What do spring break and The Gambler have to do with each other?

I recently finished reading The Gambler and spring break is around the corner. These two facts remind me of a spring break several years ago that included time in Baden-Baden, Germany, the historic casino town where Dostoyevsky wrote The Gambler. We wanted to share Germany with our kids, a country where we’d lived before-kids, two different times in fact. Actually, our daughter was born in Germany just 10 days before we moved back to the US the second time. I wrote the creative nonfiction essay (not yet under publishing contract) Building Family Muscle, One Tower at a Time to tell the story of that trip back with the kids. It’s a story of conquered towers and substantial family growth. Stay tuned as to where this essay is published. But in the meantime, read The Gambler on your spring break.