She Likes It!

In December, I had a giveaway of my novel The Summer of France. Jacqui at French Village Diaries won the book. She finished reading and wrote a review on her blog post today.
I hope you'll stop by and take a look at her kind words. And, maybe leave a message so I don't feel like I'm all alone in the publishing/blogging world. Hello? Echo, echo.
Jacqui also think did a bang-up job summarizing my book.  I may have to hire her on as a query letter writer or a back cover writer.
If you still haven't read my book and  you're a member of Goodreads, you can sign up to win a paperback copy in another giveaway. Just click to enter. The contest goes through Feb. 15. I'd also love to be your friend on Goodreads if you want to add me.
And, as an added bonus, here's a photo from Provence, the little village of Arles.

Earl and I stayed in Arles one night during our Provence bike trip. This is the Cafe Van Gogh. Love the color of the buildings and the chairs. Wish I were sitting there in the sun, having a glass of wine with all of you.

My Book

Well, my book is still chugging along. Probably not keeping J.K. Rowling awake at night worried about the competition, but it is a totally different kind of book. There's not a single mention of a town council in my book.

This is a photo we didn't use for the
book cover. It's the front door to
 Cezanne'sstudio in Aix en Provence.

But there is an Ohio family that travels to southern France to run a bed and breakfast. Some of the chapters are told from the viewpoint of Uncle Martin. He grew up in Kentucky and traveled to Europe to fight in World War II when he was 17. When he got injured, he woke up to find a lovely French woman who would become his wife Lucie. He never moved home to Kentucky again, but he does have a secret from World War II that is catching up with him.
Hope you'll give my book a try.
I have two reviews on Kindle with four out of five stars.
RS says,  "An absorbing story, great characters and writing that sings to you. I couldn't put it down. I only wish I had discovered it on a summer vacation to read at the beach." You can read the whole review here. And sorry, RS, I know it should have been available for the summer since it's called The Summer of France. Why did it come out at the end of September? Okay, one mistake so far.
Another review by HG says, "...if you like realistic dialogue spoken by realistic characters, you will be drawn into the story without realizing it. The pace and tone feel like a "summer in France"; the twists and turns of the plot appear and then recede in a very natural way." You can read that whole review here.
Does this convince you to give my book a try? Only $4.99 to download on Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Or order the paperback version for $14, plus shipping here. It'll be available in paperback at Amazon eventually, but isn't yet.

Saturday Snapshot -- My Nose in a Book

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 Alyce's blog At Home With Books. 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.

 

This week, I'm combining two old things: following  up on the picture from last week where I broke my nose 24 years ago and again last week, I had to have surgery to straighten it yesterday. The doctor convinced me it would be quick to fix while the bones were still broken.

So broken nose, plus -- my book published.

 

Yes, I'm hoping for some sympathy purchases... But it's also a fun book. Hope you'll give it a try.

Here's the premise:

 When Fia loses her job, she jumps at the chance to travel to France to run her great uncle's bed and breakfast, dragging along her husband and teenage twins. She figures the whole family can bond before the twins grow up too fast. But her dreams of family bonding time fade as Kasie joins a local swim team, riding off to practice on the back of a scooter each morning, hips tucked next to the 18-year-old French boy who teaches her to smoke brown cigarettes and drink red wine. West accompanies a pouty French teenager around the city, playing his guitar in the town squares to earn spending money.  And Fia's husband Grayson tours the countryside with a pretty French woman. Why the whirlwind of French welcome, Fia wonders after she comes hom froma day at the beach in Nice with the handsome Frenchman Christophe, only to find someone has ransacked the B&B.

Fia doesn't know that the house hides her uncle's World War II secret, which might just tear her family apart.

So, are you intrigued?

You can find the book on  Amazon for the Kindle, on Barnes and Noble for the Nook or in paperback. The eBook versions are $4.99 each. And if you don't have an eBook reader, you can download the Kindle reader for free on Amazon and read it on your computer. But if you prefer to have the book in your hand, the paperback is $14.

I can't wait to hear what you all think about it.



My Book is Now Available

That sounds kind of low-key, doesn't it?
Oh, anyone interested in buying my book?
Maybe if I used all caps: MY NOVEL, THE SUMMER OF FRANCE, CAN NOW BE PURCHASED.
I am so excited.
Here's me when the first copy came in the mail:

 

The Fed Ex guy didn't even get to the door. I met him on the front porch.

Lots of you know that I've been working on this novel, revising, refining. But for anyone who doesn't, here's the blurb:

 

Could a crackly phone call from France to Ohio save Fia Randolph’s jobless complications and family troubles? That’s what she hopes when her Uncle Martin asks Fia, her husband, and teenage twins to move to Provence and take over his bed and breakfast. She envisions long picturesque walks carrying crusty baguettes and bonding with the kids as they all learn French. But Fia didn’t bargain on the way Provence would tempt her teens and husband away from the family. Then Uncle Martin’s World War II secret wrenches her family further apart. Can Fia pull her family back together and help clear her uncle’s guilty conscience?

And where can you snatch up a copy of my book?

The paperback will be available on Amazon, but it isn't there yet. Right now, you can find it here. And if you type in the Code PLUMA by Oct. 5, you can get a 20 percent discount.

 

You can find it in ebook form for only $4.99 on Amazon for the Kindle here and on Barnes and Noble for the Nook here.

I'm so happy about my novel, that I can almost forget about my impending nose surgery tomorrow. But I'll fill you in on that later. Let me bask in the glory for a few more hours.