Book Cover Reveal

I'm excited to share with you a new book cover for The Summer of France, my very first published novel.
Without further fanfare:

Why, you may ask, a new book cover for The Summer of France?
Because The Summer of France is now book 1 in the series A New Life in Provence.
That's right, the 2nd book, Falling for Provence, is coming soon.
And I'll share that book cover when I have more details.
A shout out to my fabulous book designer Janna Thompson-Chordas.
When I was searching for someone to create covers, I thought about going with a designer far away in India or Pakistan, but then I thought to ask around my town in Ohio and found Janna. She designs covers for OSU publishing so you know she's a pro.
You, my readers, all have always been so supportive of my writing and I really appreciate it. I wonder if you'll be able to see differences in my writing now that I am living in France.
I'll tell you one change that I had to make as I was writing Falling for Provence. I had Fia, the main character, listening to Pandora music on her phone.
Guess what? You can't get Pandora in Europe. Good thing I moved here to learn that little tidbit.
If you are interested in learning more about when my next novel will be released, please leave your email in the comments or send me an email at paulita@paulitakincer.com and I'll begun compiling an email list.
That way, you won't miss it when book 2 of A New Life in Provence is released.

Church Mystery

We continue our meandering vacation, driving to markets, hiking, eating.
Our Airbnb host is rather appalled at our lack of plans to visit touristy sights. She suggested we visit a famous church/town near here called Rennes-le-chateau.
Her husband even brought by a book that he had bought in French but ended up unable to read -- they're Australian.
The book is about a priest who was assigned to Rennes-le-chateau in the late 1800s. When he got there, the church was a mess, falling apart, and he had no money to fix it. He received a donation from a countess and began to make repairs. Suddenly, he was buying land and having stone masons build gardens and a tour.
The rumor is that he found treasure under the church. Other people have tried to find it, but the real treasure now that they earn is in the tourists coming to visit. I haven't checked out this website, but it claims to have lots of links if you're interested in the mystery.
Apparently, some of these stories were used in the DaVinci Code by Dan Brown.

This is a tile that was found at the church, allegedly face down so  no one knew it was there. I can definitely see a connection to the Crusades here. 

Whether there's a hidden treasure from the Visigoths, Celts, Romans or the Knight Templars, the grounds look pretty amazing now.

This is a tower that the priest built and used as a library. It's a little sketchy that he built all these opulent buildings for himself, in my opinion. Of course, the church wasn't using money that judiciously in the past anyway, so maybe it didn't matter that he didn't share. 

Here's a view of the countryside. 

Me, in front of the tower. 

Here's the inside of the church. I love when churches use that cobalt blue for the sky with stars painted on. The church has a bizarre statue of the devil stooped over with a basin for holy water on his shoulders. Just last month, a Muslim woman is charged with vandalizing it -- she broke the head off. 

Here's how it looked when we saw it Thursday. 

Here's how it looked in a picture about the news story, before it was vandalized. 

Had you heard about this place? I hadn't.

We're off to Paris to spend a few days before heading back home. Thanks for reading and commenting. 

FranceBookTours -- Backstabbing in Beaujolais

Click on the banner to go to the complete tour on FranceBookTours.

Today I'm writing a book review of the cozy mystery novel Backstabbing in Beaujolais by authors
Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noël Balen.

Here's the synopsis:

"A business magnate calls on wine expert Benjamin Cooker to kickstart his new wine business in Beaujolais, sparking bitter rivalries. Can the Winemaker Detective and his assistant keep calculating real estate agents, taciturn winegrowers, dubious wine merchants and suspicious deaths from delaying delivery of the world-famous Beaujolais Nouveau?"

From the beginning, the characters dove right into their plentiful knowledge of wine and the countryside of France. This book takes place in Beaujolais, which is a wine many Americans will recognize. The wine is usually released around Thanksgiving here in the States, so I enjoyed learning about the region and the wine-making process.
Of course, just like any big business, rival companies are out to get each other. Illicit affairs, relatives, jealousies, all contribute to the intrigue within this carefully-written book.

The emotion within the book is fairly sedate. It seems that most of the action happens "off screen" and the main characters learn about it later and react to it. I wondered if that might be a technique used in mysteries, like in Sherlock Holmes.
Since this is a series, it might also be that the characters grow on readers, and they want to see more of Cooker and his assistant as they spread their wine knowledge and solve mysteries throughout the countryside of France.

Backstabbing in Beaujolais

(cozy mystery) Release date: November 19, 2015 at Le French Book 140 pages ISBN: 9781939474537 Website | Goodreads 

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noël Balen, wine lover and music lover respectively, came up with the idea for the Winemaker Detective series while sharing a meal, with a bottle of Château Gaudou 1996, a red wine from Cahors with smooth tannins and a balanced nose.

ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR

Anne Trager loves France so much she has lived there for 27 years and just can’t seem to leave. What keeps her there is a uniquely French mix of pleasure seeking and creativity. Well, that and the wine. In 2011, she woke up one morning and said, “I just can’t stand it anymore. There are way too many good books being written in France not reaching a broader audience.” That’s when she founded Le French Book to translate some of those books into English. The company’s motto is “If we love it, we translate it,” and Anne loves crime fiction, mysteries and detective novels.

***

Follow Le French Book on Twitter | on Facebook

Sign up to receive their latest news and deals.

Buy the book | on Indiebound | Amazon | on Barnes & Noble

***

Global giveaway open internationally: 2 participants will each win a copy of this book. Choice of print or digital format for all Be sure to follow each participant on Twitter/Facebook, for more chances to win

Enter here

Visit each blogger on the tour: tweeting about the giveaway everyday of the Tour will give you 5 extra entries each time! [just follow the directions on the entry-form]

***

CLICK ON THE BANNER TO READ OTHER REVIEWS AND EXCERPTS

 

Dreaming of France -- Backstabbing in Beaujolais

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.

I'm reading another book set in France, Backstabbing in Beaujolais by Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noel Balen. This time the review will be for FranceBookTours and I'll be doing a complete review in early November. I just received the book so I haven't started reading it yet. 
The only thing that comes to mind when I hear Beaujolais is the wine that comes out in the fall. I've been told, this is the only "new" wine that the French drink. 
Here's the description of the novel from Amazon: 

A business magnate calls on wine expert Benjamin Cooker to kickstart his new wine business in Beaujolais, sparking bitter rivalries. Can the Winemaker Detective and his assistant keep calculating real estate agents, taciturn winegrowers, dubious wine merchants and suspicious deaths from delaying delivery of the world-famous Beaujolais Nouveau? Another adventure in this cozy mystery series set in France. A wine novel and a mystery.

Wine and murder.  Maybe I'll drink some wine while I read and I hope the characters suck me in.   

Thanks for playing along with Dreaming of France. I'm hopeful that more people will begin to join us now that summer is ending. I appreciate your participation and hope that you'll share your love for France with the rest of us.

First Paragraph, Tuesday Teaser -- The Midwife's Tale

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph of her current read. Anyone can join in. Go to Diane's website for the image and share the first paragraph of the current book you are reading.

This book is getting a lot of buzz so I picked it up -- The Midwife's Tale by Sam Thomas. But what I didn't know is that it's labeled "A Mystery." I don't usually read mysteries, but maybe I only mean mysteries with traditional detectives or other sleuths. I also rarely read books by men. Is that sexist of me? I'm still going to try it.
Here's the intro set in June 1644, York, England:

On the night I delivered Mercy Harris of a bastard child, the King's soldiers burned the city's suburbs and fell back within its walls to await the rebel assault.

Also this week is Teaser Tuesdays. Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Open to a random page of your current read and share a teaser sentence from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers.
Here's my teaser from page 56:

"My lady, it was..." She groped for words. "I thought I saw the man from that night, the soldier," she whispered. "In the Shambles, peering at me from an alley."

What do you think? Would you keep reading? 

Daily Pleasures

Yesterday I was kvetching about parenthood, and after my 18-year-old snuggled up to me on the couch last night, showing how sorry he is for disappointing me, I'm feeling more optimistic about the future of my children. (Allow me to be delusional)
So I'd like to turn the mood around from parenting struggles to something that makes me happy.
I got a new coffee cup.
I love the big bowls of coffee that the French use in the morning.
When we were in Paris with the kids in 2006, Earl and Spencer bought me a Paris cup from the top of the Eiffel Tower. Washing dishes recently, I dropped a bowl on top of the coffee cup and chipped it.

I thought I could continue drinking my morning coffee and milk in the cup though. I would just drink from the other side. I'm left handed, so it would make sense that I'd drink my coffee left handed. But what I found out when I started paying attention, is that I drink my coffee right handed.
This weekend, I ventured into Sur La Table. I'd like to have one of everything in that store, but I settled for a new oversized coffee cup.

Of course, I couldn't come home empty handed for my husband so I bought him a present. See if you can guess what it is.