If it’s Friday, it must be France …

For some reason, all I can think of today is the sweet taste of these luscious strawberries we purchased at a village market last month in Provence. I do believe they were the most delicious I’ve ever eaten!

Today is the first rainy day we’ve had in two months of travel.  So … full disclosure here … that makes it the first day in two months that I’ve spent totally committed to writing on my computer.

I’ve been doing lots of research, note-taking, photography, interviewing, talking with locals … spent HOURS thinking and planning … but not a lot of actual writing. Of course, there were a few hours here and there most days, but not one full, chained-to the laptop, blow-out writing day.

Once you get rolling with your WIP, those days become more and more frequent!

And that berry photo up above had a lot to do with getting me going today and pulling me directly into the words I was writing.

Photo prompts work very well for me when I’m developing a story. My character was eating strawberries … just like these … small, juicy, full-flavoured. And look at the colour! Don’t you want to pop one in your mouth too and sample that exquisite taste sensation?

I also had this next photo on my screen, helping me recall the sounds, smells and other visuals of a typical village market. The air is always filled with laughter, conversation, and greetings as friends greet each other and vendors invite everyone to sample their wares in the most engaging ways.

So now the narrative flows in earnest … I can sense it … and it feels good … the story is ready to be told! I’m well into the fifth chapter and feel excited about the way things are unfolding. It takes a while to really connect with new characters and for us to figure each other out. Truly! But you’ve heard me and other writers allude to that before. It’s part of the fun of writing fiction.

After living with Kat, Philippe, and friends for the past five years, I had to welcome some new voices into my life … and I’m liking them more and more. I miss the old familiar crew though, and look forward to getting back to another trilogy with them once this new novel is published.

Thanks for the deluge of emails I’ve received asking me to continue writing about the Love In Provence characters. I’m touched that you feel so connected to them. They will be back. I promise you this … to borrow from that last book title!

Apart from writing and all that goes into a new book, authors are also always looking at new ways to market their work. Whether we are indie authors or signed to a publisher, book marketing still takes a lot of effort from the writer.

I had some fun with our visiting granddaughters in France as we set up some shots with the Love In Provence book covers. Here are a few of our efforts.

This first shot is in front of the daily Provençal market in Antibes, where Kat initially met Philippe in The Promise of Provence. (And I better do a bit of cropping at the bottom … although it makes me smile to know that sweet hand belongs to a granddaughter!)

Then we posed Promises to Keep to replicate the cover art. Oops, we didn’t quite get my thumb out of the way!

If you’ve finished reading I Promise You This, then you will know that the door to the Mairie is an important detail in that story. There’s that cute hand again!

Next come a couple of our efforts with all three books.

I’ll be sending some of the shots to TripFiction.com to see if they are good enough to use. Even if they aren’t, we had a lot of fun setting them up.

(And here, please allow me to share a few words about travel with grandchildren: what fun!  We had a week in Antibes with Meg, 17 and Jess, 15, and then a week later with Lauren, 21, who will also join us in Vienna next week. Our grandson, Ethan, 19, will also be there with us.We highly recommend the experience!)

Now back to the topic of writing. If you don’t follow TripFiction, I highly recommend you do. They feature novels set in specific locations and have been fabulous about promoting the Provence books. For those of us who enjoy a travel aspect in the stories we read, you will discover many enticing books to add to your TBR stack by checking their website and Instagram gallery.

I brought some of TripFiction’s postcards with me this summer so they could travel along, like this shot in Arles. You may spot some of them on Instagram.

So that’s the scoop for now from me. I hope your summer is going well and that you are reading a book that’s a page-turner! Feel free to let us in on the name. Readers are always looking for recommended books ~ there’s no better review than word of mouth!

And now back to writing! Bon weekend, everyone!