Fragments of French Blurb Blitz

Blurb:
After a harsh brush with her mortality, shadowed by a premature divorce, Wanda St. Hilaire pledges to be true to her primary passion—living ardently through travel. On the fateful day her life intersects with Jean-François, a charming Frenchman, on a bustling street in Lisbon, every fiber of her being feels as though she has finally entered the doorway to a magical world that she knew existed since she was a young girl.

St. Hilaire turns a complicated romantic ballet full of missteps into a collage of people, places, and cultures. Fragments of French is an exquisitely detailed travelogue of Portugal, Canada, France, and Mexico, filled with minor characters who delight with their humanity. However, what really makes this tale a standout is a gift for pacing and description to rival Tom Wolfe.

The hero’s journey is not only for the characters of our favorite stories or mythical legends. At some point, each of us receives the call to adventure. Fate summons the hero; we can refuse the call, or step into something that will turn our lives upside down, and potentially change everything we know to be true.

From feeling “completely disarmed, no fortress standing”, to embracing her untethered strength, the author turns this account of living life out loud into lessons for us all.




Excerpt:
French words from my childhood pop into my head at opportune moments, surprising me. On our family visits, my French grandfather whom, to my seven-year-old eyes, looked like a wizened turtle, walked me to the cheese factory near his home. Hand in hand, we would saunter ever so slowly, and he would mutter foreign words to me. His horrid wife, Step grand-mère—the Wicked Witch of Winnipeg—made the grandchildren speak only French in her presence, and I am oddly grateful to her at this moment.

Jean-François asks if I am concerned about our age difference. To my mind, age is determined by the essence and energy of a person. I have known people who are biologically thirty, yet exude the air of a person many decades older. I know my energy is younger than my thirty-five years, and this is what concerns him, but the eight years between us is as insignificant as dust in the wind.

The castle looms over this ancient section of the city, making the evening more dream-like. The cultural blend and integration of the inhabitants creates an exotic atmosphere. With Brazilian, Latin, and African influences from the former Portuguese colonies, I am moved by the cadence and archaic soul of the music. My body involuntarily sways to each new rhythm, and I close my eyes to breathe in the antiquity of my surroundings.

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About the Author:

Her prime passion is the thrill of travel—of experiencing other cultures, traditions, lifestyles, and languages—thus expanding her perspective.

Wanda St. Hilaire has a predilection and passion for all things Latin, and she believes life is too short not to do what you love, where you love. She spends time writing in Mexico for inspiration and to escape the frozen landscapes of Alberta.

Through writing, St. Hilaire shares what she’s learned from the high peaks of adventure and love, to the dark valleys of illness and heartbreak. Her mission is to help people overcome the self, and tap into their wise inner guidance system. Her wish is to inspire others to live true to their unique and beautiful nature.

Website    |    Blog    |     Facebook    |    Twitter

Fragments of French on Amazon

Companion Poetry Book, Of Love, Life, and Journeys on Amazon: Inspired during the story of my travel memoir, this collection of poems and verse was first published in 2004 and became a Canadian bestseller for poetry. This second edition was created as a companion book to Fragments of French.

Musing Mediterranean Book Blast

Blurb:
A trip to the Mediterranean—who wouldn’t be thrilled? Beth Daigle should be doing back flips as she prepares to escape her humdrum suburban life, but travel anxiety gets the best of her. This is a trip of a lifetime, something to look forward to, yet Beth is dreading it.

The daughter of an Italian mother and Greek father, Beth has always dreamed of visiting Greece and Italy. Her Type A husband, Tony, revels in planning every detail of their two-week vacation. The plan expands to include not only Beth and Tony’s two tween daughters, but Beth’s parents, sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew.

As her family’s excitement mounts, so does Beth’s trepidation. She experiences serious anxiety about the flight itself, plus spending two solid weeks with her extended family.

Despite her worries, Beth manages the eight-hour plane ride to Rome, and the adventure begins.

If you’ve never experienced the beauty of the Mediterranean, or even if you have, Musing Mediterranean will take you there through Beth’s eyes, page by page.



Excerpt:
ROME

Our first tour of Rome took us on a romp through the city on a guided golf cart tour. That’s right, I said golf cart.

At one point along the tour, I was positioned on the back seat of the cart facing oncoming traffic. This didn’t faze me, as I don’t experience motion sickness.

Hanging off the back of our cart, I held on for dear life as we attempted to keep pace with traffic and simultaneously not lose our caravan. It wasn’t until I was faced with one particularly anxious bus driver that I began to worry that we might not end our excursion with the same number of people as we began. As traffic slowed and my cart came to a near stop, the bus pulled up behind me so closely and so quickly I could’ve leaned over and kissed it.

As the bus approached, I didn’t know what else to do other than to squeal in horror and cover my eyes—I was sure I was about to meet my fate. It all happened so quickly that I froze, unable to think of a better way to save myself and others on board.

“What is going on back there—why are you screaming?” Tony shouted.

“I’m about to be flattened by a bus!”

When Tony looked back to see how close the bus really had come, all he could say was, “Holy crap!”

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About the Author:

Beth Daigle is a lifelong New Englander residing north of Boston with her husband and daughters. Prior to settling into her role as a writer, Beth was a marketing professional whose favorite part of the job was writing. As a freelancer, Beth has enjoyed contributing to numerous lifestyle and home publications, yet she yearned for something more than a magazine article. Then along came Musing Mediterranean. Beth quickly became immersed in chronicling this travel event and articulating her perceptions of the places she visited, the people she met, the foods she enjoyed and the crazy moments she encountered. The idea that someone who may never travel to Greece, Italy or Turkey could appreciate this experience through Beth’s eyes became a driving force behind the story. Revealing her struggle with travel anxiety helped Beth move forward and embrace, once again, how very wonderful it is to travel the world.

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.” St. Augustine.

Beth is a creative soul who finds joy in art, home design, gardening, reading, writing, a good laugh, and an even better television show.

Website: http://www.BethDaigle.com
Blog: http://www.3OlivesandaTwist.com
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/3olivesandatwist
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/3olivesandatwist
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/olivesnatwist

Available at Amazon

Good Morning Diego Garcia Review Tour

Blurb:

When Susan and Charles receive a letter from Cyprus friends, now in Taiwan, they get a chance to help crew a sailboat from Sri Lanka across the Indian Ocean. They have no clue what to expect. Susan reminds Charles she isn't a good swimmer. He tells her a life jacket will do the trick, and convinces her it's the opportunity of a lifetime. A must-do travel adventure. They say goodbye to friends and family in sunny California, fly to New York and on to India, arriving the day the Indian government has issued a state of emergency. And then onto the boat, and into the ocean. In monsoon season. With no charts.

In this true-life travel adventure, Susan keeps a journal and record her bizarre thoughts and telling dreams. A real life thriller, Susan's monsoon-season journey is about discovery and spiritual realization—one dream at a time.

Excerpt:

Ch. 3

Disembarking passengers thinned out. All at once, the terminal seemed eerily empty.

Out of a side corridor, three young Indian men appeared, moving toward me.

I quickly straddled the suitcases and sat, legs dangling across them.

Approaching, they asked if I wanted help moving them.

“No, thank you!” I said, firmly. “I'm waiting on my husband.”

“We help you,” one young man said, reaching for a suitcase.

“No,” I shouted, looking around the terminal for help. I noticed a sea of orange robes heading my way. A group of young women chanting and dancing in brightly colored orange saris.

“Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama,” their chant grew louder and their dancing got wilder as they neared.

The three young men backed away and disappeared into a dark passage.

When the dancers reached me, they smiled.

One introduced herself as a devotee of Krishna, and offered to sell me a booklet to benefit the starving children of India. Others continued to chant and sway.

“Where are you from?” I asked.

“New York,” she said. “And you?”

“I'm from LA. Why are you in India?

“We're here to sell our books and spread the word about Krishna Consciousness, and build a temple to honor our Swami, Srila … ”

“There are thousands of starving children in New York,” I said.

“We worship the Hindu god Krishna as the one Supreme God,” another young woman chimed in, ignoring my comment.

“So you're missionaries?” I asked.

“We're evangelists. We believe in reincarnation ...” one follower wanted to explain their beliefs, but another interrupted, while others continued to chant.

“I believe in reincarnation,” I said. “But I don't think I need to sell it to others.”

They kept chanting and dancing around me.

“How many times do you have to chant this?” I asked.

“Sixteen,” a young woman answered.

I shook my head in disbelief. Where the hell is Charles?

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February 29: Sharing Links and Wisdom

February 29: Room With Books
March 7: Writer Wonderland
March 14: Natural Bri
March 21: Our Families Adventure
March 21: The Reading Addict

Author Bio and Links:

Born in Los Angeles California, Susan Joyce spent most of her childhood in Tucson, Arizona and returned to LA as a young working woman. Inspired as a child by postcards from her globe-trotting great aunt, Susan left the United States at age 20 to see the world.

She planned on being gone for a year, but ended up living her 20s and 30s in Europe and the Middle East. As a Jill of all trades, she worked as a secretary, freelance writer, taught computer classes, wrote songs, and became an accomplished artist while writing her first children's book, "Peel, the Extraordinary Elephant."

An award winning author and editor of children's books, Susan's first adult book in her memoir series, "The Lullaby Illusion--A Journey of Awakening" is a travelogue of the politics of Europe, the United States, and Israel during a twelve year 'roller-coaster' period of her life and an adventure of survival through friends and sheer determination.

The Lullaby Illusion was awarded

* Readers' Favorite 5-Stars and the 2014 GOLD Medal Winner, Non-Fiction--Travel in the 2014 Readers' Favorite International Book Awards.

* Honorable Mention Prize Winner--2014 Stargazer Literary Prizes

Her second memoir, "Good Morning Diego Garcia" is about her adventure from India and across the Indian Ocean in monsoon season in 1975.

Available for pre-order: http://www.amazon.com/Good-Morning-Diego-Garcia-Discovery-ebook/dp/B017S0ZXP6/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Read more about Susan's life adventures at: http://susanjoycejourneys.com/

Stop in and say hello to Susan here: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSusanJoyce/?fref=ts

2 Broads Abroad Blurb Blitz

Blurb:

When sisters, Deborah & Nancy, discovered that motherhood was a temp job they decided to run away from home. After packing up that last kid for college, and facing the sad stillness of their suddenly quiet homes, they decided to leave the country. 2 BROADS ABROAD: MOMS FLY THE COOP is a funny, irreverent, occasionally poignant travel tale of their impulsive road trip around Ireland.

In this witty warm-hearted adventure, they experienced some of Ireland’s quirkier history while sharing universally relatable stories of maniacal school coaches, neurotic neighbors, and tiger moms. Having kicked that empty nest into their rearview mirror, the sisters took off careening down the wrong side of the road, making questionable choices, getting trapped in a medieval tower, sneaking Chinese take-out into a famous cooking school, drinking way too much, and gaining a changed perspective on their lives ahead.

Excerpt:

When we thought about the phases of our lives at each juncture of change: our own departure from home, our first real job, our marriages, the birth of our children, all of the big phases of change held out something new for us.  This change was shaping up very differently.  This change was loss – complete dissolution of the fundamental family structure forever and that was all.  We had to plan.  We needed to be proactive.  The alternative was to be left standing frozen in time, in a life that had moved on without us, and to become observers and visitors in our kids' lives. Not acceptable. So, we set our imaginations loose.

We considered our location. Now that we knew we were leaving – where could we go? 

“Angkor Wat,”  I said.

“Wat what?” Nancy asked.

“It’s the largest temple in the world, built in 1125.”

“Where is it?”

 “Cambodia.”

“Uh, huh. Deborah, I was thinking more along the lines of a bucolic vineyard in Tuscany.  You know, stroll along the hills, sample the fruit of the vine, nectar of the gods?”

“Oh.  Okay, how would you feel about a camel trek in Morocco?”

“Probably sore, smelly, and hot.  And I understand camels are mean and they spit.  They spit, Deborah. What about a civilized boat ride down the Rhine River in Germany?  They have castles and I know how you like castles.”

“I do like castles, but don’t you think we should go more exotic?”

“This is our first trip together.  I’d like to steer clear of nations at war, places we’d need to wear a burka, or can’t speak the language, or ride on an angry animal.  Surely we can agree on somewhere.”

“I’ve always wanted to see where grandma’s family came from.”

“Me, too!”

“With a little research and a rental car we can see the entire island in a couple of weeks.”

“Perfect. Ireland it is!”

Any weird things you do when you’re alone?

When I’m alone I get a good book, a glass of Chardonnay, and read in a hot bath; although I don’t know if that is weird? I think it should be standard operating procedure for moms everywhere.

What is your favorite quote and why?

My favorite quote is from the cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead:  “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever had.”

This quote has always fascinated me because it works for good and evil. How one first reads and understands this quote tells you a great deal about how their brain works. Think about it.

Who is your favorite author and why?

Oh, my, what genre? Such a tough question. All writers are big readers. I suppose I would say currently and certainly not conclusively:

History – Thomas Cahill

Essays – David Foster Wallace

Fiction – Charles Dickens (is there anyone else ever?). I also enjoy Barbara Kingsolver, Ann Patchet, Toni Morrison, Lawrence Durrell, and the list goes on and on…

Biography – Stacy Schiff

Science – P.S. Churchland

Humor – Nora Ephron, Bill Bryson

What, in your opinion, are the most important elements of good writing?

A clear clever engaging voice that reaches out from the page immediately and draws you in, and an ever-growing vocbularly.

Where did you get the idea for this book?

After our kids moved on, my sister and I took this crazy road trip around Ireland.  It was an impulsive trip, which made it so much more colorful than if we’d done our due diligence.  If we’d planned better we might have missed the ghost, the bugs, the wild driving, the pink sheep, the drunken pub crawls, or getting trapped in that medieval tower. Along the way we learned a few things about how to perceive our future and we decided to put our journey to words and share.

   

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January 11: Writer Wonderland - review

January 12: Room With Books
January 13: Reviews by Crystal
January 14: Buried Under Romance
January 15: Sharing Links and Wisdom
January 18: Deal Sharing Aunt
January 19: Stormy Nights Reviewing and Bloggin' - review
January 20: Christine Young
January 21: Our Families Adventure
January 22: The Reading Addict
January 25: Kovescence of the Mind
January 26: T's Stuff
January 27: BooksChatter
January 28: Frances O. Thomas
January 29: books are love
February 1: Author C.A.Milson
February 2: Straight from the Library
February 3: It's Raining Books
February 4: Welcome to My World of Dreams
February 5: Queen of All She Reads - review

Author Bio and Links:

Deborah Serra has been a sought-after screenwriter for twenty-five years having written for NBC, CBS, Sony, Lifetime, Fox, and others. She was a recipient of the 2012 Hawthornden Literary Fellowship. Her first novel was a semi-finalist for the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Award given by the Faulkner Society in New Orleans, LA.

Nancy is a graduate of San Diego State University. She worked in medical sales before stepping away to raise her two children, at which point she became: Team Mom, Snack Mom, PTA member, Assistance League Volunteer, and the list is never-ending. Nancy was the editor and publisher of the Buffalo Hills Echo newsletter with a circulation of 1400. She also designed and managed her community website.

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