June has rodeoed on by and I’m feeling much better and more sane than I did at the beginning of the month, although the pressure and endless to-dos have only gotten worse as the end of school draws near. Those of you in America are done, I think, but you remember what it’s like, right?
As promised, the first thing I did on my blogging hiatus was to clean up my subscriber list to be compliant with GDPR laws.** And then I worked on tidying up my existing books before my new ones come out this fall and early next year.
If you’d like to receive my author newsletter, which contains book-related news, including sneak peeks and book deals, you can sign up by clicking here. I’m putting a newsletter out tomorrow, and besides my own book discounts listed below, I’m featuring four other free or discounted books, including copies of Jaima Fixsen’s new release. It’s a dark thriller. She’s one of my favorite historical authors, and this one takes place in Austria in 1814 (I think). I aim to send a newsletter out once a month, and the book deals are for clean romance – contemporary and historical – and also memoirs and books about France.
After cleaning up my subscriber lists, I finished reviewing the French translation for my memoir to be published this fall. I also decided it was time to rebrand and re-edit my romance novel. The old title, The Viscount of Maisons-Laffitte, was not pronounceable to many, and it didn’t clue readers as to what genre it was. My romance is now called A Noble Affair, and if you haven’t read it and would like to, it’s free on promotion through Friday.
Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada
I’m halfway done with a new contemporary romance, and there’s a sneak preview of it in the newsletter. With all this work on my old titles to get them ready before the new ones come out, I decided to mark down my memoir, Stars Upside Down, to $.99 for a week (down from $4.99), if you – or someone you know – are interested in reading it.
Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada
Enough book talk! I promise you, my head is full of it, and I think of little else. But kids need to be fed and hugged (and husbands too), and blogs need to be written.
Otherwise, school year-end is kicking my butt. There are swim club parties and cello concerts and solfège concerts and trumpet concerts and trumpet dinners and trumpet lunches and trumpet rehearsals and more trumpet concerts (the trumpet teacher is very enthusiastic). There are also dance recitals and gifts to buy for teachers and doctors appointments and the children’s ministry for church to organise for next year’s classes and friends visiting. Oooh boy!
But! I’m better in spirits, so that makes the world beautiful, and not the contrary, indifferent thing it was before.
A week ago, I took the train into London to attend a writing conference, which was amazing. It was nice to do something just for me and my writing. I got to see an old friend while I was there, as well. I’d like to go back soon to do a Regency walk through London, visiting some of the places that are still around from 1812.
On Saturday night, we went to a picnic organised by the town hall. I love these picnics by the Seine every year. There’s a convivial, family atmosphere, set in a serene location.
We set aside time as a family just to have fun and relax.
(Don’t my kids look so big? They’re almost as tall as Matthieu!)
We met two other families there so our kids got to hang out all night with their friends while the parents chatted. The town finished the evening with a fireworks display, set to the music of Johnny Hallyday, who died a few months ago. Everyone sang along, and some were in tears because they grew up with his songs.
I kept trying to get a photo of the old-fashioned lamp, which you could make out every time it was lit up by the fireworks. I finally got this one.
But here’s a much cooler picture of the fireworks, courtesy of my husband. This is using the camera he bought with his 50th birthday money, for which all our friends contributed. Isn’t he an amazing photographer?
Our house and garden are a disaster. Clean? Who has time to clean? Or pull up weeks for that matter? But because we’ve sort of created a self-sustaining, perennial garden, we get treats like these hydrangeas (which used to be blue but turned pink with our soil), and they spring up with no work at all!
We also have kiwis growing like crazy. We’ve never had so many before. I hope they’re sweet.
We’re going to have a busy summer between Brittany, the US, and Switzerland. But even with all that moving around, I suspect I’ll be less busy on vacation than I am right now. Maybe I’ll even have a chance to, not only finish my book, but have some fun on the way.
How is your summer going?
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