Look at these beauties that I found in my Seattle lawn (amongst the weeds---we don't use any chemicals in our lawn, so we get all kinds of surprises!) Ever since writing The Violets of March, I love discovering violets in unusual places. These friendly little

Friends, I am so excited to tell you about a really fun and unique campaign that my publisher, Penguin/Plume, is launching with the wonderful independent bookstore Third Place Books: Order The Last Camellia through Third Place, via this link, and not only will you get

I just saw the cover for the Turkish edition of The Bungalow, which is called YAMUR SONRASI, translated: "After the Rain." So fun! It will be published soon in Turkey. After the amazing job they did on the Turkish edition of The Violets of March,

Hey everyone! I recently read, and loved, Christina Schwarz's breathtaking new novel, The Edge of the Earth, which just came out from Atria Books. It's a story that begins in 1897, when two newlyweds are assigned to a lighthouse on the coast of Northern California,

Isn't the cover gorgeous?! Plume did a fantastic job with this one. It truly captures the feel of my beloved houseboat community in Seattle (the fictional and real one!). What is this story about, you ask? It's entirely inspired by the time I spent renting a

Last night (yes, on Easter!), I went on my very first hot air balloon ride! It was amazing, exhilarating, and so incredibly peaceful and cathartic for me on many personal levels. I'm writing an essay about this momentous balloon ride in the July issue of

I love March, because there is always so much VIOLET love. Thanks to all the lovely book clubs who have read or are reading THE VIOLETS OF MARCH this month!

I'm a huge fan of classic movies (and the very dreamy Cary Grant!) so it's shocking that I haven't seen "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House." My mom told me about it today after I was feeling a little overwhelmed with all the details of

My husband and I are in the process of building a home in Seattle. I'll be sharing more about the design and build process here. It's truly a dream come true to be able to do this. I've been thinking about designing and building a

This is the view outside of my Seattle home. I love that there's a big (and rare!) palm tree to look at on wintry days.