If it’s Friday, it must be France …

I’ve been off the radar a bit, attempting to catch up on everything  in my writing life, after the fabulous Indie ReCon 2015 last week. I hope you had a chance to drop by some of the sessions and any you missed can still be accessed. Congratulations to ALLi (the Alliance of Independent Authors) and everyone involved all around the globe for a job well done!

Once again the worldwide community of indie authors demonstrated that contagious spirit of collegiality and information sharing that defines them!

But now I have to admit there’s only one thing on my mind!

Tomorrow my husband and I leave for our annual stay in the south of France.  We’ll kick it off with a few days in Paris and a road trip to some places we’ve wanted to visit for ages. Ask me if we’re excited!

I’ll be researching and taking photos and writing and savouring every moment. So come on along with me! I’m hoping to post a special image every day on Instagram and Facebook, if I don’t totally mess up the technology. Unlocking my phone this week was a challenge!

This week has involved a lot of family time for goodbye hugs along with organizing, packing, and taking care of all those details we all have when we’re about to go on a trip. That was all squeezed in whenever I was able to tear myself away from working on my Love In Provence Book #3 (okay, we’ll have a title contest in the next newsletter like we did for #2 ~ get ready!)… all I want to do right now is write! Some of our stops on this trip will be part of the story, but I’ll tell you more about that on the road. It’s going to be magnifique having you along!

Do you subscribe to my monthly newsletter? If you haven’t yet, you can do so by clicking right here or over in the column to the right .  If you are one of the enormously supportive and enthusiastic subscribers (who inspire me every day!), I wish you good luck with this month’s giveaway of a box set of 7 novels … yes, SEVEN  !

 

The talented writers of Triskele Books generously offered this for my April giveaway. Here are the details … and, may I say, each of these books is an excellent literary experience,  spiriting readers to exotic locations and capturing imaginations with unique story lines.

Crimson Shore by Gillian Hamer
Rats by JW Hicks.
Behind Closed Doors by JJ Marsh.
Wolfsangel by Liza Perrat.
Delirium: The Rimbaud Delusion by Barbara Scott-Emmett.
The Rise of Zenobia by Jane Dixon-Smith.
Ghost Town by Catriona Troth.

Pop on over to their website for more information. Details of the draw are in my April newsletter. Bonne chance!

I’ll end this post (because I really should be sleeping …) with the surprise news I received last week. I had forgotten The Promise of Provence was entered in the eLit Book Awards 2015, and was pleased to discover a Silver Award in Popular Fiction and a Gold Award in the category of Travel-Essay! It’s always satisfying to have your work recognized! Congratulations to all the prize recipients and also to everyone who entered! If you’ve published a book, you’re already a champion! Write on!

We’re still having the odd snow shower in Toronto! How’s April in your part of the world? I hope you’ll join me for a few days of April in Paris! On y va!