What better time to walk the streets of any great city than when it’s snowing or raining? It's that precipitation—be it rain, sleet, hail, snow or fog—has a way of blurring the sharp edges of a metropolis, slowing the pace of its inhabitants walking with downcast eyes, and lowering the decibel count. When the everyday hustle-bustle fades, the city takes a deep breath.
Read MoreAre you longing for Spring? Tired of winter-grey skies and the dreary parkas scurrying by? Take it from me, it won’t be long in coming. I've seen the signs. For starters, last week the calendar was reminding me to change the clocks from Daylight Savings to Standard Time. Spring Forward!
Read More21st century life continues to dazzle. To think that here I am in Manhattan and my publishers are in hip Berkeley and trending Toronto; my website manager in Austin TX; my PR team in Nashville TN; and that the 'Writer of the Week' interview with Universal by Design in Oslo, Norway. There was a time when we thought a ten-inch black-and-white Emerson TV the last word. The times they are still a-changing. But for the last word today from your trusty blogger, click on the video. It was a wonderful experience. I learned a great deal about what to do and what not to do. Listen carefully for the New York 'ambiance.' I hope you enjoy it.
Read MoreAfter nine years, the Michelin starred La Goulue has returned to the swank Upper East Side, opening a few blocks from its former location. When it closed the doors in 2009, its regular habitués, especially the ladies-who-lunch, felt forsaken. Where would they go to shake off a case of "Missing Paris Blues’? Who could satisfy a craving for the fabulous cheese soufflé?
Read MoreLast week I had the great pleasure of serving on a panel discussing publishing options today -- from self-publishing and vanity productions, to small independent presses and traditional Big Five publishing. For those of you who have been bopping around town with me for some time, you, undoubtedly, have heard my story. For those new to the blog, Veronica's Grave: A Daughter's Memoir, was published first by She Writes Press, an independent publisher dedicated to women's writing, before being picked up by Harper Collins Canada and brought out as Missing Mother. As someone who has experienced two very different publishing models, I was invited to share my publishing journey.
Read MoreBehind every successful book lies not only a great story but a great PR team. Never a month goes by that I'm not asked by a writer with a story to tell if they need to hire a publicist. My answer is always the same: Absolutely! Invariably the next question is: What did your PR agency do for you? Most people, myself included, have no idea what happens in the complex world of public relations. Which is why I was delighted early on to have crossed paths with JKS Communications. What fellows is a brief and instructive overview that, by chance, I recently found on the their website. Read on to find out how they made Veronica's Grave a standout. Enjoy!
Read MoreWhat follows is an inspirational article by my friend Diana Y. Paul that appeared in the literary journal Women Writers, Women's Books. Having previously written three books on Buddhism, Diana published (She Writes Press 2015) a highly-praised debut novel, Things Unsaid. Ranked #2 in the “Top 14 Books about Families Crazier Than Yours,” Things Unsaid was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Struck by how many other women were reinventing themselves after retirement, she interviewed a number of authors. The overriding consensus? Yes, Virginia, there is life after retirement...a fulfilling life, at that. Read on.
Read MoreIn the summer of 1890, in the small country town of Auvers-sur-Oise to the west of Paris, Vincent Van Gogh stumbled up the main street one evening, a bullet lodged in his stomach. The artist had a troubled history—the incident years earlier when he cut off a part of his ear is well-known—but it remained a mystery as to why and how he was shot. A regular whodunnit.
Read MoreIf you’re ‘desperately seeking Paris’ in New York, how best to welcome in the New Year? À la française, of course, with a soupçon of French style and elegance. So off we went, my companion and I with our dear friends in tow, to Michael White's French brasserie on the Upper East Side, the wonderful Vaucluse on Park Avenue.
Read MoreOn a blustery winter day, one calling for hoods, mufflers and gloves, a friend and I found ourselves on lower Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron district. After a bit of shopping, all we wanted to do was find a place to have a relaxing lunch—perhaps a cozy ‘French.’ Where to go?
Read MoreIn a small townhouse on East 82nd Street, a few steps off Lexington Avenue, we discovered ‘the Simone,’ a charming restaurant with wonderful food and excellent service. What's in the name, I wondered. It seems that 'the Simon'e derives its name from the fabled Chateau Simone outside Aix-en-Provence, a chateau that has been in the hands of the Rougier family since 1830. May 'the Simone' be equally treasured.
Read MoreAs a teenager, it was never my choice to go to St Barnabas High School. My cousin Aileen, a year ahead of me, went there and didn’t have a good word to say about it. In fact, she would have transferred to Cathedral High had her parents let her, but the tuition at Cathedral was five dollars more per month.
Read MoreIt was a grey morning, thunderstorms predicted for the afternoon, when a full-page advertisement in the Wall Strreet Journal captured my fancy:
You are cordially invited to The Cartier Haute Joaillerie Exhibition at the Cartier Fifth Avenue Mansion at 52nd Street. For the first time ever in the U.S., the largest collection of Cartier High Jewelry will be showcased in this open to the public exhibition.Read More
A film quite unlike any other, “Faces Places” will steal your heart. A combination of a buddy road trip and a character study, this documentary stars the almost 90-year-old legendary filmmaker, Agnes Varda, and the photographer and muralist, JR, who is slightly more than one-third her age and an ‘enfant terrible,’ a naughty boy who began his career as a graffiti artist on the streets of Paris. A wonderful team, they delight in one another’s company, in the townspeople they meet along the way, and in the creation of art.
Read MoreIt was a night to celebrate, so we took ourselves off to Majorelle, which opened in March in The Lowell hotel on the Upper East Side. Charles Masson, who for forty years stood at the helm of his family’s old-style French restaurant, La Grenouille, has launched this dazzling new French with Moroccan touches in the space previously occupied by The Post House, an old-line steakhouse.
Read MoreWould you like to hang your hat in Paris? Stay not for a week, but for a month, a year or a lifetime? Many of us have fallen in love with the beauty and culture of the city, and some have stayed love enough to understand the charms of the lifestyle enjoyed by the French. One who did just that, living on a houseboat on the Seine, is my friend Roni Beth Tower, a She Writes Press author, whose recently published article follows. Read on and enjoy!
Read MoreOne of the great things about being a flâneuse, one who loves nothing better than taking in the passing scene, is that there’s no end to the surprises -- neither in New York or Paris. So, it was the other day while running errands, when I was brought up short at the sight of Le Moulin à Café....
Read More**Apologies if you have received this email twice - we had a small glitch with our first attempt!**
Goodbye, Summer! It was a shock to my inner-gardener when I stepped out onto to the terrace this morning to find the straw-hat season packing up, moving on. Without so much as a 'by your leave'. How did this happen?
It seems that only yesterday we were celebrating the Fourth of July, anticipating a bounty of Long Island corn, the sweetest corn in all the world. Looking forward to plucking a few juicy New Jersey beefsteak tomatoes off the vine. Cracking open a batch of Maryland crabs. Turning a humble breakfast into a feast with a Connecticut cantaloupe. And tossing a couple of Maine lobsters on the grill for an easy dinner.
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