I first came across the term “genuine encounter” in Ramona Gault’s review of my second book, Dancing Girl: Themes and Improvisations in a Greek Village Setting (1991). The book contains warm, spirited accounts by and about the people of Elika, gossip I heard about “the American girl,” and stories about the village house that I restored by hand. “Some of [the stories] made me cry for their purity,” Gault wrote. “Some made me laugh out loud. [Dancing Girl] is a genuine encounter.” (Northwest Ethnic News, May 1992.) Whether I report here on my forthcoming book, Dances in Two Worlds: A Writer-Artist’s Backstory (2011), or I take you into my printmaking studio, or I send news from Greece, I hope that each post will in some way be a genuine encounter for the reader and writer alike. Please let me know how I am doing!