Jennie Goutet's Blog: A Lady in France, page 3

Weighted Expectations

I didn’t post on Wednesday – my regularly scheduled slot – because I had nothing in me. I had no juice left, and I couldn’t think of a single thing to write. I didn’t want to write something worthless just to fill the void. It wastes your time as a reader and I have little enough time, myself.

Truthfully, I’m not even sure of my blog audience anymore. (Can I admit that on a blog without your immediately washing your hands of me?) I have plenty of page views so something is working. Many come for the recipes, though I’m not a true food blogger. Some fewer come for French tourism. There is less of that since I’m not a travel blog – although, do stay tuned for some upcoming posts on Dordogne and the prehistoric caves of Lascaux, and perhaps Milan. Even fewer come for my posts on faith. And I think there’s enough lingering affection out there from longtime subscribers, who come just for me. And that’s all I ever wanted to be in this online space after all – me.

This is why I couldn’t pick just one blogging niche even if it would have given me more reach and ad revenue. This is also why I don’t write in just one genres of books. I don’t have as far of a reach, it’s true. My monthly income from book sales and advertising will not pay our mortgage. And though I’m constantly working to be more savvy and to earn an income from writing, my first motivation for writing remains “because I want to”.

Which brings me to weighted expectations. I’ve managed to skid into a season of burnout after my latest book release. After some reflection, I’ve discerned that this is not unusual in the spring. There are more trips, concerts, and parties, more things to do, the season is changing, I have allergies and am tired. I’ve given my all for the recent holidays and put my energy in the fresh start to the year. I’ve not yet recuperated in the summer frolic. And this season, in particular, I put out four books in a six-month stretch (more of a coincidence than a goal), and it took more out of me than I expected.

So on Wednesday, I sat there in my chair, reading the Bible, praying and meditating. Wondering what I would write about that day on the blog and realising that the answer was… nothing. Below is what I wrote in my journal that day (modified to insert some semblance of comprehension).

God, I feel like I’m hanging on to a branch over the abyss. What awaits me below – this abyss – represents letting go of all claim to the world. I give up the expectation of health and a functioning body, even a functioning mind as I get older. I give up a career that means something. I give up all the material possessions, somehow so numerous I have little space for them. I give up being someone important. I give up a vibrant, beautiful face and body. I give up doing what I want to do and do what you want me to do.

(Somehow, voicing this surrender was necessary for me to gain clarity in this period of burnout).

The branch? It represents the expectations. Contrary to what I must surrender, I dream of being an example. I have this expectation that being your shining light in the world will only happen if I’m growing old gracefully and not in lumpy fits and starts as I seem to be doing now. I imagine that my home is in order and that my kids are all following you. I imagine that what I write bears fruit – that people love my stories and that I earn an income from them. I imagine a moderate degree of success and order, that our garden will be a feast for the eyes and that I’ll have time to meet people for lunch, to tour museums – that I’ll be leaving behind a financial legacy for our children.  

The branch represents all these things. It’s the weighted expectation of my life’s meaning as I hang over the abyss. And when I see how far I am from reaching my expectations, the branch bends even further.

No, the abyss is not dark. God is not dark. It’s more like a chasm in the rock – a cliff that’s covered with grass and shrubs, but one that goes a long way own. It’s friendly looking, but I know I’ll never survive it.

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I want to continue to live exactly as I please, which means in a professional sense to write exactly what I want, whether it’s tales of faith or love stories. And somehow I want my house to be clean while I do it. On the other hand, I feel as if I’m about to fall any minute from this branch – fall from the sheer weight of the expectations I have of myself and for this life. I want to do everything and have everything. I want it all. I don’t want to settle for an end (that seems to await us all in old age) where we’re no longer useful on this earth and it’s time to move on. I don’t want to give up on what I deem to be a full life.

But then nothing is fun anymore because I am so driven.

So maybe the abyss is not God after all. Maybe it’s the desires – and even the greed – of this world. If I want to escape it, I’m going to have to let go. I’m going to have to surrender my expectations. God is going to have to pull me up from this branch and have me sit in the nearby meadow where it’s sunny with blue skies. There are sheep, of course, meandering like me. And I have nothing to do but drink cool water, rest in the shade, and contemplate the vista around me.

There have been some professional disappointments, which have led to the burnout; and there have been some challenges, both family and personal. I often feel afraid and weak. I mostly certainly feel ineffective. Like… is life really supposed to be this way? Shouldn’t I be more on the ball? Aren’t others more on the ball?

Weak. Ineffective.

In my journal, I wrote – I have no idea how to get from the branch of expectations to the meadow. What would it look like to let go? Would that mean I accomplish nothing?

I’m reading Finding His Footprints in the Sand by Erica Kim, who spoke at our church’s annual Women’s Day. It’s a book on grace, especially written for women. Something struck me in her chapter about Rahab : God’s grace for the unloved. She quoted this scripture from Deuteronomy 32:9-11

For the Lord’s portion is his people,

    Jacob his allotted inheritance.

 In a desert land he found him,

    in a barren and howling waste.

He shielded him and cared for him;

    he guarded him as the apple of his eye,

 like an eagle that stirs up its nest

    and hovers over its young,

that spreads its wings to catch them

    and carries them aloft.

Her words after the scripture were, “An eagle stirs up its nest so that its young will take flight. This natural procedure forces its young to literally fall out of the nest so they will learn to spread their wings and fly. However, if one of the young birds fails to fly, the eagle will not allow it to fall and die. Instead, it will dive down and catch its young in the pinions of its wings. That is how God shielded and protected the Israelites at a time when they were complaining and grumbling.”

God was there for his people when they were complaining and grumbling. He spread his wings to catch them should they fall. I’m far from all understanding this, but it seems I have my answer of how I will get from the branch of weighted expectations to the meadow of surrendered bliss.

(Click on the photo to get to the source. Note. It should read, “I bore you on eagle’s wings and brought you to myself.”)

In my journal, I wrote, God this is my prayer. Bring me to that meadow. Teach me how to live. Teach me what it’s like to follow you and not have burdensome expectations.

Teach me to let go. And show me what I must do now.

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Tarte au Sucre – Sugar Tart

Tarte au Sucre, or sugar tart, is a dessert that comes from the North part of France – Normandy and Nord-Pas-de-Calais, and the like – and if you’ve ever seen the movie Bienvenue Chez les Ch’tis, you’ll know all about Nord-Pas-de-Calais.

(If you haven’t seen that movie, it’s hilarious).

Tarte au sucre is such an interesting recipe. It’s like a coffee cakes with the brown sugar topping, except that it’s made with baker’s yeast instead of baking powder. It’s similar to brioche with the eggs and milk in the dough, except that it doesn’t rise as well and it’s not at all sweet until you add the topping. I’ve seen it likened to pecan pie without the pecans, and some recipes call for using a pie crust, but it’s really not like that at all. Not the traditional kind. I translated and modified this recipe in my attempt to get to an original recipe that suited my taste.

One little tidbit I appreciated reading (although I can’t find the website where I read it) is that the tarte au sucre changed in the early 19th century when Napoleon’s war with England stopped all trade between the two countries. The French no longer had access to cane sugar from England’s colonies, so they started using sugar made from beets, which is what we know as brown sugar. I love learning stuff like that, especially since I write Regency novels. I’m a history buff regarding this particular era.

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Now for the recipe. You need to allow for rising time so you have to plan ahead. Mix 2 cups of flour with a teaspoon of sea salt (it has larger grains than table salt, so reduce the amount to 1/2 teaspoon if you’re using table salt). Form a well in the middle of the flour/salt mixture. In a separate bowl, beat two eggs. And then in another bowl, combine 1/2 cup of warm milk with 2 teaspoons of dried instant yeast. Pour the eggs and milk/yeast mix in the well you’ve created in the middle of the flour.

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I had to redo the dough for this recipe because the first time I used the 15 grams of yeast the original recipe called for without realising that it was calling for fresh yeast. And instant yeast requires only half the amount of fresh yeast. So I had to ditch the first batch, which went very much against the grain, let me tell you. It didn’t taste bad, but I wanted to do the recipe correctly.

Use an electric mixer to beat the dough and add in 80 grams of cold butter, cut in chunks. You should beat the ingredients for 5 minutes (if you’re in a hurry) to 15 minutes (if you have time) to form an elastic dough. This is a good time to tell you I used gluten-free flour, and that works really well for this recipe since the eggs and milk help it to stay together. If you’re making this gluten-free for someone who is intolerant, think of using a gluten-free yeast as well.

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Let it rise in the bowl for an hour. I put it in an oven that was barely warm since it was cold outside. This tarte was traditionally made in the winter when it’s cold and people need more calories. It was also featured at every winter festival in the North of France. However, now it’s made all year around.

Butter and flour a quiche pan, then roll out the dough gently with some more flour.

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I’m not sure how it is with regular flour, but with gluten-free it will not hold together perfectly when you transfer it to the quiche pan. But never mind.

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Let it rise for another hour, or hour-and-a-half, in the quiche pan, and then when you’re ready, pre-heat the oven to 190°C. First you’re going to poke holes in the tarte so the topping can seep through.

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In a separate bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of heavy cream, an egg, and 2/3 cup of brown sugar. The sugar is almost double what the original recipe called for, but I made that adjustment (and reduced the salt) based on the comments in the post, and on other recipes, and my own judgment of what seemed right. Pour it over the top of your dough and add 40 grams of cold butter cut in chunks.

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Into the oven it goes for a half hour.

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And then you’ve got this gorgeous creation.

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The topping caramelises to make this crunchy, chewy addition to the slightly salty (and yeasted) bread. It’s such an interesting combination. It’s good. (Trust me. The tarte is almost gone in our house).

RECIPE

Here’s the recipe with some conversions (grams and celsius). I can’t seem to use the recipe box plugin so I’ll have to type it out. It’s less convenient because you can’t print it out, but it will be all in one place.

Dough : 300 grams flour, gluten-free or regular (2 cups), 1 teaspoon sea salt (or less if table salt). 100 ml warm milk (1/2 cup), 7 grams instant dry yeast (2 teaspoons), 2 eggs, 80 grams of butter (5.5 tablespoons). Form a well with the flour and salt mixture. Beat the eggs in one bowl, and mix the yeast and warm milk in another. Pour both into the flour mix and use a beater to mix. Add the cold butter cut into chunks and mix for at least 5 minutes. Let it rise one hour.

Butter and flour a quiche pan. Roll out the dough until it’s about the same size as the pan, then cover the bottom with dough. Let it rise another hour. Then poke holes in the dough.

Topping : 1 egg, 2 tablespoons heavy cream, 130 grams brown sugar (2/3 cup packed), 40 grams butter (almost 3 tablespoons). Mix everything but the butter and pour over the dough. Sprinkle chunks of cold butter over the top.

Pre-heat the oven to 375°F or 190°C. Bake for a half-hour.

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[image error]I want to leave you with some book news since that’s such a big part of what I do. The first thing is that A Noble Affair is free on kindle for another day if you want to grab a copy.

 

The second thing is that I’m part of a promotion right now where you can read Regency novels and novellas for free in exchange for signing up for the author’s newsletter. (You can always unsubscribe if you find you’re getting too many emails). Click on the button below to access the author giveaway. And I may I add that this is the perfect way to discover if you like my writing. (If you see this post after the promotion is finished, you can still get my Regency novella for free by signing up for my author newsletter here.

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Finally, If you haven’t yet gotten a copy of my newly-released book, A Regrettable Proposal, I hope you will.

 

Have a sweet day! [image error]

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New Regency Release : A Regrettable Proposal

If you’re subscribed to my author newsletter, this post will be a duplicate for you. I’m writing with a special announcement because my Regency novel, A Regrettable Proposal is on sale as of today. It’s been nearly three years since I first started writing it, so this is a big day for me.

And I’m currently working on the sequel, so if you like this one, there’s more to come. * Addendum – see also the other special announcement at the bottom.

See that quote up there? That was the marriage proposal delivered by the hero’s friend. The hero botched his own proposal — and badly.

Eleanor Daventry has come into money, but the inheritance comes with a condition: she must marry to have it. Steadfast Eleanor would rather be a schoolmistress than take a husband she doesn’t love.

Stratford Tunstall has just discovered his predecessor willed the estate’s unentailed land to Miss Daventry. Although cynical regarding love, the man recognizes a practical solution when he sees one. He and Miss Daventry must marry, and Stratford wastes no time in pressing his suit. While drunk.

Eleanor rejects both Stratford and his proposal and flees to London, hoping never to see him again. But she doesn’t realize her best friend has known Stratford from childhood, and the two houses are inseparable.

Now thrown together constantly, Eleanor admires Stratford’s masterful apologies, never mind how often he must deliver them. Stratford concedes that, against all his predictions, Eleanor enjoys success with the ton. How fortunate. Now, if only her suitors didn’t feel the need to apply to him for advice.

When combined forces threaten Eleanor’s reputation, Stratford must decide whether she is worth fighting for. And Eleanor must be convinced his coming to her rescue is a deed inspired by love.

Here’s what people are saying:

 

“I am a huge fan of Jane Austin and Georgette Heyer. I have searched far and wide for an author who could match the talent, emotion and suspense that these authors evoke in a reader. Thrilled to have discovered Jennie Goutet and A Regrettable Proposal!” –  Lesa

 

“This was a well written novel and along the same vein as Georgette Heyer. I appreciated the mannerisms, speech, dress and behavior all fit within the Regency era.” – Desirée

 

“A Regrettable Proposal ranks with the best of Regency romance novels. The historical details are well-researched, as well as the idiomatic expressions of the period. The characters are fully-realized, and not just your stock blandly gorgeous two-dimensional ones, but characters that stay with you. I highly recommend!” – Charlotte

 

“Jennie Goutet’s debut Regency is a charming, tender tale with the added bonus of a full cast of secondary characters I can’t wait to read more about. Thoroughly and lovingly researched, and clearly written with passion for the genre, A Regrettable Proposal ticks all the boxes.” – Cameron

The book is available everywhere, but here are a few links for your convenience:

US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1462123260/

Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07NHJPJRN/

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07NHJPJRN/

Barnes & Nobles : http://bit.ly/2ESqr5b

I hope you’ll check it out! And I’ll see you next week with our regularly scheduled content. (Probably a recipe since it’s been a while).

Bisous,

Jennie

*Addendum : I nearly forgot about my free book. I suppose it’s counter-intuitive to offer a free book at the same time as my new release, but I hope you’ll consider downloading both. A Friend in Paris is free for five days. The link on the sidebar (of my website) should bring you to your Amazon store, no matter which country you’re in. It’s my first time offering this book free, and it’s mainly because I’d like for it to receive more reviews. So go ahead and download a copy for your reading pleasure. And if you can go back and leave a review that would be stellar. Thanks!

The post New Regency Release : A Regrettable Proposal appeared first on A Lady In France.

How to Self-Publish and Market Your Book

I am revamping an old post on how to self-publish and market your book because the need for this basic guide is just as great as when I first posted on the topic; however the publishing system has changed (i.e. no more CreateSpace), and I’ve grown in experience. As such, I’m able to offer more effective tips and tools.

I’m not a best-selling author, but I do well enough, and I’ll be pointing you to the experts who do great. My books are both indie and traditionally-published in the genres of memoir, clean contemporary romance and clean Regency romance. I am grateful to my publisher and want to keep working with them. At the same time, I think self-publishing is a great way to go and I have several more projects lined up in that direction.

(As a disclaimer, some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which means I earn a few cents if you happen to purchase a book I recommend).

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Why Self-Publish?

As you probably know, self-publishing is now perfectly reputable. Sure, it feels nice to have someone else say your work is good enough to represent, or (the golden egg) to actually publish. But here are some reasons why self-publishing is preferable to traditional publishing:

– You don’t have to put your fate and dreams into anyone else’s hands. You can make it happen, and on your timetable.

– Most readers can’t tell that your book was self-published when they’re trawling the Amazon site.

– You earn up to 70% royalties (on Kindle), as opposed to about 10-15% with traditional.

– You decide when it gets published and don’t depend on an editor’s schedule. This is especially important if you have a series and you want to launch the books rapidly and obtain top Amazon ranking. This is how authors earn big money.

– You decide what will go on the cover, and you can make edits to the cover or interior as soon as you decide something is not working. When you go with a traditional publisher, you’re at their mercy for making changes, big and small. And sometimes they say no.

– Even if you’re with a traditional publisher, you still have to do your own marketing. Sure, you’ll get some help, but a lot of it falls on you. If that’s the case, why not reap a greater monetary benefit from your efforts and do it yourself?

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Preparation & Publishing

Step One: Write the Book. If you’re stuck on how to plot a fictional book, my favorite quick writing guide is Write Your Novel From The Middle: A New Approach for Plotters, Pantsers and Everyone in Between[image error] by James Scott Bell. It’s affordable, and you’ll get the essentials without spending tons of time on theory. 

You should have a few beta readers critique the book. A beta reader is any friend or acquaintance who has a good grasp of the English language, and who will not be afraid to give you solid advice and critique after reading it. Those critiques are valuable so take as many of them as you can.

Make sure you also hire a professional editor. I know it’s a cost, but it’s possible to find affordable ones on Fiverr, for example. You can’t miss this step if you want to have your book compete with the thousands of other books out there. There’s no quicker way to tank your ratings and have the sales of your precious book grind to a halt than to receive bad reviews due to grammar, typos, or punctuation issues.

Step Two: Prep work before you publish. As an author, you will ideally already have a blog (and / or author website), a personal Facebook account, as well as a Facebook fan page. You will be on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. (Don’t freak out if you don’t have these things. Spend 3 days per social media platform setting it up, following a bunch of people, and creating some content there). You will end up using some platforms more than others, and if you really must choose, I would say Facebook and Instagram are the most important for the author, with Twitter following close behind.

Brand yourself. The image where your book cover should go (on Amazon, FB, Goodreads, etc) should always have the image of the cover of the book. And wherever you need to put an author photo (Twitter, blog, FB, Amazon, etc), there should be one – no eggheads please. And no space for an image should remain blank. Try to use the same head shot everywhere so people recognise you.

To be more effective on Twitter, install Tweetdeck (it’s not hard) to organise your tweets so you get alerts when someone mentions you. Follow people you admire on Twitter (celebs), and follow people who will hopefully be your peers as well – those who will likely follow you back. Your little profile blurbs can mention your book, but they should be about you. Start a Facebook fan page – it’s easy! But just make one for you, the author. Otherwise, if you make one for each book, there are too many places you have to keep updated. Your tweets, FB updates, and Instagram photos should also be about you in greater proportion than your books.

For your website, it can just be static — one that features all your books with links to buy, teaser chapters, a photo or two, plus a friendly biography. However, you need a newsletter for your fans and you can put the sign-up form on your website. People do search for you when they like one of your books so make sure they find you.

For the newsletter, MailerLite and MailChimp both have free, easy to use, starter newsletters. And if you want to see how crucial newsletters are and get inspired about how to do them well, read Newsletter Ninja: How to Become an Author Mailing List Expert[image error] by Tammi Labrecque or Strangers To Superfans: A Marketing Guide to the Reader Journey (Let’s Get Publishing Book 2)[image error] by David Gaughran. More on David in the marketing section. He recommended Newsletter Ninja, and it is a short, engaging and easy-to-understand book.

If you do have a blog, post pictures, tell people about your life, do book reviews, cook! Whatever interests you. The most important thing is to build relationships. Your tweets and FB shares cannot be 100% about your book or people will block you. (I’m repeating myself, but I’ve seen lots of authors make this mistake).

Sound like a lot of work? It is. But people rarely buy books from someone they’ve never heard of.

Step Three: Hire a cover & internal layout designer. I was not crazy about the the covers I saw that were designed by the Amazon team (which you have to pay for anyway). And I don’t know if this is still true, but if you let Amazon convert your files for you for the interior layout, you can’t send it to people for review. You won’t have access to the files. Once again, Fiverr is a good place for interior design until you find someone you want to work with on a regular basis. You can get pre-made covers for pretty cheap at The Book Cover Designer and then when you find someone you like, you can continue to work with them. Often, they will also do an extended cover for the print version for an additional $40 or so.

A word on formatting for e-readers:

The files you will need are PDF for the print version, as well as for the iPad and certain other e-readers.

There is the Kindle (from Amazon) which needs a MOBI file – and then the Nook (Barnes & Nobles) and Kobo (from Borders). These two need an EPub file, though they also accept other files, such as PDF.

Step Four: It’s time to publish. This part is free. Go to KDP Amazon. Click on the button that says, “Create New Title” and start with the Kindle. There is no reason to do only kindle or only print when you can earn money on both. (Unless – like my novella – The Christmas Ruse, you feel it’s too small to sell as a print copy. Mine is only 6 chapters and I’m using it as a reader magnet, so it’s electronic copy only. More on reader magnets in the marketing section).

And unless you plan to start a small publishing company, there’s really no reason you can’t use the ISBN number provided by Amazon. It’s free (unlike Bowker, which is expensive for ISBNs). For the Kindle version, you’ll get an ASIN number, which serves the same purpose, and which is also provided for free.

Step Five: After you’ve put in the obvious information, such as title and author, you’ll need to include metadata – Amazon keywords so people can find your book, and this is also where you choose the categories for your book. There are experts for this who can give you good instruction – better than I can. Check out Mastering Amazon Ads: An Author’s Guide[image error] by Brian Meeks or Learn Amazon Ads: Use AMS to Find More Readers and Sell More Books[image error] by Mark Dawson. It’s not that all this has to be perfect before you publish – there is always the steepest learning curve at the beginning, but these are things you should plan to read as early as possible so you have the best chances of selling your book.

Step Six: Pricing. For Kindle, I recommend choosing 70% royalties instead of 35% because I can’t think of why you wouldn’t want to earn more money on your title. However, this is not available if you’re selling your book for .99 (more on that below).

I also think you should allow for the open distribution (don’t try to limit people sharing your book) so don’t check DRM (digital rights management). This is my advice, anyway, based on the articles I’ve read. The bottom line is not to be stingy about free books, book lending, giveaways because it’s a cheap form of publicity that will hopefully lead to fans and reviews. And there will always be readers who pay for your books.

As for the actual selling price – for kindle, don’t go above $4.99. People rarely pay more unless they know the author (and even then). I’ve read that the best selling point is $2.99 (and it seems to be true for me as well). I know a lot of people who launch at $.99 for a few weeks to build a sales curve before raising their price, and that does seem to be a good tool. For print, you’re less likely to have as much success selling paperback as you are kindle so try to keep the costs down. Mine are around $10 or $11.

One last piece of advice on Kindle. I recommend going for the Kindle Select program for at least three months. It means you can’t upload your book to be made available to any of the other e-readers, which can be limiting. However, you can let people download the book for free for a certain number of days, or do Kindle Countdown deals for .99 (and you’re still earning the 70% royalties). And that will bring you right up in the page ranks of Amazon and make your book more visible. You also get Kindle Unlimited reads when your book is in KDP select and some of the successful authors I know (who earn 5 figures each month) make most of their sales in KU. I think the positive aspects of doing this outweigh the negative. However, I also understand not wanting to give Amazon that much power. You’ll have to decide that for yourself. Nearly all my sales come from Amazon so it makes sense for me to be exclusive.

If you’re in KDP Select, you can still publish print copies elsewhere, like Barnes & Nobles online. You can use SmashWords to create the paperback for other distributors than Amazon. If you’re a complete novice, let me just mention that Amazon and Smashwords are POD (print on demand). If someone orders a book, Amazon or Smashwords print the book at that time. You don’t have a to buy stock and distribute the books yourself. This is why it’s free for you.

I read that Draft2Digital will also provide print services soon, which is great because they are super user-friendly. Even for the electronic copies, if you decide not to make your book exclusive to Amazon, Draft2Digital is the simplest, easiest-to-understand system for getting your electronic book to all platforms (Apple, Sony, Kobo, Nook, etc).

TARGET YOUR AUDIENCE. A word to the wise. Make sure your cover and title accurately represent your book. And make sure your cover is easy to read and understand in a thumbnail size. You can learn all about writing to market, and market trends, and tropes by following the successful Writing Gals on Facebook, YouTube, and joining their Critique group.

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Marketing

 

Hurrah! Your book is out there! … Now what?

Step One:  If you’re not content with the beginner’s guide, and want the master’s guide, read this before you publish!

Step Two: Get an ARC team in place before your official launch date. That stands for Advanced Reader Copies. You can start a private facebook group and add people who are willing to review in exchange for a free copy. Amazon rules prohibit requiring a review, but you can see who is willing (and able) to leave one, at least. I ask people to review on Goodreads as soon as they’ve finished the book, while it’s still fresh in their minds, then copy their review over to Amazon on launch day.

If you’re a blogger and know other bloggers, ask them to review your book, and make a schedule so that all the reviews don’t fall on the same day. As a nice gesture, link back to their blog in one of your posts saying what you appreciate about their work.

A word on reciprocity. Do your best to read, review and share others’ work. At times people will support you when you cannot return the favour. At other times you’ll support someone who cannot do the same for you. But your reputation precedes you, and it should be one of generosity of spirit.

Step Three: If you’re going to do the 5 days free on Kindle Prime Select or the Kindle Countdown Deal for .99 check out these sites FIRST and decide which ones you will add your book to for extra publicity. You will need a couple weeks (or over a month) notice for some of them so take that into consideration. And I’ll just warn you – it’s very hard to sell .99 books or even give away free copies without paying for some promotion. Why would you pay to give away free books? You gain reviews and there are almost always residual sales that come after a free promotion. I’ll give a more personal example below.

See if you can get BookBub to accept your title in their promotion schedule, and time it with a Kindle Countdown deal at $.99 or a free promotion. It’s expensive – check out the rate sheet here – but the average downloads there far exceed what you’ll pay to participate if you get a .99 deal. Even if you buy a free promotion, the benefits are amazing. My memoir was accepted and I had 22,000 downloads, which gave me over 50 reviews, and was eventually what led to my getting a deal for the audio version. I had residual sales and a spike in KU reads and my book just stayed for a long time in the top 100 of its category.

BookBub has a huge following. It’s not easy to get accepted though, and you’ll want to make sure you have plenty of reviews and that your book is perfect for the market (cover, title, blurb) before you try.

Step Four: If you still don’t have enough reviews for your book (aim for 10 to start out with), you can sign up here to do an author review swap on Goodreads. You read 4 books in exchange for 4 people reading yours (but they are not the same people). You must leave a review on GoodReads and Amazon for each book you review, so that’s 4 more reviews for you in both places.

Step Five: Search for newsletter swap groups on Facebook in your genre. I belong to a newsletter swap groups for clean romance. You arrange to feature 2-3 author’s books in your newsletter in exchange for them featuring your book in theirs. Of course, everyone has to start somewhere and you won’t have many subscribers at the beginning. You will always find authors who are kind enough to swap anyway, or you can offer to share their books on your FB page as well to reach more people. To build your newsletter, you can do this in three ways:

Write a reader magnet (a short novella or short story or entire novel) that you give away for free in exchange for people to sign up for your newsletter. StoryOrigin is a good website to organise this, and at the time of my writing this article, the service is free.
Join a group bundle promotion. You work with a few other authors to include your reader magnet in a group bundle promotion and you each promise to share about the promotion in every way you can – FB, your newsletter, on twitter, etc. This multiples your exposure, and you can also find this on StoryOrigin. There are also places like MyBookCave, Bookfunnel and others, but some you have to pay for.
Make sure you have a teaser chapter (or two) for upcoming works at the end of your books with a link to your newsletter so they can stay up to date on the launch. You can also do this for books that are already out, except you include a link to buy. Don’t lose the opportunity to engage your readers once they’ve finished your book.

Step Six: Submit your book to national book awards. Why not, right? The five cream of the crop awards are found on this website. And the rest of them – many of which seem worthwhile to me (although it can start to get costly), are found here. This is a great thing to put on your bio, and it could get you lots of sales and recognition, even if you were “only” shortlisted. Pay attention to the time of year. All awards are different, but figure out quickly which ones you want to do and note the deadline for each. Most are at the beginning of the year, and since most of them are only for books released the prior year, time is of the essence.

Step Seven: Amazon ads do bring in sales, as do Facebook ads. I’m not an expert at either, so for Facebook ads, check out Kevin David’s “FB Ads Beginner to Expert” Youtube video. And for Amazon, sign up for David Gaughran’s super informative blog and get Amazon Decoded for free as a sign-up bonus. He just put out a new book, BookBub Ads Expert: A Marketing Guide to Author Discovery (Let’s Get Publishing Book 3)[image error], which breaks down the daunting BookBub ads nicely.

I think I’ve covered most of the basics. Marketing can be a serious time-suck, and it’s really exhausting when you’re trying to figure it all out (on top of writing, and – likely – being a parent, and carrying on a full-time job . . .)  My advice is to set a time limit each day and do what you can and be at peace with that.

Also, the best thing you can do for your book sales is to keep writing more books. The more people like your style, the more fans you have who will then buy your books. The most successful authors I know study the market and write what the readers want. Their titles, covers, and back cover copy show exactly what genre the books are in and they publish new books rapidly. Sequels and series do really well, especially for Regency, which is what I write. And some of them are making 5 figures a month. (Check out 50BooksTo50K if you really want to learn from authors who earn excellent salaries).

And that’s it. What about you, authors? Do you have any great tips to share? Please leave them in the comments so we can all benefit. (And if you want to make sure I see it, please use the comment box as Facebook does not notify me of new comments).

And don’t be afraid to get started, even if you haven’t perfectly grasped the process. Get your words out there! The world is waiting for your book.

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Smoked Salmon Quiche

I’m not sure where I got the idea for making a smoked salmon quiche, but I must have seen it somewhere in France (and not been able to eat it since it would surely have contained gluten). I looked at a bunch of recipes, and they were pretty standard and self-evident since quiche-making always contains the same base (eggs-cream-cheese-often nutmeg).

One idea I got from researching, however, was to place entire “sheets” of smoked salmon directly on the crust and put the cheese on top of that before adding the egg-cream mixture. I thought that was a good idea so that’s what I’m doing.

[image error]I have to warn you in advance (with my profuse apologies) that the pictures are not great on this post. I must have have gotten a smidge of cream on the lens (ahem). However, since I had made this twice in a short space of two weeks, I decided just to roll with it and not redo the quiche a third time for better pictures. As my regular readers know, my main focus for the last couple of years has really been on my books and not so much on this blog. But since I like my blog (and I like you guys) I continue to post here twice a month.

Speaking of books, I am a bit behind on this launch, but I finally finished my Christmas novella. It’s a complete story in 6 chapters and it’s on sale for .99 on Amazon. (Link here). Or you can get it for free by signing up for my author newsletter (right here). It’s a perfect way to discover if you like my style of writing — and (if you’ve never read it) the Regency genre as a whole. The rest of my books – memoir, contemporary romance & more Regency – can be found on the sidebar to the right.

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But enough about books. Back to the quiche. I was cracking myself up because I began this post yesterday and used it as a tutorial to teach a friend how to blog. As such, I didn’t work on presenting the text with any sort of finesse.

I had just three sentences and 2 photos from the tutoring session on this blog when I got back to it today, and I almost hit “post” by accident when working behind-the-scenes on something else. It would have been hilarious (and embarrassing) because – although I could have unpublished it right away – it would still have gotten emailed to all my WordPress followers. So just for laughs, I’m giving you my near-miss in two photos / three sentences.

(Initial text from tutoring session in red).

Here is a photo. Here is the crust.[image error]

Here is the salmon on the crust.

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I’m so witty. (ha)

As was so eloquently detailed, there is the crust and there is the smoked salmon on the crust.

A word about the crust. We can now in France get gluten-free flaky and regular quiche & tart crusts. They’re never sweetened and they’re made with fresh ingredients (for the most part) so they’re quite good. I chose a flaky pie crust for this one. If you need a gluten-free recipe, you can use the one from my Dijon mustard tart recipe. It will do the trick, but if you can get a flaky pie crust – gluten-free or regular – I think it will be better suited to this quiche. It’s called pâte feuilletée in French, and it’s almost a cross between regular crust and filo pastry.

Roll out the crust and place 6 slices of smoked salmon on it, which equals about 200 grams. Then put a cup of grated emmental or Swiss (gruyère) cheese on top of that.

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Now you need what’s called the “migaine” in the Lorraine region (mee-genne), which is the egg-cream mixture. I used 4 eggs instead of the 3 that is most often used in quiche recipes.

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I added a half-cup of sour cream to that. 1/4 teaspoon each of nutmeg and white pepper, and a tablespoon of fresh chives. I think you could use 1-2 teaspoons of dried chives or parsley. But fresh chives are best.

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And voilà! Whisk that all together with a fork and pour it over the salmon and cheese layers.

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Bake for 30 minutes in an oven preheated to 375° F (190°C).

And then you have this.

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And then you have this.

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And now you have this:

Smoked Salmon Quiche   Print Prep time 10 mins Cook time 30 mins Total time 40 mins   Serves: 6 Ingredients 1 unsweetened flaky pie crust 6 slices smoked salmon (200 gr) 1 cup grated Swiss or Emmental cheese 4 eggs ½ cup sour cream or crème fraiche ¼ teaspoon nutmeg ¼ teaspoon white pepper 1 tablespoon fresh chives Instructions Preheat oven to 375°F or 190°C. Unroll crust in quiche pan. Layer bottom of the crust with the smoked salmon. Put a layer of grated cheese on top of that. Mix the eggs, cream, herbs & spices and pour that on top of salmon-cheese layers. Bake for 30 minutes and turn in oven if needed for even baking. 3.5.3251

Hope you guys are having a great week!

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Pearls from a Marriage Retreat

We had our fourth marriage retreat last weekend and – except for the first year – it is held here.

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A chateau-based marriage retreat is a really nice benefit of living in France, wouldn’t you say?

This year the château changed owners, and I think the new owner didn’t quite know what to expect from a group of church-goers because he was much more cautious about setting the rules (please end your dance party by midnight and keep the music down). But by the next morning, he was so touched by the teaching he overheard and the music in our Sunday service, he came and sat in and told us we could come back any time. He said that the world needed more of this kind of faith. It was so touching to see his reaction.

The Program

Matthieu and I arrived just after noon, and we had time enough to eat at a crêperie in town and scribble out some love poems because there were gift baskets to try to win.

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Four groups in our church (based on region or stage in life) created gift baskets, and everyone had four chances to win one. The first basket was just for showing up. The second basket was for those who submitted their wedding song. The third basket was for people who wrote a love poem for each other. (Our friends Paul and Stephanie won that and they deserved it! Their poems were so much better than ours, and they actually wrote them in advance like you’re supposed to). And the fourth basket was for bringing a wedding photo.

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So we submitted our song, we showed up, we scribbled out love poems (at lunch) and we brought a wedding photo. Turns out we didn’t have to do all that work because we won the basket just for showing up.

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But I’m getting ahead of myself. We got the keys to our room at 1:45 and quickly brought our things up because the class started at 2:00. The last two years we happened to pluck out the key for a suite, and this year we were going to turn it down if it happened again so someone else could have a chance. It didn’t happen again, and we got this absolutely adorable cozy room in the attic.

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I loved it.

Between 2:00 and 5:30 we had two classes taught by an American-Italian couple (Christina and Marco) who are in the Milan church, plus a croissant break in between.

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I’ll tell you more about those classes in a minute. From 5:30-6:30 we split, and each couple went off with a list of questions to ask each other. Then at 6:30 we came back and met in small groups where we could share with other couples what we’d learned from our spouses and from the class.

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Then it was time to change into fancy dress-wear and sit down to a gourmet meal (salmon for entrée, duck and vegetables for main dish, and I had panna cotta with pineapple for dessert since it was gluten-free). And we danced to each other’s wedding music until midnight. I really need to take salsa lessons so I can get as good as my husband.

The retreat wasn’t quite over because the next morning after breakfast, we had a small service, given by a brother in our Brussels church (who Matthieu and I were really happy to see – we serve together at the pre-teen camp in Switzerland each summer). And I’ll tell you more about that in a minute, too.

We capped everything off with people sharing about what struck them during the classes, decisions they were making, and what they learned / loved. After that, we left to go home, with many of us stopping to have lunch with others on the way.

I don’t think I stopped talking for a single minute because not only was I so happy to see all my friends, but I was also translating for the English-speakers via an app. I was so so tired. It was rich, though, and I’m going to share with you some of my takeaways. They’re really brief – because I was translating, I was not able to take notes, so they’re more like little pearls that I hope will inspire you and give you a flavour for the weekend.

The Pearls

 

The classes were based on Francis and Lisa Chan’s book, You & Me Forever : Marriage in the Light of Eternity (you can click on the title to get to the book). The goal is eternity, which really changes your perspective about marriage. When marriages are suffering in the church, it destroys God’s kingdom. So it’s worth the effort to keep them healthy.

Christina shared about how she had prepared everything in advance to be ready to leave for the airport right after work, and how her bag was packed right by the door so she would be completely stress-free the next morning. But somehow she missed the fact that her boots were in terrible shape and they were coming apart at the seams with holes, both visible and in the soles. It was pouring rain all day and her feet were sopping wet, so she put plastic bags around her feet and put her boots back on.

That night when she got to airport security, to her great humiliation, she had to take her boots off, place them in the tray, and walk through the X-ray machine with bags on her feet. She was so embarrassed, and as soon as they got through security, they tracked down an airport boutique where she was able to buy some new boots. She said – but isn’t our marriage like that at times? It’s falling apart at the seams, messy, not at all glamorous. But God is able to work in those marriages too, and we can’t believe Satan’s lies that it’s too late for us, and there is no hope for our couple.

The following are some takeaways that I got, beginning with …

 

Christina and Marco’s 7 Golden Rules of Marriage

(They jokingly said – “which we give you in all humility”)

Marriage is work. There is no such thing as compatible or not compatible.
Marriage is about acceptance and connection. You can’t have connection until you first truly accept your spouse.
Satan is the enemy, not your spouse. We need great humility in marriage. If – because of your pride – you are opposed to your spouse, then God is opposed to you, because God opposes the proud and lifts up the humble. (James 4:6)
We need to have an agape love for our spouse. (Col 3:14). It’s better to be right with God than to be right, period. We have to stop keeping points.
Part of our connection is sexual, and we need to keep the marriage bed pure. (Heb 13:4). Marco quoted a study done in an evangelical church where 7 out of 10 men admitted to getting their needs met in ways other than by their spouse (masturbation, pornography, prostitutes, affairs).
Ask for help when it’s not going well. Be open.
Live the church life together – open up your home and be a light to the world.

More pearls

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— In marriage, you need to have grace and truth in balance. If you have too much truth, you’ll crush your spouse. Sure, you tell it like it is but you don’t give your spouse a chance to repent and change. They’re flattened by your words. If you have too much grace and not enough truth, it becomes superficial.

— The first goal is always to give glory to God. If your marriage is not going well, your problem is not with your spouse, your problem is with God.

— There’s nothing like marriage to humble us and to make us face up to our own pride and selfishness.

— If your marriage has gotten to a really bad place, and you don’t know what else to do, you can always repent.

[image error]The next day for the Lord’s supper, Christoph from Brussels shared about the difference between Adam as a husband to Eve and Jesus as a husband to the church. Jesus took responsibility for his bride’s sins (the church) and he carried them to the cross, tenderly helping the church to be free from its burden of sin. Adam blamed his wife for her sin and for his own. (This woman You gave to be with me / she gave it to me and so I ate).

Husbands in the church need to be like Jesus and not like Adam.

We were given some questions to ask each other and then continue to reflect on – and pray about – even after we went home. I’ll leave you with these:

Spouse questions:

Husband to wife : What do you need from me in order for us to be emotionally and spiritually connected?

Wife to husband : What do you need from me to feel more respected and supported?

For those who have children : Do our children see Jesus in our relationship, our dynamic, and how we are with outsiders?

What aspects of our life show that Jesus’s mission to make disciples is something that’s important to us? And what are flagrant aspects of our life that show our disobedience in this area?

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I did fix my blog feed so those of you who subscribe by email should get this post in your inbox. See you in two weeks! I think a good recipe will be my next post.

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Roasted Tomatoes and Dijon Salad Dressing

This is a two-fer post with two entirely different recipes in one – roasted tomatoes with parmesan, garlic and herbs, and a French Dijon mustard salad dressing – although you could serve both at the same meal. Honestly, I felt that posting just a recipe for roasted tomatoes was cheating because it’s such an easy thing to make.

However, wouldn’t you agree that sometimes recipes merely serve as ideas-generators so that you have an idea of what to make for dinner?

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Take 5-6 tomatoes and cut them in half. I decided to make this recipe because I needed to use up the tomatoes I had in the fridge. They were starting to wilt and would have been no good for salad or mozzarella slices. I also made this dish because I had been craving the garlic-tomato-olive oil component.

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Pre-heat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Then crush two medium-sized cloves of garlic and mix it with a half-cup parmesan. You’ll also need 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and herbs. 

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Now for the herbs, I thought it would be fun to try thyme, oregano, basil, and a parsley mix (that includes dried shallots). So that’s what I did.

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Here’s what I found. The thyme is a little strong and reminds me of summer and Provence. If you want that pungent taste, then you’ll like it. The oregano tastes like eating pizza without the carbs, which is not a bad thing. The basil and parsley mix both taste good, and I would recommend one or the other if you want more of a traditional taste for your roasted tomatoes.

I salted the tomato halves and sprinkled them all with pepper, but I didn’t measure either. However, I did measure the 2 tablespoons of olive oil that I poured over the 10 tomatoes halves. If you’re trying to cut down on oil, I think you could get away with just one.

Sprinkle the top with the crushed garlic and parmesan mixture and put it in the oven for 10 minutes. I don’t trust my grill function, so I put it in a regular oven but placed the tray near the top. (I need to get my oven looked at. The convection part doesn’t work anymore, which makes baking difficult, especially for pastries).

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After ten minutes, they’re ready to eat. You can leave them in for 5 additional minutes if you want the tomatoes really cooked. I tried it both ways, but honestly I didn’t think the extra 5 minutes made a huge difference.

After 10 minutes

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After 15 minutes.

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About to go in my belly… (ha)

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Yuuuuum! They were as good as they look. And because this was an embarrassingly simple blog post, I decided to create a bonus little video on how to make the yummiest salad dressing ever. Did you know the French eat salad pretty much every day at the end of a meal? It’s served before – or at the same time as – the cheese platter.

Here’s the video! You can hear me say the word “beautiful” one time too many. I think I was craving salad or something.

 

And that’s it for this week, friends. I’m chugging along with writing my Regency Christmas novella that I’m going to give away for free to my author newsletter subscribers. The snow outside is certainly helping to set the mood. As soon as I hit post, that’s what I’m going to be doing. I hope wherever you are, your home is warm and your heart (and table) full.

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Blessed Are

Happy new year! It’s been a couple of weeks since I posted, and I hope you had a good start to 2019. We had a great holiday – very relaxing – and I was able to catch up on, not only writing projects, but also on my rest, some cleaning, relationships, and life as a whole. So I’m feeling refreshed and ready for the new year.

If you miss hearing from me regularly and getting more of the personal updates, you can always sign up for my author newsletter which comes out on the alternate Wednesdays in which I don’t post a blog. The letter includes a couple paragraphs of personal news, any potential book news, and book deals from other authors (usually in the genre of sweet romance). Since I’m trying not to duplicate efforts, this blog will be more topic-oriented, serving for posts on faith, recipes, and tourism with the personal news appearing mainly in the newsletters. If that sounds like your cup of tea, you can sign up here.

With the new year at hand, this post on the Beatitudes is timely, I think, because the word “blessed” has a richer connotation than simply “content”. Implied is the spirit of moving forward.

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My husband spoke to me about his recent study on the Beatitudes and the word “blessed”.  Matthieu has a Bible that he loves, which he discovered early on in his faith. It’s a direct French translation of the Hebrew, and it’s called Chourqui after the man who translated it. He learns so much from this Bible because the translations are sometimes quite unexpected.

For instance, in this French version, the word “blessed” in Matthew 5 is translated each time to en marche. It means onward – the connotation of moving forward. He wondered where that came from and decided to do a little digging.

In Genesis 30:13 you see the root of this word. When Leah’s servant Zilpah had her second son, Leah said (translated in a literal sense from Hebrew), “In my enthusiasm, yes! The women have spoken of my enthusiasm.” Then she cried out his name : Asher.

In fact the word blessed comes from this name, Asher. We usually associate blessed only with the meaning of happy. But in the original Hebrew it had a double meaning.

Blessed (Asher) means happy, to be sanctified, to be spoken well of.

Blessed (Asher) also means to walk straight, to be guided, even to reproach, to move forward.

So when Jesus speaks of being blessed, there is this double meaning of being happy and enthusiastic in your circumstances, zealous for your task, as well as being guided as you move forward, guided as you walk straight. Matthieu thought the best translation for this was “enthusiastic”. As for me, I think “onward” sums it up well.

In the Beatitudes, Jesus turns the world upside down. He takes the very opposite of what we think should make us happy and tells us it’s the contrary of worldly contentment that brings us blessings. And since personal examples are so encouraging, I wanted to share some of people I know who I think illustrate these qualities.

Sure, we don’t feel enthusiastic when we are poor, in mourning, are meek, persecuted, or hungry and thirsty for righteousness. We’d rather things be easy and comfortable. But something happens in our hearts when we see others moving onward as they endure, when we see others even enthusiastic as they continue on for Jesus – and when we experience such grace for ourselves.

God has been working to powerful effect in us through our trials, and through it we can only be blessed.

The Beatitudes

Onward are the poor in spirit. There is a woman in my church in Florida named Terri, who was paralyzed from the neck down in August, 2013. She was living an active life, and one day she got dizzy and fainted for no apparent reason, and when she woke up, she was lying on her kitchen floor and could not move. Terri had to wait there nearly two days before her co-workers started to worry and called for help.

Terri’s recovery was very difficult and she had to undergo of lot of emotional healing before she could get to a place where she felt blessed. In a recent blog post, she wrote,

“Although I couldn’t see it at the beginning, so much good has come from my injury. Writing this blog has changed the course of, and outlook on, my life. Where I felt completely worthless in the early days of my injury, I now feel confident and equipped to encourage others. Hard times are meant to strengthen our faith.”

Terri is a beautiful example of a woman moving onward through such a trial, and you can be inspired by her blog posts here. When you read them, you will see for yourself : Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom in heaven.

Onward are those who mourn. When I think about my own periods of mourning, all of which I wrote about in my memoir, Stars Upside Down, I feel very differently about it now than I did when I was going through it. I can see my path even with enthusiasm that – although I would not wish to face the loss of another loved one, nor would I wish it on anyone – God has not only comforted and healed me through these trials, he has helped me to stand. He helped me to move onward to face life with enthusiasm and courage.

I think of my friend Anna, who lost her 12-year old son, Jack, eight years ago. She would not have wished for this loss and would not wish it on anyone. But God has comforted her, and strengthened her, and she is now keeping up with a charming toddler after an unexpected pregnancy at age 46. How kind God is. You can read about her story on An Inch of Gray or read her wonderful book, Rare Bird to see the power with which God has been working in her life even through her grief.

I think of Guy Hammond, who started the ministry Strength in Weakness. He lived an active homosexual lifestyle until he was 24 years old, when he became a Christian. He married a woman named Kathy and they had 27 years together before she died from a brain tumor at the end of last year. If you see his video here, you will see just how much he is still in mourning.

He said, “Grief is a bear… I have been just so sad. You just happened to interview the saddest and loneliest man you’ve ever met. I am really struggling through life. ”

But you also see his strength. You see how he’s getting up again – how he’s moving onward. And this inspires us to wish deeply for his comfort, to be enthusiastic for his victory, anticipating the day not only when he will be comforted on earth, but also when he will be reunited with his best friend Kathy, and his Lord in heaven. Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.

Onward are the meek. I think of my friend Marjorie, who lives here in France. When her children were younger, they hosted a birthday party, and her son invited a friend from school. The child was disobedient and wild and did not respect the rules Marjorie had set out for the kids, particularly in regards to using the trampoline. He broke his arm, and instead of the parents apologizing for their son’s behavior, they decided to sue my friend.

Marjorie was angry at the unfairness of it, but she decided not to give herself over to bitterness. She did not tell the other mothers in the school about the infamous behavior of this parent. She did not allow her son to shun the child. And although she needed to hire a lawyer, she trusted Jesus that his will be done. She moved onward and it’s so inspiring. What’s a small court case compared to the entire earth after all? Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Onward are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. I think of Sabrina in our Paris church, who lives in Normandy. She gets up at 5:30 every Sunday to drive to church in Paris so she can get there early and be ready for fellowship. She didn’t know God at all. She has five children from different husbands, and her lifestyle was more geared towards going to the clubs than it was attending Sunday service.

But there was Samuel who came back to church, looking to be restored after he had fallen away, and he had been dating Sabrina so he brought her. He was restored in the faith, but unfortunately only for a short time before he fell away again. Sabrina, however, stayed and became a Christian. In fact, she also reached out to Samuel’s ex-wife, Kelly, who also used to go to our church. Kelly came back to church and was restored in her faith. And Kelly brought Laurent, the man she had a civil contract with (not quite married but there is a legal agreement). And he became a Christian and was baptised at the end of December.

Sabrina’s faith inspires all of us. She’s zealous, would not miss church for anything even if she throws her back out or gets sick (both of which happened). Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Onward are the merciful. I think of Priscilla, who writes at Toddling Faith. Seven years ago, she lost her child and her parents on the same day when her mentally-ill brother murdered them. This is an excerpt from her post entitled, Forgiveness.

As time went by my prayers started to change. As my understanding of the Gospel and Christ’s sacrifice deepened, forgiveness became possible. Instead of “God help me to forgive”, I started to pray, “Father, what does forgiveness look like?”

Priscilla decided to forgive her brother, though it was not easy. If you read her blog, you can see that she still struggles, but her walk onward honors God. I can imagine Jesus standing at the right hand of God, like he did with Stephen, amazed at her faith expressing itself through an abundance of mercy. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Onward are the pure in heart. I think of Orion’s mother. Orion is a brother in our church here in Paris, who is Chinese. His parents are Buddhist and, until a couple years ago, their house was filled with Buddhist shrines, and his mother burned incense to them every day. He had talked to her about Jesus, but she never listened until one day when she was complaining to Orion about the problems she had in her life, and his response was : “Maybe you should get rid of all the idols. That’s what’s causing your unhappiness.”

The same day, his mother threw them all out. She studied the Bible for a couple of months with her son, his wife, and another brother in the church whose words they translated for her. Here was a woman who was over 80 years old, half deaf, could only speak Cantonese though she lived all her adult life in Paris, and she made the decision to get baptized. She was willing, on the advice of her son, to give up her idols and live for Jesus. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Onward are the peacemakers. I think of Jason and Delphine who go to our church. Jason is Australian, Delphine is French. Until a year ago, they lived in London and were part of our church there. They decided to come with their four boys to live in France where Delphine’s family was. Recently, Jason did the welcome message in church (translated by his wife) and shared that they moved to a new house and were very excited about the new location.

Not long after they moved in, a neighbor came to complain about the noise and said he was not the only one who was made unhappy by it. Jason said his first reaction was to start spouting all the French laws that would protect their right to make noise in their own home within reasonable hours. They did, after all, have four boys.

Instead of reacting on his first impulse, he and his wife decided to throw a huge party for the entire block. So this family invited all their neighbors to meet them and their boys (who dressed up and walked around with plates of appetisers). And now they have built several meaningful relationships in the community and have also been able to share their faith. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Onward are the persecuted. I think of Nalini. I’ve written about her here in one of my posts on our trip to India. She lives in Chennai and is only a little older than me. When she was 18 years old, Nalini, who was Hindu from the Brahmin caste, decided to become a Christian.

Her parents and her brothers were furious, and they persecuted her heavily. Her brothers dragged her out of church by her hair and beat her in front of everyone. But the culture did not allow any of the brothers and sisters in the church to intervene. They locked her in her room for an entire month, forgetting, by the grace of God, that she had a Bible in there. It only served to strengthen her faith.

Nalini is still faithful today, with her husband who was also a former Hindu of the Brahmin caste, and they have been strong leaders in the church and in for the charitable organization, HOPE worldwide for almost 40 years. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

And what about you, friends? Have you been poor in spirit? Are you mourning? Are you hungry and thirsty for righteousness? Do you feel meek?? Have you been called to show mercy, to be pure in heart, to be a peacemaker? Are you persecuted?

Sometimes we feel oppressed, as if we were so small and insignificant. Sometimes we feel ineffective. Sometimes we feel like a failure. But this is not how God views us. He will guide us n the straight path. We can be enthusiastic as he leads us onward.

We are blessed.

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The post Blessed Are appeared first on A Lady In France.

Arugula Pesto Pasta

This arugula pesto recipe is from my friend, Danila, who works as an Italian teacher for corporations. She got it from the chef at Barilla. I’ve talked about Danila on my blog before and she also has a place in my memoir since our daughters are best friends and we bought our first apartment from them completely by chance (based on an internet search).

Speaking of memoirs, the contest for four audio copies of Stars Upside Down has ended so scroll to the bottom to see the winners. I’ll also give a brief vision of my blog and author newsletter for 2019.

And since I’m sure you’re here for the pasta, let me get on with it!

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Danila and a few friends planned a surprise party for my birthday last month and she served this dish. Ever since I put that first forkful in my mouth, I knew I had to share the recipe with you. This is the gluten-free pasta she used, and I like it because the fusilli is fatter than the version I usually use.

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First, get a large pot of water boiling. I added a tablespoon of sea salt as there is no additional salt added to this recipe.

Then sauté a minced onion in a bit of olive oil and when the onion is soft and slightly brown, add 1 1/2 or 2 cups of cherry tomatoes cut in half (I used cocktail since the cherry tomatoes weren’t ripe) and 200-300 grams of Prosciutto.

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If you’re making gluten-free, make sure the ham is labeled as such. And also check the pine nuts to make sure there’s no trace of gluten in those. Otherwise you’re good to go.

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If you can multi-task, while the ham is getting crispy in the tomato-onion sauté, put 3/4 cup of pine nuts in the blender with 2 tablespoons olive oil, a large clove of garlic, and about 5 packed cups of fresh arugula.

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When you start to blend it, you’ll notice that not much moves because there’s not a lot of moisture. Unless you have a magical blender, which I definitely do not. Start adding tablespoons of the water from the boiling pasta (which has the pasta starch and salt in it). I needed to add 18 tablespoons in order to make my pesto.

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When the pesto has been blended perfectly and the pasta is drained, combine the pasta with the ham-tomato mixture.

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Then put the pesto sauce in a flat bowl like this.

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The recipe makes 4-6 full dinners, depending on how hungry you are, or 8 hearty entrées (appetizers). And it makes 2 cups of pesto so you’ll need to divide the number of people you’re serving by the amount of pesto you have. For instance, if you’re serving 6 people, 1/3 cup of pesto goes in the bottom of the plate.

It’s gorgeous right? My kids don’t like arugula, but they did like this pasta – except for the youngest. You put the pasta on top of the sauce and let each guest turn it to mix in the pesto.

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And of course you’ll want to add parmesan cheese!

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Can’t you just taste it? Here! Have a bite!

[image error]I know, I know. I’m torturing you.

You’ll just have to make it yourself!

So here’s the recipe :

Arugula Pesto Pasta   Print Prep time 30 mins Cook time 20 mins Total time 50 mins   Cuisine: Italian Serves: 4-8 Ingredients 400 grams uncooked pasta, which is just under a pound but you can use that. 1 tablespoon sea salt for the boiling water 1 onion 200-300 grams Italian ham (1/2 lb) 250 grams cherry tomatoes, cut in half (about 1.5-2 cups) ¾ cups pine nuts 125 grams arugula (5 cups packed) 1 clove garlic 2 tablespoons olive oil 18 tablespoons hot salty water from pasta parmesan cheese, optional Instructions Cook pasta according to directions Sauté onion, then add ham and tomatoes at the same time and cook until ham is slightly crispy. Put pine nuts, garlic, oil in blender and top with arugula. Turn blender on and add 18 tablespoons of hot water from the boiling pasta, one spoon at a time to be sure it's not too watery. Drain the pasta and combine with ham mixture. Place some pesto on the bottom of a flat bowl and put the pasta on top. Serve hot and let each guest turn their own pasta. Top with parmesan (optional). 3.5.3251

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Now that we have dinner out of the way, let’s talk shop. First are the winners of the audio version of Stars Upside Down. Congratulations to …

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Now for the bit of housekeeping. I may write another post after Christmas (a light one with photos and family news) but I’m not sure. It’s been a stressful autumn with the launch of my French memoir, my contemporary romance, and the final revisions due for the Regency to come out next March. I want to take time to spend with my family and also allow my creative juices – which are spent – to make a comeback.

My plan is, starting in January of 2019, to post on this blog every other Wednesday, and send out an author newsletter on the alternate weeks. The main reason is that it takes most of the day to do a blog post, and almost as long to do a newsletter (or at least a good chunk of the day) and that means less time for book writing, which I’m slowly coming to consider as my main source of income.

If you’re curious about what it means to subscribe to my blog versus my newsletter, let me explain. My blog mainly contains posts on faith, recipes, or French tourism. My newsletter has more personal news in addition to the books (my own and written by other authors) that I promote each week. If you want to sign up for my author newsletter, you may do so here. And if you haven’t yet read any of my books, the purchase links are right there on the sidebar of this blog.

Merry Christmas!

Jennie

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The post Arugula Pesto Pasta appeared first on A Lady In France.

Winners! And a New Giveaway

I promised a short and sweet post today, and this is it. I’m announcing the two winners of my paperback giveaway (plus Paris postcards) of A Friend in Paris, and the two winners are …

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They’ve both been notified by email. Congratulations, Nancy and Kelly!

However, the giving season is not over because I have another announcement to make.

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The audio version of my memoir, Stars Upside Down – a memoir of travel, grief, and an incandescent God is available for sale! You can download it on the Tantor website directly, by clicking here.

You can get it on Amazon by clicking here.

(Or directly on Audible here).

You can find it by doing a search on any of the following websites: Audible, Google Books, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, and other smaller retail distributors, as well as Hoopla and Overdrive.

Or … you can try for yet another giveaway. I’m giving away four free audio copies of Stars Upside Down. All you need to do is enter here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now, I don’t have a choice about when the giveaway starts or stops so some of you will see this post before the giveaway begins. And since it will end on Friday next week, I’ll be putting out a blog and author newsletter on the same day to announce the winners (instead of posting a blog on Wednesday).

My next blog post, by the way, is going to be a fabulous Barilla pasta recipe with an arugula pesto sauce that my Italian friend gave me. I’ll also post the audiobook winners. The newsletter, as usual, will contain two book deals in addition to a brief bit of my personal news.

Not yet signed up to my author newsletter? You can do that here. While I do announce my book releases on this blog, the newsletter contains book deals and new releases from other authors, mainly in the genre of sweet romance. And I always write a paragraph or two of personal news that is different than what goes on the blog. At the moment it comes out every Friday, but I’m toying with the idea of cutting down to twice a month starting in January.

Anyway. I’m rambling. Below is a sample of what the memoir sounds like on audio. It was a bit of a shock to hear my words read by someone who is not me. But after listening for a bit, I decided I liked her voice. I’m not sure I would have chosen this excerpt. (Oh my goodness it’s so vulnerable – way more so than my words on paper). But anyway … here it is.

https://aladyinfrance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/L1314_StarsUpside.mp3

What do you think? Well, you know where to sign up if you’d like your copy.

Until next Friday then.

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