Patricia Sands

Author

home exchange

Cover reveal ~ Promises To Keep

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Thank you very much  … merci mille fois …  to all the enthusiastic readers who wrote to me and asked “What happened next?”, The Promise of Provence has become Book One in the Love In Provence series.  It’s on special for $.99 until August 28th. Read it before  Promises To Keep!

The cover of Book Two ~ Promises To Keep ~ was revealed today and the book will be available on all sales platforms in time for the long weekend. On y va! Come and join all the characters and some intriguing new ones in the south of France.

PTK_final_sm

Thanks to Scott Collie of Toronto for the original artwork and Carrie Spencer for the cover design. Magnifique!

Ahhhhhh …

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If it’s Friday, it must be France …

That might be a sigh from me that was heard well out into the stratosphere!

Oui! C’est vendredi! It’s Friday AND it is France … we arrived in Nice yesterday and will be here until mid-October. It didn’t take us more than a moment to fall in love with this town all over again.

In fact, the trembling heart action began (it never fails …) as we crossed the last range of Alps and the Mediterranean coast came into view:

Côte d'Azur-PSandsPhotos
Côte d’Azur-PSandsPhotos

Next, the high-rise crush of  “nowhere to go but up” Monaco …

Monaco-PSandsPhotos
Monaco-PSandsPhotos

Then a small regatta near Eze-Sur-Mer. If you look closely you can see the spectacular perched village of Eze (that I often blather on about) on that last hill to the right, just past the arches. That’s the hill where I hiked and laughed my way down the Nietzsche Trail two years ago with my sister-in-law and niece on a sweltering July day. We did have a good time!

Côte d'Azur-PSandsPhotos
Côte d’Azur-PSandsPhotos

And then the sigh began ~ ahhhhhhh ~ it wasn’t too awfully loud ~ really, only about half the plane looked ~ Villefranche-Sur-Mer, the town next to Nice and one of my all-time faves …

Villefranche-Sur-Mer-PSandsPhotos
Villefranche-Sur-Mer-PSandsPhotos

I couldn’t capture Nice as the plane took a sharp bank just before landing and all we could see was sky on one side and water on the other. This is not unusual as the Nice runway is short and sticks out into the Med … always a spectacular arrival.

Another cool thing about Nice International Airport is that it is right in town! You could simply walk down the street and go for a dip in the Med or have a croissant if you just couldn’t wait. C’est unique!

A quick cab ride brought us to our home away from home for the next month. Here’s the view from our living room window and our well-appointed loft condo is in a building just like this. This is a pedestrian area with bistros, cafés, galleries and shops. The old town with its daily market and the beaches and restaurants of the sparkling Med are just a few minutes’ walk away.

Place Massena,Nice-PSandsPhotos
Place Massena,Nice-PSandsPhotos

Most important, for me, the inspiration to write is overwhelming here. It wraps around me with a gentle urgency … and I love it … ahhhhhhh …

Sorry – gotta get back to the WIP!

As most of you know by now, my husband and I have spent a lot of time in this part of the world so we knew this location well. We are thrilled to have the city experience of Nice this time but will also spend many days in our beloved Antibes just a half-hour along the coast. I’m having a book launch party there on October 4th but more about that later!

Please remember, dear readers, this is not Lifestyles of The Rich and Famous. This is a wonderful home exchange (our 9th) and any one of you can organize a similar experience wherever in the world you might want to visit. You know I love to talk about home exchange so feel free to ask your questions. Dream on!

Winners! … and my first newsletter is off the press!

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When I first published The Promise of Provence, Home Base Holidays very enthusiastically contacted me and embraced this story of a home exchange in the south of France. And why not? HomeBaseHolidays-LogoThis is a fabulous company that offers precisely the same opportunities to their members that Katherine, my main character, experienced.  I was pleased to offer them two copies of my novel as giveaways on their site.

Congratulations to the winners:  Linda & Rob from Fort Worth, Texas, USA and John & Eveline from Auckland, New Zealand !

Click here to go to the Home Base website and read the rest of the post about the giveaway and comments from the winners. If you have not explored home exchange yet, this might just be the tipping point to get you started. You know I am a huge fan of home exchange and happy to answer any questions. I can assure you the friendly, knowledgeable folks at Home Base are only too willing to send you any information you wish.

MY NEWSLETTER IS LIVE!

I’ve entered into another aspect of this wonderful world of publishing by sending a newsletter every now and then. I’m not going to post each one here but thought I would share my first with you! You know how “firsts” are …
Pull up a chair and join me ~ here we go with my first newsletter!Thanks to all who sent emails after reading The Promise of Provence or left your email address at an event with me. I’m blown away by the response and will be sending out a brief newsletter from time to time to stay in touch, offer giveaways and share information.If you would rather not receive my newsletter, by all means click below to unsubscribe. No worries!Two weeks ago I attended the Romance Writers of America’s national conference in Atlanta, Georgia, along with approximately 2000 other writers at every stage of their careers. It was a dizzying four days of excellent workshops, presentations and extraordinary networking. Along with that was the wonderful opportunity to meet a group of writers with whom I’ve been connected online for two years. We have become like family so to finally meet in person was phenomenal!I returned with a firm vision as to where my writing is directed and I’m excited to say that part of the plan keeps Katherine’s story moving forward with unexpected twists. I’ll share details and give you some sneak peeks as time goes on.

On September 9th, my husband and I will be leaving for a month in Nice to visit friends and favourite places while I spend some time doing research. On October 4th there will be a lively launch party for The Promise of Provence at Heidi’s English Bookshop in Antibes. If you are in that part of the world, please join us! The details will be on my blog.

If you sent me a message saying you would like a postcard from Katherine, please be sure you left your postal address and not just your email.

I’m excited to report our first women’s tour to the south of France for next June quickly sold out, so another has been added from June 25 to July 5. It was fun to hear from some of you already booked! Click here for more information and by all means let me know if you are joining us! FYI – I’ve posted a reading list on my blog and would be happy to have any suggestion you may have.

I love hearing from you so don’t hesitate to contact me. Catch my news on my blog.

In the meantime, click here for one of my favourite recipes: Provençal New Potatoes.
Bon appétit!

If you want to join my newsletter, find the sign up form HERE.

On another note, I am dashing off with my DH to spend a few days with friends at a cottage … WITHOUT INTERNET OR CELLULAR SERVICE … GASP!

Do you ever go “unplugged”? I’m kind of looking forward to it … might even get some uninterrupted writing accomplished and find time to spend with my camera! My DH is tapping his fingers waiting for me to get out the door! See you at the end of the week – have a good one!

Monday … how’s it going for you?

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Happy Monday everyone! I returned to Toronto from Atlanta last evening, after a two-hour delay during which the forces of nature presented a spectacular thunder and lightning/son et lumière exhibition, viewed through the massive windows of the airport terminal.

The RWA2013 National Conference which I attended for 5 days krlqqghzwas a fine experience in every way from the exceptional quality and variety of workshops, discussions, and presentations to the extraordinary camaraderie and networking of approximately 2000 writers, agents, editors and other assorted members.The keynote speaker, Cathy Maxwell, and luncheon awards speaker, Kristan Higgins, offered wisdom and humour as they shared their stories and stirred emotions.

Absolutely unforgettable was the opportunity to meet, in person, writers with whom I have formed close connections online through the past three years. The “WANA sistas” rock and memories were made to last forever!

I returned home inspired and motivated to write, write, write.

Today I am attempting to catch up on last week’s backup while I am at my desk in Toronto … admittedly watching (and dreaming of being there …) the last day of the Tour de France which my DH thoughtfully taped for me.

Thanks to this amazing virtual world. I’m also hanging out on some other websites and hope you have a minute to drop by and visit.

Suite T 2013 header

Suite T: The Author’s Blog of Southern Writer’s Magazine ~ click here to read my short post which I think will make you smile!

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The Sisterhood of the Traveling Book’s Blog on Goodreads – click here to add your comments to one of my favourite topics! Tell me where you like to travel.

Thanks to everyone who has popped into The Provence Post too. There are a few more days before the draw for the giveaways! If only I could be writing this from there!

I wanted to share this special post from the blog of my friend, Marcia Richards. Now that’s inspiring!

That’s it for me today! What are you up to?