Travel
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The Greatest Journeys Are Sometimes Found on the Page

Why novels may be the greatest journeys of all — carrying us across centuries, continents, and imagined worlds from the comfort of home. Continue reading
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Top Three Books – Week 1

Reading an average of ten books a month (I’m a fast reader) and not having reviewed them all, I’m going to have a weekly feature called Top Three Books. Continue reading
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Creativity in Quarantine
I would love to say that I am #StayingAtHome, but I found this situation more complicated—and emotionally loaded. When we first arrived in Peru, we were staying in a hotel. This was where we were when, halfway into our trip, a quarantine and curfew were set; all of the stores closed. Any place that we… Continue reading
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Imagine Success
2020 is young, and sweet progress is being made. I’ve written 10,000 words towards my first novella of the year. I am hoping for four of them. As I wade through the tale of Isolde and Gareth, I can’t help reflecting on how my writing process has changed since I began. It’s more mature; for… Continue reading
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The Charles Dickens Museum

I have a confession to make: I almost did not leave England. I can’t tell you what I would have done should I have stayed, being utterly unprepared for a move to a different country. Still, I cried on the night before we were to fly out. It had been lovely to walk the streets,… Continue reading
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Walking the Unpaved Road
I know few people can travel for the sake of creativity. It isn’t the only way to overcome Writer’s Block, but it does work. I am blessed to have been able to visit lovely places and have new experiences. It’s true that adventure, exploring the world, will do your creativity a wealth of good. Here… Continue reading
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A Dramatic Trip to London
This morning we were late to Charles de Gaulle airport. Not only that, but a couple of our carry-on bags were overweight, and we had to check them. Someone sent us to the wrong gate, on the other side of the terminal. By the time we crossed the terminal, everyone else had boarded the plane… Continue reading
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Thoughts on the Louvre

I mourn that I was unable to see all the works in the Louvre and appreciate them. It would require a lifetime studying each piece from every possible angle. I would have to make my home in the halls of the museum: each piece of art offers hours of contemplation. I cannot live in the… Continue reading
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The Lady of Paris

Yesterday, the Eiffel Tower stood before me. All my life, I had wanted to meet her in person, wanted it desperately; I pined for it, as if anxious she would one day walk away. I feared she would vanish to a different spot if I kept her waiting, for no lady likes to wait. But… Continue reading
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My Own Account of London

When I first started reading books, I discovered their ability to transport the reader to different places. Between covers I have been to many locations, a good percentage of which are not real…but many that do exist somewhere on this planet. Of these I have enjoyed glimpsing between the lines. How strange to think I… Continue reading
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How’s the Weather?

Cold air stings my face. I think about conversations we have with taxi drivers about the most cliche of subjects, the weather. Is it not the topic that makes us all scoff? But when you’re from a different hemisphere, the weather becomes interesting. We hear people in Peru talk of how cold it is outside,… Continue reading
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Colors of Travel

What have I learned visiting a different hemisphere for two weeks? I could go on about the cliches. In a different country we discover new cultures, cities, customs. We encounter things of the past, ruins and cathedrals built centuries ago, structures with such detail few today can mimic them. To be honest, I haven’t seen… Continue reading