Amy Plum's Blog, page 13

Concorso per i miei lettori italiani / Contest for my Italian Readers

 

Guardate cosa mi sono appena arrivate dall’editore italiano, De Agostini! Le copie in copertina rigida di Die For Me. (Con Aprilynne Pike che mi pubblicizza sulla fascetta del libro :D).

Voglio fare un giveaway, solo per i lettori italiani, che durerà per alcuni giorni. Quello che dovete fare è postare in un commento sulla mia pagina facebook qui sotto l’immagine di un attore italiano o attrice italiana che vi ricordi uno dei personaggi del libro. Sceglierò a caso tra tutti i commenti il vincitore lunedi mattina (26 gennaio) e gli invierò una copia firmata con dedica. Vi do un paio di giorni per trovare la persona giusta (e per condividere la notizia con i vostri amici italiani).

Pronti… partenza… Via!

(This is a contest for my Italian readers where they’re supposed to post photos of Italian actors they think could play the parts of the characters in DIE FOR ME. Participate on my Facebook page!)

DIE ONCE MORE excusive excerpt

Yesterday I told my Facebook followers I would run an excerpt today, and asked who (besides Jules) they wanted to be in it. Almost everyone says Kate or Vincent. And since I don’t have a good representative scene with both of them, I’m going to give you part of The Talk. Are you ready?

From DIE ONCE MORE, Chapter 8

Walking into my room is like traveling back in time. It’s like nothing ever happened to drive me away. I breathe in the paper-and-ink smell of my workspace and realize how much I’ve missed my home. I brush my fingertips over my drafting table and know how much I love my kindred. I belong here, not in New York City. What the hell is wrong with me? I think, as I stretch out on my time-worn couch in the middle of my attic room. Surely this thing with Kate isn’t traumatic enough to keep me from all of this. My mind wanders and I begin to relax, cocooned in the safety of the familiar surroundings.

And then there is a knock on the door and she walks in. And all those thoughts disappear like smoke in a gust of wind, and the full-on pain hits me square in the chest.

She is ravishing. There is a wild look to her now that she is undead. The look all bardia have, the one that attracts humans, that makes them lay their lives in our hands. It’s a complete lack of fear of death. A recklessness coming from knowing we are almost impossible to destroy. And it has turned Kate’s natural loveliness into a savage beauty. The golden bardia aura surrounding her amplifies the effect, and my heart has no chance. I am once again lost.

“I’m sorry to barge in on you,” she says, and her voice hasn’t changed and she is once again the Kate I knew.

I prop up on my elbows and say, “That’s okay. Come in,” but immediately regret it. I want to see her, but I need her to leave. She sees the struggle in my eyes, and then looks down at the couch—the historic couch, where for a couple of wild, passionate moments she was mine—and her face turns red.

“I didn’t try to contact you because I thought you didn’t want it,” she says.

There’s no correct response to that, so I watch her, silent.

“But now that you’re here, I was hoping we could talk,” she says, still standing in the doorway. She waits, and I have to say something.

“Okay, let’s talk.” I try to sound nonchalant, but my heart is beating a million miles an hour, and I’m having a hard time breathing. “Let me just open a window.” I get up off the damned couch, throw open a couple of windows, and, returning to the rug in the middle of the floor, sit down on it, cross-legged. I motion for her to sit across from me, and she does.

I wait for her to speak, trying to look her in the eyes without flinching. Those eyes. My chest hurts.

“I want to apologize,” she begins.

“You don’t have to—” I say, but she holds a hand up to stop me.

“I never knew,” she says. “I saw how you were with other girls, and I thought I was the same. A harmless flirtation. A bit of fun. I thought you did the things you did and said the things you said just to make me feel good—to get a reaction—not because you meant them.”

“That’s how it started,” I say honestly. She’s watching me with sad eyes, and I have to look away. I swing my gaze to the ceiling, run my fingers through my hair, and take a deep breath. Inhale. Exhale. “Then things changed.”

“I wouldn’t have been as friendly if I had known,” she says.

“Then I’m glad you didn’t know.”

“I wouldn’t have allowed Vincent to possess you . . . to use you to kiss me. I wouldn’t have let it go that far.” There are tears in her eyes.

I don’t know what to say. I wish to God that hadn’t happened either, because seeing her expression when she realized it wasn’t Vincent she was kissing was like a knife to the chest. On the other hand, it was my one and only chance to have her, so I wouldn’t have traded it for the world, even with all that pain.

“Come here,” I say, and she scoots across the rug toward me until she can lean into my open arms. I hold her while she cries and feel something inside me snap into place. A piece of me that began shifting when I walked through the front door and realized this is where I belong. I am finally accepting it. This is the only way it will ever be between me and Kate. And it hurts like hell, but there’s nothing to do about it except to pick myself up and move on.

DIE ONCE MORE, available Feb 3. http://amzn.to/1zqV1ME

Exclusive interview with budding journalist from California

Hi Chloe,

You recently interviewed me for your school newspaper regarding my experience living in Paris near where the Charlie Hebdo massacre occurred. Your teacher cut the article, saying that it wasn’t something they did for the school newspaper. Well, interviewing readers isn’t something I do for my blog. But there are these things called BEING FLEXIBLE and DOING THE RIGHT THING that I think are pretty great. However, I am not running a school newspaper, so I should probably shut up and start asking you questions.

Amy: How old are you and what grade are you in?

Chloe: Currently, I am 18 and a senior in high school.

Amy: Is your school public or private? How many students? And is there a lot of cultural and religious diversity or it is mainly one race and/or religion?

Chloe: My school is public and there is a lot of cultural and religious diversity on campus with a student body of 728.

Amy: Have you written for the school newspaper before or was this going to be your break-out article?

Chloe: I have been writing for my school newspaper since I was a junior last year. This year I am actually the section editor of news and opinion, so you would think I would have more freedom in choosing what articles go in our newspaper. Fun fact, I also published an opinion article in England last summer with the Manchester Evening News. I wrote about Manchester United and whether or not their fans are loyal in the U.S. I enjoyed all the comments I got from that ranging from angry sports fans to a lot of happy Brits.

Amy: Are you thinking about a career as a journalist or writer?

Chloe: I am completely committed to the becoming a journalist, more specifically an investigative journalist. I am never quite satisfied with the shallow surface kind of stories, so I am determined to be the one that digs deeper to find the real truth. I actually finished up all my college applications a couple days ago and every single one of them is known specifically for their journalism program. My first-choice school is the American University of Paris :).

Amy: What did your teacher say when you approached her about the interview?

Chloe: When I first proposed the article to my teacher she was hesitant. Her main concern was the “sensitivity” of the issue and she would not want to insult any particular religious groups on campus. (I actually have friends from Iran who are Islamic and they do not stand by the actions of the terrorists and thought that the story should be written.) But the fact that I was able to get first hand photos from someone who was there got her to say yes.

The final decision had to come from the editor in chief. She also agreed with my teacher in regards to the issue being sensitive and potentially insulting. But I already had the whole idea organized with photos, layout, interviews, etc. to pitch to them (most people aren’t organized straight off the bat when it comes to choosing stories and setting it up at our school newspaper). So it was yes, but a shaky yes.

Amy: So what happened to make them change their minds?

Chloe: Days later, I had the article fully put together with all the photos oriented correctly, title done, you name it I had finished everything. I asked them to approve it and my teacher turned to the editor in chief and said, “Didn’t you tell her that we cut it?” to which the editor in chief replied, “I thought you were going to tell her.”

At first they just said that they had to cut a few articles. The newspaper was going to be too long and it was a cost issue. I asked why they were cutting mine when other articles weren’t even finished and didn’t have photos, art, or design. And when I pushed, they admitted it really wouldn’t have been received well and they did not want to create conflict because our school newspaper doesn’t do such sensitive topics.

We kept another article about a school play and soccer game, but got rid of fresh material that would actually get students thinking for once about real world issues. My biggest grievance is the fact that this piece was going to be a student reaction so that the students on campus would actually understand what is going on with the situation and participate in the discussion. My school needs to be informed of a lot of things. I lost count of the students who thought Charlie Hebdo was in Germany.

Amy: What did you feel about having the article rejected?



Chloe: There is a code of ethics that can be found in our school newspaper manual. And in it is a section titled “Minimize Harm”, so I guess I was screwed in the beginning, huh? It says be compassionate for those affected by your actions, be cognizant of the views of your town when writing about sensitive topics, and lastly, show good taste.

I was trying to be compassionate to the best of my ability, but with such a controversial issue like this, it is so hard. My town doesn’t really have an opinion, and I thought I was showing good taste. I can say with absolute certainty that my teacher and editor in chief were just scared of the backlash. My school newspaper has never written an article like this before, so naturally I knew there would be concerns, but such concerns should not have stopped the article from being published.

Amy: What type of content does your school newspaper usually carry? (Give us a couple examples of typical headlines.)

Chloe: Fluff is our typical story in the school newspaper. “New school musical comes out in January”, “Varsity soccer player [insert name here] leads the team to victory”, “New [insert city/town/building name] sign is put up downtown”, “What are your healthy new years resolutions?” are just some of the stories we write. EVERYTHING is about what is going on in our school and only sometimes do we stray away from that with random things going on in town or a short opinion piece about TV shows or something.

Amy: Do you think your school newspaper would be improved if it occasionally touched upon world news or political subjects? And do you think that provoking debate among students would be dangerous in your particular school?

Chloe: YESSS, our school newspaper would be a hundred times more interesting with current events or political stories. Every year there are conventions across the U.S. where school newspapers and yearbooks go to learn in various workshops and also enter their publications in different contests. Our yearbook is doing just fine, winning a couple of awards here and there, but our school newspaper has yet to win anything for a long time.

I go to all these workshops and meet people who cover anything from gum chewing to murder and politics. I have wanted to write about more diverse subjects for as long as I have been in our school newspaper. I currently get to write two small news briefs about events going on in the world for each issue of our school newspaper, but a lot of the ones I pitch get cut.

Most importantly, no one really reads our school newspaper. Maybe if we covered more real world issues, then they would actually start. The Speech and Debate team at our school is one of the top 5 in the nation, so students debating issues is what we win awards for. If there was actually something in our school newspaper that sparked a debate, then people would actually give us feedback.

We have a part of the school newspaper that tells people to write “letters to the editors”, but no one writes because there is nothing to say. Who would take the time to give us feedback on a school play article?

Amy: What interested you in holding this interview with me?

Chloe: I was determined to get someone in Paris who was passionate about the issue and you fit the bill perfectly. I also wanted find someone who spoke English, so the fact that you are American is a bonus! (Ha ha!) In order to give real credibility to the article, I wanted perspectives of a person (or persons) who was there and could actually give accounts of it all. Anyone can read an article from Fox News and get their “insider” information from there, ughhh. But who can say they talked about Charlie Hebdo with someone in Paris? Students at my school would have loved to see your quotes in the article and the photos you took. I know I did.

Amy: Are you involved or interested in other political subjects?

Chloe: Its hard to be involved in issues and politics when your town’s biggest concern is surfing, but I am definitely interested.

I would say that I am more liberal in my political views, but I try to remain open minded. In presidential elections, I always pay attention to both candidates and learn about their stances on issues. A new California senate seat is opening up and I want to know who California will have represent us.

One issue that I am still fuming about is Obama not going to support France in the unity walk with the other world leaders. We need to support our allies. It is hypocritical not to when they are giving us all their support.

A smaller issue that I am passionate about is animals. I have been working at an animal shelter for two years and the only reason I work there is because they do not euthanize animals. I think that it is the most inhumane thing that you can do to an animal that cannot fight for its reason to live. I hate animal abusers. These creatures who put so much faith and trust in us unconditionally should never be abused. They should never be in dog fights. They should never be left on the street because you are too lazy to care for them. And dogs should never be subjected to spiked training collars or shock collars. My friend used to have those very collars on his dog and a very very persuasive person put an end to that. I could go on for ever, but I am going to cut myself off here before I start a full-on rant.

Amy: Do you think that teenagers can make a difference in the world? Do you feel like you (and your fellow young adults) have a voice?

Chloe: My favorite quote is the perfect way to answer this. Gandhi once said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” No matter what age you are, you can make a difference if you want to. Just because we are young does not mean that we can not be heard. It is just about wanting it enough. You cannot just go halfway or else what is the point?

Amy: Thank you Chloe for giving us a glimpse into your experience.

Amy to readers: Give this girl a scholarship! Is she awesome, or what? This is going to be one investigative journalist I think we’re all going to want to watch for in the future.

Officially a fan of Chloe from California,

Amy Plum

FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO READ CHLOE’S “DANGEROUS” INTERVIEW WITH ME, IT IS THE FOLLOWING:

1. As a Paris resident, how has the Charlie Hebdo attacks impacted your daily life?

The last week has been exceptional, because the murders are all everyone has been talking about, people have been worried about their safety and the safety of their children, and we’ve ALL been worried about how this might affect our children emotionally. Besides that, you hear sirens all the time, and there is a huge police presence in the street. However, going forward, I’m not sure how it will affect my daily life. I know that I won’t ever feel as safe here again. I never worried about violence in Paris. In the 8 years I’ve lived here, I had two drunk teenagers shove me once, and had a guy grab me between the legs as he skated past. But I’ve never really felt in danger until now. Knowing that something like that can happen in my safe little neighborhood has really shaken me.

2. What is your stance on the whole situation? Did Charlie Hebdo provoke such attacks?

Charlie Hebdo’s role has always been to be provocative. Their goal was to make people re-think what they took for granted—to shake them from becoming numb to fixed (and perhaps flawed) ways of thinking. Yes, they made people angry. They offended people. But nothing justifies violence. To say that they provoked the attack is saying that responding to someone offending you by shooting them in the face is a logical, justifiable action. Which is just crazy and wrong.

3. No U.S. leaders were present at the unity walk, even the French ambassador who was in Paris at the time, what message do you think that gives?

Before anyone commented on that, I looked at the group of leaders and said, “Where’s Obama?” It was a noticeable absence from one of France’s biggest allies. I won’t say what message I think that gave, but I can honestly say that, as an American, I was ashamed.

4. Why did you decide to write all those notes from people of facebook for the memorial? I think you said there was about 300 that you wrote out.

As soon as news got out about the massacre, the outpouring of support from my readers was overwhelming. For many, I am the only person they know who lives in Paris. For a few, I had the honor of introducing Paris to them through my books. Everyone who has read the DIE FOR ME series knows how I feel about the city. My love for it is jam-packed into every page of those books. So the messages of support and love and care started pouring in.

And in many of the notes, I recognized the same desperation I was feeling. People wanted to DO something. But what is a teenager in Missouri going to do? Or a grandmother in Canada? Or a college student in India? Without really thinking it through, I offered to write down personal messages and take them to the memorial where the people of Paris could read them.

In the end, I posted 344 messages from 31 different countries. And the response of those who came to the memorial was overwhelming. People were standing around reading each and every message, truly touched that people from all around the world had written them. They took photos and videos of the notecards. And it was on the news and in the newspapers in several countries. My readers are truly awesome. I was so honored to be able to be their messenger.

5. Lastly, is there anything else you would want to say or add to students who will be reading this?

We are all humans, no matter what color our skin or what religion we practice. No matter how cool or dorky, no matter our jean size, no matter what part of town we’re from or how much money we make. We all have the same hearts beating in our chests, the same minds, the same emotions. Take care of each other. Love each other. Support each other. You are the hope for the world.

P.S. When the following bloggers heard that Chloe couldn’t publish her article, they did it for her. Check out the people who supported Chloe’s effort!

Shadow Hunters Unite

Cody Pimps Authors

and 2 others who haven’t sent me links yet (one in German).

 

The Post Where I Feel Weird Talking About My New Book

I have been putting off this post for days. It makes me feel uncomfortable to talk about my upcoming book in the midst of the tragedy here in Paris. Especially a book about hot guys with swords. Although maybe hot guys with swords is exactly what we need right now: a distraction from real life. One that includes hot guys. And swords.

I don’t think I can do the whole Julesfest I planned. I can’t go quite that far. But I can tell you what I think you will like about DIE ONCE MORE. These aren’t quite spoilers, but I wasn’t going to tell you this much.

For those who are new to my books, the DIE FOR ME books are set in Paris and center around beings called “revenants.” The good revenants, bardia, die saving someone’s life, resurrect, then spend eternity in a cycle of sacrificing themselves for humans and reanimating at the age they died the first time. (Thus immortal.) The evil revenants, numa, died betraying someone to their death, and are kicked into the same eternal cycle of betrayal, murder and reanimation.

DIE ONCE MORE is the 5th book in the series. It is a digital novella (ebook only) and is from Jules’s point of view. Jules Marchenoir is an artist who died at age 19 at the battle of Verdun (1916) while saving artist Fernand Léger’s life. He is charming. Very. And, unsurprisingly, many readers liked him as much, if not more, than the main character of the books, Vincent. This book starts when Jules leaves Paris for New York. And this is why I think you will like it. I wasn’t going to give these details, but after last week, I think I will. Here are 11 Things.

1. I made some of the heroes of 9/11 into bardia. Meaning, I honored some of those who died saving lives that day by making them into superheroes. Because that was the biggest praise I could give them as a novelist.

2. I suggested (or Theo Gold did, rather) that bin Laden was a numa overlord. Because that was the biggest f*** you I could give him as a novelist.

3. You will see what it means to be a revenant in New York. Different ways of doing things. Amazing headquarters in a place I used to know in Brooklyn (where I lived for years).

4. There is a dramatic bardia/numa faceoff with the guns + sword combo that New York revenants use.

5. Jules will meet someone else. And believe me when I tell you it’s not insta-love. Insta-hate, more like.

6. She is awesome and kick-ass.

7. I take you back to Paris. Everyone in the old books is there.

8. I take you to Brittany, to where Bran lives amongst the ancient standing stones. (And is “healing” Louis.)

9. Kate and Jules have A Talk.

10. There is a wedding (Ambrose and Charlotte).

11. There is a kiss. On a roof. Overlooking Paris.

Is that enough? Again…I want to avoid song and dance. So I’ll just say…my novella DIE ONCE MORE is releasing in 2 weeks on Feb 3, and can be pre-ordered now. (Amazon, B&N) It costs less than a cup of coffee (in Starbucks), which makes me happy that it’s easily accessible to everyone. And I would be honored if you read it.

Sorry not to use pictures of shirtless guys this time. I hope you’ll understand that even promoting the book in the same space I’ve been talking about tragedy makes me feel a bit compromised. But I will follow up with some excerpts in the next 2 weeks. And I will answer questions. Let me know what you want.

(For those who ABSOLUTELY NEED pictures of shirtless guys, here is a link to the last Julesfest.)

A Pas de Chien (article translated from Charlie Hebdo)

Here is an imperfect translation of an article in this week’s Charlie Hebdo written by Sigolène Vinson entitled “À Pas de Chien.”* It touched me, and since I know the magazine is hard to get, I’m sharing it with you.

—

Tictictictic…At Charlie, we have a dog. A red cocker named Lila. Okay, really she’s not all of ours, only Eric’s. Of the team, she likes Cabu most. This Wednesday, 7 January, he’s throwing her one of his parties. It should be said that on the editing table there are Breton galettes brought by Coco and a marbled cake that I bought for Luz’s birthday. And it’s for sure that Cabu’s going to give her his piece.

Tictictictic… At Charlie, we have a dog. A red cocker who scratches up the parquet floor. Riss and Charb make fun of him sometimes, because Luce defends her and pets the top of her head. Honoré prefers cats. Tignous kids. And Wolinski has a weakness for Catherine and Zineb.

Tictictictic… At Charlie, we have a dog. A red cocker who sits through our debates. “For or against Louis de Funès?” Jean-Baptiste is rather “for.” Surprisingly, Philippe as well. Fabrice doesn’t care. He just wants our planet to keep turning. Before responding, Laurent has to carry out an investigation. It’s in Antonio’s interest to be against. Gérard is the referee. Pelloux says, “I have his phone number.” (of de Funès)

Tictictictic… At Charlie, we have a dog. A red cocker who walks back and forth by Mustapha’s office. Bernard doesn’t hear her. He’s laughing (that his accent has a south-west accent…yes it’s possible) watching Elsa make big gestures while talking to us about Lacan.

At Charlie, we have a dog. A red cocker who doesn’t understand why, on Wednesday, there are so many people. The rest of the week, only Angélique, Simon and Cécile keep her company. Monday there’s a chance she’ll see Martine.

Pop pop pop pop…Then, a deathly silence. Jean-Luc and I stay on the floor.

Suddenly: Tictictictic!

At Charlie, we have a dog. A red cocker who signals to us that it’s okay, that we can get up now, they’ve left.

Lila was spared. Maybe because she’s a female.

To all my friends. And to others.

(À Pas de Chien, column by Sigolène Vinson, in Charlie Hebdo, 14 janvier 2015)

 

 

*Literal translation of the title means “In the dog’s footsteps”, but there are several play-on-words you can do with it, that I won’t even try for.

 

Charlie Hebdo: my translation of today’s editorial

The much sought-after Jan 14 edition of Charlie Hebdo.

You’ve probably been reading in the news about people fighting (!!) over today’s edition of Charlie Hebdo—the first edition of the newspaper to be released after the slaughter of much of its staff. I reserved ahead of time with my local newsstand, so was able to get 2 copies. (One for me, one for a friend who reserved 3 days ago!)

For those who can’t get their hands on one, or who can’t read French, I did a super-fast translation, most probably riddled with errors, but it will hopefully give you the gist of  the editorial that Gerard Biard wrote in the lead pages.

“In one week, Charlie, atheist journal, accomplished more miracles than all the saints and prophets together. The one we’re most proud of is that you have between your hands the newspaper we’ve always made, in company of those who have always made it. What made us laugh the most was the bells of Notre-Dame ringing in our honor…

For one week, Charlie has, across the world, done more than move mountains. In one week, as Willem has so magnificently drawn, Charlie has lots of new friends. Both anonymous and global celebrities, both the humble and the rich, both unbelievers and religious dignitaries, both the sincere and the hypocrites, both those we will keep for life and those who are very briefly passing through. Today, we’ll take them all: we don’t have the time or heart to pick and choose. Even so, we aren’t fools. We thank with all our hearts those who, by the millions, whether they are simple citizens or represent institutions, are truly by our sides. Who sincerely and profoundly ‘are Charlie’ and who identify with us. Fuck the others, who in any case, don’t give a damn.

One question, all the same, is gnawing at us: are we finally going to erase from the political and intellectual vocabulary the dirty word ‘die-hard secularist’? [Term used is laïcard intégriste.] [Amy's note: from now on where I use the word "secularism" the writer has used la laïcité.] Are we finally going to stop inventing clever semantic convolutions to qualify the assassins and their victims in the same manner?

These last years, we have felt a bit alone in trying to repel with a stroke of the pencil the candid smut and the pseudo-intellectual ruses thrown in our face and in the face of our friends who firmly defended secularism: [we've been called] Islamophobes, anti-Christian, provocateurs, irresponsible, throwing oil on the fire, racists, you were asking for it…Yes, we condemn terrorism, but… Yes, sending death threats to cartoonists is bad, but… Yes, burning down a newspaper is bad, but… We have heard it all, and our friends as well. We have often tried to laugh at it, because that’s what we do best. But now we would really like to laugh about something else. Because it’s already starting again. The blood of Cabu, Charb, Honoré, Tignous, Wolinski, Elsa Cayat, Bernard Maris, Mustapha Ourrad, Michel Renaud, Franck Brinsolaro, Frédéric Boisseau, Ahmed Merabet, Clarissa Jean-Philippe, Philippe Braham, Yohan Cohen, Yoav Hattab, François-Michel Saada, was not even dry when Thierry Meyssan explained to his Facebook fans that it was obviously had to do with a Judéo-American-Western plot. We already heard, here and there, the finicky pouting at last Sunday’s rally, drooling from the edges of their lips the eternal quibbles aiming to justify, openly or quietly, terrorism and religious fascism, and being outraged, among other things that honoring the policeman = SS. No, in this massacre no deaths were less unjust than others. Franck, who died in Charlie’s office, and all his colleagues slaughtered during this week of inhumanity died defending ideas that, perhaps, were not even theirs.

Even so, we will try to be optimists, even though it isn’t the season. We are going to hope that starting on this 7th of January 2015 the solid defense of secularism will be self-evident for everyone, that we will finally cease, by position, by electoral calculation or by cowardice, to legitimize or even to tolerate cultural communitarianism, and cultural relativism, which will only open the path to one thing: religious totalitarianism. Yes, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a reality, yes, international geopolitics is a succession of manoeuvrings and dirty tricks, yes, the social situation of, as we say, ‘populations of Muslim origin’ in France is profoundly unjust, yes, racism and discrimination must be fought unceasingly. Several tools exist to try to resolve these grave problems, but they are all useless if one of them is missing: secularism. Not positive secularism, not inclusive secularism, not whatever-the-hell-else secularism, secularism full stop. Only it will permit, because it advocates the universalism of rights, the exercise of equality, liberty, fraternity and sorority. Only it will permit the full freedom of conscience, freedom that is denied, more or less openly according to their marketing position, by all religions as soon as they leave the arena of strict privacy to descend into the political arena. Only it [secularism] permits, ironically, believers and others to live in peace. All who claim to defend Muslims by accepting totalitarian religious speech defend in fact their executioners. The first victims of Islamic fascism are the Muslims.

The millions of anonymous people, all of the institutions, all of the heads of state and of government, all the political, intellectual and media personalities, all the religious dignitaries who, this week, proclaimed ‘I am Charlie’ need to know that also means ‘I am secularism.’ We are convinced that, for the majority of our supporters, that goes without saying. We’ll let the rest sort that out themselves.

One last important thing. We would like to send a message to Pope Francis who, himself, ‘is Charlie’ this week: we will only accept the bells of Notre-Dame ringing in our honor when it is Femen who ring them.”

That is my super-speedy imperfect translation of today’s editorial by Gerard Biard in Charlie Hebdo. (If you have the original and see any errors, please don’t hesitate to let me know.)

Charlie Hebdo: today’s editorial

The much sought-after Jan 14 edition of Charlie Hebdo.

You’ve probably been reading in the news about people fighting (!!) over today’s edition of Charlie Hebdo—the first edition of the newspaper to be released after the slaughter of much of its staff. I reserved ahead of time with my local newsstand, so was able to get 2 copies. (One for me, one for a friend who reserved 3 days ago!)

For those who can’t get their hands on one, or who can’t read French, I did a super-fast translation, most probably riddled with errors, but it will hopefully give you the gist of  the editorial that Gerard Biard wrote in the lead pages.

“In one week, Charlie, atheist journal, accomplished more miracles than all the saints and prophets together. The one we’re most proud of is that you have between your hands the newspaper we’ve always made, in company of those who have always made it. What made us laugh the most was the bells of Notre-Dame ringing in our honor…

For one week, Charlie has, across the world, done more than move mountains. In one week, as Willem has so magnificently drawn, Charlie has lots of new friends. Both anonymous and global celebrities, both the humble and the rich, both unbelievers and religious dignitaries, both the sincere and the hypocrites, both those we will keep for life and those who are very briefly passing through. Today, we’ll take them all: we don’t have the time or heart to pick and choose. Even so, we aren’t fools. We thank with all our hearts those who, by the millions, whether they are simple citizens or represent institutions, are truly by our sides. Who sincerely and profoundly ‘are Charlie’ and who identify with us. Fuck the others, who in any case, don’t give a damn.

One question, all the same, is gnawing at us: are we finally going to erase from the political and intellectual vocabulary the dirty word ‘die-hard secularist’? [Term used is laïcard intégriste.] [Amy's note: from now on where I use the word "secularism" the writer has used la laïcité.] Are we finally going to stop inventing clever semantic convolutions to qualify the assassins and their victims in the same manner?

These last years, we have felt a bit alone in trying to repel with a stroke of the pencil the candid smut and the pseudo-intellectual ruses thrown in our face and in the face of our friends who firmly defended secularism: [we've been called] Islamophobes, anti-Christian, provocateurs, irresponsible, throwing oil on the fire, racists, you were asking for it…Yes, we condemn terrorism, but… Yes, sending death threats to cartoonists is bad, but… Yes, burning down a newspaper is bad, but… We have heard it all, and our friends as well. We have often tried to laugh at it, because that’s what we do best. But now we would really like to laugh about something else. Because it’s already starting again. The blood of Cabu, Charb, Honoré, Tignous, Wolinski, Elsa Cayat, Bernard Maris, Mustapha Ourrad, Michel Renaud, Franck Brinsolaro, Frédéric Boisseau, Ahmed Merabet, Clarissa Jean-Philippe, Philippe Braham, Yohan Cohen, Yoav Hattab, François-Michel Saada, was not even dry when Thierry Meyssan explained to his Facebook fans that it was obviously had to do with a Judéo-American-Western plot. We already heard, here and there, the finicky pouting at last Sunday’s rally, drooling from the edges of their lips the eternal quibbles aiming to justify, openly or quietly, terrorism and religious fascism, and being outraged, among other things that honoring the policeman = SS. No, in this massacre no deaths were less unjust than others. Franck, who died in Charlie’s office, and all his colleagues slaughtered during this week of inhumanity died defending ideas that, perhaps, were not even theirs.

Even so, we will try to be optimists, even though it isn’t the season. We are going to hope that starting on this 7th of January 2015 the solid defense of secularism will be self-evident for everyone, that we will finally cease, by position, by electoral calculation or by cowardice, to legitimize or even to tolerate cultural communitarianism, and cultural relativism, which will only open the path to one thing: religious totalitarianism. Yes, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a reality, yes, international geopolitics is a succession of manoeuvrings and dirty tricks, yes, the social situation of, as we say, ‘populations of Muslim origin’ in France is profoundly unjust, yes, racism and discrimination must be fought unceasingly. Several tools exist to try to resolve these grave problems, but they are all useless if one of them is missing: secularism. Not positive secularism, not inclusive secularism, not whatever-the-hell-else secularism, secularism full stop. Only it will permit, because it advocates the universalism of rights, the exercise of equality, liberty, fraternity and sorority. Only it will permit the full freedom of conscience, freedom that is denied, more or less openly according to their marketing position, by all religions as soon as they leave the arena of strict privacy to descend into the political arena. Only it [secularism] permits, ironically, believers and others to live in peace. All who claim to defend Muslims by accepting totalitarian religious speech defend in fact their executioners. The first victims of Islamic fascism are the Muslims.

The millions of anonymous people, all of the institutions, all of the heads of state and of government, all the political, intellectual and media personalities, all the religious dignitaries who, this week, proclaimed ‘I am Charlie’ need to know that also means ‘I am secularism.’ We are convinced that, for the majority of our supporters, that goes without saying. We’ll let the rest sort that out themselves.

One last important thing. We would like to send a message to Pope Francis who, himself, ‘is Charlie’ this week: we will only accept the bells of Notre-Dame ringing in our honor when it is Femen who ring them.”

That is my super-speedy imperfect translation of today’s editorial by Gerard Biard in Charlie Hebdo. (If you have the original and see any errors, please don’t hesitate to let me know.)

Je Suis Encore Charlie

What a week it has been. Not even week…it has been 5 days since the first terrorist attack in Paris. Sometimes it feels like something that happened long ago. And sometimes it feels like it just happened this morning. The shock is still fresh for everyone.

I have been giving my reactions on Facebook and Twitter, so I won’t repeat everything here. But what I will do is show you the result of the outpouring of support I got from you, my readers, for the people of France, and Paris in particular. See my last post to read about how it all started. I told you I would post your notes on the memorial, and it started with just a few notes, and then more, and then it totally snowballed. So to bring you up to date from the last post…

I put up the first 123 cards. And then the Daily Mail and Fox News happened. And then I put up 39 more notes. And then Brazilian reader (and journalist) Frini saw our wall on the Brazilian news.

And then the requests REALLY started pouring in, so I invited some friends over to help me write out your messages.

LoriAnn, Cassi (with baby Elio), Julia with Fay and friend.

We took 86 more cards over to the memorial and placed them on the wall.

While we were there, an elderly French man thanked us for being there.

Then reader Lucy told us that our notes were on the news in Romania.

And Annika from Finland sent me this article from the Finnish newspaper which included this picture:

Image used in Finnish newspaper Iltalehti.

And Karis sent me this newspaper article from The Star in Canada, using this photo:

“Handwritten messages are pasted to the wall of a makeshift memorial near the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris.” David Azia / The Associated Press

Your notes kept pouring in. I finally finished the last batch late Saturday night, determined to get them up on the wall before the big march on Sunday, where the maximum amount of people would be able to see them. Early Sunday morning, I walked over to the memorial and began taping them up.

A French woman walked up as I posted the last one. She asked, “Are you posting a note for a friend?” I answered, “I’m posting a note for 300 friends.”

This is what it looked like when I finished:

I took up EVERY LAST INCH of space.

I was careful not to cover up anything left by other well-wishers.

The furthest three columns to the right were past the police barrier. I got told (nicely) by a policeman to get back on the correct side of the boundary JUST as I finished. (Whew!)

From further away (showing about 1/3 of the entire memorial site).

And then I went home and tallied everything up, getting more excited and amazed as I went along. Because there were—are you ready?—340 of you who left messages from 31 different countries. Of the United States, 37 states were represented.

I can reassure you that each of your messages was lovingly written out. (Someone asked why I didn’t just print them. Because they’re personal messages, and I wanted them to each be different, individual, and personal.) I can reassure you that I taped them all securely up in a spot where it wasn’t covering anything else, and where I knew people could read them. Once again…I am so honored to be your messenger.

Here’s a list of countries and states: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Finland, France (incl. New Caledonia), Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Malaysia, Mauritius, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom (incl. England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland),

United States (incl. Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin).

I am amazed and touched by your determination to reach out to the people of Paris. And I know that they saw your messages and were equally affected.

Je Suis Charlie

If you have been following me on Twitter or Facebook, you will know what has been going on in my life as a resident of Paris’s 11th arrondissement. You will know that I walked by the site of the terrorist attack just after it happened, while taking my 7-year-old daughter to dance class.

My kids’ school is a block away from where shots were fired at the police car. (There are bullet holes in windows at the end of the block.) My children’s father lives literally around the corner from the offices of Charlie Hebdo. You can see the memorial site from his living room window. This thing happened in our backyard.

My intention is not to draw attention to myself. I did not lose a loved one. (Thank the gods.) I do not know any of the victims. I can’t even imagine the pain their families and colleagues are going through.

But I have not hidden my reactions or feelings. And, as a storyteller, I needed to tell what I saw during the last two days. In my tweets and FB messages I have been reacting…just like anyone else would…to a horrific terrorist attack happening way too close to home.

However, telling the story through words and pictures has not been enough. Reassuring my friends and loved ones that I and my children are safe has not been enough. I have been hit HARD with the impuissance—the powerlessness—of those who sit at the edge of a disaster and can’t do a damned thing about it. I’m not a firefighter. I’m not a policeman. I’m not a policy-maker. I’m a novelist.

As soon as news got out about the massacre, the outpouring of support from my readers was overwhelming. For many, I am the only person they know who lives in Paris. For a few, I had the honor of introducing Paris to them through my books. Everyone who has read the DIE FOR ME series knows how I feel about the city. My love for it is jam-packed into every page of those books. So the messages of support and love and care started pouring in.

And in many of the notes, I recognized the same desperation I was feeling. People wanted to DO something. But what is a teenager in Missouri going to do? Or a grandmother in Canada? Or a college student in India? Without really thinking it through, I offered to write down personal messages and take them to the memorial where the people of Paris could read them.

You—my amazing readers—jumped on the idea, and very soon this happened:

and then this.

But when I was done, I looked out the window, and thought, What in the world am I going to do? I just wrote 123 cards from 17 countries—in non-permanent magic marker—and it’s pouring down rain and shows no signs of stopping.

My friend Cassi had seen the photos on Instagram and texted, offering to help. When I told her my quandary, she suggested that we “laminate” the cards with clear packing tape. I bundled up my precious cargo, took it to her place, and we spent the next hour wrapping each message in tape.

We finished just in time to pick my kids up from school, and I enlisted them to help me tape the messages up to the memorial site. Barely one day after the murders, the site was already starting to overflow with messages and flowers.

(Thanks Cassi for all the action photos!)

My kids jumped into the project with enthusiasm and this became…

this. And…

this.

And then this guy asked me what we were doing…

I explained that I am a writer, and that my readers from all over the world had asked me to pass on their messages of goodwill to Parisians. And because of my conversation with him, this happened:

Daily Mail, Night That the Lights Went Out on Eiffel Tower

(Thanks Jo Fouracre for the photo!)

And then this guy…

who had no ID and didn’t introduce himself like the Daily Mail guy did (okay, the Daily Mail guy didn’t introduce himself until I balked when he asked my son’s name) started asking me unanswerable questions like, “What is the overall feeling here about the events?” (Umm…)

My son was simultaneously bugging me for more scotch tape, and too much was going on, so I gave some really distracted answers and later thought, “I hope that whoever that was doesn’t use the footage.” But then my 5th grade teacher from Alabama wrote to say she saw me on TV, and writer Amy Parker sent me this picture.

In any case, when my kids and I left the site yesterday, it looked like this:

Yes those are YOUR cards taking up one whole wall of the memorial.

Well, someone wrote to say they had seen the cards on Brazilian TV, and someone else saw them behind Anderson Cooper’s head:

(Thanks Lissa Price for this photo!)

and then everyone who hadn’t yet written a message wanted to join in. So I got back on the case this morning, and this happened:

33 more notes from 14 countries (and then 6 more arrived just after I took the picture). As you can see, I ran out of white note cards and had to start improvising.

So I returned to the memorial and posted the new ones.

But before I did, guess what I saw.

People were reading yesterday’s cards. Carefully. They were filming them. Photographing them. They were visibly touched by the outpouring of support from people all over the world.

As soon as I posted those pictures to Facebook, I began getting more requests. And you know what? I can’t say no. I just can’t. I’m going to keep on posting your messages.

I want to do this for my readers: for people who are far away and feel just as horrified and helpless as I do.

I want to do it for Paris: to show them that support is not just coming from other governments and nameless faces. It’s coming from real people who are signing their names to their notes—people from all around the world.

And finally, I admit, I am doing this for me. This is the best therapy I can think of. I can’t bear to just sit in my apartment minutes away from where a group of smart, courageous and creative men and woman were slaughtered. And thanks to you, I don’t have to.

Thank you with all of my heart for giving me the gift of action.

Thank you for helping me empower my children. They see that they can actually DO something to help people heal after something horrific happens. They see that everyone can have a voice.

Thank you for the honor of passing your words on to people who will be blessed by reading them.

Thank you.

From Paris, with love.

Amy

 

Book Shuffle

I’m doing one of those book shuffles right now – moving from book to book and back without reading linearly from one to the next.

Right before Christmas I read Sophie Jordan’s NA trilogy “The Ivy Chronicles” since she had given me the first and third one and I quickly Kindled the second. Whew! *fans self* I didn’t know NA could be so sexy. As in lots and lots of sex. With big sexy “bad boys” with tattoos, who of course become wonderful and sensitive and the Best Boyfriend Ever by the end of the book. *opens windows to let breeze in* I wrote Sophie to complain that those guys don’t actually exist and she’s giving all us single ladies false hope. Pages and pages of false hope. She apologized.

Then I read Godforsaken Idaho on and off (interesting and weird and random)

while reading Holly White’s Coldest Girl in Coldtown (awesome).

Then All We Have is Now (Lisa Schroeder) (inspiring),

but at the same time King of the Badgers, which I put back down and haven’t picked back up. Yet.

I shot through Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs (Molly Harper, who I met in Arizona) (reminiscent of Sookie, very funny),

while reading the stories from My True Love Gave to Me (some jewels in this).

Then A Bright Moon for Fools (weird in a Confederacy of Dunces kind of way), which I finished while in a hotel

so traded it on the trade bookshelf for The Dinosaur Feather, which I picked up and put back down.

Then a history of Monty Python (the only other slightly interesting book on the hotel book trade shelf). I now know everything about the Pythons. Everything. Just try me.

Started getting desperate in Helsinki because my Kindle wasn’t working, so read more Dinosaur Feather. Simultaneously finished reading Mr. Gum book 7 (Mr. Gum and the Cherry Tree) aloud to my kids. (Awesomely weird, as usual.)

Got home and started reading an Irish novel (Spinning Heart) which I was enjoying until I lost it. (How can you lose a book in your bedroom?)

 

So started in on Chabon’s Wonder Boys.

Then a friend came over yesterday afternoon and suggested Let’s Pretend This Never Happened. WHICH I AM LOVING!!!

So I kind of want to keep reading Wonder Boys, but can’t put down Let’s Pretend.

Do you do this? And if so, how do you not get brain fry? It’s like an orgy of books, which I suppose is the only kind of orgy that doesn’t leave you with a cloud of regret and the urge to take a two-day bath. Ah well, onwards and upwards…in a zig-zaggy path.