Inglath Cooper's Blog, page 20

The Bristol: A Hotel with a Cat

Large hotels don’t typically have cats. But the Bristol does. And his name is Fa-raon.

His address is 112 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris.

We are told about him upon arriving at the hotel. The staff at the front desk are clearly fond of him and tell us about his frequent appearances when people check in. How he likes to spend time in the garden area and has never once ventured out the front onto the street.

It’s easy enough to understand why. By most comparisons, he has his own feline Versailles.

We aren’t able to track him down on our first day at the hotel. But the next morning after breakfast, we are waved aside by a friendly clerk who asks if we want to see the mysterious Fa-raon since he happens to know his current napping location.

My daughters are ecstatic to hear of it, and we follow the man to an enormous room where special events are held. And there is Fa-raon, giving himself a bath as if it is part of a daily ritual we are rudely interrupting.

He’s a princely guy. Regal with a coat as soft as cotton. His eyes are blue like the Mediterranean. And it is clear he gets more attention than he may actually want. He tolerates our adoration with polite indulgence. And when enough seems like enough, he stands and sashays away as if to say, “You have seen me. Now off with you.”

The Bristol Hotel in Paris is a wonderful place to stay for many reasons, location, beautiful rooms, very friendly English-speaking staff. But what makes it stand out for me is its designation of Fa-raon as its star attraction. Kindness, after all, really is everything.

 

 

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I love to read, and I love to write stories about people I might actually want to know in real life! Click here to download a FREE copy of my book Good Guys Love Dogs! http://inglathcooper.com/good-guys-love-dogs-free-gift

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A Great Italian Restaurant in Paris?

Who goes to Paris looking for great Italian food? I did. And found it in a wonderful place called La Farnesina located at 9 Rue Boissy D’anglas.

It’s been said that you can’t find a bad meal in France, and even when it comes to Italian food, it proved true at Farnesina. We arrived at eight p.m. for our reservation, late for us dinner-wise, but we had flown into Paris that morning and were trying to switch schedules. Even so, most of the diners arrived at eight-thirty. Very French and very stylish. The people watching here was nearly as good as the food.

I started with an arugula salad adorned with small cherry tomatoes, finely sliced parmesan cheese, mushroom, wonderful olive oil and sea salt. This could have been my entire meal. Very filling and delicious. For my main course, I ordered the Spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce and basil. The noodles tasted homemade. My family also tried the ravioli with spinach and the Pizza Margherita et mozzarella Fior Di Latte. We finished up with the Tiramisù. Perfect! Check out the menu.

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Click here to download a FREE copy of my book Good Guys Love Dogs and join my mailing list for announcements of other giveaways and new releases! http://inglathcooper.com/good-guys-love-dogs-free-gift

I love to read, and I love to write stories about people I might actually want to know in real life! If you love a good love story, click here to read excerpts from my other books!

Like my Facebook Page at: www.facebook.com/inglathcooperbooks

Follow me on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/#!/inglathcooper

Love Books Love Reading

I love books. I love reading. Someone asked me why recently, prompting me to give the question some thought. If you’re someone who’s never really gotten it, the curiosity is understandable. Movies are exciting. When a movie nails the story, I would agree they are hard to beat. But books have such an expansive canvas that we often get to know its people so much more completely. I love so many of the people I’ve met in the books I’ve read. Many of them stay in my memory like individuals I’ve actually known in real life. I think my own desire to become a writer came from that very ambition. I wanted to create for others the same kinds of characters readers might come to love the way my favorite writers had done for me. It’s a tall order without doubt. I started writing fiction in college, and my early manuscripts fell far short of the goal. It took me years of writing to reach a point where my characters lost their two dimensional feel and began to resemble real people.

I used to do critiques with a writer friend of mine. We joked that our characters ate a lot because when we couldn’t think of a plot point for them we would put them at the table and let them talk while passing bowls of mashed potatoes. Eventually, we both found other things for them to do which no doubt improved the pacing of our stories.

With every book, I try to improve on some part of the reader experience. I love a good love story, and so that’s a central focus of my books. I want to show who the characters are and what’s happened in their lives to make them who they are. And I try to put situations and obstacles in front of them that make them question and maybe even redefine what they know about themselves.

I want my stories to take readers through a range of emotions, both laughter and tears. And I hope to take them to another place for a little while. Vacations are hard to come by, but it’s wonderful to know that within the pages of a book, you can go most anywhere for a few hours.

So if you love books and you love reading, I’d like to think one of mine might introduce you to someone you’d like to know in real life. And take you somewhere for a bit of time that you might like to go.

It would make me happy to know that I accomplished that!

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Click here to download a FREE copy of my book Good Guys Love Dogs and join my mailing list for announcements of other giveaways and new releases! http://inglathcooper.com/good-guys-love-dogs-free-gift

I love to read, and I love to write stories about people I might actually want to know in real life! If you love a good love story, click here to read excerpts from my other books!

Like my Facebook Page at: www.facebook.com/inglathcooperbooks

Follow me on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/#!/inglathcooper

 

End of Summer White Peach and Pear Cobbler

I don’t know about you, but days like today, hot end of summer Virginia days, make me think of family get togethers, reunions at the lake and Sunday afternoons at my Grandma’s house. Desserts were a highlight of the meals provided on those days, and cobblers were always a favorite dish. I can still see my Grandma cutting up the fruit and placing it in her favorite baking pan. And I haven’t forgotten the aroma of  one of those bubbling hot pies cooking in the oven.

I put together a White Peach and Pear Cobbler today that I hope will come close to being as good as one of hers. If you have other summer fruit lying about that you would rather use, feel free to substitute.

Here’s what you’ll need:

3 white peaches

3 green pears

1/2 stick of butter

2 1/2 cups of milk

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

1 cup of regular sugar

1/2 cup of brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice fruit and chop into bite-size chunks. Spread in 9 x 13 baking dish. Slice half stick of butter in pieces and place throughout the fruit.

In a heavy saucepan, combine milk, flour and regular sugar. Heat on low to medium low and stir until thickened. Thin with more milk if necessary. Pour sauce over fruit in baking dish. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Place in oven and bake for 20-30 minutes or until bubbly and crispy brown on top.

Enjoy!

I love to read, and I love to write stories about people I might actually want to know in real life! If you love a good love story, click here to read excerpts from my books!

Inglath Cooper

Like my Facebook Page at: www.facebook.com/inglathcooperbooks

Follow me on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/#!/inglathcooper

The Lady in the Blue Coat

While clicking through some pictures I took in Italy last September, I came across this one and remembered how much I loved it. We had taken a ferry from Capri over to Positano on a warm September afternoon. We had lunch at a wonderful little cafe on the waterfront and then walked up to the top of town. The views were breathtaking. On the way back down, we wandered in and out of shops. I spotted the lady in the blue coat walking just ahead of us with someone who looked like she might be her daughter. It was just the kind of thing my own grandmother would have done, putting on a coat for such an outing even though it wasn’t cool.

I couldn’t help watching the two women, the care with which the daughter eased her down the winding street. And I imagined there was a time when the older woman might have been the one leading her young daughter through the town, holding her hand and tucking her close when cars passed. That’s what family is. What it should be. Love given. Love returned.

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I love to read, and I love to write stories about people I might actually want to know in real life! If you love a good love story, click here to read excerpts from my books!

Inglath Cooper

Like my Facebook Page at: www.facebook.com/inglathcooperbooks

Follow me on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/#!/inglathcooper

The Killing – A Netflix Nugget

I have become a devourer(is that a word?) of series television shows. Only if they grab me right off, mind you, but when they do, it’s like finding a great book for me. I don’t want to quit watching until I’ve reached the end. This can be a bit time-consuming as addictions go.

My most recent find is The Killing. Seasons One and Two are available on Netflix. If you’re panning for entertainment gold, this one is a very large nugget. The show originally aired on AMC, but since I rarely watch actual television, I wasn’t aware of it. I ran across the show while browsing through things recommended for me in my Netflix account. The feature pic for the show was off putting to me, and I resisted clicking for several browse-throughs. I like thrillers, but not gore. The picture looked like it might indicate more of the latter.

But for some reason, I did click. And I’m glad I did. The Killing is an extremely well-done, high-quality show. The main event that triggers everything that happens from episode to episode is the murder of a teenage girl named Rosie. She is found in the trunk of a car at the bottom of a lake. Two Seasons center on figuring out who committed this atrocious act.

The two main characters are amazingly well-drawn. Sarah Linden() and Stephen Holder () are partners matched up to solve the crime. They both come with their own extraordinary sets of baggage, but there is something compelling about each of them. More compelling still is their interaction with each other. I have to say I love Stephen. He’s a former meth addict who’s so flawed you can’t help but love him. His street speech makes him appealing and likeable.

I watched both Seasons over a rainy weekend when I wanted to take a break from writing and immerse myself in someone else’s story. Every minute was entertaining, and I highly recommend the series if you like thrillers with characters you become attached to.

Writers listed for the show are  Veena Sud, Nicole Yorkin, Aaron Zelman,Eliza Clark, Jeremy Doner, Dawn Prestwich, Dan Nowak, Wendy Riss Gatsiounis. And this show features some really fine writing.

Season Three premieres on AMC June 2nd. I’ll be watching.

If I Lose Myself – Another One Republic Favorite

I love this song! If I Lose Myself, another One Republic example of what makes songs so much a part of our lives, hits every note of appeal for me. From the first second of the intro, it’s obvious the music is going to hook its listener. We’re pulled along on a wave of energy that invites “Get up and move!” Think I’ll put this one on the Playlist for tomorrow’s workout.

You can watch the If I Lose Myself video here.  The One Republic appearance on American Idol is pretty cool, too! ThGet the song here.

I like the Dance version with Alesso.

Downton Abbey – Why is It So Good?

If you’ve heard anything about Downton Abbey, it’s probably from someone who has watched the show and publicly raved about it. If you haven’t heard about it yet, I’m going to be one of those people.

For starters, I drag my feet on period pieces. I don’t really know why, because I often end up loving them. Personal quirk, I guess. Downton Abbey was no exception. I’d seen a couple of posts on Facebook highly recommending it. I’d also heard a few friends say they’d started watching it and couldn’t quit until they were through the series.

Even with all that praise, it took me a while to give it a try. Huluplus has the first two seasons, and I clicked on Episode One thinking it might be something pleasant to watch before going to sleep each night. Hah. Twenty minutes in, and I was intrigued. By the end of the first episode, I can honestly say I was hooked. Four episodes later, it’s after one a.m. and I’m still up.

Fictional Downton Abbey is set at Highclere Castle. Set in the World War I era, Downton Abbey takes place in the Yorkshire countryside and features the aristocratic Crawley family. We are immediately drawn into their lives, their interactions with each other and with their servants. Each of the characters is completely compelling.

It is also simply a beautiful show. The setting, the clothing, the people make it a visual feast. Favorite characters? Matthew Crawley, Lady Mary Crawley, Robert, Earl of Grantham and John Bates.

On a closing note, the last scene in the last episode of Season 2 was worth waiting for and then some!

You can check Downton Abbey out here on PBS or here on Huluplus.com.

 

Kindle Paperwhite Giveaway!

Nashville Part One and Part Two Now Available as a Combined Edition! http://amzn.to/16mMTxz

“Her car catches fire, 2 smokin’ hot guys stop to help. . . .the rest is history.” – Amazon Reviewer

“Inglath Cooper made me cry. I cried. I did. This rarely happens when I read but Cooper brought me to tears more than once. This story is so simple and real it is overwhelmingly compelling. Maybe it’s just because I’m also struggling artist who loves dogs and irascible men but CeCe was so easy to relate to, to connect with. I definitely want the next book and I want it NOW.” – G. Wright – Amazon Reviewer

“This book captured my attention from the very start! The characters are each unique yet seem to fit together. I love each of them, especially Hank. I was reading this on a plane and was so disappointed when I turned the page and realized I was going to have to wait to find out what happens. Excellent! I definitely recommend Nashville!” – Bookishblonde – Amazon Reviewer

I’m so excited about the Combined Edition release of Nashville Part One and Part Two! Help spread the word by sharing this post with your friends on Facebook or Twitter, and you will be be entered in my KINDLE PAPERWHITE GIVEAWAY! Just leave me a comment below telling me where you shared it along with your email address for winner notification. If you would rather not leave your email address here, you can email it to: inglathcooper@gmail.com. 11 winners will be chosen. First prize is a Kindle Paperwhite. Other prizes include 5 signed paperback copies of Truths and Roses and 5 signed paperback copies of Good Guys Love Dogs. The winners will be announced May 12th! Thank you for sharing and thank you for entering!

The Best Romance Novels are Great Books

A good book is like a mini-vacation, and for me, that has always been the appeal. No matter where I am – dentist’s office, doctor’s appointment, airplane – a great story takes me out of a less than appealing spot of time and puts me somewhere infinitely more pleasant.

Maybe nothing does that quite like the best romance novels, where we follow two people who want to be together, who ought to be together, but can’t quite clear all the obstacles thrown in their way. Romance books comprise many of the top positions on Bestseller lists. Who doesn’t like to watch two people fall in love? Remember what the newness of that feels like?

Put them in a small town with some lovable secondary characters, and you have LaVyrle Spencer’s romance books like The Hellion, Bittersweet, Separate Beds or Spring Fancy.

Put them at odds over how to heal a broken horse and the girl who loves him, and you have The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans.

Or pair Meggie Cleary with Ralph de Bricassart, and you have The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCollough.

Strand a teenage boy and his English teacher on an island, and you have On The Island by Tracey Garvis Graves.

Jane Eyre and Edward Rochester, and you have Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (loved the 2011 movie version!)

Each of these books took me through a torrent of emotions, and left me at various points along the way happy, sad, amused, conflicted, and wistful. That’s a journey well worth taking.

Many great books aren’t romance novels, but the best romance novels are great books.

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Inglath Cooper

I love books! From my earliest memories, I loved being read to and then reading practically every book in my elementary school library. There’s something about taking a little trip into a wonderful story that is its own unique pleasure. Over the years, my favorite authors have provided me with glimpses into worlds I would never have known had I not picked up their books. From Beverley Cleary to Lavyrle Spencer to Jodi Piccoult to Anita Shreve and so many others, I am grateful they chose to become storytellers. A great story has the power to move, change and shape its readers. To me, that’s an honorable calling and a task I aspire to.

Follow me on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/#!/inglathcooper

Like my Facebook Page at: www.facebook.com/inglathcooperbooks

Please check out my Nashville series – available on Amazon.com!

Nashville – Part One – Ready to Reach. Buy it at Amazon.com – http://amzn.to/171tjpu

 

Nashville – Part One – Ready to Reach. Buy it at Amazon.com

Young singer-songwriters going for the Nashville dream! Nineteen-year old CeCe Mackenzie leaves Virginia for Nashville with not much more to her name than a guitar, a Walker Hound named Hank Junior and an old car she’d inherited from her grandma called Gertrude.

But Gertrude ends up on the side of I-40 in flames, and Nashville has never seemed farther away.

Help arrives in the form of two Georgia football players headed for the Nashville dream as well. When Holden Ashford and Thomas Franklin stop to offer CeCe and Hank Junior a ride, fate may just give a nod to serendipity and meant to be.

Nashville – Part Two – Hammer and a Song. Buy it at Amazon.com

5 Stars. “Ms. Cooper has written such a beautiful story that gives you hope. It fills you with laughter, sadness, and many other emotions. You feel connected to the characters and really share in their successes and hurt in their failures. I can’t wait for the next part to come out. I’ve really grown attached to the characters and want to see what lies ahead for them. Again…beautiful story.” – Amazon.com Reviewer

5 Stars. “Her car catches fire, 2 smokin’ hot guys stop to help. . . .the rest is history.” – Amazon.com Reviewer

5 Stars. “This book captured my attention from the very start! The characters are each unique yet seem to fit together. I love each of them, especially Hank. I was reading this on a plane and was so disappointed when I turned the page and realized I was going to have to wait to find out what happens. Excellent! I definitely recommend Nashville!” – Bookishblonde – Amazon.com Reviewer