Tag: grateful

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Motivation Wednesday…

Elodie

Yes, those are my feet and my Bombas‘ socks 🙂 A little motivation Wednesday mainly as a reminder to myself. But also as a way to ask you: what made you smile today?
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⁣And full disclaimer: a lot of those thought-processes are easier for me because of years of therapy and a lot of work 😉 And it doesn’t mean I don’t have moments where I focus on the fact that this used to be much easier. Just putting that out there. 
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⁣A few days ago, I did a few relevés and elevés from first position. They were far from perfect. And I can’t stand on the balls of my feet for very long or all the way because I still experience neuropathy and cramping in my feet (and hands) in addition to needing to re-build (or build – ha) muscles.
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⁣But as I did those exercises, I smiled. Because it felt like progress. 
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⁣Kind of like when you’re writing a sentence that stays with you or when you finally understand your character’s motivation or simply when you write a few words in-between busy times or hard times.
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⁣I enjoyed this moment when it happened. I smiled like I said. I think I even laughed I was so happy. And I smile as I post it even if my feet and hands are currently cramping. I know I’ll do this exercise again today. And I am revising my first chapters feeling grateful. A reminder to keep going, to keep swimming, to keep writing.

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Let’s Do Something Good Now – The Happy Messages edition

Elodie

Two years ago, I organized an auction called “Let’s Do Something Now” to benefit associations helping young adults with cancer. And I thought, while I can’t organize an auction right now, I’d like to do something good 🙂

I have treatment on Monday (maintenance immunotherapy treatment after autologous stem cell transplant in October). And for the first time ever, due to the restrictions at the hospital and cancer center, the Chemical Engineer won’t be able to come with me. Since diagnosis in October 2017, he’s been with me at all my treatments. And I know that makes me lucky. One, that he is such an amazing and supportive husband (yes Alex, you’re the best ;-)), and two, that his bosses and colleagues enabled him to be there. And I know everyone at the cancer center and I know the procedures and how everything works. It’s so much harder for the patients who are just getting diagnosed or who don’t know what is happening with their treatments due to the current situation.

And it reminds me again how nurses, doctors, techs and all hospital workers have been supportive and amazing throughout. And it also reminds that stem cell transplant patients probably can’t have visitors right now and this must be so hard. I know my parents and Alex’s visits helped me tremendously.

So, I was wondering if you’d like to send messages (short messages, encouraging letters, videos) or drawings (by taking a picture of the drawings) to the people working there and/or to the patients in the stem cell unit.

How?

  • Let me know if I can also upload them to my website 🙂

THANK YOU! ❤

Books, Uncategorized

Tomorrow, I become a hybrid author…

Elodie

On Wednesday, the French translation of my novel A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER comes out again in paperback. But this time, it is published by Dreamland (City Editions). They publish Jessica Sorensen too (I’m still pinching myself over this fact :))

That makes me a so-called hybrid author: self-published and traditionally published. I don’t regret my decision to self-publish one bit. However, I don’t deny that knowing two of my books are going to be available in bookstores is giving me a happy fluttery feeling.

Look –> it’s my book on the site of the Bibliothèque nationale de France 🙂

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A bit less than a year ago, I received an email from City Editions asking me if I’d like to have the French versions of A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER and ALWAYS SECOND BEST in bookstores in France.

I didn’t believe it was real at first. I thought it might be a service someone was offering but nope, they were a serious publishing house and they wanted my books. I signed a contract. I got an advance. Everything was real.

You have no idea what it did to me when I read in the contract a clause about possibly being picked up by France Loisirs in the future. France Loisirs is my youth. It’s a subscription service with so many amazing books and just a lot of memories of going to their stores too sometimes to choose the book I would get. Someone else might pick up my book one day after perusing the store or their catalog for hours. And that makes me happy.

But even if that doesn’t happen, my book, my words…are going to be available in bookstores. Fnac, Cultura, Decitre, local bookstores…even Leclerc. Who knows maybe I’ll also see it at Cora, the store I used to work at as cashier during part of my studies?

And I’m grateful.

To City Editions for reaching out to me. To the translator of A SUMMER LIKE NO OTHER & ALWAYS SECOND BEST, Edith Girval who is simply oh so talented. To everyone who’s read the books already which probably gave me the exposure needed to be seen. To my family and friends for their unwavering support. To my husband, who is every bit as excited about this as I am and who’s so proud of me.

Tomorrow is the day I become a hybrid author. And trust me, when we go to France in a few weeks, I’ll be walking into a bookstore and might shed a tear holding my book in my hands.

Tomorrow is also the day I’m going to reveal the cover of  my next book, SEE ME, SEE ME NOT (with a bunch of fun things and giveaways planned). Stay tuned…

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Happy Friday – so many reasons to smile

Elodie

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?

a to z challenge

Self-Publishing: P is for…Platform

Elodie

PP is for…Platform.

P could really also be for Peter The Cat and Plato The Dog. Those two are the cutest, even though Peter the Cat whom we rescued 3 years ago from a shelter is not taking kindly to Plato The Dog whom we adopted from a rescue three months ago. They’re fine when they’re sleeping 🙂

Plato The Model 2015-03-09_1425923284

But again, I’m here to talk about Platform. I think if you’re self-publishing, you do need to have an author platform. At least a website with your books and your bio.  It helps to give some credibility and to spread the word easier. And you do need to interact with potential readers somehow, but the key is to do what you like, to be genuine. I love all the interactions I have through this blog, my Twitter, Instagram and my FB page. But I haven’t gotten onto Tumblr because I’m afraid I’d spend too much time on it 😛 I don’t only talk about my books but about my life: my hubby, my writing, my reading, my dog and my cat, sometimes about the European Union. And I’m having fun interacting with people there. And I made some great friends thanks to those social media.

Once more as is needed in the self-publishing world, It’s also important to keep informed about the new

 Join me on Monday for Q…

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a to z challenge

Self-Publishing: O is for…ONE TWO THREE

Elodie

OO is for…ONE TWO THREE

ONE TWO THREE is the first book I self-published and the inspiration for all those posts.

I queried this book, received amazing feedback and close calls from agents but never a “yes”. My beta and critique partners loved the book. Other readers also loved it, even remembering it a year after reading it. That’s when I decided to choose my own magic. I also wrote a post on how I understand why agents didn’t sign me at the time. I have no regrets, I am learning and I can’t wait to publish the companion novels of ONE TWO THREE, my new NA series and the translation of ONE TWO THREE in French and German.

Here’s more about ONE TWO THREE (it’s currently on sale at $0.99 on amazon)

Official coverPERFECT CHEMISTRY meets SAVE THE LAST DANCE in this story of tragedy and hope, anger and forgiveness.

Last year, seventeen-year-old Natalya Pushkaya was attending the School of Performing Arts in New York City. Last year, she was well on her way to becoming a professional ballerina. Last year, her father was still alive.

But a car crash changed all that—and Natalya can’t stop blaming herself. Now, she goes to a regular high school in New Jersey; lives with her onetime prima ballerina, now alcoholic mother; and has no hope of a dance career.

At her new school, however, sexy soccer player Antonio sees a brighter future for Natalya, or at least a more pleasant present. Keeping him an arabesque away proves to be a challenge for Natalya and his patient charms eventually draw her out of her shell. When upsetting secrets come to light and Tonio’s own problems draw her in, Natalya shuts down again, this time turning to alcohol herself.

Can Natalya learn to trust Antonio before she loses him—and destroys herself?

 Join me tomorrow for P…Platform

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a to z challenge

Self-Publishing: N is for…Nook Press and other distribution channels

Elodie

NN is for…Nook Press and other distribution channels .

When you decide to self-publish, and you go through your business plan, you need to decide what approach you’re going to take when it comes to paperback and e-books. Are you publishing both? Are you releasing both at ones? Are you going to enroll your books in Kindle Select (which means exclusively to Kindle) or are you going to branch out?

Are you going to upload each book to each site manually (create an account on B&N, Kobo, iTunes for example) or are you going to use Draft2Digital, or Smashwords or…or…?

Again this is a lot of questions.

I personally have used Draft2Digital in the past. I love that they also distribute to foreign retailers (especially as I’m looking into translating my books into French & German) on top of B&N,  iTunes, Kobo and so on. I also have a separate account for Amazon. I had issues with KDP Select in the past but having the book in unlimited is sometimes appealing. Google Play is not as user-friendly I find but I did have a few sales there too.

When it comes to future books, I think I will keep on using CreateSpace, Draft2Digital, GooglePlay and Amazon.

Here are a few interesting articles

 Join me tomorrow for O…

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a to z challenge

Self-Publishing: M is for…Moments (happy moments)

Elodie

MM is for…Moments (happy moments)

Self-publishing (publishing in general I think) is not an easy process. It’s time demanding, it requires an investment (time, self, money), and a lot of writing…(which in itself is not easy either). So, I think it’s important to keep in mind the happy moments in the journey.

For me it was:

1. My announcement (the feedback my “Choosing your own magic” post received was so overwhelmingly positive).

2. The feedback ONE TWO THREE received prior to my decision to self-publish…

3. The way writers support one another…and the friendships I made along the way.

4. The time someone made a fan art for ONE TWO THREE

5. The readers sending me emails and letting me know they fell in love with Natalya and Antonio.

6. The teacher who recommended my book to a student who loved it (<3)

7. The first time it made it on a “Waiting on Wednesday” list

8. The bloggers who reached out to me asking me how they could help promote my book after they’ve read it and loved it.

9. Being able to publish on my parents’ 40th year anniversary.

10. Holding my book for the first time in my hands.

11. Receiving congrats letters from dear friends.

This amazing book birthday package from my lovely CP & friend, Jaime Morrow, almost made me tear up and definitely made me smile! Thank you sooooo much, Jaime!

12. Having someone review my book on YouTube

13. Celebrating release day with my husband (in a Waffle House in Galveston, Texas)

14. All the behind the scenes emails and Facebook chats/posts with a group of amazing ladies (who are oh so talented too!)

15. All the people taking the time to review my little book!

 And so so so sooooo much more! Thank to everyone who’s making this journey truly incredible.

I’m lucky ❤

 Join me tomorrow for N…

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