Currently

Currently…

In an effort to blog a bit more regularly, I’ve decided to join Katy Upperman‘s “Currently” posts 🙂 Don’t hesitate to join us. (Find the origins of the idea HERE.)

Loving

My Happiness Journal. Writing something every night (or when I do end up being too tired, in the morning with the note ‘Oups’ )

Happiness Project

Reading

I have read Mandie’s  writing in the past and it was oh so good I cannot wait to read this book! And you can do it for FREE on Swoonreads (here)! You can help her get published too by reading and commenting.:)

Watching

So many things…

JANE THE VIRGIN 🙂

THE X FILES reboot

Listening To

NPR & 99.5 …my iPod and I may or may not sing out loud in my house to those tunes…

Thinking About

How this picture makes me smile…#AuthorLifeMonth is an Instagram challenge for authors and the brainchild of the wonderful Dahlia Adler (check all the details here)

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Anticipating

Publishing A Summer Like No Other in French next month. So nervous and excited about that one 🙂

Spending time with The Chemical Engineer this weekend…

Wishing

To finish this revision ahead of time…(this might be a constant for the next few weeks)

Making Me Happy

My family. My friends. Writing. Teaching.

Trying to live in the moment.

What’s currently making YOU happy?

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Happy Friday – so many reasons to smile

Happy Friday

 

  • So we had the snow storm and we didn’t lose electricity and I definitely got a workout shoveling the snow 🙂 We made yummy brunches, watched TV and even though the hubby had to go to work, we still spent a lot of fun times together. Plus, I got to take lots of pictures. Here’s one of my favorites.

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  • My husband is a big X Files fan and I had watched a few episodes throughout the years and I’m loving the new ones. So that calls for some nice evenings. TV-wise we also started watching Jane The Virgin and we’re enjoying it so far 🙂
  • I’ve made great progress in LOVE IN B MINOR :), formatted an Italian/English version of One Dream Only, and a Portuguese/English version of One Dream Only.
  • This mash-up of  Games of Thrones and The Bachelor…
  • My brother-in-law just sent me his corrected version of my French translation of One Dream Only and I am so excited about it!
  • As always, the support I receive from friends, family, former students, readers. So many reasons to be grateful!

So tell me, what made you smile this week?

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Lernst du Englisch? Are you learning German?

While translating One Dream Only into German, we talked with my wonderful translator (Gudrun Clausen) about making a bilingual version of the book.

I remembered how my mom was going through a bookstore in Germany, wondering if there were any bilingual books that were from recent work and we couldn’t find any.

It took me quite a long time to format it as for some reason CreateSpace kept on adding one page where it didn’t belong and one space which was changing the entire set-up.

But it’s there 🙂

So in case you want to read One Dream Only in German or would like to read the bilingual version (English/German), you can!

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Lernst du Englisch? Are you learning German?

This book can help you with that: one page in English, one page in German …
Dieses Buch kann dir dabei helfen: eine Seite auf Englisch, eine Seite auf Deutsch…

She thought she was on her way to the top…
Sixteen-year-old Natalya Pushkaya has one dream and one dream only: becoming the best ballerina ever. Dancing’s always been who she is and she’s working her hardest to land the main role of the School of Performing Arts’ end-of-the-year showcase. But…will she make it?
Within a week, Natalya’s life will be changed forever.
Prequel novelette of One, Two, Three

—–

Sie hatte sich schon auf dem Weg zur Spitze gesehen…
Die 16-jährige Natalya Pushkaya hat nur einen einzigen Traum:
die beste Ballerina zu werden, die es je gegeben hat.
Das Tanzen hat schon immer bestimmt, wer sie ist und sie würde alles tun, um die Hauptrolle in der jährlichen Abschlussvorstellung
der School of Performing Arts zu landen.
Aber…wird es ihr gelingen?
Innerhalb einer Woche ändert sich Natalyas Leben für immer.
Prequel der Novelle Eins, Zwei, Drei


Available in paperback and ebook:

Amazon around the world

Barnes & Noble

iTunes

Kobo

Hugendubel


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Sie hatte sich schon auf dem Weg zur Spitze gesehen…

Die 16-jährige Natalya Pushkaya hat nur einen einzigen Traum: die beste Ballerina zu werden, die es je gegeben hat.
Das Tanzen hat schon immer bestimmt, wer sie ist und sie würde alles tun, um die Hauptrolle in der jährlichen Abschlussvorstellung
der School of Performing Arts zu landen.
Aber…wird es ihr gelingen?
Innerhalb einer Woche ändert sich Natalyas Leben für immer.

Prequel der Novelle Eins, Zwei, Drei


Available as paperback and ebook

Amazon

iTunes

B&N

Kobo

Hugendubel


🙂

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#TeaserTuesday – Love In B Minor

I’m so excited/nervous to start sharing teasers for LOVE IN B MINOR on my blog…

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LOVE IN B MINOR is currently available for pre-order at a special price of $0.99


 

LOVEINBMINOR

Amazon around the world.

iTunes

Kobo

B&N

 

 

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Help, help: Posting reviews…

All my books

I hate asking for things. And I’m not very good at asking people for help. And right now my dog has snow fever (which granted has nothing to do with the topic at hand but I thought I should share 🙂 Luckily he’s cute and sweet.)

I know a lot of people have read my books and I’m oh so so grateful for it. I’m still amazed and cross my fingers to always be amazed by it. I’m still very nervous about it too but somehow I think that might go hand in hand. (excuse me while I try to make sure my dog doesn’t get attacked by my cat for barking – Peter the Cat doesn’t have a lot of noise tolerance).

Where was I?

For people to discover new books or new authors, reviews are still important. Maybe not because people read them but because there’s something the e-retailers seem to have in their magical algorithm that helps boost those books in front of more people. (The dog stopped barking for a second…he got distracted but he suddenly remembered that really I need to give him my undivided attention).

I know it takes time. But even two sentences can help. Even if you haven’t purchased my book (because you got it for reviewing on your blog on Netgalley, or you got it through a contest), you can still review it on Amazon for example.

You can find all my books on my Amazon author page (around the world). If you click on the link, it will take you to your amazon…

http://smarturl.it/ElodieAuthorAmazon

And if you’re not reviewing my book, because it was a long time ago and you don’t remember or don’t feel comfortable doing so for whatever reason, don’t hesitate to review an other author’s book 🙂

(now, Plato the Dog and Peter the Cat are all calm…chilling out and napping. Hmm, I can’t nap. I have to go cook…)

THANK YOU!

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Happy Friday – It’s back!

I am back for Happy Friday. My goal is to do it as often as possible.

Happy Friday

  • The momentum I gained during the wonderful writing retreat hasn’t disappeared. Yay! I am so grateful for the encouraging words and fun and inspiring moments spent at the beach with amazing friends/writers. Thanks to them, I got back on track with LOVE IN B MINOR…Here’s a small excerpt I shared on Tuesday with my cozy nook on Facebook.
SECOND TEASER
You can pre-order LOVE IN B MINOR for only $0.99 (Amazon, iTunes, B&N, Kobo)
  • Cuddling with Peter The Cat and Plato The Dog…Plato hid underneath the blanket next to me when I took a nap on Monday afternoon after coming back from the retreat.

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  • Going to walk Plato The Dog with The Chemical Engineer almost every single night. Always laugh a lot for some reason during those walks 🙂
  • Making one of my best Chicken Marsala to date…
  • Watching the last season of Parks & Rec…That show made me laugh so much. Can’t thank Katy Upperman enough for the rec 🙂 The trailer below is for season 2…

So, tell me, what made you happy this week?

 

 

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Pourquoi publier en français est un tourbillon d’émotions…

Mon premier livre en français « Un Eté Pas Comme Les Autres »  va sortir le 8 mars 2016.

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Il enchaîne les conquêtes. Elle est la sœur de son meilleur ami.
Ils ne devraient pas être ensemble. Mais cet été, la tentation est trop forte. 

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Amazon.fr     Amazon around the world

iTunes preorder

Et je dois avouer que c’est un vrai tourbillon d’émotions.

Pourquoi ? Pour plusieurs raisons…

  1. Je n’écris pas en français…je ne l’ai pas traduit moi-même…pas toujours facile à accepter

Au cours des deux dernières années, j’ai reçu beaucoup de questions concernant la publication de mes livres en français, me demandant pourquoi je n’écris pas en français, pourquoi je ne traduis pas mes livres en français…

Une partie de moi souhaitait le traduire moi-même. J’ai essayé de le faire avec mon livre Un Seul Rêve et je sais que j’ai fait beaucoup d’erreurs. Ce livre-là est actuellement avec ma famille pour correction et cela m’a pris énormément de temps pour le traduire. Et je me suis rendue compte que cela n’est peut-être pas une bonne solution pour moi.

Mais cela reste dur à accepter. Apres tout, je suis française, ma langue maternelle est le français. Il y a des années, j’écrivais en français pas en anglais. Je rêvais de publier un livre, de publier des livres, de devenir un écrivain.

Mais honnêtement, cela fait maintenant 15/16 ans que je n’habite plus en France ou dans un pays francophone. Wow, quinze, seize ans…le temps passe à une vitesse incroyable. Et écrire en anglais me vient plus facilement. Ce n’est pas facile à admettre mais c’est la vérité.

  1. Trouver un traducteur/une traductrice

Trouver quelqu’un pour traduire mes livres en français ne fut pas facile. Je suis un peu difficile parce que je souhaite vraiment que la traduction capture le style et la voix de mes protagonistes. Et cela est très subjectif. Dès que j’ai lu le début de la traduction d’Edith, je n’ai eu aucune hésitation. Je suis tombée sous le charme de sa traduction et j’avais comme un sentiment que c’était exactement ce que je cherchais.

Je n’ai aucune envie de répéter la chorégraphie d’un ballet. C’est pourtant ce que je devrais faire. Je monte en demi-pointe pour esquisser un relevé.

Je n’ai plus envie d’être Emilia Moretti – danseuse classique de seize ans qui répète chaque mouvement jusqu’à la perfection, de manière quasi-obsessionnelle. Mes genoux se fléchissent au-dessus de mes pieds et je descends en plié.

Je n’ai plus envie d’être cette jeune fille qui crie sur tous les toits qu’elle s’en fiche d’avoir été adoptée, mais qui essaie de retrouver ses parents biologiques en douce.

Je remonte sur la pointe des pieds.

Je n’ai plus envie de penser à Nick, le meilleur danseur de L’École des Arts de la scène (et le meilleur ami de mon frère), dont je suis désespérément amoureuse. Je veux danser pour tout oublier.

  1. La peur de publier en français

Publier dans ma langue maternelle est angoissant. Bon, il est vrai que publier dans n’importe quelle langue est angoissant et passionnant tout à la fois.

Ma famille et mes amis qui ne lisent pas l’anglais vont pouvoir lire mes livres…et s’ils les lisent, qu’est-ce qu’ils vont en penser ? Et puis il y a aussi une autre question : et s’ils ne lisent pas mes livres ?

Beaucoup de questions…

  1. La peur de ne pas rentrer dans mes frais.

Publier un livre soi-même coûte de l’argent. Faire traduire un livre coûte de l’argent. Pour l’instant je n’ai que 5 précommandes de mon livre sur Amazon (le système KDP avec lequel je publie me permet de voir combien de personnes ont précommandé mon livre). Et pour pouvoir rentrer dans mes frais, je dois vendre au moins 250 eBooks…donc pour l’instant ce n’est pas gagné.

Si je ne rentre pas dans mes frais, je ne peux pas continuer à investir dans des traductions…donc je me mets peut-être un peu beaucoup la pression sur ce point là.

  1. Se rendre compte qu’au moins un de mes livres va être disponible dans ma langue maternelle 🙂

Même si j’angoisse, je suis vraiment impatiente de voir mon livre sortir. J’ai adoré écrire l’histoire de Nick et d’Emilia et je croise les doigts pour que vous les aimiez aussi 🙂

Et comme toujours, je suis très reconnaissante à mon mari, ma famille, mes amis qui continuent de m’encourager ! Merci !

 

Currently

Currently…

In an effort to blog a bit more regularly, I’ve decided to  Katy Upperman‘s “Currently” posts 🙂 Don’t hesitate to join us. (Find the origins of the idea HERE.)

Loving

Taking pictures. Walking on the beach in the morning during the writing’s retreat. So inspiring.

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Reading

I just started Delirium by Lauren Oliver.

Delirium (Delirium, #1)

And I’m reading I Am Malala

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban

Watching

The last season of Parks & Rec just landed on Netflix…

Listening To

The Chemical Engineer and I started listening to the first Serial season and we’re already hooked.

Thinking About

Ways to organize myself so I can schedule four hours of writing/drafting/revising on days I’m not working and at least one hour of writing on days I’m working.

Anticipating

Using the Romance Planning Beatsheet Jami Gold has on her website (thanks again Katy and Alison for the tip!) as I go through LOVE IN B MINOR.

Wishing

To finish this revision ahead of time…

Making Me Happy

2016 01.17 Retreat Group Pic (1)

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Spending time with amazing writer friends…This weekend was AMAZING.

What’s currently making YOU happy?

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Love in B Minor is available for pre-order now! (for only $0.99!)

I just realized I totally forgot to blog about my upcoming novel, Love in B Minor. Doh.

Love in B Minor started as a novella, but Jen & Lucas’ story developed into something more. So, I’m happy to announce that ,y next full-length novel “Love in B Minor” will be released on March 15th, 2016. And it IS available for pre-order at a very very special price of $0.99 🙂 (instead of $3.99!)

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Amazon preorder

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New city. New life. At least, that’s what nineteen-year-old Jen believes. On the surface, she’s living her dream: dancing in a prestigious dance company in Paris. But her sister’s death and the mistakes she’s tried to bury haunt her. She’s become a pro at hiding who she truly is, and she definitely doesn’t want a guy to derail her, but a one night-stand she can do. Nothing more. She definitely doesn’t plan to see the sexy stranger who made her laugh for the first time in years ever again.

Girls don’t walk away from Lucas Wills. Bad boy turned rock star, he’s got his share of groupies. Always upfront, he doesn’t promise fake tomorrows because love can destroy everything. Been there, done that. His ex not only lied to him, she stomped on his heart, used him to become famous, and almost ruined him. So, waking up alone after a night beyond his wildest imagination with a girl he just met shouldn’t upset him, shouldn’t inspire one of the saddest songs he’s ever written, shouldn’t make him want to chase after her.

When Jen, the one-night stand who got away, auditions to be a dancer in Lucas’ next music video, they can’t stop their growing attraction. But Jen’s secrets and his ex could shatter the careers they tried so hard to build and their hearts…they will have to decide what’s more important and if love is worth the fight.

I am so very excited about this book. Maybe, because Jen started talking to me as I was writing Always Second Best, or maybe because it’s set in Paris, or maybe because I may have developed a writer’s crush on Lucas 😛

If you’d like to read an exclusive excerpt of LOVE IN B MINOR, don’t hesitate to join my Readers’ group on Facebook: Elodie’s Cozy Nook.

Talk to you soon ❤

 

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30 Days of Change with @KelsnotChels

First of all: HAPPY NEW YEAR! 🙂 Wishing you all a wonderful 2016 filled with love and laughter.

I’ve realized that new year’s resolutions are not really something I stick with for the simple reason that I kind of forget what they are…and by the end of the year, going back to check what I said I would do kind of feel like Back-To-The-Future…

So, when I saw that the lovely Kelsey (@Kelsnotchels) was doing 30 days of change, I thought I’d join to establish a routine in 30 days, keep manageable goals for those 30 days. She even created a Facebook group where we can encourage each other.

Here are my goals for the next 30 days…a mix of things that I will do every single day.

30daychange

 

Do you take resolutions for the year? Or have you tried doing something every single day for 30 days?