(December 2010, outside the Capitol Musei, Rome, photo by Rebecca Conrad Lawton)
I've been away from blogging since before Christmas -- when I was finishing a draft of my novel and preparing to go to Italy -- and for all of January -- while my mind and back were recovering from having spent multiple ten-hour days at my desk and emailing off my baby book.
My novel manuscript is in the able hands of Torrey House Press now, a start-up press in Utah. The THP partners, Mark and Kirsten, share my passion for the land and great stories about it. I'm looking forward to moving the book to print with their able guidance and long-held love of place. Have a look at their website and blog and post your own love of the West and words! www.torreyhouse.com.
As for Italy at Christmas time? The weather was wintry chilly, the food inexplicably delicious, the pace of our days languorous -- all in all, an amazing time and place. Florence, Lucca, Rome . . . the high-speed train . . . kisses on the cheek at first meeting new friends . . . the frescoes, sculpture, paintings! We brought back a decisive feeling of change and determination to stay un-rushed in our daily living.
(Bronze birds by Giambologna at the Bargello, Florence, photo by Rebecca Conrad Lawton)
I've been extending the Italian experience through reading. Here are some fun books I've enjoyed that you might like. What are the books about Italy that you love?
1. Room with a View by E.M. Forster
2. Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes
3. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
4. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
5. Much Ado about Nothing by Shakespeare
6. The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare
7. The Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare
8. City Walks--Rome: Fifty Adventures on Foot (Chronicle Books)
9. Village Walks--Tuscany: Fifty Adventures on Foot (Chronicle Books)
10. Rick Steves' Italy 2011 by Rick Steves and team
