I love Italy.

I love visiting Italy, sampling its food and wine, and learning about its history, culture, and architecture.  Since I am the writer behind the Tuscany novel series, you might guess something else about me.  I love writing about Italy.

There is, however, one piece missing for me.

I know a few words and phrases in Italian, but am embarrassed to admit that I am far from proficient in this beautiful, melodic language.  I’ve enrolled in Italian classes, studied phrase books, and dabbled at listening to language tapes—to date without success.

I may have found a solution for this problem.

The Iceberg Project, the brainchild of Cher Hale, has the mission of helping people become conversational—not fluent—in Italian.  The Iceberg Project focuses on the real connection between real people, which is something out of my own playbook.  It also offers the credo: “Permission to chase your wanderlust granted.”  This sounds more and more like something that I might work for me.

I met Cher Hale—a delightful, engaging woman—and discovered the Iceberg Project, through our common love for Italy.  Cher had learned of my novel, To Tuscany with Love, and wanted to discover more about the book and its plot, as well as my thoughts on visiting Italy. She asked me to join her in a podcast.

Cher interviewed me and I would like to share the podcast link with you.  I had a wonderful time with Cher discussing To Tuscany with Love, the writing process, and how I came to be a novelist.

If you’re intrigued by the Iceberg Project, or would like to take advantage of the free Italian language tools offered by Cher Hale, check out the website at: http://www.icebergproject.co

I think of Italy as a sensual place. When I say “sensual” in this context, I mean to experience with the senses.

There is much to learn from and experience when you visit Italy.

• History
• Culture
• Food unique to each area, prepared with local ingredients
• Wines cultivated for centuries, with their unique terroirs creating luscious wines across the country
• Fashion
• Architecture
• Landscape

These wonderful experiences are to be savored and enjoyed.

I’ve met two new friends who share the desire to savor all that Italy offers. Lora and Megan created Savoring Italy, “a virtual and aromatic journey featuring only the best and most authentic of Italy showcased around the world.” Their topics include: Regions, Food, Wine, Personalities, Products, and Travel.

Lora and I had a fun podcast chat together about the flavors of Tuscany and my novel, To Tuscany with Love. Lora is from Sicily, and one of our topics was discussing the food of Tuscany, which is quite different from that of her native area. Lora’s husband is an Italian executive chef and she worked in her family restaurant, so food is obviously of great interest to her. You can listen to our podcast chat through the link below.

If you want to know more about Lora and Megan and their desire to connect Italian enthusiasts and professionals, their website is at: http://savoringitaly.com

I’m making wonderful friends through the world of twitter.

Two of my new friends are Travis Justice and Pat Campagna, the founders of the Total Tuscany website.

We discovered through a podcast interview that we have a number of things in common.

• We love Tuscany, as well as its food, and wine.
• Our first journey to Italy was as adults.
• We’ve taken our kids (of various ages) to Tuscany, and they love it as well. (Let’s face it, who wouldn’t love their parents picking up the tab for a trip to Europe?)
• We agree that traveling with families and groups of people can lead to interesting—and later hilarious—stories.
• We all love to stay in and near the small hill towns of Tuscany.
• We’re newbies to the social media and techie world of websites, facebook, pinterest, and twitter.
• Travis was a TV Sports Anchor and has a radio broadcasting studio in his house. My father was a sports play-by-play broadcaster on the radio for years.
• Travis and Pat live in Nebraska, the state I grew up and lived in until college.

And let’s not forget how the men of Total Tuscany and I met!

Travis and Pat are on a mission to share their love for Tuscany by sharing their knowledge and resources with people through their website and podcasts.

I am on a mission to share my love of Tuscany through the eyes of my characters in my Tuscany series of books.

Listen to Travis, Pat, and I chat about Tuscany, my debut novel, To Tuscany with Love, our travels to Italy and more in this podcast. You can learn more about Total Tuscany, Travis and Pat at their website: http://totaltuscany.com.

Click the play button below.

Total Tuscany Podcast Interview