About the Author

For the record, writing this feels a bit like drafting either an acceptance speech for a Rotary Club citizen’s award or my obituary. Possibly both.

But here we are.

It all really began with a leap: one year in off-the-beaten-path Italy with us two parents, three children, and two cats who did not sign up for the adventure. I chronicled our messy, magical transformation in a blog called Il Bel Centro: A Year in the Beautiful Center, imagining it would be a quiet little exploration of village life. Instead, that small Umbrian town re-arranged my insides.

When we came home, I shaped those stories into Il Bel Centro: A Year in the Beautiful Center, which went on to be named one of Huffington Post’s “10 Fascinating Reads about Living in a Foreign Country.” You can find the book in print, ebook, or audiobook wherever you get your books. Click here to find IBC in your preferred marketplace.

If you’re an Il Bel Centro reader, here’s the bonus treasure trove:

Il Bel Centro Extras

• Book club questions and FAQ’s and other bonus content here.

• A downloadable “what happened after we got back to the U.S.” epilogue

• Every month I provide a personal update in my newsletter (more on that below)

But the truth? I missed Italy. Not the museums—those are lovely—but the low-slung rhythms, the gossip at the bar, the people who claim they don’t like biscotti and then eat four. So I wrote my way back.

That became the Santa Lucia novel series, four bestselling books rooted in the quiet dramas and fierce loyalties of small-town Italy. Readers often tell me the books feel like teleportation. (My greatest compliment.)

You can get the first book free by signing up for my once-a-month newsletter, The Grapevine, which shares my latest travels and food obsessions.

For the completists, the series order is: Santa Lucia, The Silent Madonna, The Stillness of Swallows, Into the Groves.

Next came a very different project—The Road Taken, a guide for families ready to leap into adventure. It was born from my desire to help other parents step outside the lines and into something wider. I also collaborated with my beloved Italian teacher (and many readers’ favorite Il Bel Centro “character”) to write Tales from my Zia Faustina: Folklore of Old Umbria.

These days I’m wandering through fictional alleyways with my newest love: the Murder in an Italian Village cozy mystery series. No gore, just a chef-turned-sleuth named Stella, her very opinionated cat, and a hill-town full of secrets. The published titles include: Death in Aramezzo, Bread and Murder in Aramezzo, Unmasked in Aramezzo, and Making a Killing in Aramezzo. Book five is currently underway.

All my books are available right here on my website, or wherever books are sold (here is a handy Amazon link to them all, I know many of you, like me, prefer print! If that’s you, you can order my books through Barnes and Noble or any bookstore).

This is probably more than you wanted, isn’t it?

Your turn now.

Come join my newsletter—each one ends with a little question so I get to know you, beautiful reader, a little better. Plus, I like to sprinkle in fun freebies and bonus content. Because the world is just better with a little spontaneous joy.