On London and Venice

Let's start with Venice..

Heidenkind over at Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Books has announced her Venice Challenge! The challenge is to read six books, of whatever genre you wish, that take place in Venice, Italy. The challenge runs from today (May 1, 2010) to a year from today (May 1, 2011).

I have a preliminary list set up. Some of them may not be specifically in Venice, but I will find that out as I dig into them. They all came highly recommended, so they won't be a waste even if I have to add one later.

Your Scandalous Ways - Loretta Chase
Lord of the Night - Susan Wiggs
The Glassblower of Murano - Marina Fiorato
Wings of the Falcon - Barbara Michaels
The Music of the Night - Lydia Joyce
Veiled Passions - Tracy MacNish
A Notorious Woman - Amanda McCabe
The Defiant Mistress - Claire Thornton
The Venetian Mask - Rosalind Laker

These were recommended on various blogs and websites that I visited. If you're interested, you should first sign up at Heidenkind's Blog, and check out her recommendations. I also found this website, which has a good, long list of fiction set in Venice.

Now, on to London!

My MFA program is the bomb-dizzy. Our first summer, we will be going to London to study for two weeks at Shakespeare's Globe, as well as a workshop at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford. Three weeks total for our program, and then I am going to do a bit of traveling around the island on my own, including a visit to my wonderful family in Scotland. I read voraciously when I travel, and I hope to be able to keep you updated and entertained with photos and reviews while I'm over there. We have some required reading, we will be seeing some productions, and, best of all, we will be working working working.

Also coming up this summer, I will be making an appearance at the RWA Literacy signing in Nashville, and hanging out for the duration of the conference, though I won't be attending panels or anything. I will, however, be attending "unofficial" events as much as possible and exploring Nashville in all its bluegrass glory. I'm also going to the Lilth Fair, and helping a friend out at GenCon, so all-in-all, I will be a very busy traveler this summer.

The rest of my life has some big shoes to fill.