Patricia Sands

Author

General Travel

Get the message?

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Have you seen this? I received this message from a friend yesterday. canstockphoto10214310Please pass it on!

“After viewing, please forward it to all your loved ones.

They all need to see this because they are either drivers or innocent passengers.

Volkswagen made an eye-opening ad...

A Hong Kong movie theatre asks its patrons to leave their cell phones ON when they enter the movie theatre.

Using that, Volkswagen made an eye- opening ad…

More than 1.5 million views in 3 days!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/JHixeIr_6BM?rel=0&autoplay=1&iv_load_policy=3

Come to the party!

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If it’s Friday, it must be France!

On Monday, September 8th … by clicking right here  … you will be able to spend time traveling with some of your favourite authors!

From 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. EST we’re having an online travel theme party on Facebook to celebrate the release of PROMISES TO KEEP , the continuation of the story begun in The Promise of Provence!  

Some of my writing friends will be sharing their favourite places in the world from their books, as well as their own neighbourhoods. Come and chat with them. There will be tons of books to be won as well as other prizes and fun to be had! Pop on by to see who’s at the party!

We can pretend we’re here …

Saint-Paul de Vence
Saint-Paul de Vence

or here …

Nice, France
Nice, France

or here …

Muskoka, ON
Muskoka, ON

or here …

Bruges, Belgium
Bruges, Belgium

or here …

Little Palm Island, FL
Little Palm Island, FL

or here …

Switzerland
Switzerland

or here …

Florida
Florida

or here …

Granada, Spain
Granada, Spain

or here …

Whistler, BC
Whistler, BC

or here …

DSC07708

or here …

Tofino, BC
Tofino, BC

or here …

Venice, Italy
Venice, Italy

or right in your own back yard …

Love the back yard!
Love the back yard!

BRING ALONG A PHOTO OF YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE AND POST IT AT THE PARTY. WE’D LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT IT!

DO YOU HAVE A TRAVEL WISH LIST? WE JUST MIGHT HAVE A GOOD BOOK SUGGESTION TO TAKE ALONG … OR BETTER YET … YOU MIGHT WIN ONE!

WHAT BOOKS HAVE YOU READ THAT MADE YOU WANT TO TRAVEL SOMEWHERE DESCRIBED IN THE STORY? SHARE THE NEWS!

LET’S GET THIS POST TRAVELING TOO … PASS IT ON … INVITE YOUR FRIENDS … SEE YOU MONDAY!

PROMISES TO KEEP

 

 

 

 

Travel theme: EDGE

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

The photo challenge travel theme , “edge”, this week on Ailsa’s Where’s My Backpack struck a note with me! Click right here, to check out some of the fabulous photos posted on other blogs.

I’ve been on edge all week with the excitement of releasing Promises To Keep, thePTK_final_lg second book in what is now the Love In Provence series. When a novel is published, it’s a very exhilarating, exhausting and … to be honest … slightly nerve-wracking time. We go over everything with a fine tooth comb because we want it to be perfect for you … every little detail!

So, this is it: the OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT THAT PROMISES TO KEEP is now available as an ebook on Amazon, Kobo, Nook, and iTunes at a special price through the long weekend. Print copies should be ready by October.

Had it not been for all the enthusiastic emails I received from readers of The Promise of Provence asking “What happened next?” I might have moved on to write an entirely different story .

But all the questions and the way readers cared about Katherine, pulled me back into her journey and the rest is history! Promises To Keep is Book Two of what will now be the Love In Provence series and that has me very excited … and already working on Book Three. See what you started? I can’t thank you enough.

And now to the other part of this post.

Since I love to participate in photo challenges … and particularly ones that give me another chance to share photos from France … the word “edge” instantly brought to mind these photos taken on the spectacular Route des Crêtes between La Ciotat and Cassis. If you are visiting that part of the Var, be sure to take this breathtaking drive!

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Route des Cretes, La Ciotat, Cassis

That’s our nephew hanging over the edge. I wasn’t quite so keen. Hello vertigo!

How are you doing? Has anything got you on edge?  You know, just looking at these photos has brought back such good memories that I’m already feeling more relaxed.

Now back to working on the next book!

Life is a travelling to the edge of knowledge, then a leap taken.
D. H. Lawrence

 

Taking Root in Provence

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

9.window Aix-en-Provence

Just over a year ago, Anne-Marie Simons and her husband, Oscar, were featured on my blog.  Hop on over there to learn more about this charming couple and read an excerpt from Taking Root in Provence.

Anne-Marie is, among other things writerly, the author

book-cover-small of Taking Root in Provence, a delightful non-fiction book about life in France. If you haven’t read it and you love France as much as I do, you will enjoy the vignettes. They are charming, informative and often hilarious! True snapshots of Provençal culture acquired since Anne-Marie and Oscar settled in Aix-en-Provence in 1998.

Anne-Marie is also a journalist and her blog, Provence Today, keeps readers up to date on the latest news in France with her keen, unbiased observations.

Since I returned from France in July, I’ve shared a few posts about other writers in France you might like to follow. You can click right here to go to links to Claire McAlpine, Margo Lestz and Kristin Espinasse.

One of the aspects of travel that I love is the opportunity to meet people in person after knowing them only online. After our plans to meet in 2013 didn’t work out, Anne-Marie and I finally had a chance to sit down together at Le Grillon in Aix-en-Provence on June 30 this year. It was great fun and just too short a time! Hopefully we’ll be able to do it again next summer!

Summer is flying by! What are your special plans? Meeting up with friends? Take some time and just do it …

Come and join me on Facebook on Monday, August 25th for the COVER REVEAL  of my new novel, Promises To Keep. Just click right here. Release day is coming up too on August 29th! More on that next week. 

In case you haven’t heard, The Promise of Provence is specially priced at $.99 this week. Really! Click right here today. We want to make sure everyone has a chance to read it before Promises To Keep is published. Kat’s adventure in the south of France continues!

Bon weekend, tout le monde! 

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