I’ve been writing a long time. I won’t tell you how long, because I’d give away my age – but long enough to not care to admit it. J And over the years I attended many, many, many conferences, workshops, signings and speaking events where other authors, successful authors, authors I admired and read and adored talked about how they did this mystical, mysterious art known as crafting a novel. Oh, boy, did I absorb every. Single. Word. I took notes. Lots of notes. Notebooks FULL of notes. I paid hundreds of dollars in membership dues, class fees, and bought books on writing. I joined clubs, went to monthly meetings (Thank You RWA!) and still struggled. Thoughts chased themselves around in my head like a constantly beating drum. How was I supposed to do this? Why wasn’t I getting published? What was I supposed to do? How did I get good enough to be legit? To be worthy. Then self-publishing rose as an option, and I wrote, and I published, and I didn’t SELL. No one cared. So I took more classes. Read more books on writing. Listened to more talks and speeches and took more notes. What a load…

Korean– I went with my mother to Korea in 2015 and had home cooked meals. We didn’t eat in restaurants (OK, a few), but mostly church suppers. Yum! I had no idea what I was eating and I didn’t ask, but it was all fabulous. I love cucumber kimchi and something called Shabu Shabu. Southern cooking– If it wasn’t going to give me a coronary, I’d eat it every day. I went to school in Savannah, Georgia and spent four years gobbling up hush puppies and biscuits, grits and sweet tea. And everything had ham in it—which makes complete sense to me. I love it so much I’m going on a road trip in June with my father across Mississippi to find the best fried chicken! Seafood– The corny saying is true- I’m on a sea food diet. Growing up on the Chesapeake Bay, crabs were king. I love a good steamed crab. But salmon fishing in Alaska has me hankering for some wild caught silvers. Of course, I was the one who caught a halibut by mistake (a BIG mistake!) and it was yummy! Italian– I would be getting a divorce if I didn’t put this on the list…

Inspired by the lush PBS mini-series “Victoria,” this month we’ll look at fiction that explores the world of imperial rulers—and check out the life of one who had more influence on the next generation of royals than the hand that held the scepter. First, we follow the early life of the great queen herself in VICTORIA: A NOVEL OF THE YOUNG QUEEN by Daisy Goodwin. Creator of the soap-operetic PBS series, author Goodwin drew upon Queen Victoria’s diaries to create an intimate picture of the woman behind the legend who gave her name to an era. Goodwin’s meticulously-researched volume gives new insight into a girl of sheltered, restricted upbringing who becomes queen a month after her eighteenth birthday. From her mother’s advisor and political strategists who seek to minimize and bypass her to the early faux pas, assassination attempts and, of course, the great love of her life, Albert, Goodwin’s novel illuminates the vibrant, passionate woman beneath the dour widow’s weeds. VICTORIA by Daisy Goodwin A Novel of a Young Queen “They think I am still a little girl who is not capable of being a Queen.” Lord Melbourne turned to look at Victoria. “They are mistaken. I have not…