C’est à dire, Bonjour, November!
Halloween is over…So click here and read about me, my thriller UNDERWATER, and its upcoming release this month by Thomas & Mercer, on PAGE 6 of the November 2014 newsletter of the Atlanta Writers Club!
Okay, it’s probably not that easy. But maybe it helps..and it can’t hurt, I don’t think.
And – it translates into some of my other objectives, when I substitute any of the following words for “smart:”
I work alone, but I like to connect with others, especially fun people, and those with whom I have something aspirational in common. (Is it really all about the 5 people you spend the most time with? Perhaps…)
Anyway –
* Now, to stop procrastinating and get back to writing that pesky WIP (work-in-progress), Book 4!
I love the French word for birthday: anniversaire.
It sounds a lot better than date de naissance. It also seems to suggest that birthdays (while fun to celebrate, and to be joyeux about), are perhaps no more–or less–important than other memorable dates in our lives.
They’re anniversaries.
I know four people who are celebrating birthdays–anniversaires–this week, and one whose wedding anniversary is Saturday. My son’s 19th birthday, May 8, 1991, was a memorable one, but not in a good way: on that date, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
It was the day after his last final exam at the end of his freshman year in college. Over the next 3 1/2 months, he endured invasive brain surgery and 5 weeks of radiation therapy–and he survived cancer.
His last day of radiation was exactly 4 years ago today: August 20, 2010.
It was a Friday, and the end of his first week back at school. His head was bald and his spirits were high. He was full of hope and grateful to be alive. A few weeks later, he joined the Survivors Committee of UGA Relay for Life. If you don’t know about Relay (I didn’t, until cancer happened to my family), it works to raise money for the American Cancer Society, to fight against the disease and find a cure.
Since then, my son has had countless (it seems) MRIs, all of which have been clean. He has earned his undergraduate degree, and he just started grad school.
And he’s had 4 more birthdays.
My daughter is a sophomore at UNC, and she has joined UNC Relay for Life.
Joyeux anniversaire!
I’ve written the story of my emotional struggle as my son battled cancer. It’s called ALL THE ABOVE, and will be released in 2015.
I’ll be signing copies of UNDERWATER on JAN 20, 2014 (MLK Holiday) from 3:00 to 5:00 pm at LA MADELEINE Country French Café in Dunwoody, Georgia (Perimeter Center West)!
Come enjoy a pastry or two, have un verre de vin and pick up your copy!
“I want to know everything about you, so I tell you everything about myself.”
– Amy Hempel
Until I realized that almost no one read it (see recent WSJ article Bring on the Holiday Letters), I used to write and send out a Christmas poem every year, and I (rather) miss* doing it.
So, inspired by the Journal author’s words that holiday letters (for me, poems) have a of “seasonal warmth,” and her reminders that they
“…bring us together in a way that our relentless digital connections cannot…represent tradition in a world that discards traditions too quickly…and they require real effort and thought: Somebody took the time to write them.” (emphasis mine)
…here’s my latest:
The kids are all grown; the house, empty, almost – No more lunches to make, no more bagels to toast. They’re all doing their thing; my job raising them’s done – And for me and my husband, the fun’s just begun. Around les enfants, my world used to revolve. When ma fille was twelve, I found a nouvelle resolve: I sat down to write books, and I ceased to write verse For my “holiday letter” – of it, I would disperse. “Who would miss it?” I thought. Just a relative** few. All the others would not; from them, I took my cue. So I focused my brain on a lofty ambition: “Why not write a whole novel?” That was my admonition. “You can do it!” I said to myself. “You have time; For a break, you can always come up with a rhyme. When you hear and see things, you are constantly thinking: ‘That would be a good scene! Or way, with them, for linking.’ “Yes, I know it takes months – sometimes YEARS – but, once finished, You can start a new project, no right-brain cells diminished. And then, hopefully, readers will love what you’ve written. Those at home, and in places like France and Great Britain!” So, not knowing if I would succeed or would fail, I began to create, it became my travail. It’s ‘ton boulot,’ a French friend expressed, when I asked. (That means ‘job.’) And with that, it’s what I am self-tasked. Au même temps, I chose, fluency, to re-attain in French, la langue stored somewhere inside of my brain. I commenced with a course that I’m still taking now And I’ve risen in level, and at times, I know how To think en français; it occurs more and more When I don’t think about it – then, my “puzzler” gets sore. I have much more to learn, and to write. But I’m glad That two books, I have published, and that they can be had On your tablet or, if you’re old-fashioned, in hand. You can give them as gifts, put them on your nightstand. I am writing “Book Three” – it will be out next year; And to you, I wish holidays full of good cheer! * I just like to
I’m not sure if “French leave” is de rigueur en France, but if so, it would make sense – because the French seem to do so many things better.
Perhaps because I’m an introvert, leaving a party without bidding farewell to the host seems easier, less awkward, and more gracious – and even unselfish, in a way. You don’t have interrupt a conversation to announce your departure and your gratitude for having been invited. Since it’s socially acceptable, at times French leave is la solution parfaite, especially if you’re aren’t fond of goodbyes.
Jenny Miles, the protagonist in my novel MAKE THAT DEUX, is not particularly fond of them, but she’s not opposed to them, either. For Jenny, leaving someone she loves – or some place she loves – without saying goodbye is impossible. So, if her story had been titled FRENCH LEAVE – well, that would have just been wrong.
On the other hand, that title could have fit the story well. Pourquoi? Well, like me, Jenny’s an introvert. She also goes to parties. And she has some experience with being awkward…
My new book will be out shortly, and deciding its title was an easier process this time. I knew it needed to be in English (despite at least one scene in France), and I wanted it to be two words, at most. I wanted to simplify. I ended up with a title that has fewer words than MAKE THAT DEUX, but more syllables.
It was harder to decide on this one’s cover image,* however. I’ll reveal it in a future post, but first I wanted to show you a few snippets of the ones I reluctantly rejected. They’re displayed below, not in order of preference:
You may notice some things that these images have in common. Without revealing my new book’s title (yet), all I will say is that the cover image I chose is different from all the above in at least one important way – no, make that deux ways…
And it’s as fitting and apropos as French leave.
* My talented cover artist is Michael Faron; visit him at msfaron.com
During a recent family vacances au Colorado, I was asked this question about Paris.
Imaginez! (Imagine!)
To be fair, I think the person who asked me has never been there. I joined in his conversation with another (male) family member about Italy and France, and I was probably the person who brought up the idea of romance. But when he asked the question, I was speechless at first. What was the answer, and how could he not know it?
I started to say something about the history, museums and art, and then he they quickly seemed to believe that it was that simple, and didn’t let me explique.* Non, messieurs! C’est pas vrai!
Because I’m an esprit de l’escalier** kind of woman, and a list-maker, I thought about it later, and here is the réponse I might have given:
1. It’s not just the art and history; it’s their relationship – their connection – to the people, and to the city. It’s something tout à fait français – absolutely French – and something you just feel. New York City and Washington D.C. have a lot of museums and history, but I don’t find either place particularly romantic. For other reasons, I really, really like them, though.
2. It’s the streets, the restaurants, the gardens and the neighborhoods of Paris…and it’s les français (the French) themselves. What (American) woman doesn’t know that Frenchmen are (normalement) très romantique?
3. It’s La Seine, the river that runs through Paris! A body of water*** (whether sea or river) at sunset or later, makes everything more intimate. How? Je ne sais pas.
La Seine
4. It’s l’amour – love. It’s in the air in Paris, whether you’ve just discovered one another, or are rediscovering…Trust me.
Enfin, the “comment:” Another (short) conversation came up about becoming fluent in French, and someone (who doesn’t speak a foreign language) asserted that “you have to live there.”
Hmm. I diligently studied the language, il y a longtemps et récemment, lived in France for a year as a student, and now I practice and speak it autant que possible. I’d love to live there again un jour, but in the meantime, I’m going to continue speaking it and improving my fluency. C’est possible, madame!
Sunrise at a beach on the Atlantic in Florida earlier this year
* With over thirty members of the famille converging in two cabins in the Rockies for a week, it was hard to finish your sentences without being interrupted (and I’m just a belle-fille et belle-soeur – much nicer sounding than “outlaw” daughter- and sister-in-law)
** See my post L’esprit de l’escalier, spiral staircases and faux-amis
*** While there’s romance in my novel MAKE THAT DEUX, there’s more water than romance in my upcoming Suspense novel…. More later!
En ce moment, I’m in between WIPs (works-in-progress). Make that, my WIP of the past two years has become a Completed Work – for now, I’ll call it CW – and is in the hands of my editor. My next WIP is not exactly “in progress” yet; I’ve only written two pages.
But I’ve chosen the title for it, have the plot outlined (très important, as you might imagine), and even know to whom it will be dedicated. All that remains is to write the dang thing.*
My CW will be released later this summer or early fall. It’s very different from my first novel, MAKE THAT DEUX, and my next work will be very different from my CW. N’ayez pas peur: I’ve begun writing the sequel to MAKE THAT DEUX, but some major changes to my draft are necessary, including the setting.
Because change is good.
The mathematical – and Greek – symbol for change
Which brings me to the title of today’s post: two expressions très bien connus – very well known, I dare say. Tout le monde knows what Vive la différence means; it seems as American as it does French. As for “And now for something completely different”….well (if you don’t know), that’s the title of the 1971 film spun from the television series Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
Actor John Cleese
It’s a great expression title, and it comes to mind when I compare my CW with MAKE THAT DEUX. The two novels are completely different, yet they share a few elements, such as scenes that take place in France (much fewer in my CW) and some lines in French…
Evidemment, I like doing, reading and writing different things, and I love memorable book and movie lines and titles. Perhaps ANFSCD was in my subconcious when I chose two characters’ names in my CW: Monty and John.
I also love French expressions, and I’ve learned some useful ones from my French prof. Here are a few that could describe some characters in my CW:
Elle a le coeur sur la main – She is very generous Elle a du pain sur la planche – She has a lot of work (and things) to do Elle est au bout du rouleau – She’s at the end of her rope Il a un poil dans la main – He’s lazy Il est timbré – He’s crazy!Au fait (by the way), there’s more than one “She” and more than one “He,” as I’m sure you’ve guessed…
* Because now, it’s time for something completely different.
Jill Edmondson, author of the Sasha Jackson Mysteries, invited me to write a guest post on her BLOG of today, April 17, 2013! Thanks, Jill!
Le sujet?
Dialogue! (and those pesky pronoms relatifs!) Let’s TALK about it!
Pre-book club dinner set-up: books + accoutrements. What do you recognize?
JULIA MCDERMOTT 