Monthly Archives: July 2017

What does a ballroom look like?

When you need to describe a setting so thoroughly that your readers feel as though they’re walking inside that space, it’s helpful to have a “model.” The family gathering in the ballroom at Eastcliff-by-the-Sea is pivotal for the book, so I wanted to get everything just right. I used my impressions of the ballroom at… Read More


Happy Independence Day, America!

To celebrate, this poem by Emma Lazarus, “The New Colossus,” is apropos for our times. Written in 1883, Lazarus was determined to help raise funds for the pedestal on which the Statue of Liberty stands. Today, her poem is inscribed on that pedestal. Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride… Read More