Novelist, blogger at www.flybynightpress.com, and lover of world travel and cultural immersion.
I leave it to you, the reader, to decide if this is not the world’s most beautiful bookstore! … More Book-arest: Finding the MOST beautiful book store in the world!
“What is that up ahead, there, on the shoulder? A tractor?”
“No, it’s a horse cart!”
“What’s it carrying?” I asked trying not to look.
“I don’t…really…know….” Christine’s eyes followed the wagon as we passed the one horse rickshaw. Grungy, toothless gypsies urged their mangy bowed-back steed to move faster.
“…strange…” I whispered squinting into the rear view mirror.
“Watch out!” … More Road-mania! The ONE thing you should know before driving in Romania.
… More Road-mania! The ONE thing you should know before driving in Romania.
For the last twenty years I have lived in a country that was not able to defend itself from the Tyrant next door. Only through the selfless sacrifice of others from Canada, Great Britain and the United States of America has this small country been able to live in liberty and peace since 1945. Thousands … More In Memory of Liberty
I took an hour today and visited an infamous spot at the train station in Iasi, Romania. On a cold March morning in 1997, a customs officer was found here, dead, half dressed, having fallen From the Rooftops. Was it suicide? Was he pushed? It was a rather unnerving twenty minutes, standing on this corner … More Always Visit the Scene of the Crime
Nobody is really sure how things got so out of control that night. Who is to blame is a moot question. Assigning guilt would imply that there was premeditation or gross negligence involved. It was more an accident than anything else. ‘Who was liable?’ is probably the right question to ask as I reflect back … More What Happens in Barcelona…
Recently St. Michael’s golden domed monastery in the old city of Kyiv, Ukraine celebrated the nine hundredth year anniversary of its founding. That’s pretty darn old! So you’d forgive me if I made the mistake of planning this beautiful cathedral and the ancient complex surrounding it as a setting in my new novel, From the … More Kyiv’s Disappearing Cathedral
Many people these days keep a smartphone in their back pants pocket for quick, indiscriminate selfies. Me? I keep a compact writing book, secured by a black elastic band, in my pocket to record the impressions and emotions I experience when visiting a place. A picture may be worth a thousand words…but are they the … More A Writer’s Block (Pocket Sized)
We want to inspire you to leave the smart phone at home, turn off the GPS navigation system, stop checking for new Facebook posts and get out and enjoy the wonders of this world and experience your life by getting lost and then finding a new way home. Get outside your comfort zone by jumping … More Get Lost!
Halfway down the mountain, some of us rested. Some called it a day and took off their packs and boots for the evening. Others simply waved as they continued to the valley floor to find their beds, too weary to stop, too weary to sit. The descent of the west side of the mountain was … More A Walk Across Spain
By Val Karren Every year in the midsummer week, I take my wife away on a romantic getaway to commemorate our wedding anniversary. While Europe has a long list of exciting destinations with fascinating history and inspiring works of art and architecture, they are also filled with lots and lots of people. Our modern, hyperconnected … More 5 Most Romantic Getaway Ideas in Europe – Get Lost! In Love…
