Places that wind up in my stories

Looking back at all the places I've lived and traveled, I KNOW so many of them wind up in my fiction (of course, my non-fiction, too...yep, of which there is A LOT).
(FYI: PIX here is mine taken from the corridor window of the Doge's Palace in Venice, looking across the Lagoon. Inhale. Appreciate. Dream.)
I thought for the hell of it, I'd list some of the places I've been, just for fun and reflection. Next week I am off with 2 other couples to a Shakespeare Festival in Utah (where I have never been before) and thought, hmmm.
Here's my list, if for no other reason, than my random day-dreaming and yours (not in any order, either!):
New York, Brooklyn, Long Island, Syracuse, Watertown, Binghamton
Pennsylvania: Scranton and Peckville, Lancaster, Phillie, Pittsburgh
Washington and all points north and south within 100 miles radius
BALTIMORE! Hated Charm City growing up and then they CLEANED IT UP and as an adult, I adore it.
Virginia: Jamestown and Williamsburg, Virginia Beach
London
Paris
sigh.
Florence, Montalcino, Montepulciano, San Guistino. CAN I LIVE HERE, please?
Venice. Live here, too, please.
Bonn, Cologne, Munich. Ja vohl, Ich bin eine Deutsche Madchen. I need to return, reconnect to my roots. In September, I think I will!
Japan: Tokyo and Okinawa. Where I taught university level Chinese and Japanese History. Yes. I did. And I taught foreign army officers how to speak jargoned English.
Boston, Cape Cod.
Maine. York Beach. wow. I wanna go eat lobster. Want to come with?
Chicago.
Seattle.
Greece, Athens and Mykonos. Athens and Mykonos. Can I go back??? Soon?
Israel. Jerusalem. Jerusalem. Jerusalem. Inhale deeply.
Hmm. There may be more.
One note: I hate tours. (THAT IS IN BOLD.) Repeat with me. Too fast, too simplistic. your life is run by guides who have their own preferences--and sometimes their own misinformation! I can speak German and Chinese, but I can get along otherwise.
WHAT HAS TRAVEL done for YOU?
Changed your life, your thinking about who you are? What you want? How you live?
Mine has.
How? I live more and more with good food, fine wine, dining with friends who have marvelous perspectives on life, an education and intriguing careers and endeavors.
AND...
I LIVE for my annual (sometimes) bi-annual now, trips to Europe. AND I AM SAVING MY SHEKELS for China. And Egypt.
Ciao, bella!

I Been Thinking...

Not necessarily a smart thing to do...

but maybe worthwhile. I recently wrote a post regarding the ages of our heroines and I realized something - here comes a general statement - while many romance heroines may be in their twenties, we are not necessarily writing for the sensibilities of twenty-something year old readers. We may be writing for women over thirty. Our heroines tend to reflect thoughts, feelings, insights and the awareness of a more mature woman, perhaps reflecting us and our thoughts, feelings, insights and awareness.

Over the past few years, I've also noticed something else - once again, this is a generalization that may not be entirely accurate but is related - the younger the reviewer of my works, the more they seem to like what I consider fluff. I mean, I don't generally write fluff, but I've noticed that say...a work that means the least to me, well put together but not especially deep, will get a great review from a young twenty-something reviewer, while a work that is of far more significance to me, that I feel is far more complex and contains depth and symbolism, seems to go right over the same reviewer's head. I'm not saying that reviewer is shallow, I'm saying I find it interesting that they really like a work of mine that I consider sort of, well, shallow.

That's about it! Call me Ishmael....

No, I don't take this personally. My philosophy is to each his own. I find it curious.