This is why I love the Atlanta area: I can go to a Chinese restaurant and ask for the Chinese menu– where the meal is actually Chinese and not the American Chinese version served in virtually all Chinese restaurants across America. It’s where my kids know the difference between Persian and Greek food and how to scoop up an Ethiopian curry with a piece of injara. It’s where we pick an Indian restaurant based on what region we want to eat from that day. It’s where we can eat Indo-Chinese dishes in a free-standing Indo-Chinese restaurant. It’s where I have international grocery stores around the corner.

The kind of food we get here doesn’t just nourish our bodies. It nourishes our minds. Thank you, Atlanta, for feeding us so well.

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I’ve spent most of the past three days at the Moonlight & Magnolias conference sponsored by the Georgia Romance Writers. The workshops knocked my socks off. I learned so much my head feels like it’s going to explode.

Also? These folks are the nicest people in the business. I’m not sure whether it was because romance writers write happy endings for a living, and this makes them more pleasant people. Or if the sense of camaraderie and support was just unique to these particular conference attendees. But overall, everyone’s general attitude reflected a writing tip given by keynote speaker Julia Quinn — helping other writers doesn’t hurt your own writing.

That should probably be bumper sticker.

I can’t wait until next year.