Katherine Neville’s Cherry Tree
Katherine wrote about her Cherry tree in her recent “Cherry Blossom & Chess Newsletter.” Here is the film she made of her 50-year-old Japanese cherry tree, planted by the famous Japanese potter, Teruo Hara:
The Real ‘Queen’s Gambit’
Grandmaster Susan Polgar Susan Polgar Click to enlarge Article from Forward.com: Original Article Here The Real ‘Queen’s Gambit’: Meet the First Woman to Qualify for the World Chess Championship PJ Grisar November 18, 2020 This article contains spoilers for “The Queen’s Gambit.” When it comes to the real queen of chess — not the orphaned, […]
Pirate Contest
The Pirate Contest has concluded! Congratulations and thanks for joining in on my Pirate Contest! All winners were selected by random darts. Whenever a dart has landed on a line between two people, each will receive a book. All of your books are just being mailed this week due to postal backup in our area. […]
Thomas Jefferson’s 275th Birthday
Tomorrow, April 13th, 2018, marks the 275th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson’s birth. I have had a long relationship with TJ (as some of us call him here in Virginia) ever since I moved here thirty years ago. I was delighted when I learned that he had designed another house, after his famous home (a UNESCO […]
Think (Millennial) Pink for Valentine’s Day
Katherine in Japan In celebration of Valentine’s Day, I’ve collected some of my favorite pink things to share! I love pink in all its various hues and was thrilled to learn that my MacBook Air is, in fact, ‘millennial pink’ and it matches my Italian designer, Fratelli Rossetti, shoes. (My only concession to brand names […]
Ludovico’s Santiago Pilgrimage
Last winter, my young millennial assistant Ludovico Orsini told me that he aspired to gain speedy fluency in the French language, so he could apply for a special graduate program in France. I suggested that he spend a highly-intensive period in a part of France where no one spoke English (or where people didn’t know […]
Ludovico’s Nepalese Pilgrimage
My assistant, Ludovico, just completed another fabulous adventure. This time he journeyed through Nepal and decided to hike to Everest’s Base Camp. Below are some photos he took along the way and a description of his experiences. Ludovico’s Pilgrimage II: Nepal After crossing Southeast Asia I found myself in Kathmandu, Nepal sans plan. I spent […]
The Way of Santiago
Pilgrimage is one of the oldest forms of Quest, and is celebrated by religions and cultures all over the world. Since everyone knows that my characters and I are aficionados of Quests of all sorts, it’s no surprise that this is one of my favorites! Some years ago, I was invited to lecture in Spain […]
My Cherry Blossom Tree
Cherry blossom festival is the best week in Washington DC, and always falls on my birthday. I wrote an entire scene in The Fire set during that first week in April. Here is a vase filled with cherry blossoms from my own tree, a 60-foot tall ornamental cherry planted fifty years ago by the famous […]
Smithsonian Libraries 50th Birthday Celebration
Smithsonian Libraries 50th Birthday: A Tribute from Great Authors! This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Smithsonian Libraries being united under one umbrella. To celebrate this event in an exciting and original way, I invited famous authors to say “Happy 50th Birthday” to the Smithsonian Libraries, and asked each to speak for a few […]
Book Research at the Sailboat Show
Visiting the Annapolis Boat Show: the sailboats in the yacht harbor have more space and amenities than my old Sausalito tree house where I wrote my first two books! I had great fun updating my skills at the National Boat Show in Annapolis: shopping for sailboats to use in my next book.
Mysterious Return of the Bowls
Scott, the director of my heating & plumbing company, sent me a surprise that he’d found in his mother’s attic, along with this story… When Teruo Hara built my Japanese house in 1965, Scott was a child and his own father was Mr Hara’s mortgage banker. In the course of constructing the home & kilns […]
Grand Central Station Market
Whenever I’m in New York for the Edgar Allan Poe Awards, I always drop downstairs to the Grand Central Station Market and pick up things to take home, wonderful teas, spices, cheeses, fruits and seafood from their vast selection of gourmet provisions from all over the world: the healthiest and most delicious carry-out! Below I’ve […]
Secret Smithsonian Castle Tour
A memorable way to spend my birthday! April 4th private tour for 50 guests, of the legendary Smithsonian Castle: my fellow author and fellow board member of the Smithsonian Libraries, Steve Berry, led a guided tour of hidden locales in the Castle.
Adventure in Virginia Horse Country
Taking a ride with my neighbor’s Belgian ponies. Living here in Virginia horse country reminds me that, in the eras I like to write about, horses were the chief means of land transportation. To refresh my memory, I took off for a two hour cross country carriage ride with my wonderful French neighbors and their […]
Maya Angelou: Christmas 1989
Maya Angelou: Christmas 1989 Maya Angelou and I had many interesting encounters and many mutual connections; a few are included here. When Karl Pribram and I left Stanford University in 1989, we barely had time to cross the country and get to Virginia with our pets, unload the moving van with our 26,000 pounds of […]
Storytelling and Mythology
Today, when we use the word “myth,” we often mean something that isn’t true, something that has been fabricated to deceive others. But the myths that have come down to us from ancient times have deep roots and hold a magical significance that still flourishes in our own lives today. The word “mythos” in Greek […]
