Lucy Sanna

Thomas Wolfe told us we couldn't go home again. But here I am. Back in Madison, Wisconsin. I haven’t given up my home in California, mind you, but I’m here for now.

Madison draws me in immediately.
It's still that vibrant, progressive, university town I remember. Built along a chain of five lakes, Wisconsin’s state capital has a small-town feel with an intellectual pull that buzzes with energy and ideas.

What’s not here yet is my stuff (!) – clothes, office equipment, critical files – apparently it’s all stashed amid other people's stuff in an 18-weeler somewhere out there. A “logistics” error, they tell me.

Actually, it’s amazing how little you need to get by with, day-to-day. I have my laptop and walking shoes.

Of course I may be singing a different tune come November without a winter coat and snow boots. But I’m ever the optimist. The truck will arrive this weekend, that’s what they tell me. And again, I’m choosing to believe them. I hope this time they’re right!

Stay tuned!

Watch for my upcoming novel - THE CHERRY HARVEST - William Morrow / HarperCollins Publishers, May 2015.
When a desperate Wisconsin farm wife invites German POWs to work the family orchard, she brings the war home. Read More 

Bees are a buzzin and trees are a bloomin!

On Tuesday, Katie and I drove across the Door County Peninsula—-15 miles on County F from the shores of Lake Michigan to the shores of Green Bay—-to Leutenbach’s Orchards in Fish Creek (www.orchardcountry.com). We took a tour of this 100 acre orchard—-80 acres of cherries (8K trees), 20 acres of apples, and the first grapes ever brought to Door County. Great research for my book. Of course we couldn’t pass up the wine tasting… or the cherry Chardonnay.  Read More 

Visiting Door County to research for my next novel. My daughter and I are staying in Jacksonport on the shore of Lake Michigan. The lake was wild last night and today, waves pounding on the shore. Thunder rumbled, lightning flashed, rain came in hard bursts, then sunshine so bright it ached with color.

Today, after the storm, the lake calmed. We took a walk along the shore at sunset. White gulls of some sort wheeled across the sky and floated on the calm water.

My novel takes place right here during the summer of 1944. It opens in May, when cherry orchards are in bloom. The cherries aren’t yet in bloom this year because of the cold weather. Drat! But I do have lots to learn about the lake and the weather and the people and the place and the history, and I’ve lined up interviews and visits to do just that. Read More