Hello out there!

I get statistics on my blog and am amazed to realize that there are people reading my posts from all over the world. And I do mean all over. So I just wanted to say hello! Thank you for stopping by. I wrote down a few of the hometowns of my visitors this year:

Jaipur, Bangaladore, Sao Paulo, Melbourne, Lucca, Ft. McMurray, Bombay, Turku, Qormi, Calgary, Kaarina, Vecchiano, Margotsfield, Attard, Singapore, Road Town, Mombassa, Little Gaddesden, Juan Franco, Barcelona, Ft. Meyers, Chengdu, Eskisehir, Halifax, London, Lugarno, Bang Kruai, Box Hill, Paris, Cavrie, Norcross, Wee Waa, Ugong Norte Hominersak, New York, Ingelheim Am Rheim, An Matias Tlalancaleca, Chiclayo, Slough, Vevey, Metcalf, Mashad, Dour El Brahma, Niigata, Los Angeles, Merville Subdivision, Chonim de Baixo, Moscavide, Ockley, Toronto, San Diego....

I just get the city name and can sometimes figure out the country. No idea if the spelling is correct--apologies if I've transcribed things wrong.

Was recently posting a (slightly) snotty comment about various speakers at a conference speaking as if their opinions were "the" opinions, & realize my posts are highly US/East Coast referential, and I am perhaps guilty of being too self-referential myself. Oops.

While there is a certain 'of the place & of the moment' topicality, I will try to do better, also please comment, suggest, question.

And could someone from from one of the more amazing sounding places--Turku or Lucca or Attard please post and just say "Hi" so I don't think Google is making this whole thing up?!

Love is truly a universal language. I will be posting a speech I gave at the University of Pennsylvania a few years ago about romance novels shortly. I talk about the fact that Romance is not only global, universal, but goes back to through time as well (where would we be without it, after all!).

So it is truly wonderful to see the map of the world with a million points of connection, demonstrating how there are such powerful and essential things that bind us together as people. Romance. Love. A great story.