Marie Laval's Blog, page 11

My Top Ten List of Lovely Things from Provence...

I have always loved Provence and was very lucky to holiday there with my parents and sisters every summer when I was growing up. It was during another holiday, with my own children this time, that I got the idea for the plot of A SPELL IN PROVENCE, my contemporary romantic suspense recently released by Áccent Press. I could easily have chosen some of the many stunning landscapes and villages the region is famous for my Top Ten list, but I picked a selection of the tasty and foods and local produce I enjoy the most instead, and I hope you'll enjoy them too.

So here it is! My Top Ten list of treats from Provence.
10. Tapenade. Made from finely chopped olives, anchovies and olive oil, this spread is delicious with bread for the 'apéritif'.
  9. Calissons  are lovely lozenge-shaped sweet made of candied fruit (usually melon and orange), ground almonds and covered with a layer of icing. 
 8. Figs. I know you can find them in England, but they never taste as good as in Provence.
     7. Savon de Marseille. The best for all skin types, especially sensitive ones. My all time favourites are Eglantine Rose and Lemon Verbena.      6. The candied fruits of Apt. Beautiful to look at, delicious to eat!
 5. The many colours and patterns of Provençal fabrics. I prefer the yellow ones. They remind me of the sunshine.
 4. Goat cheese. Hard or creamy, with a piece of freshly baked baguette. Heaven.
 3. Rosé wine. The Lubéron region has beautiful wines, but rosé is my favourite. It reminds me of sitting out in the garden to watch the sunset and listening to the cicadas.
2.  La Tarte Tropézienne. Not exactly from the Lubéron region, but its light brioche scented with orange flower and fluffy cream are a delight. Did you know that the original recipe for the cream - a mix of butter cream and crème patissière - is kept secret?
 
1. I had to place lavender at the top of my list. Not only is it beautiful to look at smells divine, but it has many medicinal properties for the treatment of insomnia, colds and  migraine.

I hope you enjoyed my Top Ten list. Did you ever visit Provence, and if so, what food or drink did you particularly enjoy there?

 
 

Poem for Valentine's Day

    One of my all time favourite poems,   Le Jardin by Jacques Prévert Des milliers et des milliers d'années 
Ne sauraient suffire 
Pour dire 
La petite seconde d'éternité 
Où tu m'as embrassé 
Où je t'ai embrassée 
Un matin dans la lumière de l'hiver 
Au parc Montsouris à Paris 
A Paris 
Sur la terre 
La terre qui est un astre.    

Dreaming of Love by Melissa Foster

I am delighted to welcome Melissa Foster again, this time for her wonderful novel DREAMING OF LOVE, as part of her blog tour with Brook Cottage.

Series: Love in Bloom, #19 The Bradens, #11
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Emily Braden is a leader in architectural preservation, a pillar in her small hometown, and successful in everything she does—with the exception of finding true love. She’s watched several of her brothers fall in love, and she needs this trip to Tuscany to get away from it all and to stop focusing on what she doesn’t have.

Dae Bray doesn’t do flings, and he never stays in one place for very long. As a demolitionist, he goes where jobs take him, and the more often he travels, the better. His trip to Tuscany is all work—until he meets smart and sexy Emily, who makes him reconsider his fear of settling down, his no-fling rule—and just about everything else he’s ever believed about himself.

Passion sizzles as Dae and Emily explore the history and beauty of Tuscany. Their romance moves beyond tourist attractions to the bedroom, blossoming into a deep connection neither can deny. But their worlds collide when Emily wants to preserve the property that Dae is there to demolish. Can a woman who sees the beauty in preservation and a man whose life is spent tearing things down find a solid foundation for their love? 
About the Author

Melissa Foster is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. She writes contemporary romance, new adult, contemporary women's fiction, suspense, and historical fiction with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. Her books have been recommended by USA Today's book blog, Hagerstown Magazine, The Patriot, and several other print venues. She is the founder of the Women’s Nest, a social and support community for women, the World Literary Café. When she's not writing, Melissa helps authors navigate the publishing industry through her author training programs on  Fostering Success. Melissa has been published in Calgary’s Child Magazine, the Huffington Post, and Women Business Owners magazine.  Melissa hosts an annual Aspiring Authors contest for children and has painted and donated several murals to The Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC. Melissa lives in Maryland with her family. Visit Melissa on The Women's Nest, Fostering Success, or World Lit Cafe. Melissa enjoys discussing her books with book clubs and reader groups, and welcomes an invitation to your event.
Authors Links:
Website
Twitter
Facebook
Pinterest
Goodreads
GIVEAWAY INFO  The giveaway on tour is 3 x ecopies of Flirting with Love (the previous novel in the series). Please see below for the rafflecopter code. Or, if you wish to use the Rafflecopter link instead. Thanks.

<a class="rcptr" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/disp..." rel="nofollow" data-raflid="4be0301731" data-theme="classic" data-template="" id="rcwidget_0ul1df11">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="http://marielaval.blogspot.com//widge...


 
OR
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/4be0301731/
Buy Links to be included in the post https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/506161http://www.amazon.com/dp/194148008Xhttps://itunes.apple.com/br/book/dreaming-love-love-in-bloom/id909954185?l=en&mt=11http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QQRIRQ0https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Melissa_Foster_Dreaming_of_Love_Love_in_Bloom_The_?id=HPlfBQAAQBAJhttp://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/dreaming-of-love-love-in-bloom-the-bradenshttp://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dreaming-of-love-melissa-foster/1121005012?ean=2940046492859    

 

Finding my way with music...

Although I much prefer peace and quiet to write, I always have one or two special songs or pieces of music that help me through the process of writing a novel. They are never the same ones and vary with every story. For some reason every time I fear I am losing my way and I have got out of touch with the characters or I am stuck in an impossible dead end, listening to them it helps me get back into the mood and the heart of the story.  

Here are some of the songs which have inspired me so far. I hope you enjoy them too!

When I was writing A SPELL IN PROVENCE, soon to be published by Accent Press, I kept listening to Zaz and her poignant 'Eblouie par la nuit'. I love this song, it makes me cry every single time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDcgOpUp2nc


I was also playing Françoise Hardy's song 'En résumé, en conclusion...', probably because it made me think about Jacques Dutronc - her long term partner, and I just love, love him!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_C21aXxuUk










ANGEL HEART
Laam is a French singer with a beautiful voice. There are many songs of hers I love. These two are my favourite:
'Que l'amour nous garde' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9yrkwHASEo
'De ton indifférence' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCb4uYi0JdY






THE LION'S EMBRACE
I completely fell in love with Tuareg music, in particular great guitarist Bombino and his song 'Tar Hani' (I love you). These words are actually spoken by my hero, Lucas Saintclair at the end of the novel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adfb17JQYtg


I also listened a lot to 'Welcome to Imzad' (the Imzad is the traditional string instrument played by Tuareg women). I have no idea what the song is about but I found the melody and the sound of the imzad really poignant and haunting. In fact, I wrote whole scenes of the novel while listening to this song in a loop, and I always promised myself that if I was lucky enough for the book to be turned into a film I would insist of this music for the soundtrack! (well, it costs  nothing to dream...)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5z7AcjE-YI


DANCING FOR THE DEVIL, a historical romance to be published by Accent Press in the New Year
I rediscovered Fleetwood Mac 'Go your own way' and 'The Chain'. Now, this is going to sound very, very silly but I named my hero's horse after 'The Chain'... Of course, the song did inspire me in other ways too! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjLaj2GROjU

What about you? Is music important when you write, and what music inspires you? I would love to hear from you!

Seaside Sunsets by Melissa Foster

BOOK 3 in the Seaside Summers Series Jessica Ayers has lived a sheltered life with little more than cello lessons and practices taking up her day. Now a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, she escapes the prim and proper symphony to vacation in the Seaside community in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, and determine if she is living life to the fullest or missing it altogether.

For the first time since developing the second largest search engine in the world, billionaire Jamie Reed is taking the summer off. He plans to work from the Cape and spend time with his elderly grandmother—and falling in love is not in his plans.

From the moment Jamie and Jessica meet, the attraction is white-hot. Once-overly-focused Jamie can think of little else than sensual, smart, and alluring Jessica, and Jessica discovers a side of herself she never knew existed. But when Jamie’s business encounters trouble and his attorney and best friend intervenes, he proves that the blond beauty is too distracting for Jamie. To make matters worse, it appears that Jessica might not be who she says she is, turning Jamie’s life—and his heart—upside down. In a world where personal information is always one click away, Jamie must decide if he should trust his heart or watch the woman he loves walk away

Buy links:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/seaside-sunsets-melissa-foster/1120916551?ean=2940150052314
http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/seaside-sunsets-love-in-bloom-seaside-summers-book-3

https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Melissa_Foster_Seaside_Sunsets_Love_in_Bloom_Seasi?id=alkeBAAAQBAJ

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PCWBIIE

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/seaside-sunsets/id909952527?ls=1&mt=11#
Melissa Foster is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. She writes contemporary romance, new adult, contemporary women’s fiction, suspense, and historical fiction with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. Her books have been recommended by USA Today’s book blog, Hagerstown Magazine, The Patriot, and several other print venues. She is the founder of the  World Literary Café and Fostering Success. When she’s not writing, Melissa helps authors navigate the publishing industry through her author training programs on  Fostering Success. Melissa has been published in Calgary’s Child Magazine, the Huffington Post, and Women Business Owners magazine. 
Melissa hosts an annual Aspiring Authors contest for children and has painted and donated several murals to The Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC. Melissa lives in Maryland with her family.
Visit Melissa on social media. Melissa enjoys discussing her books with book clubs and reader groups, and welcomes an invitation to your event.
Authors Links:
Website
Twitter
Facebook
Pinterest
Goodreads
Sign up for Melissa's newsletter to stay up to date with releases and giveaways
http://www.melissafoster.com/newsletter/
GIVEAWAY
The giveaway on this tour will be 3 ecopies of Book 2 in the series Seaside Hearts. The rafflecopter code or link can be used.

Mary Waibel is on the blog with Faery Marked!

Thanks so much for doing this blog swap with me today, Marie. I’m super excited to be here and to have you over on my blog. I hope those of you visiting here have a minute to stop by and see what Marie had to say about her writing process.
I’m always intrigued by the different ways authors write. While there are many similarities, each of us bring our own unique spin to the process. It’s the same for what inspires us. Most authors I know can find inspiration anywhere. A song. A poem. A picture. A person they see walking down the street.



Cinderella by Elena Ringo
My idea for Faery Marked came from an idea. My husband and I play D&D (Dungeons and Dragons). Well, it’s been a few years, but I was thinking about the difference between a sorceress and a mage. See, in the D&D universe, a mage learns magic by studying while a sorceress is born with the ability to use magic. However, the magic stays dormant, usually not revealing itself until the teen years, often with quite explosive events.
So, I wondered what it would be like to be an average teenage girl and wake up to find your ceiling on fire. But not with normal fire. No, with purple fire.  And from there I was swept away into the land of Faery, and Faery Marked was born.


When Callie Rycroft wakes to find purple flames flickering on the ceiling, she believes she’s still dreaming. But soon she’s forced to accept that she has magic―a special magic that grants her entrance into the Faery Realm.
For centuries humans have been banned from Faery, but dangerous times call for dangerous measures. Declared Champion by the Faery Queen, Callie is assigned a Guardian, and tasked with finding the Cordial―a magical elixir needed to keep the portal to the Faery realm a secret from humans.
The upside? Reece Michaels, the boy she's been crushing on for years, is her Guardian. Callie hopes that, by spending time with Reece, he'll start to see her as more than just his best friend's sister.
The downside? She's in a race not only against time, but against another Champion, and a rogue Guardian―a Guardian who stands to threaten her developing relationship with Reece.
Magic, mistaken identities, and hidden agendas are the least of Callie's worries when she learns that the Cordial requires a sacrifice. Will Callie be willing to risk everything―even Reece―to complete her task as Champion? Or will she let the portal open, and doom both realms?
Available atAMAZON
Win a signed copy of Faery Marked and other swag. Details HERE. Don’t miss out on this LIMITED TIME OFFER!!!

YA author Mary Waibel’s love for fairytales and happy-ever fill the pages of her works. Whether penning stories in a medieval setting or a modern day school, magic and romance weave their way inside every tale.
Strong female characters use both brain and brawn to save the day and win the heart of their men. Mary enjoys connecting with her readers through her website: marywaibel.blogspot.com

Thank you for being on the blog Mary and the best of luck with your wonderful new title FAERY MARKED.

New Cover for A SPELL IN PROVENCE

I am delighted to present the new cover for A SPELL IN PROVENCE which is to be published on December 19th by Accent Press. Although I loved the original cover, Rebecca Lloyd, my fantastic editor at Accent, felt that it was a little too carefree for the storyline and that a darker, more mysterious picture would suit the plot better. So this is it!  What do you think?
With few roots in England and having just lost her job, Amy Carter decides to give up on home and start a new life in France, spending her redundancy package turning an overgrown Provençal farmhouse, Bellefontaine, into a successful hotel.
Though she has big plans for her new home, none of them involves falling in love – least of all with Fabien Coste, the handsome but arrogant owner of a nearby château.  As romance blossoms, eerie and strange happenings in Bellefontaine hint at a dark mystery of the Provençal countryside which dates back many centuries and holds an entanglement between the ladies of Bellefontaine and the ducs de Coste at its centre. As Amy works to unravel the mystery, she begins to wonder if it may not just be her heart at risk, but her life too.  
http://www.accentpress.co.uk/Book/134...

NICE GIRLS DON'T... by Sue Barnard

Who knows what secrets lie hidden in your family’s past?

Southern England, 1982.

At 25, single, and under threat of redundancy from her job in a local library, Emily feels as though her life is going nowhere – until the day when Carl comes into the library asking for books about tracing family history.

Carl is baffled by a mystery about his late grandfather: why is the name by which Carl had always known him different from the name on his old passport?

Fascinated as much by Carl himself as by the puzzle he wants to solve, Emily tries to help him find the answers. As their relationship develops, their quest for the truth takes them along a complicated paper-trail which leads, eventually, to the battlefields of the Great War.

In the meantime, Emily discovers that her own family also has its fair share of secrets and lies. And old sins can still cast long shadows…

Can Emily finally lay the ghosts of the past to rest and look forward to a brighter future?

A tale of discovery, love and fate.



NICE GIRLS DON'T is available from  AMAZON UK
AMAZON US
 SUE BARNARD
Sue was born in Wales some time during the last millennium.After graduating from Durham Universitywith a degree in French, she returned to Manchester(where she had spent her formative years) and got married, then had a variety of office jobs before leaving the world of paid employment to become a full-time parent.  If she had her way, the phrase “non-working mother” would be banned from the English language.Sue has dabbled with writing for most of her life.  Her first success was at primary school, where she won a competition run by Cadbury’s which involved writing an essay about chocolate.  Her prize was a tin containing a selection of Cadbury’s products.  She still has the tin to this day, and keeps it as a reminder of her humble writing origins.  The chocolate is long since gone, but the tin is now home to her supply of pens and pencils.  In recent years she began to take writing more seriously and studied a series of writing courses with the Open University.  As well as having work published in Best of Manchester Poets (Volumes 2 and 3), her achievements have included winning a T-shirt for writing a limerick (which summed up the plot of Macbeth in five lines) and winning first prize in Writing Magazine’s 2013 poetry competition for new subscribers.  In 2013 she joined the editorial team of Crooked Cat Publishing, who also published her debut novel The Ghostly Father (a new interpretation of the Romeo & Juliet story) in February 2014, and her second novel Nice Girls Don’t (a romantic intrigue set in 1982) in July 2014. Sue’s mind is sufficiently warped that she has also worked as a question-setter for BBC Radio 4’s fiendishly difficult Round Britain Quiz – a phase of her life which caused one of her sons to describe her as “professionally weird.”  She lives in Cheshire and Anglesey (thought not at the same time – she isn’t THAT weird) with her husband and a large collection of unfinished scribblings. Blog: http://broad-thoughts-from-a-home.blogspot.co.uk/ PROMO BLITZ DAY 15TH NOVEMBER  

A Spell in Provence soon to be published!

A SPELL IN PROVENCE is now available for pre-order at Accent Press. 

And here is the blurb!
With few roots in England and having just lost her job, Amy Carter decides to give up on home and start a new life in France, spending her redundancy package turning an overgrown Provençal farmhouse, Bellefontaine, into a successful hotel.
Though she has big plans for her new home, none of them involves falling in love – least of all with Fabien Coste, the handsome but arrogant owner of a nearby château.  As romance blossoms, eerie and strange happenings in Bellefontaine hint at a dark mystery of the Provençal countryside which dates back many centuries and holds an entanglement between the ladies of Bellefontaine and the ducs de Coste at its centre. As Amy works to unravel the mystery, she begins to wonder if it may not just be her heart at risk, but her life too.  
http://www.accentpress.co.uk/Book/134...

FORGIVING NANCY: Janice Cairns is on the blog today!

Hello Janice, and thank you very much for coming on the blog today.  First of all, I like to congratulate you on the recent release of your novel FORGIVING NANCY. This must be a very exciting time for you.
 
What did you want to be when you were a child?  Did you always know you wanted to write?Looking back there were two occupations that rather appealed to me, one was working in a circus, maybe as an acrobat on the high wire.  I remember loving films about circuses.  The other notion I had was to be a gym instructress.  But I wouldn't say that my heart was rigidly set in either of these, these jobs were a kind of vague notion of what I'd like to do, jobs I would have embraced happily. 
No, I wouldn't say I had wanted to write from a very early age.  However, when I was around 15 or 16 years old I began to write poetry.  Then, when I was in my 20's and 30's I began to write diaries and stories.  Writing was something I naturally liked to do.  But I don't think I had in mind early on that I was going to become a writer.

 You must have been were very brave if you contemplated being an acrobat or a high wire artist. I suffer from terrible fear of heights. I can't even climb onto a stool without having palpitations (which is a good excuse for asking my husband to clean the top of the kitchen cabinets, by the way!)
Do you have a writing routine?
 I wouldn't say I had a rigid writing routine but when I have a work in progress I will add more words to it each day. I write every day.
 
I do agree with you here. It's very important to write every day and keep in touch with your characters.  What is the one thing you absolutely need to write?
 I think you need a sense of discipline.

I think you are absolutely right, once again. Some writers also need a special writing place. What about you? Do you need somewhere special to write or can you write anywhere?
I write in my front room, I find this to be the room of the house I'm most comfortable to write in.  I sit by the window where I have a lovely view of the Firth of Forth.  I find the view of the sea conducive to writing.

I would so love a writing room of my own, and a view of the sea, of course! It must be very soothing and inspiring. I am a big fan of the photos you post on Facebook. You always take such wonderful photos of Edinburgh and the nearby  coastline - not to mention of your fantastic hat collection!
Can you tell us in three words what kind of woman Nancy, the heroine of FORGIVING NANCY is?Beautiful, spontaneous, individual.

What about Maxwell, your hero?
 Complex. Individual. Enigmatic.

That sounds like a fascinating combination - and I do love your hero's name! Can you tell us what you are working on at present?The Sequel to 'Forgiving Nancy'.
 Here is a little bit more about Janice.Born in Ayrshire and educated at Ayr Academy, Janice Cairns has had an assortment of jobs. She's worked in child-care, law, insurance, media and creative writing. Janice lives in Edinburgh now; the city has been home to her for the last thirty years. It is here that her dream of becoming a writer is coming true. This last year, she has polished her debut novel, 'Forgiving Nancy'. She is absorbed in the marketing for this novel currently and does feel her days in advertising have helped with the marketing aspects of her being a writer today. 
In the last year or so she has also spent time developing her social media sites such as Facebook, twitter and her blog. She loves to keep these pages thriving and also is loving taking the photographs she does for her sites. Her main passion being writing, though, it is no surprise to her to find she has a second novel brewing and evolving within her. 
Already some plans are gurgling in the pipeline for what might follow ' Forgiving Nancy'. Janice's life could be described as a happy mix of active marketing for her first novel and laying some foundations for what is to come. She finds time in her busy schedule to enjoy walks at the Botanic Gardens or by the sea or even in the busy beautiful city she lives in. She has always considered her walks as important to her as she thinks these activate her creative thoughts and actually inspire her to write.
And here is the blurb for FORGIVING NANCY.Recapture your love and his heart with Forgiving Nancy

Two marriages real bloopers, the third one is going downhill. Nancy went from just getting by to lady in a seriously wealthy household and threw it all away. Will Maxwell forgive her?

Left alone in London, finally Stella found a reason to move to Edinburgh. She tried to win Maxwell over, but to no avail. Will she find her love in the end?

One wrong decision a lifetime ago. Now Madam Melody chances upon her daughter in Edinburgh. Will she find forgiveness?

Forgiving Nancy draws pictures of rich Edinburgh and the poor parts of town. It conjures up images of scrumptious foods and homeless shelters. It weaves together the lives of people and will make you want to continue reading and, one day, visit Edinburgh and all its wonderful hotels, cafés, gardens, and, of course, the castle.
BUY LINKS AMAZON UK AMAZON US
Thank you very much for coming on the blog today Janice. I do wish you the best of luck with FORGIVING NANCY!