I have an article about learning new things posted over at Indie Chicks Cafe today … As children, we were expected to learn something new every day.  Whether it was math in school, or a better way to hit a baseball, it was part of how we did things.  Some kids react better than others to an initial failure to learn new things easily, but even so, you can’t be a child without learning all the time.  Kids learn as easily as they breathe. Adults—maybe not so much. Read more:  http://indiechickscafe.com/learning-something-new-at-44/

Writing Historical Fiction Back in high school, I overheard two girls lamenting how awful their classes were and how they ‘hated’ history.  Since I was hiding in a bathroom stall at the time, I didn’t give voice to my horror at their sentiment, but it has stuck with me in the thirty years since.  How could they ‘hate’ history? Unfortunately, all too easily if by ‘history’ they meant the memorization of facts and dates that had little or no bearing on their lives.  Why did they care what year the Civil War began?  Or who was the tenth president of the United   States?  Or what happened in the fertile crescent of Mesopotamia (though knowing might clarify our wars in the Middle East today, but that’s a different topic). That’s not what history is about.  History is about people.  It’s Read more…

To say that there are sheep in Wales is like saying there is salt in the sea.  Some of them are even smart, apparently: “Professor Morton put a flock of Welsh mountain sheep through a series of tests to measure their intelligence … [they] can map their surroundings, and may even be able to plan ahead. The discovery shows they have the brainpower to equal rodents, monkeys and, in some tests, even humans … Professor Jenny Morton from the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Cambridge says the beasts’ ‘stupid’ reputation may be unwarranted. She told BBC Wales: “Our tests showed they can do what is known as executive decision making. We looked at whether they were able to understand rules and got them to do what is known as a choice discrimination task. But when we changed the rules, they behaved pretty Read more…

When my father died, last August, my husband made a wonderful video in his memory (here). That was 10 months ago.  I’m still dealing with his death emotionally, and financially as the executor of his estate. I’ve blogged over at the Indie Chicks Cafe about the kinds of things that might be helpful for every child to discuss with his/her parent BEFORE it is too late … ….. A will and a lawyer.  My father had a will and established a trust for his estate to protect my mom.  He had a relationship with a lawyer he trusted. Thank goodness. An accountant AND an investment manager: My father did not, however, have either an accountant or an investment manager.  He liked to manage his money himself, which was great when he was alive and able to see to it himself, but added to the Read more…

Gwen mentions in The Good Knight, the first of the Gareth and Gwen Medieval Mysteries, that her father was once accused of murder.  Many of my readers have asked about that incident, and I decided it would be fun to tell that story.  It ended up as a 22,000 word novella (about 100 pages), that I’ve decided to give away for free as a gift to my readers and as an introduction to the mysteries. Many thanks again to my amazing cover artist, Christine DeMaio-Rice of flipcitybooks.com for the beautiful cover! The Bard’s Daughter The Bard’s Daughter is a 22,000 word prequel to the Gareth and Gwen Medieval Mysteries: As a bard’s daughter, Gwen has spent her life traveling from castle to castle and village to village with her family, following the music. In the winter of 1141, Gwen’s family is Read more…

I don’t know that this is particularly historical, but it was a beautiful spot, to the east of Aberystwyth.  We stumbled upon it by accident a few yards from our hotel. This is a series of three bridges, built one on top of the other, as the needs of the road change.  Plus a little Victorian mercantilism to charge for the privilege of seeing it 🙂