My stay in Switzerland began with a trip to Seelisberg, a small town in the mountains of Central Switzerland, near the “Cradle of the Country”, the Rütliwiese. Here in 1291 people from three surrounding counties swore what’s called the “Rütli Oath” which in time led to the foundation of the country. When I grew up every child would take a least one trip, usually on a school outing, to this place. It is still a popular tourist spot and each year on August 1, Swiss Independence Day, celebrations take place.

Below the view from our hotel in Seelisberg. In the distance two mountains, the small and the large Mieten.

Here my family and I celebrated my two great-nieces’ thirtieth birthdays.

What’s missing yet at this time of the year is snow. Instead it’s raining and much too warm. I’m longing for the first white coating, mainly because it looks so pretty during the holiday season. Here is one from a former time I spent Christmas and New Years here. Perhaps, we’ll get some of it later.

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I had the pleasure and honor to meet the celebrated Canadian author, Louise Penny, my favorite mystery writer and one of my favorite authors in general. She gave a talk at the Theater of the Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The books in her Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series are fascinating, profound, psychologically astute, and full of quirky characters, who all live in the beautiful imaginary small town of Three Pines in the Quebec area in Canada. Louise Penny entertained us with very funny anecdotes about the beginnings of her career as an author.

Of course, I got her latest book in the series and, now I have to apologize for the short post, because I’m busy reading A BETTER MAN. Like all the others before, it promises to be another fantastic book.

Here are a few photos of the theater at the Ace Hotel, a marvelous venue in downtown Los Angeles!

Back to reading …

Our next target during our exploration was the area around Temecula and its smaller cousin, Murrieta. In spite of all my research into wine (for my trilogy “The Wine Lover’s Daughter”), I missed an important wine area around Temecula, south of Los Angeles and about one hour and a half north of San Diego. Sorry Temecula, I apologize for my ignorance. This town doesn’t only have excellent wineries but a fun and scenic downtown area. Although Temecula is more well-known than Murrieta, its cousin is catching up fast. As a safe and still affordable place to live, it’s gaining in popularity.

Here are a few pictures of scenic Temecula.

Love these old houses and look at that garden below!

It was a warm and sunny day and after our walk through the old town of Temecula, we relaxed in a cool coffee shop that served the best cafe latte I’ve ever had–a so-called Mayan latte, spiced with a shot of chili powder. Excellent!

Below, a collage of beautiful handmade booklets with poems

And here finally, the vineyards of Temecula and Murrieta. Friends of ours drove us around and invited us to this marvelous winery. I’ll definitely have to do some research here for my next “vineyard novel.”

Cheers!

My friend Diane from Cincinnati, who used to live in Los Angeles and wants to move back into warmer climates, came for a visit. We explored properties in California and enjoyed our time together. Here we spent a relaxing day at the Getty Center with its wonderful museums and beautiful gardens.

The Book of Beasts was a marvelous exhibition. It shows how animals, both real and fantasy creatures, were used as religious and artistic symbols in the Medieval World.

Cheers!

And onward to the next adventure.

Enjoy her blog!

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2019/07/11/smorgasbord-posts-from-your-archives-potluck-poetry-the-old-man-and-his-memories-by-christa-polkinhorn/

Here is another fun post. Have a good laugh!

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2019/07/04/smorgasbord-laughter-lines-comedian-in-residence-d-g-kaye-and-a-joke-from-sallys-archives-2/

Check out this great blog and enjoy the fun post!

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2019/07/04/smorgasbord-posts-from-your-archives-potluck-the-art-of-winemaking-and-writing-by-christa-polkinhorn/

Happy Fourth!

Greetings loyal readers!

Both the eBook and the paperback version of Fire in the Vineyard are now available–and with an improved cover!

Blurb: When bottles of wine disappear from the Segantino Winery and an arson fire kills his close friend, the owner of the estate, Robert Segantino, is faced with the toughest ordeal of his career as winemaker: someone intends to destroy what he has built over the years. As it becomes increasingly clear that members of his staff and of his family are among the suspects, the ambitious wine tycoon is forced to reevaluate his goals in life, and, above all, his relationship to his son and future heir.

Part family drama, part suspense, Fire in the Vineyard, the third book in The Wine Lover’s Daughter series, takes the reader on another thrilling adventure through one of California’s wine countries.

Links to the books:

eBook: https://mybook.to/FireVineyard

Paperback: https://mybook.to/FireVineyardPrint

If you decide to buy the paperback, you’ll get the ebook for free!

One of the enjoyable activities when writing my novels is the research part, in particular when I get to travel to the beautiful wine region of the Central Coast of California. If you would like to see some pictures that inspired me in my work, here they are. Sit back and travel with me!

Picture Tour of Fire in the Vineyard

Dear loyal Readers,

As promised in my last blog post, the Kindle version of the third book in the Wine Lover’s Daughter series if finally published.  The paperback is still in production but will follow soon.

Here is the blurb again:
When bottles of wine disappear from the Segantino Winery and an arson fire kills his close friend, the owner of the estate, Robert Segantino, is faced with the toughest ordeal of his career as winemaker: someone intends to destroy what he has built over the years. As it becomes increasingly clear that members of his staff and of his family are among the suspects, the ambitious wine tycoon is forced to reevaluate his goals in life, and, above all, his relationship to his son and future heir. Part family drama, part suspense, Fire in the Vineyard, the third book in The Wine Lover’s Daughter series, takes the reader on another thrilling adventure through one of California’s wine countries.

To give the book a head-start, it will be FREE for one day on WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2018.

The link to the eBook on Amazon as well as the links to the first two books in the series, see below.

NOTE: Although the books are standalone novels, I recommend reading them in sequence. You get a better feeling for the characters and their development that way. As mentioned before, reviews on Amazon really help make the book more visible!

Fire in the Vineyard (The Wine Lover’s Daughter, Book 3): https://myBook.to/FireVineyard
The Italian Sister, Book 2: https://myBook.to/ItalianSister
Finding Angelo, Book 3: https://mybook.to/FindingAngelo

Happy Reading and thank you for your support!
Christa