Lady of the Eternal City: The Movie

HBO just called, and they’re giving Lady of the Eternal City the “Game of Thrones treatment! Sigh – I wish. But until the day Weiss & Benioff are leaving me urgent voice-mails, a girl can dream – and I don’t know a writer out there...
A Gift For My Readers

A Gift For My Readers

I have been hugely touched by the good wishes, the prayers, and the wonderful support coming in from readers after my house fire of two weeks ago. It’s been a rollercoaster two weeks, but the Overseas Gladiator and I are fighting our way back to normality: burns...
Quinn’s Inferno

Quinn’s Inferno

Last week my house suffered a catastrophic fire. I’ve been asked “How did it happen?” so many times I could tell the story in my sleep, but I’ll tell it again on the page. I think for a writer, it isn’t real until we’ve written it...

Top 10 Books of 2014

I’m about to start a long road trip, throwing the Praetorian Dog in the car and heading off to spend Christmas with the Dowager Librarian in California–but I’ve got just enough time to turn out the mandatory Top Ten Books I Read This Year!  blog...

The 13 Stages of Copyediting Madness

  1. Page 2: Hey, this book isn’t so bad. 2. Page 81: That’s the fourth misspelled word . . . and those are just the ones I caught. Wait, how many am I missing?! 3. Start over. 4. Send panicked email to writing buddy begging for one more reread of...
My House Is Tidy. And I Hate It.

My House Is Tidy. And I Hate It.

The reason everything is tidy is because my husband is gone. Now, he’s not a slob–the faucets in our bathrooms are shined to pass a Navy inspection, and he actually reproaches me if I do the vacuuming without him–but clean and tidy are two very...