the morning mail. The book looks fabulous, and I’m very excited about seeing old friends and meeting new ones. I’ll be signing in Dallas, Houston, San Francisco, Phoenix, Tucson, Iowa City, [...]

Yes, I’m back from England, and I promise I will take up where I left off writing about my trip, even if after the fact, but for now I hope readers will forgive a momentary American digression (and the word play.  Couldn’t resist.)
Yesterday was the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby, and Derby day is [...]

Actually, the term “high tea” for the posh afternoon sort of thing with tea and scones is a misnomer, but it worked better in the title than “afternoon tea,” which is the correct term. But since my favorite place for afternoon tea closed, the Basil Street Hotel near Harrod’s, I had been promising myself [...]

I promised I’d post everyday from London, and as of Thursday I will have been here two weeks. That’s always the way it goes with these visits–never near enough time to get in all the things I need and want to do. I’ve been researching the book-in-progress (more on that later) and taking [...]

Just wanted to say thanks to all those who have posted and sent emails the last couple of months.  I’ve been writing like a mad person since October finishing Where Memories Lie, which is now in the very capable hands of my editor at William Morrow.  Not that I wasn’t writing before that, it’s just [...]

I visited the new Whole Foods Market in Kensington High Street with great anticipation; after all, this is a Texas store that has morphed into a giant, and this is its first venture into the UK (gobbling up any rival natural foods stores in the process.) It’s a beautiful building, tucked just in [...]

This is my favorite Portobello Market photo–a juxtaposition of the traditional grocers’ van parked perfectly in front of the Starbucks near the bottom of Portobello Road, new meets old. In fact, I have this print framed in my kitchen. Portobello’s traditional fruit and vegetable vendors are struggling to hold their own [...]