Forever Friends

In our busy and portable lives, we meet a lot of people who become acquaintances. You know, the kind you send a Christmas card to each year. Then, there are the people who you might hear from via phone a couple of times each year. But there is no better friend than a forever friend. Like my friend, Linda. In the many decades of our friendship, we've been through a lot with each other, regardless of which state I happened to be living in. She knows me better than my sisters do. And she's the only person I wanted to visit after three years of medical issues.

My trip began with another trip–down memory lane. Shortly after we had moved to DC back in the day, Linda and I rented a house together. Or part of a house, anyway. We had the English basement and first floor of a townhouse on Capitol Hill. Two men shared the top two floors. We were very close to our old stomping grounds after visiting the National Arboretum, so we took a slight detour to see what the place looked like today. We loved living on the Hill. Our house was only a block from our favorite bar and the neighborhood was safe for those nights when we staggered home.

But, as an author of romance, and historical romance at that, I couldn't get this close without paying homage to the great Nora Roberts and touring a battlefield. We made a trip to Boonsboro, MD to her Turn The Page bookstore, where I spent way too much on books, of course. We saw but couldn't gain admittance to  the historic Boonsboro Inn featured in one of her trilogies, and had lunch at Dan's, the restaurant owned by one of her sons. The other restaurant in town, Vesta, is owned by her other son, Jason. 

And then, we were off to the Antietam battlefield. Bearing the distinction of being the bloodiest single day in the history of any American war, our ranger told us that bodies were falling at the rate of one per second during the height of the battle.

The battle ended in a draw and was the turning point of the war, since France and England were about to help fund the Confederates had they succeeded in trouncing the Union Army. Such a huge price to pay. We walked around the quiet fields that afternoon, walked on the Burnside Bridge, one of the major battle sites, and tried to imagine the horror and chaos that faced the men that day.

Having made the move from this part of the country back to Ohio, I realized this trip that, while I don't miss the congestion and traffic, I do miss the vibrancy and history of Virginia. That may be why I write historical romances today. 

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. And to everyone's forever friends, give them a special hug today.

TRR's Blog Hop--Day 9--Nora Roberts

I began this blog series on favorite writers by talking about Ava Miller's book, Nora Roberts Land. So it only seems fair that I wrap things up with a tribute to the one and only herself. I don't need to tell you about Nora's legendary writing career. The fact that you're visiting here as part of TRR's blog hop tells me you already know her. What you may not know about the woman is what she gives back to the romance community. And to her hometown.

If you get a chance, stop in Boonsboro, MD sometime. There, you'll bear witness to how Nora breathed life into this sleepy little town, one enterprise at a time. There's, of course, the Turn The Page bookstore, where the legendary booksigning takes place every year and ladies have to take numbers and wait outside for their chance to enter. It's kind of like the lines for a new I-phone, or something. People travel from all over the east coast and midwest for this event.

Beyond the bookstore is Nora's pet project. It's the Inn, in the heart of the town, which was transformed from a run-down historic building into the inn which was featured in the Boonsboro trilogy. Even the pizza parlor in town, also featured in the books, is owned by one of her sons.

But all this largesse doesn't even begin to describe how much she gives back to RWA and to romance writers everywhere. When you meet her, she's always willing to pose for a picture. And she will answer your questions, which were probably asked of her hundreds of times already. Here's a picture of my friend, Barb, with Nora at the RWA Conference in Atlanta. They both look happy.

If you sign up for my newsletter, you are automatically entered to win an e-copy of my latest book, The Tempestuous Debutante. Today's the final day for the contest!