As I embark on my first blog I am reminded of an article, “The Problem With Memoirs,” by Neil Genzlinger, staff editor at The New York Times. I agree with Mr. Genzlinger’s statement, “There was a time when you had to earn the right to draft a memoir,” so while I feel I have something noteworthy to blog about, I do not feel I have a full-blown memoir in me, nor am I interested in writing one.

It had been, in many ways, a unique experience living overseas most of my adolescence, but the high points can be covered in a blog and the ordinary glossed over. Many in this world have achieved the remarkable or overcome great obstacles. For them a memoir is fitting.

The purpose of this blog is to give my readers insight into how life abroad influenced me as an author and how exposure to different cultures shaped the series main character, Darcy McClain, as well as the novels themselves.

I have only one regret about this journey across four continents: it was the age of the Polaroid camera. How wonderful if I had owned a digital SLR. But I did not. Therefore, in certain blogs, I credit today’s photographers, who have also shared this opportunity to visit the places I have, and who have taken some incredible shots. Be sure to click on the links provided and walk in their footsteps as they traipse the globe.

This memoir blog is dedicated to my parents: to my father for taking us on this adventure, and to my mother who has long expected a memoir from me but will have to settle for a web log. These are the facts as I recall them, and any errors are solely my responsibility.