Frances Mayes, Author

Let your passion be your guide.

"One of the primary pleasures of home is creating your very own outdoor room. Inspiration may come from memories of "The Secret Garden," from a trip to a sun-baked villa in Tuscany, or from a dream only you can see. These spaces enhance our private time with family and welcome our guests to a very personal way of life."

A widely published poet and prolific travel and food writer, Frances Mayes’ New York Times Best Selling memoir Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy is the inspiration for Laneventure’s At Home in Tuscany collection.

Frances’ poetry books include: Sunday in Another Country, After Such Pleasures, The Arts of Fire, Hours, The Book of Summer, and Ex Voto (Lost Roads Publishers). Her poetry also appears a variety of magazines, including: Poetry, The Atlantic Monthly, The Iowa Review and New American Writing, among others.

A native of Fitzgerald, Georgia, Frances was educated at Randolph-Macon Woman's College, The University of Florida, and San Francisco State University. In 1988, Frances was granted a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. Her autobiographical essays are widely published and \ four have been selected as Notable Essays by Robert Atwan, editor of "Best American Essays".

Frances now shares her time between Cortona, Italy and San Francisco with her husband Edward. She is Professor of Creative Writing at San Francisco State University, where she has directed The Poetry Center and chaired the Department of Creative Writing.