It’s about time: an (author) challenge, and two invitations

For my 200th blog post (?!?!!!) –

I’m sharing author Linda Sands’ “10 for 10 Author Challenge“ who is hosting me on her blog today! Linda is my friend and fellow Atlanta “Sister in Crime.” Click to read her take on me, and my answers to her 10 funky questions that you won’t find anywhere else! Here’s an example: “Your book is going to be a movie. Hooray. You get to cast the lead characters.” (What author hasn’t dreamed of that one?)
And – in honor of another friend and “Sister in Crime,” author Anne Marie Stoddard‘s presentation at our last “SinC” meeting – I’ve just (finally) created my personal profile Facebook page! Please visit it and “friend” me (and when you do, I’ll invite you to “Like” my Facebook author (fan) page). And – connect with me on Twitter and Instagram!
AND…you’re invited to a Virtual Village Book Festival Facebook Event tomorrow and Friday, Jan. 14 and 15, where I’ll be hosted by author Rona Simmons, an Atlanta Writers Club pal and historical fiction author! As a BONUS, a 5 minute audio excerpt of my book ALL THE ABOVE: My son’s battle with brain cancer recorded by audiobook narrator, actor and singer Janet Metzger will be available, too. Visit her website to hear the excerpt today! Janet and I would love to chat with you during this two-day online book festival!

Well – if not exactly “flakes,” they’re writers, artists, and social media mavens!

January 13, 2016 0

List Post: Nouvelle Année – janvier 2016

Read my author interview by fellow Sister in Crime author Linda Sands on Wednesday, January 13 on her blog. I’ll be answering Linda’s funky questions about my book ALL THE ABOVE.
Then on Thursday and Friday, January 14 and 15, fellow Atlanta Writers Club member and author Rona Simmons will host me on the Virtual Village Book Festival on Facebook. From 10 am on 1/14 to 5 pm on 1/15, you can ask me questions on this interactive event!
Book 4 is ready! (See word count details below.) I’ll be revealing the TITLE soon. Estimated release date: late February or early March 2016.

AND —

Since this is my second “Nouvelle Année” Post, I thought I would look back to a year ago and add comments and updates. Here is what I wrote in January 2015. Comments are in blue.

Almost finished UN-decorating the house for the holiday season (This year, I got it done on the last day of 2015. Because I spent Christmas in France, there was less to take down.)
Writing back on schedule, after more than two weeks when I couldn’t remember what day of the week it was (Hmm..getting back on track TODAY!)
Several signed copies of UNDERWATER are available for purchase at Dunwoody Bakery, open Wednesdays through Saturdays (Alas, the bakery closed last year. If you would like a signed copy of UNDERWATER or ALL THE ABOVE, contact me, or order via PayPal on my Home page).
Looking forward to my “Member Minute” talk at the Atlanta Writers Club meeting on January 17, 2015 at 1:30 pm, at Georgia Perimeter College (This year, I’ll be doing two virtual events in January – see above.)
On the horizon: My appearance at the Augusta Literary Festival on March 6-7. Looking forward to attending, meeting readers and signing books (No festivals coming up as of yet in 2016, but I’ll keep you posted.)
Planning the release of my work of creative nonfiction, titled ALL THE ABOVE this spring (It came out on March 24, 2015!)
Resolving to step up my exercise routine this year (Ditto.)
Cheering for the Cowboys and the Seahawks during the NFL playoffs (Not sure about this yet – Still celebrating Falcons victory over the Panthers!)
Happy that I’m traveling to Chapel Hill, NC in April and in May (I’ll be in the area this year in May again, and may be before.)
Glad to share family news with close friends and family. (Last year began with that good news.)

Finally – a postscript for all you “Pizza and a Movie” post followers:

My Top 5 Movies of 2015:

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens
Bridge of Spies
The Gift
Brooklyn
Inside Out

And – here are 5 Movies I missed seeing, and want to see:

Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
Creed
Steve Jobs
The Big Short *

*Actually, I saw this just after Christmas in France, but it was dubbed in French. I understood it 😀 – but still want to see the English language version soon.

December 31, 2015 0

Postcards from Europe, #17

This card didn’t get to us before we left for our trip to France, but it was terrific to get it with our mail upon our return. We spent lots of time wandering through the rues of Montpellier, in the Centre Ville and the Quartier de l’Ancien Courrier. (If you don’t already, follow me on Instagram at juliemcdermott1 to see photos.)

Being in Montpellier with our daughter was wonderful, and it brought back many memories of my time there, when it was a smaller, quieter town. Back then, I motored around on a mobylette (moped) to and from the apartment I shared with two other students in Palavas-les-flots, the closest beach village on the Mediterranean Sea. Mademoiselle lived with a family in Montpellier, and she got around à pied (on foot) and on the (new to me) tram system.

Mademoiselle and I have a lot in common, and now we each have our time as a student in Montpellier, too. Something I never imagined, when I first wandered around there and began to love the French.

Bonjour!

If this gets to you before you leave, consider this your first welcome to Montpellier! I can’t wait to show you and dad around, introduce you to my host mom and our director, and show you all the fantastic cafés we’ve catalogued during our semester here. I spent last weekend with the Williamsons* and they were absolutely wonderful – just like you said. I also have a parting gift of confiture du lait which is delicious. See you soon!

A bientôt,

Mademoiselle

8-12-2015

P.S. They just turned the Christmas lights on and it’s GORGEOUS!

*The Williamsons are a French family (despite the anglicized last name) who live in Lyon and have been our friends since their son Charles was a summer exchange student chez nous several years ago. Unlike most other French families, Luc and Juliette have 8 (!) children, who are all teens or adults: Marie, Charles, Doriane, Aline, Lucie, Arthur, Blandine, and Astrid. We spent les fêtes de Noel with them this year, and they made us feel very welcome, and a part of the family! We hope they come visit us sometime soon!

December 31, 2015

Postcards from Europe, #16

Mademoiselle is the first in our family to visit Ireland. She flew to Dublin via Carcassonne and Paris, connecting there by train, and in Dublin she stayed with Conor, the son of family friends and former (Irish) neighbors.

Sounds like he and the Irish showed her the city!

Greetings from Dublin!

Things to know about Dublin: the pubs are plenty, the food is cheap, there is a Guiness AND whiskey distillery, and the museums are free! We got pancakes for breakfast, saw the book of kells, roamed around the Temple Bar district, saw the Dublin Castle, and had lunch in an old bank building. On Sunday, we got a fantastic brunch, visited the Oscar Wilde statue, the Ha’penny Bridge, and all saw the Whiskey Museum. Sunday night we had dinner with Conor’s grandma and sister and it was so much fun. All in all, Dublin was one of my favorite places to visit, even if we have to take a flight out at 5 am.

Love,

Mademoiselle

29-11-2015

December 16, 2015 0

Postcards from Europe, #14

Mademoiselle went to Paris for 3 consecutive weekends in November: the 6th-8th, the 13th-15th, and the 20th-22nd. This carte postale is from her 1st trip, when she stayed with family friends.

Their daughter Petronille stayed with us as a teenage summer exchange student for 3 weeks one year, and Mademoiselle stayed with them on the same program a year later. That was Mademoiselle’s very first trip to Paris (they live in a suburb, Montrouge), and it was before she had taken any French classes! But ever since, we have always credited Mademoiselle’s fabulous French accent to Petronille and her family.

Merci beaucoup!

“Salut!

I visited Petronille and her famille this weekend and it was charmant! We walked around the 6th arrondissement, went shopping, went to the Monet museum, and got sushi for dinner in Montparnasse with her friends! It was so cool to see them all and be able to speak French with them. Plus I forgot how good their cooking was! Both lunches were the most French things I’ve ever done!

Love,

Mademoiselle

In case this arrives very late, HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Love you all and miss you! CONGRATS JACK!!! YOU ROCK! *

8-11-2015″

*Mademoiselle’s brother Jack (whose journey with cancer is told in ALL THE ABOVE) had just been offered and had accepted a job in NYC, to start next year!

December 10, 2015 0

Postcards from Europe, #13

Berlin is one of the many places Mademoiselle has visited that I’ve never been to. She doesn’t seem to comprehend fully that it was once East Berlin and West Berlin, or what that was like.

I imagine she was very tired here, with it being the last stop of her Fall Break tour, but it sounds as if she gave it the old college try. But, there’s no place like “home,” n’est-ce pas?

“Bonjour!

The last part [or best part, or best stop – I can’t read Mademoiselle’s handwriting] of Fall Break! Needless to say, we were exhausted when we arrived, but immediately got a bottle of wine with dinner to cure our aching feet after checking in. We visited the Berlin Wall, the Holocaust Memorial, Museum Island, and the Brandenburg Gate! (Where Kennedy and Reagan gave their speeches!) The last day we lounged in the park all day, saw the Reichstag (aka Capitol Building) and hung out in a pub to watch the Rugby World Cup until our train left. I’m so happy to have a good shower again!

Love,

Mademoiselle

31-10-2015″

December 8, 2015 0

List Post: décembre 2015 + HOLIDAY POEM!

It’s a very short list, and I love it!

Write
Seek/plan/look forward to the publication of my next Suspense novel
Go to France (read on…)

Here’s my holiday poem, two thousand fifteen.

A year filled with suspense, and yet, sometimes, serene.

Underwater was published in German*, last winter.

After months of translation, it went to the printer.

Then in March, I released the book, All the Above,

a true story of hope, and of courage, and love.

It took 2 years to write, lots of blood, sweat, and tears,

and it’s my “open book” of my son, and my fears.

Just before, with my husband, to Texas, I flew.

We visited fam’ly, gave them a preview.

Since fall of last year, I’ve been writing “Book 4.”

I am finished, and, of it, I soon will say more.

In the fall, to a conference in Raleigh, I went.

Then to Nashville, another, and at both, time well spent.

At the end of the year, it’s to France I’ll vacation,

Besides this one, the French one’s my favorite nation.

I send you my holiday wishes for peace

For joy and for laughter, and for troubles to cease.

I hope that you’ll find, as gifts, under the tree,

A book that I’ve penned, or two, or even three!

*Unter Wasser in German

December 1, 2015

Wine with Wendy on Wednesday: numéro trois

This week, Wendy and I met for lunch at Le Bilboquet, a French restaurant in the heart of Buckhead, located in the “Shops of Buckhead.” Just off Peachtree Road (and, for those of you who don’t live here, there is only 1 real Peachtree), the restaurant is on a corner, with the Spanx building just behind it and à côté. We sat by the window on a rainy Wednesday and caught up over a glass of wine about our recent and upcoming travels, current events, and this and that.

Les fleurs sur la table–l’une commerciale, l’autre, littéraire

Wendy had lots of fun on her recent trip to a Caribbean island, where she celebrated her birthday. She has a few European trips planned for next year, and I’m off to France in a few weeks. We are both passionné about what’s happening across the pond. And Wendy knows that Mademoiselle (my daughter) is in France right now, and was in Paris last weekend.

We also talked about my books, and I updated Wendy on where things stand with “Book 4.” (She knows the title, whose initials are AZSG.) The “full manuscript” (the entire book) is in the hands of two people in the publishing industry, and I’m waiting to hear back.

I met one of them in Nashville, and I told Wendy she said that UNDERWATER and AZSG (title to be revealed later) are upmarket fiction, rather than straight suspense, and cross over from suspense into women’s fiction.

Wendy smiled. “Isn’t that last part what I said, after I read it [AZSG]?” * (Wendy was my beta-reader this fall, and her feedback was invaluable.) “And most readers–and people who buy books–are women,” she added.

“Right!” I said. “You did say that, and they are.”

“What is ‘upmarket’ fiction, though?”

“Basically, it’s a merger–or an intersection–of commercial and literary fiction,” I said. “It appeals primarily to women, especially book clubs, and its readers are usually well-read and educated. The stories have strong characters and plot, but are a little more thoughtful and discussion-provoking than commercial fiction.”

“Books like Gone Girl,” she said, and I nodded.

We chatted on, and I told Wendy I would let her know when I had any news about AZSG. When we said au revoir, I glanced up at the Spanx building, and was struck by the fact that the protagonist of UNDERWATER is the CEO of “SlimZ,” a fictional version of the Atlanta-based company.

Who knows? Maybe, some of my readers work there…

*I don’t know if these were our exact words, but this was the gist of it.

November 18, 2015 0

List Post: novembre 2015

After a very busy October, it’s time for vacances (vacation)!

Soon I’ll be visiting a dear friend (and my college roommate in France), who lives in Sarasota, Florida. I hear it’s still very warm there…
Shortly after, Thanksgiving will be here. My son who lives in New York will be home for the holiday!
Book news: I’ve begun writing Book 5, another suspense novel set in Atlanta. This time, I already have a great title.
Two more trips are coming up in December, but in between, I’ll be writing.

November 7, 2015