Hi, All.

Well, I’ve been away for a bit, but I have something cool to post. The reason I’ve been gone is because I’ve been to England to visit friends. For those of you who were reading this LJ last month, you will know that I was on a John Rowe Townsend reading binge and I am about to reveal why. The reason is because on my trip to England I went to Cambridge and had lunch with John and his partner and author, Jill Paton Walsh!

 

John and I have been corresponding for fifteen years but we’d never met in person. On a lovely, sunny Friday morning I took the train from London to Cambridge and they gave me lunch in their charming house on the canal. We talked books, writing, travel, and architecture. Well, I may have talked, I’m not too sure because I was under a haze of jetlag, but it was still really nice.

 

After our lunch they took me to King’s College and gave me a tour of the chapel. Jill is really knowledgeable about architecture and told me all about it while we looked around. John and Jill are so smart that I felt a bit like a naïve child, but it was lovely all the same. They told me wonderful stories and Jill gave me some writing tips over lunch too. Anyway, it was a dream come true for me to finally meet them and I look forward to seeing them again and taking my husband along to meet them as well. If you ever get the chance to hear either of them speak, don’t miss it. And of course, you know how highly I think of John’s writing. I also think Jill’s a wonderful writer too and if you haven’t read her books, do pick them up as well. My favorite is THE DOLPHIN CROSSING.

I do have a photo of the three of us, but my camera is new and I’m not sure how to download it where I want it on my computer so I can post it. I might figure it out though!