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Hi and welcome.

I've just returned from a delightful visit to the Williamsburg area where I participated in the 12th annual Autumn Pilgrimage sponsored by the Westover Parish Church, and later strolled about Williamsburg. Those readers of THIS TIME AROUND will recall both from Chapter Fifteen.

Those folks at Colonial Williamsburg do an outstanding job making each visit to the Property informative and as historical true to the period as their most current research can make it. For that exact reason, don't expect the interior of the Capital's courtroom to appear as it did when Rachael was "put on trial." On October 1, 2006, I found the judicial chamber's furnishings to be sparser and more austere than those being exhibited during my research visit in the early '90s.

What a difference a few little ol' years make!

As THIS TIME AROUND is set in the 1990s and with nothing ever staying the same, I feel it necessary to update you on the current status of some of the sites visited in the Rachael and Christopher travelogue.

I regret to inform you that little place, situated on the bank of Little River in Townsend, which served the most wonderful fried chicken is no longer in existence; but, on the brighter side, cooks at LeConte Lodge, have nicely adjusted their breakfast grits recipe (Chapter Four), making that Southern staple thick and creamy, and have substituted a tasty chicken cream soup for the vegetable broth described in Chapter Three.

In a newspaper account several years ago, I read that the tallest redwood, featured in Chapter Six, had tumbled down during a bad storm; however, I did recently hear from a reliable source those two restaurants in Humboldt County, CA, are still serving.

Nick's, Yorktown's famous eclectic restaurant, unfortunately, has been demolished to make way for a lovely collection of shops, known as Riverwalk Landing, which appears well worth investigating. I would suggest that, should you desire excellent seafood, make the effort to drive, as I now do, to Bubba's on Shore Drive in Virginia Beach. ( If you've already made the trek down the long peninsula to Williamsburg, driving another hour for melt-in-your-mouth crab cakes is "just no trouble at all." ) For those less enthusiastic about motoring under the Chesapeake in a tunnel, a great alternative is Indian Fields Tavern, located on Highway 5 between I-295 and Williamsburg. (Call ahead for the Tavern if you plan to dine during a busy hour.) And, should you have the time, why not try both?

Beginning with the fall of 2006, hard cover editions of THIS TIME AROUND will no longer be available to order new. Its soft cover version, as well as those for LOVE IN THE MIDDLE AGES and SOUTHERN GRACES, may still be ordered from Amazon, from your local book seller, or from this website. Copies of the novel and "The Lady-isms" are also available at Wear's Valley Gallery located on Highway 321 between Townsend and Pigeon Forge.

Enough updating about the old…

Chapters for THE EDISTO GAMES are coming together nicely. I'm constantly surprised by the secrets the characters reveal to me each time I sit down to write. Speaking of which, I hear them calling my name, telling me it's time to play…

Melinda

October 5, 2006