Photo courtesy of Coltyn Giles

I’m excited to announce I’m contributing a guest post on another author’s blog!

Amber Meyer produces The Write Destination blog, a site dedicated to the art of writing. Amber is working on a novella called Puppy Love, slated to come out early in 2017. I’ve been lucky enough to do some advance reading on that, and it is hilarious! Also, look for her novel, Stealing the Amber Room later in the year. The Write Destination is featuring work styled after the masters and the guest post I wrote for her blog is an Agatha Christie read-alike, albeit set in a contemporary time frame in America. It’s a short mystery, and I hope you’ll visit her website and read my story. I think you’ll like it!

Before the kids left, we took time for one last family trip to Prague.

Entering Czech

Prague, in the Czech Republic, is one of our favorite cities in Europe, and since it’s only a two-and-a-half hour drive from our home in Germany, we’ve visited many times. My son is a budding photographer, and there are just so many fantastic vistas for the camera in Prague. We rented an apartment right in the pedestrian zone in the Old Town, directly across the street from St. Giles church, a gorgeous “miniature Sistine chapel” where the wedding scene from Amadeus was filmed.

Arriving close to midnight on a beautiful, clear evening, we dropped our bags at the apartment and went out to wander and take pictures. Other than the dark sky, it was like lunch hour—streets full of people, restaurants open and crowded. We stayed out until after two a.m. and I did something I never thought possible—spent time on the Charles Bridge when it was almost completely deserted.

In addition to the fabulous sights, we met some interesting people this go round—a drunken male model from Norway who commended us for our spectacular eyes and cautioned us against selling out to the Canadians (?), a friendly shopkeeper with an adorable little girl who helped our son pick out an awesome hat, a stroller-pushing dad who gushed enthusiasms over our dog while we admired his beautiful baby.

We’re soon to leave Europe. In fact, our son moved to Denver last week and our daughter just left for California. In January, we’ll move back to Washington state, another scenic part of the world. But we will miss Germany tremendously, and the opportunity for easy travel in Europe. It’s been wonderful, and I’ve gathered a lot of material for future stories!

I’m excited to reconnect with a former mentor, Dean Wesley Smith.

In 2011, I hired on with the Timberland Regional Library system, one of my favorite jobs ever. At a staff training day in 2012, I participated in the keynote address given by Orson Scott Card, a stimulating and inspiring look at the art of language. Afterward, I attended a break-out session with Kristine Kathryn Rusch, a fabulous writer and an authority on the new face of the publishing industry. Following her presentation, I met with her and we talked of many things, including her husband, Dean Wesley Smith. I subsequently met him online and began learning at his virtual feet. (More on this later.)

Dean and Kris are based in Oregon, and one of the perks of moving back to the Pacific Northwest is being in their vicinity. I’m thirsty to learn, and they are well-equipped to train. Both prolific writers, novels, television, magazines—you’ve surely encountered their work multiple times.

I can’t wait to reconnect with Dean and further my education, and my adventure. Stick with me!