Wednesday Wanderings - May 24th

Wandering #1 ...

London - Day 3

Our first stop of the day was Strawberry Hill House in Twickenham. It's the first manor built completely in the Gothic style of architecture and is the inspiration for the fairy guardian's house in our four-book Victorian time travel series.

Check out the intricate wrought iron stairs.

The owner owned tons of stained glass and used it all over the house. 

There were different styles of fireplaces all over the house, and check out that library.

It was really fun to imagine our characters in a house like this.

This is me and three of the other authors, Laura Bastian
and the mother/daughter duo who write as Jo Noelle

Our next stop was the Tower of London.

For some reason, I thought it was really just a tower. 

Their armory is huge!

Wandering #2 ...

Yard & Fencing

We've been working on the outside of the house. Before I left for the UK, they got the front sprinkler system in and the sod laid.

Friends and neighbors are helping with the fencing.

What have you been up to? Got any summer plans?

Wednesday Wanderings - May 17th

Wandering #1 ...

Sweet Contemporary Romance 
& Opportunity to Win a $50 Gift Card

As you can tell from the banner, I'm part of a promotion of sweet, contemporary romances. And to make it even sweeter, there's an opportunity to win a $50 gift card. Click the box below to sign up.

And good luck!

Wandering #2 ...

London - Day 2

Windsor Castle was our first stop.

I love what they've done with the moat. This is part of the moat garden.

They had a fire in 1992 that did a lot of damage to the north towers.

It's easy to forget that they needed these mammoth walls for protection.

Our next stop was the lovely village of Bath. Anyone who's read Austen or Regency romances will know the Pump Room was a social gathering place. It's a restaurant today.

It rather boggles the mind that this part of the city wasn't that much different in Jane Austen's day.

 We visited the Roman Baths. Also something that played quite a role in Austen's day and in Regency romances. The Romans really built them over hot springs.
It's pretty cool the place is still standing.

Just don't really get in there. Or drink the waters like they did in Austen's day. *gag*

Our last stop was Stonehenge. They're huge.
It's humbling to be an American with a relatively short history
and to visit places where things are so old.

Wandering #3 ...

We finally saw Guardians of the Galaxy. I enjoyed it, but not as much as I wanted to. One of my biggest complaints about the second Pirates movie was that they tried too hard to up the action from the epicly awesome fight scenes of the first movie. They ended up looking forced.

That's what I felt about some of the humor in G2. Some of it they hit dead on (for me--I recognize that people have different tastes in humor, and I heard plenty of people in the theater laughing when I wasn't). But, to me, some of it seemed forced.

Plus ... (spoiler alert--you need to highlight it to see my following comment):

Seriously?! Peter's father was a man-ho and caused his mother's death? UGH

I think the story's strength was its heart. I loved so many parts of that which I won't spoil here.

Anyway, have you seen it?

What did you think?

Did you stay for all the extra scenes?

I LOVED Peter and the teen Groot and what it foreshadows. 

Wednesday Wanderings - May 10th

London - Day 1

What an amazing trip it was. We tried to get an Uber to take us to our flat the day we arrived. It just happened to be the day of the London Marathon. Nothing was able to get through, so public transportation it was.

View of the London Marathon

I've seen the London Eye destroyed so many times in movies

that it was surreal to see it in person.

And in one piece.

Some beautiful gardens near our flat.

We did a little sightseeing.

Big Ben is another iconic landmark that was dreamlike to see in person.

Whitehall Gardens 

Westminster

We timed it just right to attend an organ recital at Westminster Cathedral.

I took this picture before I realized we weren't supposed to.

Don't tell!

We had the BEST Fish & Chips of our trip that first night in a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant. The tartar sauce was amazing, and the chips ... yum!

So what have you been up to? Have you seen Guardians of the Galaxy 2?

Monday Meanderings - October 24, 2016

First Meandering ...

I wasn't going to do NaNo this year since I'm supposed to be editing. However, I've got a couple of stories, one a book and one a novella, that I'll need to get done by March, so I'm wondering where I should focus my energy.

Now focus is relative, since I'll be in Hawaii babysitting grandkids for the last half of the month. Do you think I'm delusional to see how far I can get before the 16th when we fly? I'll have several hours each day to work since all the kids are in school.

Second Meandering ...

In April I'm joining three other authors on a research trip to London and Scotland. We're working on a book series (contemporary time travel fantasy). And we got the tickets for the trip this weekend. Squeee!

No World War III is allowed. Just sayin'.

Third Meandering ...

It was a fabulously beautiful fall weekend, with the temps in the upper 60s and low 70s. It was fabulous. They got a bunch of plumbing and electrical on the house. No fun pictures this week.

What did you do?