This blog is on hiatus, and I'm now posting weekly at Italicus: a writer's life in Italy. Visit me there or, better yet, subscribe for...

Who doesn't love a good book recommendation? Word of mouth is a great way to discover books, and lots of people enjoy wandering around on...

A Comedy of Errors, Perugia Style, or, Have a Laugh at My Expense It's Fine No Really This overly long story begins, as so many do, in...

After two weeks bouncing around Lombardia and Liguria doing genealogical research, I'm home in Perugia, my head spinning with names and...

The genealogy research rabbit hole, to be precise. I have four lines of Italian ancestors to continue discovering, and the one that has...

Meet Martino, a strawberry blond beauty who's been roaming the borgo (neighborhood) for seven years. He's my neighbor, and he's...

I bought a house recently. It's the parish house in a 15th-century church complex in Perugia, and its history is one reason I couldn't...

Most writers know the oft-cited nugget attributed to E.M. Forster, “How do I know what I think until I see what I say?” I totally agree,...

In locked-down Italy, one activity that’s permitted is dog walking, so every morning I venture out as usual to give Aria time to play...

#iorestoacasa in Umbria day 2: take dog on walk, during which she covers herself in shit (likely not canine); wash down dog with fountain...

Happiness is making ribollita (a Tuscan soup) and finding out, when you go to open a big can of tomatoes, that you don't own a can opener...

I am the worse at self-promotion, so I'm late to my own PR party in posting these links. Recently I had the good fortune to be...

Nice to be back in the ‘hood after a week away in hospital. A cool breeze announces a shift in the weather—today will bring welcome rain....

Before the 1920s, the town of Manzanar—which means "apple orchard" in Spanish— was a place of abundance. Founded in 1910 in the high...

When I was a kid, we'd visit my grandparents most summers. Their house, a white Victorian in the Italian section of Syracuse, New York,...

I’ve been living in Italy for just under a year, and it’s been a time of huge transitions, some expected, some not. I’ve found certain...

The Other Stories is a fun trove of readings and interviews from the not-super-well-known author pool—and yeah, that includes me. Kudos...

In THE WILD IMPOSSIBILITY, Kira turns to her family's past as she tries to understand the bizarre dreams and visions she's having. The...

Secrets. We all have them, if not entire truths then fragments or details. Adults sometimes regard secrets as shameful or embarrassing,...

A few images of Perugia, Lago Trasimeno, and Assisi