Category Archives: Uncategorized

It’s night in the Shadowlands. I thought I would sketch for you three portraits, of Mrs. Moth, Miss Lavender, and Miss Gray, so you know what they look like as we gather around the dinner table, or around the parlor … Continue reading →

If you’ve read any interviews with me, you’ll know that one of my favorite writers is Isak Dinesen. And one of my favorite essays is her “On Mottoes of My Life.” When I was young, a teenager, I had a … Continue reading →

I haven’t told you Hyacinth’s story. Once upon a time, in the town of Ashton, North Carolina, there was a sweet old woman named Mrs. Randolph. She had gray hair pulled back into a tidy bun, and she went to … Continue reading →

So, we started with me taking the train to the town where Mrs. Moth’s house is located.  (I can’t tell you its name, because she doesn’t like visitors stopping by without an invitation. If you want to make an appointment, … Continue reading →

Being here in Virginia makes me wonder to what extent I am a Southern writer. I grew up in Maryland and Virginia, so technically I spent most of my life in the South. And coming back here always feels like … Continue reading →

Mrs. Moth’s house is based in part on houses I’ve seen in books, altered by my imagination. But it’s also based in part on the house I’m in now, which is out of sight of the road, set behind a … Continue reading →

It seems a silly question. We go to the museum to look at art, to learn about it, to gain pleasure from it. But I think going to the museum is particularly important for writers. It’s part of a writer’s … Continue reading →