Deborah Bine

My recent newsletter ~ hiatus over!

August 20, 2022 by Patricia Sands Leave a Comment

NL #93 August 2, 2022

Bonjour

It’s been a while! I have been on a bit of a writing hiatus and am glad to be getting back into my regular schedule now.

How are you doing? I hope your summer is going well and that you are managing to stay cool in those areas where temperatures have been skyrocketing. Our thoughts are also with everyone impacted by other shocking forces of nature … fires, floods … life has not been easy for many people.

I find it’s often difficult to focus on the positive when such tragic circumstances abound. But, focus on the positive is exactly what I hope to do here with you. But before I go on, here is one way we can help those in need of assistance. Just click here.

Now, here’s my first bit of good news!

As I mentioned in my last newsletter, I was finishing up the final details in order to release my new novel, THE SECRETS WE HIDE. In fact … ta daaaaa … drum roll please … the cover reveal just happened. Only the front cover was revealed but I am sharing the complete cover here with all of you.

The book is ready for pre-order now and will be published August 25. I hope you are ready for a story that ultimately is about commitment, hope and second chances. Life isn’t always what we expect it to be but we should always be open to change. That is Kaito Tanaka’s lesson.

Here’s the pre-order link.

Moving on to my next good news which I’m sure you will all understand, since so many of you have been with me through a lot of years. In June, I finally was able to return to my beloved south of France. It was only for three weeks, but I was thankful to have that.

Apart from simply being thrilled to stroll the colorful streets of the Côte d’Azur again, I also had the pleasure of spending an afternoon in Nice at an author event that was a lot of fun with a full house and great question/book signing session afterward. Organized by the über-efficient Ella Dyer and M-C-ed by the effervescent Adrian Leeds, author, real estate expert extraordinaire and seen on House Hunters International.

There were seven authors in the lineup and I can’t wait to tell you about their books in my next few newsletters. This time I am highlighting Lisa Anselmo and Craig Carlson. In the meantime, feel free to find out more here: Debra Moffitt, Janet Hulstrand, Jeanne Oliver, Oliver Gee.

First, I’ll begin with these two dear friends. Read on:

Lisa Anselmo is an author, branding expert, speaker, and coach. She spent most of her professional career in magazine publishing in New York City, working on such iconic brands as Allure, InStyle, and People. In 2014, she left her “day job,” and now lives (mostly) in Paris where, when she’s not hanging out in cafés, she’s writing and coaching.

Her experiences inspired the fabulous memoir My (Part-Time) Paris Life: How Running Away Brought Me Home, (Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press), a candid narrative of a woman searching for hope and healing in the city she loves after the death of her mother from breast cancer. Check out her blog and YouTube series and be amazed at this multi-talented special woman, who also happens to be an exceptional singer and tons of fun!

Lisa and her projects have been featured in New York magazine, Travel and Leisure, Bustle, House Hunters International, The Today Show, The Guardian, New York Times, LA Times, BBC, and CNN International, among others.

You can connect with her here ~ Website: LisaAnselmo.com

New York Times bestselling author (and super nice guy!) Craig Carlson first
came to France as an exchange student in 1985 and instantly fell in love with
the country. He never could have imagined that some thirty-five years later,
he’d be the owner of two American diners in Paris and be nicknamed “Le
Pancake Kid” by the French. With a background in journalism, Craig studied
cinema at the prestigious USC School of Cinematic Arts, using his experience
as a screenwriter to pen his debut memoir, Pancakes in Paris: Living the
American Dream in France. It’s a great story!

Craig and his husband, Julien (also a super nice guy!), currently split their time
between Paris and Los Angeles. Well, at least they try to. With two busy diners
that can’t be left alone for too long, their lives lean heavily on the Paris side,
which, of course, is not such a bad thing, n’est-ce pas?

You can connect with Craig here ~ Website: Craig Carlson Author

After that first busy week in Nice, it was time to check into Hotel Villa Victoria,
hook up with my tour-host partner and BFF, Deborah Bine (aka Barefoot
Blogger) and excitedly await the arrival of fourteen fabulous women who would
tour with us for twelve-days. This tour was created exclusively for them! You
see, these ladies had all traveled with us previously and wanted to do it again.
And so we did. In style. We made new memories in wonderful places along the
Riviera and folicked in the lavender fields of Provence. You can see more
photos in my Instagram account @psands.stories. You may recall my original
account was hacked in the spring and I’ve had to begin all over. I hope you are
following me there.

Enjoy a few moments from our trip:

More good news! Here are the winners from Newsletter #92. The authors will be
in touch with you. Felicitation! Anne Hardy, Kathi Banholzer, Pat Schelling and
Marlene Gagnon.

This month I have a very special giveaway for two lucky readers. Please note: This giveaway is for Newsletter subscribers only.

My dear friend, Lisa Barr … you may well know her now as a Woman on Fire! Her must-read novel WOMAN ON FIRE has been seen everywhere on all the bestselling book lists and in the news, as actor Sharon Stone will be producing and starring in the movie of this story! How exciting is that?

I have two copies of this book that come with a bookplate signed by Lisa. I
purchased the books at Lisa’s book signing at Books And Books in Coral Gables,
FL, last March. What a pleasure that was! But the lineup for signing was too long … no surprise there … and we had to drive back to Naples, so Lisa sent me the signed book plates.

You know the drill. Send an email to patriciasandsauthor@gmail.com and tell me why you would love to own this book. Trust me, Lisa’s writing is exquisite, exciting and engaging.

Here’s a blurb: From the author of the award-winning Fugitive Colors and The Unbreakables, a gripping tale of a young, ambitious journalist embroiled in an international art scandal centered around a Nazilooted masterpiece—forcing the ultimate showdown between passion and possession, lovers and liars, history and truth.

I hope you have enjoyed getting caught up with me here. I would love to hear how you are doing, so never hesitate to drop me a line.

My recipe for you today is an apéro I fell in love with all over again at the fabulous Bistro du Paradou on the last night of our June tour. We had the most wonderful ending to our tour there with the tremendous combination of joie de vivre and always delicious food!

Enjoy this Lillet Spritz ~ mine was made with Lillet Rosé but I understand Lillet Blanc is much the same. My garnish was mint and lemon but a strawberry sounds good too! (Book Club question ~ who remembers in which book Philippe first introduced Kat to Lillet? There might be a prize for the person who gets the answer right! In fact, there WILL be a prize.)

Here are a couple of shots from our farewell dinner. What a fine time! And I hope somehow you are all managing to have fine moments as we work our way through this summer. I trust you have many good books bringing you escape and wonder and great enjoyment.

Stay well, my friends, be kind to one another, read a lot and appreciate every single day. Profitez de tous les jours! I’m reminded on a regular basis that the best part of being an author is hearing from readers. I value the messages I receive from you. Thanks also for sharing my books with your friends and for the reviews you write. It’s all most appreciated and inspiring.

See you next month!

Note from me today August 20th: I’m working on my next Newsletter right now!

Poisson d’avril! April Fool’s Day in France

April 1, 2022 by Patricia Sands 4 Comments

In many countries April begins with April Fool’s Day. Do you indulge? For those who haven’t heard before, you may be interested in knowing how April 1st is celebrated in an altogether unique way in France.

Imagine my surprise the first time I saw children sticking paper fish on each other’s back, whispering and giggling, and then hollering, “Poisson d’avril!”

Excusez-moi? Fish?

As Wikipedia explains: “In Italy, France and Belgium, children and adults traditionally tack paper fishes on each other’s back as a trick and shout “April fish!” in their local languages (pesce d’aprile!, poisson d’avril! and aprilvis! in Italian, French and Flemish, respectively). Such fish feature prominently on many late 19th- to early 20th-century French April Fools’ Day postcards.

April-Fools-vintage-Image-TheGraphicsFairy.com

I had no idea where the tradition began and, after a bit of searching, found this explanation on France Travel Guide.

“Although the origin of April Fools is obscure and debated, the most widely accepted explanation actually credits the “holiday” as starting in France. The most popular theory about the origin of April Fool’s Day involves the French calendar reform of the sixteenth century.

The theory goes like this: In 1564 King Charles XIV of France reformed the calendar, moving the start of the year from the end of March to January 1.

However, in a time without trains, a reliable post system or the internet, news often traveled slow and the uneducated, lower class people in rural France were the last to hear of and accept the new calendar. Those who failed to keep up with the change or who stubbornly clung to the old calendar system and continued to celebrate the New Year during the week that fell between March 25th and April 1st, had jokes played on them.

Pranksters would surreptitiously stick paper fish to their backs. The victims of this prank were thus called Poisson d’avril, or April Fish—which, to this day, remains the French term for April Fools—and so the tradition was born.”

Poisson d’avril

Boulangeries and patisseries deliciously get into the spirit with fish-shaped goodies. Oh … and did I mention the chocolatiers? Schools of fish of all sizes fill shop windows, the larger ones often filled with smaller treats. To a chocoholic, fish never tasted so good!

Since Easter often falls around the same time, fish feature predominantly in shop windows through that holiday as well.

On The Good Life France (amazing photography and articles ~ you know I’m a huge fan!), there’s another article by Margo Lestz about April 1st in France. Margo writes perfectly-researched articles, as well as entertaining books about some of the quirky history and traditions of France. Click here to visit her website!

Whether you celebrate April Fool’s Day or not, I think we all feel some relief in the Northern Hemisphere that April truly heralds the arrival of spring. Although, as we know, Mother Nature often likes to fool us with a few random snow storms in some areas.

While I’m on the blog, I’ll leave you with this … NOT an April Fool’s joke. A Season of Surprises, Book Two in the Villa des Violettes series is on sale for just $1.99 and it’s a great way to celebrate spring! Click here for your copy.

I love how readers tell me they feel they are right there in the pages of the story! That’s my hope when I write them. Guess what? You can be there! If you are longing to be in the south of France in person to stroll the streets of my stories with me and my bff, Deborah Bine aka #barefootblogger_france, grab one of the few remaining spots on our 12-day September Memories Tour! ✈️Sept 19 – Oct 1 ✈️ Happiness and joie de vivre guaranteed! 💕🇫🇷💕🇫🇷💕🇫🇷💕 #bookclubs receive free books 💕📚💕📚💕 At the moment there are a few spots remaining but they won’t last long. Click on this link for all the details!

THIS COULD BE YOU IN SEPTEMBER!

Newsletter #71

September 4, 2019 by Patricia Sands 1 Comment

If it’s Friday, it must be France …

It’s the first Friday in September and my bags (a carry-on and a computer bag … whoopee, I did it!) are organized as I fly to France on Sunday evening. I will be there until the end of the month and for twelve of those days I will be co-leading our South of France Memories Tour with my BFF, Deborah Bine (aka Barefoot Blogger).

I’ll be posting daily photos here and hope you will follow along. On y va!

Meanwhile, south of the border ~ Hopefully Dorian has blown out to sea and life for most is returning to the best kind of normal. For those who can help in any way with the heartbreaking reality in the Bahamas, here is a link with information. Every little bit helps. Please share the information and let us all do what we can.

And, in case you haven’t subscribed yet, here’s my most recent newsletter. Enjoy … and good luck with the giveaways. Bonne chance!

Newsletter #71 August 27, 2019

Bonjour mes amies

Where are you spending these last few days of August? As I write this, I’m looking out a window with a beautiful view of Georgian Bay, two hours north of Toronto. A strong breeze is rustling the leaves of birch trees and a light drizzle is falling. No tennis with grandkids this morning!

And that is just as well, since I need to get this letter off to you. I always plan to write my newsletter mid-month, and then find myself scrambling to make it before the month is gone! Sigh … I’m not really a procrastinator, but things just seem to pile up. Know what I mean?

What’s piling up for me this month is a lot of writing, as I attempt to finish Book #3 in the Villa des Violettes series before I leave for France in two weeks. And leaving for France is, as you might imagine, a serious distraction. I c a n n o t w a I t.

The sun did come out later this afternoon and with it came a much-improved word count!

I’m going over to do this year’s South of France Memories Tour with my BFF and co-leader, Deborah Bine. Once again, we have a great group of women joining us who have all been getting to know each other on a private Facebook page. The excitement is mounting and I’ll be posting lots of photos on my blog as usual. I hope you’ll join us in spirit!

A lifelong friend is also coming on the tour, which makes it even more special for me. We treasure our girlfriends, right? Right back to when we were 19 and 20 and shared an apartment in Toronto … and then we went to Europe together for the first time … oh the memories! We are going to spend a few days in Paris first before the tour and a few days in Antibes afterward. More memories!

The header this month is one of my favourite views of Nice as the plane approaches the airport. If you have visited the south of France, you know what beautiful views you have along the Côte d’Azur with the plane at such a low altitude. The Nice airport is right in town … seriously … and simply provides a spectacular show on the way in, with the runways built out into the Mediterranean. I may have just sighed out loud as I wrote that …

This next shot is one taken right above the vieux port in Nice and after that above Antibes on another approach. I never get tired of this trip.

While I am on the subject of travel, I want to share some exciting information about a trip my good friend (and sister Lake Union author) Steena Holmes has organized this year. After traveling there herself, she has arranged a Christmas Market cruise and many of her readers have signed up. She let me know there are just three cabins available, if you hurry!

I would love to go on this some time! After writing about the Christmas Market in Strasbourg in The First Noël at the Villa des Violettes, I’ve wanted to revisit some of those amazing towns that transform into something even more magical in December. Steena’s cruise will go along the Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel, Switzerland from December 4th to 11th and the return flight is from Zurich.

Click right here for the link to the trip with all the contact information.

Let me know if you go!

The giveaways this month are from three of the eleven authors in our Blue Sky Book Chat group. If you haven’t joined this welcoming community of book lovers, simply click on this link and don’t miss out a minute longer.

Giveaway #1 ~ One ebook of The Promise Kitchen and one print copy of The Welcome Home Diner are being offered. Originally from Birmingham, Alabama, Peggy Lampman lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan and writes stories that are delicious in many ways, including food-related. She says her free time is spent herding kids and indulging in her barbecue addiction with Big Green Egg cult cookery. She also keeps her foodie fans happy at www.dinnerfeed.com

You can connect with Peggy here.

Giveaway #2 ~ Kellie Coates Gilbert is offering one ebook and one print copy of Sisters (Sun Valley series, Part 1). Kellie is a former legal investigator who was born and raised in Sun Valley, Idaho. She now lives with her husband of over thirty-five years in Dallas, where she spends most days by her pool drinking sweet tea and writing the stories of her heart.

You can connect with Kellie here.

Giveaway #3 ~ Marilyn Simon Rothstein is offering one ebook and one print copy of her hilarious debut novel, Lift and Separate. You may already be familiar with the great humour Marilyn brings to every conversation. Her sunny outlook is catching! She grew up in New York City, earned a degree in journalism from New York University, began her writing career at Seventeen magazine, married a man she met in an elevator, and owned an advertising agency for more than twenty-five years.

You can connect with Marilyn here.

As always, send your entry for these giveaways to patriciasandsauthor@gmail.com. Names will be chosen randomly using random.org. This month please tell us a book you read this summer that you would like to recommend. We will make a list and share it. Thanks! Good luck with the draws! Bonne chance!

It’s a pleasure to offer these giveaways from my writing friends. Thanks for the enthusiastic responses we receive each month. I’m glad you appreciate the opportunities and are so keen to enter. In case you wonder, we read every single one of your entries and appreciate them! I hope you enjoy meeting authors who might be new to you, and connecting with those you already follow. Savor their books, find out more about the writers and pass along their information to your friends.  

The best way to hear about a good book is by word of mouth from dedicated readers like you. If you have time to write a short review, even better, and always appreciated.

Congratulations to last month’s winners:

Anne Hardy
Lesley Poole
Margo Arel
Barbara Pacific
Kellie Metzker
Diann Pickard
Mimi Howenstine
Sharon Losee
Maria Styacko

Have you marked your calendar for our Blue Sky Book Club meeting on September 4th? At 7:30 EDT we will be discussing Alison Ragsdale’s poignant new release, The Art of Remembering . See you there to share in the joy of reading and the fun of friendship.

All members of Blue Sky Book Chat on Facebook are welcome to join in and post questions and discuss. It’s a book club that you don’t have to leave home to attend. Come in your jammies!

In a recent newsletter, I wrote about the awesome Soul Safari trips organized by my good friend, author Jacquie Gauthier, who lives in South Africa. NOURISH.org is another project that is an important part of Jacquie’s life and I’m happy to share this information.

Nourish is a not for profit organization based in one of the most poverty stricken and under- served areas in South Africa. We believe that anti-poverty is anti-poaching, and that by helping to grow healthy, educated communities with access to economic opportunities we can break the poverty cycle and impact the poaching happening in rural areas.

Nourish is based on five pillars: education, conservation, tourism, economic development and sustainable farming. Our projects are all interlinked to help create a resilient, sustainable community. Depending on your interests and talents you will be able to shape your volunteer experience by choosing to focus on one or more of the many projects we have going.

To find out more visit http://www.nourishnpo.co.za

Don’t you love the giraffe photobombing this shot?

I often hear from readers who are involved in extremely worthwhile projects, both locally and far spread. It’s heartwarming, encouraging and inspiring to hear your stories in a world where we often become bogged down with bad news. So many people truly are working to make a difference in other’s lives. An excellent book I recommend to support this is Random Acts of Kindness by Dete Meserve and Rachel Greco.

And now I better get back to story writing and thinking about organizing my packing. I’m on my “pre-France lose a few pounds regimen” now so I can indulge in patisseries guilt free while I’m away. Salads are helping! Click here for a few of my favourites from which to choose. Bon appétit!

One reason for my diet? Odette! It will be one of our first stops in Paris … right around the corner from our hotel and just up the street from the Shakespeare & Company book store (our second stop!). There will not be a newsletter in September while I’m on the road, but please do drop by my blog and join me in spirit!

South of France Memories Tour 2019

January 20, 2019 by Patricia Sands 4 Comments

It’s that time again! Time to book your place with us from September 15 to 27, 2019, to come along on our awesome South of France tour.

My good friend, Deborah Bine aka Barefoot Blogger, and I have the pleasure of spending 12 memory-filled days with 16 women as we share our passion for the south of France. We visit the charming, historic towns and villages featured in my novels and on Deborah’s website. We only change hotels once in the 12 days 🙂

Bring along a friend or relative, but we also guarantee you will have a wealth of new friends after the first day! Read the testimonials from past tours to see what an unforgettable experience this is! Join us! ???☕️✈️?? Sept 15-27/19 ~ four spots left!
Click on this link for all the details http://absolutelysouthernfrance.com/memories-tour2019/

Click here to go to this page on my website. You can then follow along day by day on last year’s tour. The following photos tell a small part of the happy story!