Welcome to the parlor archive for January 2015! If you would like to post a comment, please visit the current Parlor page.
Here we are, beginning a new year. I generally don’t make resolutions (other than writing the correct date), but I do like to think about goals for the coming year. A wise teacher of mine said it’s important to know the difference between goals (things that are possible to achieve through one’s own effort) and dreams (things that are not in one’s own control). And it’s important to have both.
One of my goals for this year is to make this parlor a place where readers are comfortable chatting, or even just stopping in to say hello. I do love hearing from you! (Hm…perhaps that’s more of a dream than a goal – because it needs you, the visitors, in order to become a reality. Well, we shall see…)
Wishing all my readers and friends a Happy New Year!
– Patrice
earlier Parlor pages: December 2014
Loved your first two books. I found that the second book really made me think about how prejudice can be present, even if indirectly. Thanks for the insight. Can’t wait to read the third one.
Judi – Thank you! So glad you’re enjoying the series.
Prejudice is an uncomfortable subject, especially when one feels one is doing one’s best. Our culture is full of attitudes, some more subtle than others, that we learn from a very young age and sometimes carry unconsciously. Finding them in oneself can be very disconcerting, but that’s the first step toward doing better.
That is one Seriously purple room…
I’m a fan of the Tearoom mysteries, enough that I turned my mom on to them this holiday season. She is currently reading A FATAL TWIST OF LEMON on her new Kindle.
She says it’s a good distraction from the wrist she broke New Year’s Day. She can’t wait to be healed so she can make Aria Cake, which she sampled over her visit here at Christmas.
Ow! Sympathies on the broken wrist, and I hope your mom recovers quickly and completely. Making cake is fun, but not if it hurts!
hello
i love the purple tea room. Learning, sharing, foods, reading, all the different types of characters, thank you for sharing.
Looking forward to our next adventure together.
Really enjoyed your newsletter too.
Happy New Year!
and thanks for teaching us about goals and dreams
Charlotte – Thank you! I’m glad you liked the newsletter.
Happy to share what little bits of wisdom I’ve managed to collect along the way. Most often they come from my teachers.
I can’t wait to read the fourth book! I loved the others.
I LOVE purple!
Lauralynn – Thank you! You have restored my confidence in the attractiveness of the parlor (fluffs cushions).
More than one person has commented on its purpleness, but since they didn’t run away, I assume it’s tolerable. I love purple, too, in case you hadn’t guessed.
Enjoyed the first three books and looking forward to reading the fourth in your tea room series. Makes me want to return to Santa Fe just to have tea at the Wisteria Tea Room!
The purple parlor is inviting and faintly reminiscent of the Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C. – a good place to sit, think and talk quietly perhaps with afternoon tea service.
Mary Anne – Now I want to have tea at the Renwick Gallery. I believe I was there a number of years ago, when I was in D.C. for a writers’ conference. The building looks very familiar, but I don’t think I stepped into the Palm Court, alas. (As a general rule, I’m very fond of Palm Courts.):
http://www.americanart.si.edu/renwick/
Patrice, I really enjoyed your first book and I just finished the second and I loved it. Can’t wait to read #3, I am looking forward to reading if the romance develops and how the tearoom blossoms. Will ther be another murder? Will the Captain show himself..
Susan – Sounds like you’d be good at writing cover copy…
Glad you’re enjoying the series!
Have thoroughly enjoyed the first three books in the Wisteria Tearoom series. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to #4.
Kim – Thank you! Working hard on #4.
Love the room.I would like to be there curled up with a book!Preferably the next “Tearoom” book. Can’the wait! Happy and healthy New Year to all….
That sounds lovely! I’ve got a book right here. Now…which couch?
I’ve just finished your first two books on Audible.com. Loved them and can’t wait to read
the third one from Amazon. Keep the books coming!!
Barbara – Thank you! What did you think of the reader? Curious whether audiobook fans like her.
Just finished your third in the Wisteria series and can’take wait for the next in the series. I Collect tea services and teapots and love flowers so your books immediately captured my interest. I have traveled through NM and recognized the Sangre De Christo and Jemez Mountain ranges.
Vivian – Thank you! I also collect teacups and well, I probably have a few more teapots than I actually need.
I’ve just finished your third book and am eagerly awaiting the release of the fourth. I love the way Tony was consulting with Ellen in the third book. I was grinning with the rest of the tea room staff at the end of the book. It was a long wait!
Thanks, Carolyn! Glad you’re enjoying the series. Now I’m off to the chaise longue to plot some more…
Loved all three books and like Carolyn Jane…..sighed a sigh of relief at the ending!
Will be in Santa Fe in a week or so. Is there a good Tea House there?
When will your next book be available? Looking forward to it!
Hi, Noel –
There really isn’t a place in Santa Fe that serves afternoon tea at the moment. There’s a place called the Teahouse on Canyon Road, and I haven’t been there, but from their food menu it looks like they’re more of a café. http://teahousesantafe.com/
If you’re going to be in Albuquerque at all, I recommend the St. James Tearoom for afternoon tea. It’s a bit pricey, but the food is all handmade and delicious, and the atmosphere is wonderful.
http://stjamestearoom.com/wp/
Book 4 will be out in July. Watch the website and the newsletter for more details coming soon.