I recently picked up an issue of Oprah’s magazine. One of the recent ones on clutter and organizing. Sadly, this is always topical in my house. We’ve been doing a lot of that lately–cleaning out closets, whole rooms and my husband has been on a rampage to Get Rid of the Junk. It isn’t like our house is ready for an episode of Hoarders, but we live in a small house and now that boys have gotten bigger, it has gotten a lot smaller. So being creative with the space is a necessity.

But there are sections of the … Read more »

While at RT, I picked up a lovely award for Mad About the Duke. The 2010 Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Love & Laughter Historical. I tried to tell a joke as I accepted the award but it sort of fell flat. Way to go for the funny writer. Let me tell you, humor is a lot easier to write than execute before a live audience.

But I have to credit the Duke of Parkerton for being the real comic genius of this story. He arrived in This Rake of Mine, all stiff and proper and ducal, and … Read more »

Back from LA and RT and all those other two initial acronyms that elude me right at the moment. Had this sort of glorious time doing nothing. Well, I wasn’t exactly doing nothing–my schedule was packed–but I had that sense of flitting from one thing to another and not really having to work all that hard. Plus, it was fun. Yes, I said fun.

I don’t always find big conferences fun. Too loud. Too many people. Too many costume changes. Too much. But having made the decision to go to RT rather late in the game, allowed me to put … Read more »

The closer a book comes to being released, the more I feel my life speeding up. I start writing faster, I panic faster, I get out of the house more. Which is probably a good thing–because then I can get a chance to see all of you. And in that, let’s get outta here vein, I’m off to the Romantic Times Reader’s Convention this week. Currently I am going through my usual, “what to wear, what to pack” panic but by the time I reach LA, I will have my SoCal vibe on and be quite mellow.

I hadn’t planned … Read more »

They are a coming. In the next few months my website will be getting some upgrades and new features. Not giving away anything just yet, but just wanted to make sure you had a bit of a heads up. It’s been sort of exciting to go through my current site and look at it from a redecorating stand point. I love my site, but we all need something new every once in a while, don’t we?

One thing I can show you is that I’ve cleaned up my Blog Categories over there on the right–added some new, gathered together a … Read more »

London has always been a destination for shoppers and some of those shops have been around for decades, some even centuries. And the best part of it? Window shopping is free.

If you are going to indulge in some really high end window shopping, then start on Jermyn Street, where the wealthy have shopped for over 300 years. Where you can still get good walking sticks:

Get your feet shod with some custom boots:

Or if you are feeling a bit peckish, pick up some cheese:

And while you are in the neighborhood, drop by for some snacks and groceries … Read more »

Usually when I get to London, I end up starting off in Trafalgar Square. I don’t know what the lure is, but I always seem to start out coming out of the Charing Cross Tube Station–which is my favorite because outside stands the last of Edward I’s “Eleanor Crosses” which marked her funeral route. I actually used one in Stealing the Bride. The one there now is a replica, but still, I love it. After I indulge myself with such a beautiful and heartbreaking monument to love, I head over to Trafalgar Square. The place is so wonderful: the … Read more »

Every five years or so, I pack my bags and toddle over the North Pole and drop in on London. And this being one of those years, I am about to leave again. I didn’t think I was going to go this year–the difficulties of finding a time to leave the family, the expense, was it the right year to go (okay, is there ever a wrong year?), but like my grandmother always said, when things are right, they will align for you. And so it was this year.

A few months ago, my husband came home and rattled keys … Read more »

Like the car has never been detailed. Enough bug carnage on the front bumper to make an entomologist jealous. And by the exhausted smiles on the faces of four happy Boyles, like they’d just had the trip of their lives. For three weeks, we camped, hiked, swam and explored our way across seven states. Just where did we go? Here it is:

Seattle to Montana. Montana to Yellowstone. Yellowstone to the Grand Tetons. Across Wyoming. Into the Black Hills of South Dakota. Across South Dakota. North to North Dakota. Went to a wedding. Dipped our toes into Minnesota so we … Read more »

Turned in my book two weeks ago and promised the family some summer Fun away from work. So I might seem a little absent, but I will be back very soon with lot’s to share very soon. Hope you are all enjoying a little summer fun.… Read more »