Upcoming Events
July 17, 5:30-7:30pm, RWA "Readers
for Life" Literacy Autographing,
Atlanta Marriott Marquis, Atlanta, GA
Oct. 19, 4-5:30pm,
NJRWA Conference Literacy Book Fair,
Renaissance Woodbridge Hotel, Iselin, NJ
Photos
I got the opportunity to talk about the Naked nobility with Karen Allyn, the
host of Forward Motion, a local cable TV show. Here I am with Karen on the
set.
 
My friend Debbie hosts a book signing party when I have a new book out.
It's always great fun, mostly because it's a chance to see friends I haven't
seen regularly in a long time. Most of the women we invite--and yes, we do
pretty much limit it to women--are moms we know from when our kids were in grade
school or high school. Here's this year's group.
Here are are some pictures from my trip to the RT convention in LA. My
husband came along; we went out early to do some sightseeing. We were able
to get around using the bus and subway--if you're on Facebook, you've probably
seen some of my pictures. Here are a few others. The first was taken
at Santa Monica--we took the Big Blue bus from LA. The second is the
observatory at Griffith Park--unfortunately it was closed the day we visited.
Then there's me with the famous Hollywood sign, and a view from the top of Mt.
Hollywood. (The sign is not on Mt. Hollywood.) We think that
snowcapped peak in the distance is Mt. Baldy. And then finally, I was
there for RT. Here I'm dressed for the social event I co-sponsored with a
bunch of other historical writers--Saucy Sirens through History. I'm
supposed to be Audrey Hepburn. My husband's 6' 3" and he was probably standing
too close to take the shot--we were in our hotel room--so I think I look a
little odd--even ignoring that hat (which I borrowed) and those sunglasses
(which I own and I think wore back in the 80s or 90s.)
    
Our trip to England was wonderful. If you "like" my Facebook fan page,
you'll be able to see almost all the pictures we took. I'm also mulling
over the experience on the blog I started for that purpose. Here, however,
are a few shots. The first three were taken in London: the Horse Guards
parade grounds with the London Eye in the background, me with the Tower Bridge
in the background, and riders on Rotten Row in Hyde Park.
  
These pictures were taken at Knole in Sevenoaks, Kent. Knole is a house,
but it looks more like a small village--that's it in the first picture; the
third picture is its "front door." It is set in a medieval deer park where
Sika and Fallow deer roam--I think the middle picture might include both
species.
  
Bath is a beautiful city. The first picture is of the Royal Crescent, the
second is the fountain in the Pump Room (yes, I took the waters), and the last
is the Pulteney Bridge and Pulteney Weir in the River Avon.
  
We thoroughly enjoyed our day at Leeds Castle, though it did have a little of a
Disneyland feel to us. Here are two of the black swans and then two views
of the castle.
  
Brighton--we stumbled upon this Naked store and had to take a picture, of
course. The beach wasn't sand, it was pebbles--stones in places. Not
somewhere I'd want to walk barefoot. And the Royal Pavillion was
spectacular.
  
I had a great time at RomCon in Denver--and I took the opportunity to visit
family in the area. Here are a few pictures of our travels. If you
want to see more, please visit my Facebook fan page.
    
Here's a picture of the Zebra herd from RT. Kensington, my publisher, thought it
would be fun to have some authors enter the Faery Ball as a herd of zebras.
(The Nakeds' imprint is Zebra--get it?) Here we are--I'm the one on the
right with the tan "hooves." Two of the group are editors, but I'm not
saying which two!
Our area was hit by a record-breaking snowstorm in February--the Blizzard of
2010. Here are a few pictures--the first is the view from our front door
across the street (yes, there's a street there, albeit snow covered) to the
park; the next is my dear husband starting to clear off the front stoop during
the storm; the next two are of both of us at the tail end of the storm; and the
last picture is the next morning. Mr. M. is standing by our lamppost and
the wall of snow from shoveling the front walk.
    
My youngest son was a swim coach this summer. One Saturday in June he came
back from a morning swim meet, parked the car, walked up the lawn--and noticed a
box turtle. I went out to see what was going on--we figured out she was
laying her eggs in the middle of our front lawn! I sat there and watched
her--it must have taken a couple hours. She dug a hole with her rear legs,
deposited her eggs, refilled the hole, and strolled off down our lawn, down the
sidewalk and driveway, across the street, and back into the park. I
borrowed a little garden fence from some neighbors and marked the area, and then
alerted the lawn care folks what was up. I went online to see when we
might see the babies--looks like anywhere from mid-September to Thanksgiving.
I'm scratching my head over that--and keeping my fingers crossed the little ones
hatch successfully.
Here are a few pictures--mom digging her hole, a close up of mom, the "nursery"
cordoned off, and the neat round hole (if you can see it) under which are the
eggs.
   
I did a crazy amount of traveling in the spring. Almost every weekend I
was somewhere else--New York, Boston, Leesburg, Orlando, and Denver. Of
course I neglected to take pictures--I always bring my camera, but I rarely
manage to use it. I did snap a few pix when I was visiting my cousin
outside Denver--a photo from her deck and then another of her on our hike along
the path near her house. They'd had a recent storm that had taken down
many trees. There were places where we had to turn back, the fallen
foliage was so dense. I was a bit concerned, being an East Coast,
sea-level creature, that I'd have problems with altitude sickness, but I'm happy
to report all went well.
 
The day after I got back from Denver, I went to a luncheon/book signing at Fort
Meade. Here's a picture of all the authors--or at least all the ones who
would pose for the camera.
My son sent me photos from the December wedding, and I am finally getting around to
putting a few of them up. We had so many pictures to choose from! The photographer did a wonderful job--she was
very
unobtrusive, and she got some great candids as well as posed shots. Click
here to learn about her. Here's the
family picture--me, my husband, our four sons, and our new daughter-in-law.
The four "boys."
The groom and his groomsmen.
The entire wedding party.
And finally the bride and groom dancing.
Hubby missed the trip to San Francisco, so when he could take some time in
October, he and I went off to the beach for a few days. We rented a condo
from a friend--it was right on the beach. Wonderful! Walking up the
highway one day, looking for an open restaurant, we came upon this fantastic
sign. I love the Naked--reminds me of my own Nakeds. And here's the
link to their website:
www.TheNakedCrab.com. Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to sample
any Naked crabs.
I did some sightseeing before the RWA conference this summer in San Francisco.
I took my youngest son, a college swimmer, along--my husband was supposed to
come, too, but he couldn't get away from work. One of the highlights--from
my point of view, at least--was renting a tandem bike and pedaling across the
Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito. I put college swimmer in front, of
course, to do most of the work. Here he is with the bike and the bridge in
the background.
Here's one of my favorite pictures.
We live in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., but we're also across the street
from a neighborhood park that is home to lots of wildlife--I've seen groundhogs,
deer, foxes, and toads, among other creatures. We had a "pet" toad that
liked to hang out at night on our front stoop by a stone toad the original
owners left behind in the front garden. Herre he is.
 
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