Dear Reader,
I recently met with a friend in Seattle and realized I’d been in 9 different time zones in the space of a few weeks. No wonder I kept yawning over my lunch!
Despite the inconvenient disruption of my sleeping habits, I enjoyed my travels over the three months of summer immensely. If you’ve been reading my summer blog posts from London you experienced some of these highlights with me.
Almost Touching
By far the most memorable moment for me was standing between two upright stones at Stonehenge, my hands a hairsbreadth from–but not touching–two of the stones. (see photo)
Every so often, the British Heritage Trust at Stonehenge allows groups to walk in amongst (but not touch!) the stones at sunrise. I was privileged to be one of a group of 32 who had that experience. It was exhilarating to be allowed to get close enough to see where someone etched his presence in the stone in 1814, or to see where water has worn away holes in the stone, or to see the “blue stones” within the circle concealed by the larger stones without, or the moss growing on the stones right up close or to stand directly beneath one of the stone lentils. Most visitors are required to remain on a sidewalk perhaps three or four car lengths from the stones. We were the only folks there (aside from a single security guard), and the circle is large enough for me to have been there with no one else in sight. It was a feeling of sheer joy–cold and windy bliss, to be sure–to be there as the sun rose in a bright blue sky.
To further explain the nine time zones, once I returned home from London I immediately left again for Banff and Lake Louise, Canada, for my annual mother-daughter trip. Then quick hopscotched trips between Florida (to unpack), Colorado (to see Broncos football) and Seattle, Washington (to see my son), before finally coming home to stay.
While in England, I did an on-line review (Quite an adventure!) of the copy-edit for TEXAS BRIDE, the first book in my new Mail-Order Bride series, due in stores March 2012. Click Coming Soon for a sneak peek at the cover! TEXAS BRIDE features Cricket Creed (from my Sisters of the Lone Star series) and Alexander Blackthorne, the first Blackthorne in Texas, and is a prequel to my Bitter Creek series.
Now that I’m settled back in my office, I’m busy finishing up book two in the Mail-Order Bride series, WYOMING BRIDE. I love the family of characters in this series and I hope you will, too! These books will all be connected to characters in my previous novels.
Hope you had a great summer! I’d love to hear which moments were memorable for you and what you’re looking forward to now that fall is here.
Cheers (common British greeting meaning “So long!” or “See you later!”),
