June 5 and 6 2016: take your passion and make it happen ;-)

Hello there, June,

I am still in front of my desk with my eyes kind of aching after all these words I have been reading, writing, erasing, rewriting.

Actually I admit I have a publishing fear: I am writing, and then I don’t really show my work to the publishers I could have. Especially in the world contacted. Especially when it comes to writing a project for my other activity, the artistic project organization, I seem to feel overwhelmed: I still have on my mind the words of my critics, it doesn’t make sense, it is not well written, it is … not publishable for the brochure of the exhibition… you’d better stick to contact the catering… who do you think you are, the curator?

Just to make a long story short.

The thing is, I have dared to publish a book. But I went to find a publisher in my French village, probably hoping no one will find about it.

At least none of my Parisian, high brow critics.

I am a great performer, so I dare to explain things in meetings.

But when it comes to writing the text, there is something in the form that doesn’t fit the gallery’s standards.

I decided to change that.

I will sent as many projects as possible. They will wonder how on earth I found the time.

I sure must have a ghost-writer.

A slave I have seduced with my inhuman charm.

Or something of the kind;-)

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March 23, 2016- the day after my book launch!

And Yes, the presentation of my first book took place in my village of the South of France, at the local bookstore!

It has been a big local hit: 55 books were sold on the spot!

Ok, half of them went to aunts and uncles, former boyfriend of the time I was 8 year’s old; others to former neighbours who were curious to see if they would learn something about my personal life all these years far from the cafe and the village church. After all, I am a village celebrity 🙂

And yes, it is practically a self published book because if I sell the 200 books we have edited I will end up with a profit of 200 euros.

But it meant a lot to publish in my mother tongue first and to do it there where my life started.  Even if at my little village -we call it small town- there are also those who forced me to get out and seek adventure in the wide world.

Now I feel kind of exhausted at my village café. It feels like, whaou, there were about 100 people there who seemed to be interested in whatever I have produced. Even if I have my blog-friends who are there with their inspiring comments, it is great to have humans with flesh and blood being present.

The next step is to see if they enjoy it as much as I did writing it!

And of course, to translate it!

How to Use Twitter to Supercharge Your Book Launch

 

February 19, 2016: day 22 out of 60 day challenge: I have finished a plan for my next book!

Dear February,

it is almost 21.00 and all the reasonable Londoners are at the pub. What am I doing in front of a computer? Well, I think I have finished the plan of my next book. Isn’t this something to sacrifice the pub for?

You might object. Comme on April, you don’t even like beer. And you are not a pub addict, not yet.

Yes, but how about my social life? Do you think i will meet any new person if I stay at the deserted Platform on a Friday night?

Well, I will try to catch up tomorrow!

Now, I haven’t read yet this book, but the title seems relevant 🙂

http://www.eltteacher2writer.co.uk/how-plan-book

January 13, 2016: Looking to the past for inspiration

Hello dear fresh January,

for resolutions to be more inspired, I dived into my old diaries, to see what I really liked and wanted at the time. I am a journal, diary addict since I were 8 years old. Not that I have been writing every day, but the love affair with words goes back to my childhood.

What did I find out? I wanted to be a writer very early in life, as an adolescent trying to send my first novels to some kind of literary competition. But I suffered from lack of confidence. Was I talented enough? Was this wish out of reach?

Why would that be? A wish, a desire, if strong, is enough in itself.

I also felt kind of imprisoned at school, following hours of boring, to me, classes, waiting for the moment to escape.

And a difficulty to find a like-minded community in the cercle of my classmates and family.

But then, this is what made me kick the road and get to Paris, or London, among other places.

Did I find everything I was looking for?

I was looking more for a fresh place to co-create.

But after all, this place of non-censure, love and acceptance, is within ourself.

So, new resolutions will take into consideration the love for freedom, new experiences, love and connexion, and most of all, sharing the worlds of imagination with other human beings!

I will see what Charles Bukowski has to say on the question…

so you want to be a writer? by Charles Bukowski

 

 

October 15b- An evening with the writer Amélie Nothomb

Dear October,

this afternoon I went to the “FNAC” in Paris, a store dedicated to culture: books, films, music, … and you find occasionaly artists who present their latest creation in person. Today, it was Amélie Nothomb, who came to talk around her 23rd novel: Pétronille.

The Belgian author, was impressive, dressed in black. I love her writing style, and it was the first time I saw her in person. Years ago, I watched a French film inspired by one of her novels, situated in Japan: “Fear and Trembling”. It concerned the experience of a young, European girl who takes an internship in a Japanese company. Her superiors give her a hard time, and she finds a way to react that corresponds to the Japanese culture: she decides to stay until the end of the contract, and even thank the people who tried to make her leave.

I am not going to reveal the plot of the latest novel, Pétronille, that I almost finished while I was waiting for the author to start, but I admit I enjoyed her speech as much as the written work: it is fresh, and it brings a point of view with it, that is very personal.

Had I more time, I would have stayed until the end, but I needed to see a friend and missed- this time- the opportunity to engage a conversation, because the author is welcoming interaction with those who read her books.

I will leave you with one of her quotes:

“God isn’t chocolate, he’s the encounter between chocolate and the palate capable of appreciating it.”

Thank you Amélie Nothomb!

http://www.albin-michel.fr/Petronille-EAN=9782226258311