A New Genre

I may have bitten off more than I can chew.

Working on a western novel this time. Yes, I am all over the place with genres. Actually, I consider this a historical that happens to be set in the American West after the Civil War.

It's a more complex story than I've written before, about three vastly different characters whose stories interconnect in unexpected ways. And, as usual, it deals with aspects of the American Dream, and the tension between personal freedom and interpersonal relationships.

But most of all, it's a love story.

Can't wait to see how it turns out!

Diana Galbadon and Cindy Sample!

Such luck!

Someone in a national writing organization I belong to had an extra VIP ticket to see Diana Galbadon, author of the popular Outlander series. So naturally I jumped at it! Not just to see Galbadon, although that was amazing enough, but to spend some time with the funny and intelligent owner of the VIP tickets: Cindy Sample, bestselling author of the hilarious Dying for a Date series, pictured below.

Such a high, to pick the brains of these wonderfully talented women. Two of my favorite authors in one unforgettable evening! Wow.

I love the way books allow us to experience the past, with its clothes, customs, and historical events, but without the diseases and lack of modern plumbing. Don't  you?

Monuments Men

Have you seen "Monuments Men?" I just watched the documentary (not the recently released George Clooney movie), and as an art lover, I was horrified how much destruction of art occurred during WWII. Some stories were familiar, such as the theft and recovery of the Ghent altar masterpiece, and Michelangelo's statue of the Madonna and Child in Bruges, below. But there was much more art that unfortunately was lost forever.

This part of history influenced my novel, THE JEWELRY CASE, which involves a set of legendary jewelry that disappeared during the Holocaust, only to resurface in modern-day Northern California. I am a firm believer that the past is never entirely behind us. It influences what happens today, whether we're aware of it or not. That is one of the reasons I enjoy reading and writing historical fiction: it is one way to bring the past to life.

http://www.amazon.com/Jewelry-Case-Catherine-McGreevy-ebook/dp/B00GX66SGA/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1402888324&sr=1-2