Giveaway -- Amazon Gift Card

I'm trying to take a deep breath on this, the last day of the month.
July has flown by, hasn't it?
I've had some spectacular days, walks with my husband, walks with my friend Sheila, hanging out with my children and talking about everything or nothing.
I'm already missing the early, early morning sunshine. I'm disappointed now that the sun isn't rising at 5:30. I think that if I had the money, I'd follow the summer, maybe spend my winters in New Zealand.
Well, on the last day of the month, I'm trying to sell a few extra copies of Paris Runaway, my latest novel. So, if you were considering a purchase of Paris Runaway, $5.99 for the Kindle edition, go ahead and buy it today and leave a comment here or on my Facebook page or send me an email or tweet, and I'll enter your name to win a $25 Amazon gift card.

The drawing will be Sunday evening, so your odds are very good.
Some readers have said this is their favorite of all my novels. It has a couple of steamy, romantic scenes, but mostly it's women's fiction with the main character dealing with the complications of life and raising teenagers as a single mother, while chasing after her daughter to France.
Don't take my word for it though, go to the link and read the reviews.
I love that different readers can have totally different experiences:

Here's a review from Goodreads: "An interesting, entertaining suspense novel, I loved it.
Could not put it down, I felt I was with her in Paris."

Here's another review from Goodreads: "The highlight of the book would be its narration. Looking at Paris through the writers eyes was sheer blissful. The narration is vivid and the writer has tastefully described Paris even when the story demanded that the setting be dimmed out. That blending and weaving of the setting even when the main character writhed in turmoil was done perfectly without compromising emotions."

And one of my favorite reviews: "This was a fabulous beach read! I picked it up this morning and never sat it down until I was done. The characters were relatable and their adventure was a joy to watch unfold. If only real life teenage drama ended in a trip to Paris and an adventure with a sexy French man then the teenage years would not seem so bad."

Thanks for your support, whether you buy my novel or not, reading my blog helps give me that feeling of community too. If you do buy it, I wish you a lovely, relaxing day or reading and a quick trip to Paris, even if it's only in the book.

Dreaming of France -- Confessions of a Paris Potty Trainer

Please join this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.

Today for Dreaming of France, I wanted to give you my review of a new memoirs, Confessions of a Paris Potty Trainer by Vicki Lesage.

I've become blog friends with Vicki, who is an American married to a Frenchman. But sometimes I become friends with an author, and I still don't enjoy their books. When that happens, I avoid saying anything. Joyfully, I can say that I truly adored Vicki's latest book.
I read her previous book, Confessions of A Paris Party Girl, and that was fun, but her second book is better. At least I related to it more. Her first book told the story of a party girl moving to France and ended with her marriage to a Frenchman. This book began with her pregnancy.
I love the insights into the different ways the French handle things, like finding an apartment and going to doctor visits, not to mention the difference between giving birth in the U.S. and in France.

By the time I announced the pregnancy to my boss, I had been employed at my French company about a year. I hadn't quite gotten used to the lax French working style and the fact that they only actually work about half the year, once you factor in national holidays, a minimum of five weeks' vacation, and coffee breaks.
So I was shocked to learn I would be getting sixteen weeks of maternity leave. what would I do with all the time? Sure, take care of my baby. But as someone who has worked every day of her life since age 14, the prospect of four months sans travail was hard to imagine. 

Getting the baby a passport, finding the baby a school, trying to re-establish her party life with her friends, I relished the journey with Vicki.
It was one of those books that I had a hard time putting down. Luckily, I had it on my Kindle, so I could pick it up anytime I had a few spare minutes and finished it in just a few days.
It's available for $4.99 on Kindle or $13.49 in paperback on Amazon. Here's the link: Confessions of a Paris Potty Trainer. 
And, this topic is mildly related to Dreaming of France -- I'm giving away a $10 Amazon gift card on Tuesday to everyone who has liked my author page on Facebook since it hit 300. The odds are pretty good cause I'm only at 305 likes. So, if you're on Facebook, stop by my author page and click like. You may win an Amazon gift card and have the money to buy this book or one of my books on Kindle.
Also this month, jumping the gun by a day, it's time for Paris in July.

Head on over to the main website to play all month. I'll still be here dreaming of France every Monday throughout the year and in July too. 

Winner of Amazon Gift Card

Thanks to everyone who entered to win the $50 Amazon gift card.
The winner was Pam, who isn't on Facebook, but who emailed me with her book receipt.

Congrats, Pam.
Hope you buy lots of good books to read.
In a few weeks, I'll have an Amazon giveaway for everyone who has written a 4- or 5-star review about my novel I See London I See France on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
Wait, you may say. What about Goodreads? Just copy and paste your review from Goodreads onto Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
Thanks to everyone for their support.

$50 Amazon Giveaway -- One Day Only

Buy my novel I See London I See France on Amazon ($4.99) by noon on Saturday and share it on Facebook, tagging me, Paulita Kincer,(Writer) and you’ll be entered to win a $50 Amazon gift card. The contest runs from now until noon on Saturday, March 15 (Eastern Standard Time). Enter now!

Contest details: Buy my novel in Kindle or paperback form from Amazon (or Barnes & Noble). After you check out, Amazon offers the opportunity to share your purchase on Facebook or Twitter. Share, tagging my author page, Paulita Kincer(writer). 

If you don’t/can’t post on Facebook, take a screenshot of your receipt and send me an email at paulita at paulitakincer dot com. The odds of winning depend on how many people participate. If you’re the only one who plays, you’re the winner of the Amazon gift card. If two people play, your odds are 50/50. If 100 people play, your odds are 1/100.  I’ll enter all the names in a random name selector and select the winner at random on Saturday, March 15.

In a few weeks, I’ll do another giveaway for everyone who posts a 4- or 5-star review on my novel on Amazon or Barnes & Noble, so if you don’t win this time, you’ll have another chance. 

My Novel Free Today

Summer is almost over, so here's one last opportunity to download my novel free on Amazon today. Hope you'll tell your friends.
The Summer of France is free today on Kindle. Here's the link to Amazon in the U.S. or Amazon in the UK. Of course, whatever Amazon you use, it should be free there too.

Giveaway Winner

Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway in honor of Paris in July. I had 118 entries and Rafflecopter randomly chose the winner Femto Femto.
The giveaway also helped me climb to 118 followers on my blog and 73 likes on my Facebook author page.

Please Enter the Giveaway

In honor of Paris in July, and all things French, you can win a $20 Amazon gift card and a copy of my novel The Summer of France. Just enter the giveaway below. The winter will be randomly chosen on the last day of July.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Saturday Snapshot -- Les Misérables

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post on West Metro Mommy. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.
My daughter Grace has the acting bug. And I believe most musical actors are enthralled with Les Misérables. She tried out this spring, and although she didn't get a big role, she decided to continue with it, just thrilled to be part of the production. Her main role is as one of the barricade students whose boyfriend goes to fight, but she also gets to be a whore in the scene with Fantine and Woman #6 in a solo singing role.
At the end of the show, she was in tears from the sheer joy and emotion of the show. Here she is right afterwards, still wiping away tears.

The show went off with only a small hitch. In the whore scene, a banging off stage ended up with the women kind of standing around for a few minutes, still in character, but unsure what to do. 

It turns out the conductor fainted. He had been going through cancer treatment and a stand-in conductor continued the show.

It could have been a little uncomfortable for us, Grace's parents, to watch her portraying a whore, but Earl jumped right into the stream of things and leaned over to me to whisper, "Hey! Grace got a client!" as she walked off stage with one man only to return a few minutes later and be taken off stage by another. 

Grace was enchanted by the 10-year-old playing Gavrotte. He's a heckuva singer and actor and has quite the good cockney accent for an American. 

And here are Grace and her friend Carmen dressed as whores. No wonder they were getting all the business on stage.

I'm also joining in with Paris in July this month cohosted by  Thyme for Tea and Bookbath.

Tomorrow is the last day to sign up for the $10 Amazon giveaway here. Just leave a comment to be entered and follow my blog or like me on Facebook for extra chances to win.