I turned fifty this month. It was a great month of celebration – both in my reader’s group on Facebook (link here) where I had giveaways and author takeovers, mostly in the Regency genre – and also in my real life with friends and family.
My husband flew back from NY early so we could all go out for gluten-free pizza in Paris on the day itself. The place is called Little Nonna in the 17th arrondissement and I’d give you a website but the link doesn’t seem to be working. For a present, I asked my husband to install this 19th century statue in the stairwell – a somewhat complicated affair because you have to dig a bit in the wall to make it sit securely in. He did it though, and I love it.
And he brought me back Clinique Happy from NY – which you can’t get here – because it reminded him of when we were dating. That was a sweet surprise since I told him not to buy anything. I’ve been wearing only Chanel for years now, but I can’t help but spritz this on every day since it brings back such memories.
I also had a great time with girlfriends when we celebrated on the weekend, and yet again with neighbours (and our old house church) on a different evening. Clearly that is how one needs to ring in the 50s – several times and with loved ones.
A Lady in France
I thought I would try something new with this blog, and that is to have a monthly recap at the very least since I’m not able to post regularly anymore. I love writing books and want to keep doing that, but I have a lot of affection for this ten-year old blog, and for you, my lovely readers. So I’ve decided to give summaries of what happened each month in general, and as it pertains to the specific topics I write on.
Food:
I’ve been eating more vegan. It’s mostly because I feel better when I do, but it’s also because it’s better for the environment. This is not a total change, mainly because of the social aspect. I’m already an alcohol-free, gluten-free American living in France. I don’t want to make it even more complicated for people when I arrive as a dinner guest. Plus, I do like cheese and ice cream from time to time.
For Thanksgiving, I made this vegan sweet potato casserole and my vegan chocolate cake, except since it’s not the season for raspberries, I used drained cherries that I sprinkled with almond extract and stuck that in the middle layer, along with the frosting. It was good.
Faith:
We’ve started leading (aka serving) the teen ministry at church. This is time-consuming because we organise activities and individual Bible studies with the teens who ask for it, but I like it more than I thought I would. Our kids love being around their friends at church so this is a chance for us to spend time as a family doing something all of us love. Sometimes William (only 11) is with us and sometimes he’s spending the time with friends his own age. We try to be sensitive to what is best for him as well.
Our church practices the Biblical principal of repentance and baptism for salvation (I delve into this more here). And we study the Bible with friends or strangers who are interested, teaching them the basis for an active Christian faith. Since last spring, three of our neighbour friends studied the Bible and have gotten baptised and two more are getting close to making a decision. All of them are long-time friends, and their kids are friends with ours, so it’s been rich and special to have a sort of “home church” in our neighbourhood. It’s been a happy time seeing God work in people’s lives.
Family:
I haven’t been able to share as much about my kids as they get older because they deserve their privacy as they get into the teen years. But they’re still cuties – great kids – despite the usual struggles teens go through. However, I will share with you the absolute victory of a garden. This beautiful lawn is thanks to my friend Geraldine’s father and a bunch of willing hands from church to turn the earth. And my mom and step-dad bought me an apricot tree for my birthday. Isn’t it beautiful?
My birthday gift from my friends was money contributed towards more things for the garden, and I plan to get a barrel to compost (that keeps out the rats) plus perhaps another arch to grow the kiwi and / or a rose bush. I’d like another fruit tree and maybe a bench? I’m still trying to decide what the priority is. Although my friends were super generous, it’s not an unlimited budget so I need to think it through.
France:
I have to stretch back to October for interesting news about France, but when my mom & step-dad were here, we visited the local Malmaison – the home of Josephine Bonaparte – and if I remember correctly, Napoleon was there before he went to the Island of Elba.
I finished the memoir by Putigny, a soldier of Napoleon, and this visit was significant because of my interest in the Regency period. (I talk about Putigny more below).
We also visited Reims again, and here is the back of the cathedral (with me):
and you can read more about that city in an old post here if you’re curious.
Books:
Putigny: I translated bits of it in my last post here. I absolutely loved it. He was a brave soldier, and I got to learn details that could be known only by someone who lived through the period. It was a bit sad because he deified Napoleon, referring to him as Lui (which means him, but with a capital H). I learned what happened during the disastrous retreat from Russia and again at Waterloo. He was there nearly thirty years later when Napoleon’s body was brought back from Saint-Hélene and carried in parade to Invalides, a visit which I wrote about here. Putigny died shortly after Napoleon’s remains were brought back, as if his life began and ended with Napoleon.
I’m also reading Story Genius, which helps authors get to the root of what their stories are really about, and since I have an easier time editing a novel than I do creating one, this is the perfect thing to read.
And I’m reading Sally Britton’s Regency novel, Saving Miss Everly, which I’m enjoying. I have two research books on my to-read pile: Richard Holmes Redcoat, and Kloester’s book Georgette Heyer’s Regency World.
Otherwise, I’m just happy to be writing. I can’t wait for A Faithful Proposal to come out in February, and I’m working on a separate Regency series that I’d like to self-publish a little later in the spring, and potentially another (still secret) joint-effort with other authors in the fall, so I have my work cut out for me. If the muse strikes and I have time, I’ll write another post soon. Otherwise, see you at the end of December.
