Ruins of Rome I

At over 2,500 years old, Rome is more than the capital of Italy. It is the center of artistic creativity and a cultural complex that arguably outstrips any other location on earth. Ancient monuments like the Colosseum continue to capture our attention while institutions like the Vatican Museums spur intellectual interest. The heartbeat of Rome is found in every traveler's soul. The rushing crowds on the main avenues can be left behind by ducking down a side street. After a block or two, enter one of the small neighborhood streets where children play ball and the splash of fountains echoes against the buildings. From Aventine Hill to St. Peter's Basilica, from the banks of the Tiber to the Aniene, Rome is a kaleidoscopic journey through time. Its history encompasses the Roman Empire, founded on the Seven Hills, and the center of the Catholic Church. Spectacular vacations and multiple trips are on the minds of every traveler who wants to explore the best of Europe. Today Italy in general and the Lazio region in particular are striking places for tourism with unique architecture, a mild climate, and Mediterranean culture. The cuisine is renowned, and classic Roman dishes like pasta with red sauce, braised oxtail and stewed artichokes, all dressed with olive oil and cracked black pepper, can be found at fine dining establishments as well as inexpensive restaurants. Travel tips and facts about wildlife, food, rental cars, camping, adventures, travel and tourism, cultural tours and more are easy enough to find on travel sites like Expedia or Travelocity. Entire trips can be planned using guidebooks like those from Lonely Planet. Now visitors to Italy can expand their knowledge base with an artist's view of the ancient city of Rome. The full-color photos in Ruins of Rome I & II were taken at Palazzo Senatorio, Saint Peter's Basilica and Vatican City, Via della Conciliazione, the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, San Paolo fuori le mura, Piazza del Popolo, Villa Borghese, various obelisks, and other sites. Step into this whirling place and become absorbed by its vibrant heart. For fans of The Italians by Luigi Barzini, Cosi Fan Tutti by Michael Dibdin, The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Midnight in Sicily by Peter Robb, The Sack of Rome by Alexander Stille, The Night of the Moths by Riccardo Bruni, The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt, Bella Tuscany and Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes, Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant, Siracusa by Delia Ephron, In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant, Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani, The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone, Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Sullivan, The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, Zeno's Conscience by Italo Svevo, The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio, the Inspector Montalbano series and the Neapolitan Novels.

After Laine Cunningham's debut novel manuscript won a national literary award, Jack Scovil became her agent. Mr. Scovil worked with Norman Mailer, Carl Sagan, Morris West and Arthur C. Clark. Their ten-year relationship ended when he passed. Laine then developed a new fiction voice that resulted in On a Rush of Silent Wings, a literary black comedy dealing with income inequality and the illusions we choose to believe. Currently she is developing an epic historical novel set in Europe during the scientific revolution before the Enlightenment. Her novels include The Family Made of Dust: A Novel of Loss and Rebirth in the Australian Outback, which won two national awards. Beloved, a sensual noir thriller, follows an FBI agent who must access the dark power of the goddess Kali to bring down two serial killers. In Reparation, a Lakota Sioux man must save a sister and his lover from a sinister peyote cult. Laine's goal for her fiction is to spur readers into dialog about our society and the parallels found in history. When individuals recognize how large issues build on multiple small elements, many of which were taken up by individuals just like them, they recognize that everyone can foment change. As a publishing consultant with twenty years of experience, she has written Writing While Female or Black or Gay: Diverse Voices in Publishing. Also look for Seven Sisters: Spiritual Messages from Aboriginal Australia. More information can be found on LaineCunningham.com and WritersResource.us.