Castles thrill me. The flossy ones with noble families still living in them are good. But the broken ones that lay scattered all over Great Britain are even better. Clambering through their bones is like walking through the skeletal remains of great ancient beasts. There was life there, and not just for the nobility -- whole villages could and did shelter within them. Sit in their grassy courtyards or lay back among the flat daisies that flourish there, listen to the daws as they creak and wheel overhead, close your eyes and see the past. Castles are the true ghosts of yesterday.

Can you recognize Jeanne in the castle window? She's in the costume she wore as Joan of Arc in a WISHBONE episode.

The LOVE Trilogy got me fascinated by Coaching, horses and carriages and the elegant English gentlemen who drive them, of course. I have many books on the subject and am always looking for more.

I visit coaching museums everywhere I travel in Europe and at home. They are everywhere, in the most unexpected places. There's a huge one on Long Island in Stony Brook, a good one in Denver too. To escape from reality when the mechanical day gets too much for me, I kick back, power up my 'puter and go driving online. No dust, no manure, just the pure cyberwind in my hair.

Other favorites?

Stained glass. Windows, lamps and kaleidescopes that take the light and transmute it - all the colors of the earth made radiant as the promise of Heaven itself.

I love gardening, indoors and out, especially the water garden in my new fishpond. In fact, I have a "lemonade" garden. We are told to take the lemons of our life and make lemonade. I did. To cover an unattractive wall beyond my fence, I planted bamboo. Bamboo called for a fishpond and rock formations. The rock formations called for new flowers and water plants. And the plants, of course, had to have fish. Voila. The most beautiful garden I've ever had.

I love birdwatching -- from indoors if it's winter.

I read everything, but tend to stay in genres. Some of the best new writing is going on there. Genre writers tend to be story tellers, and I love a good story.

I love New York in June, England when April's here or there -- or anywhere. I love Gershwin, Country Western and Operatic tunes, le Jazz hot and cold, classic rock and thunderstorms.