Merry Christmas from Vermont!

Christmas is fast approaching. Lively, busy days for so many of us!

We just bought our Vermont-grown tree and plan to decorate it on Sunday. Off to Christmas afternoon tea tomorrow at the Inn on Boltwood in Amherst, MA, an annual event with my mother, my youngest sister (I have three sisters!), my daughter and my two young granddaughters.

Be sure to take a moment to enter my holiday contest. (US only). I chose the calendar on a recent trip to Ireland. It features watercolor illustrations of Irish hedgerows and farmland. Aren’t they beautiful?

The winner will also receive signed hardcove… Read More

Ireland writing getaway

Just popping in with a few photos from my “hideaway cottage” on the southwest Irish coast. I’m here with Joe for a few weeks to hike, read by the fire, enjoy the wonderful people and surroundings and write. Rain, wind, sun, whiskey, cows, stone walls, great food, great scenery…and Halloween. We’ll see what comes of all this creative inspiration!

… Read More

Autumn in Vermont

Autumn in Vermont is a real treat not only for those of us who live here but our many, many visitors. We live between Quechee Gorge and Woodstock, rated one of the prettiest villages in the U.S., and I often run along the beautiful, winding Ottauquechee River. Here are a few shots from last weekend. Enjoy! … Read More

The Black Falls trilogy gets a new (wintry) look!

Okay, I know technically it’s still summer, but we’re stacking cordwood and getting our flowerbeds ready for winter. I can’t say w’ere ready for snow, ice and sub-freezing temps! In fiction, maybe? Along with some pretty pictures of winter in Vermont? 😉

I wrote Cold Pursuit, the first book in my New York Times and USA Today Black Falls trilogy, during a particularly snowy winter in Vermont. Research was easy enough: I just looked out the window or strapped on my snowshoes and headed into the woods. It’s on sale in eBook right now for just $2.49 (that could ch… Read More

Winding Irish Country Roads

Exploring country roads is one of my favorite activities on our visits to Ireland. We love seeing the sights–we’ve toured museums, distilleries, historic houses and castles–but there’s nothing quite like taking off down a twisting lane, wondering where it goes and what we’ll see along the way.

Maybe my love of twisting country roads goes back to my rural New England childhood. My folks would pile all seven of us kids into the car and go for a drive, often to the nearby Quabbin Reservoir. It’d be harder to pull off these days with so many people needing se… Read More

A lovely Vermont evening at Phoenix Books

Last night’s launch party for Rival’s Break was wonderful, such fun for me as an author. I had the best time chatting with readers (a packed house!) and wandering through Phoenix Books downtown Rutland, Vermont. If you’re in Vermont during our popular leaf-peeping season, I hope you’ll stop at any of the four Phoenix Books locations. Tell them I said hi. 🙂

Many thanks to all who made this memorable evening possible!

I got so caught up in chatting with everyone that I didn’t take many photos, but here are a few. It was a beautiful evening to drive along the pictures… Read More

For a perfect getaway…books!

I love to write on getaways to hotels, inns and cottages, but reading? A must, and a special pleasure. I always have a print book with me (as well as my e-reader) on the road, but what fun it is to discover books on my various stays. Bedside Reading pairs luxury hotels with up-and-coming books. Oh, my. How perfect! Rival’s Break is a featured novel this summer, and I couldn’t be more honored and thrilled. Here it is in the gorgeous Mandarin Oriental New York.Quite a reading spot! Thank you!

When signing at Turn the Page Bookstore in picturesque Boonsboro, MD, authors are invited to sig… Read More

The Many Looks of THE WATERFALL

The Waterfall has a new digital cover! It’s my favorite of the various covers this book has had since it debuted in 2000.

Here’s a bit about the story:

Three years after the sudden death of her husband, Lucy Blacker Swift has finally got things under control. Leaving behind the cutthroat world of Washington, Lucy and her two children move to a Vermont farmhouse and start to rebuild their lives. But a string of unexplained events-late-night hang-ups, a bullet through a window-threatens her new life.

Unwilling to turn to her powerful father-in-law, Senator Jack Swift, Lucy tracks … Read More

Visiting the English Cotswolds

Whatever time of year, rain or shine, Joe and I have enjoyed our visits to the Cotswolds west of London. Now we need to visit when it snows! Or just go again, anytime. The rolling hills of this beautiful part of the English countryside are crisscrossed with marked trails. I bought a big map–yes, paper–to guide us. We did go astray a few times, but that’s half the fun. Well. Except for that time when I got into nettle. I hadn’t done that since I was a kid and it stung. Our inn was very helpful in providing baking soda, not to mention a terrific gin-and-tonic, and I was back on th… Read More

Beautiful Scotland

Scotland captured my imagination long before I ever traveled there. We went back in June, for two wonderful weeks before the busy-ness of summer set in at home. We had some cool, showery days that would feel good right now!

That’s me below, in the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh. The gardens are a fantastic place to walk off an overnight flight across the Atlantic. Joe and I had scones and tea overlooking the gardens. His brother and sister and their spouses arrived the next day and the six of us dived in to our Scotland adventures.

From Edinburgh we drove to Pitlochry, where we did the Lin of … Read More