And the Race with Words Begins


I can attribute my writing journey to one thing...

Le Tour de France

My dad is an avid cyclist. He introduced me to Le Tour de France years ago. He taught me the ins and outs of the tour. I guess I can say he has a major role in my love for writing, too. Bless the man's heart. Willingly, he reads everything that I write, be it during the first draft, editing, or revising stages. He catches typos and things that don't make sense. I think he's read my books more times than he probably would ever desire to. I love him for it, though.

All this does have a point, I assure you. LOL

So, Le Tour de France commences tomorrow. Of course, for the full three weeks of racing, I'll be watching it from the comforts of my room on Versus  (a sports tv station).

Three years ago, for my graduation-from-university-present-to-myself, I went to Paris, France. I saw the tours traditional last day as they rode onto Champs-Élysées (a main road in the gorgeous city). Yes, I saw the cyclists fly past me at least six or so times, and (*giggles*) witnessed one of my famous crushes, Lance Armstrong, as he zoomed past me, too. *Swoon*
Anyway, this trip, of which included an excursion down to Italy, brought about the idea for my first book, FÉLICITÉ FOUND. I know it's totally cliché, but I fell in love with Paris so much that when I came home I dreamed about it all the time. One of those dreams turned into an idea for a book. 

I feel so grateful and blessed that over a period of eleven years (+/-), I was led to Paris through my love of Le Tour de France and traveling. These experiences were the catalyst to commence my own race with words. Otherwise, I really don't think I'd be writing. 

Over the next three weeks, you'll know what's keeping me busy--watching some wicked awesome cyclists and maybe, just maybe, their ripped legs. *blushes* Oh, and beta'ing some books, too.

So, how did you start writing? What initially inspired your writing journey?

Writing. Jewels.

Do You Like Action?

Okay, get your heads out of the gutter. I don't mean that kind of "Action"... I mean the important element of action that must occur in the first chapter of your book. I received notes back from an editor and one of the points she stated was getting to the pivotal point of action straight away. Granted I had maybe six paragraphs before the main action sequence, but it wasn't something that caught her attention. And to be honest, it was a little bit of an info dump if anything.

*shrugs sheepishly*

So, I took out some of that and jumped right into the action in the second sentence of my novel. It's more intriguing now and definitely will capture the reader's attention right off the bat.

I bring this up so that you won't be placed in the same predicament. The first chapter is crucial to make sure your reader moves on to the next chapter. If you dive right into the conflicting action, you'll suck them in. They most likely won't think: "Meh, that was okay."

So, how do you do this? Streamline that first chapter. Yes, you have to give some back story and describe the setting; however, it can be done with little cues here and there. As in the first chapter of my book, I show that it is cold outside by my MC shivering or the puff of air misting from his mouth. I give hints that he is crossing Pont Neuf Bridge. I let the reader know that something crucial happens in the Seine River. I even bring up the simple word Paris once.

The reader can tell now that it is winter-time and the book is set in Paris, France. It's those little cues that will allow you to jump right into the action instead of going on and on with back story, when the conflict has to arise quickly to capture attention. You want your audience to continue reading, right? Well, give them a reason to.  

What are your thoughts on this topic? How do you set up the first chapter?

Writing. Jewels.

PS: I'd like to thank the beautiful Elise Fallson for the 7X7 award. It made me smile so big I almost blew up all of the lightbulbs in my bedroom.

Name Revealed

I’ve been working on my novel for a year and a half now. During this whole time, I’ve been apprehensive to officially reveal its name. Perhaps it’s because she’s been such a major part of my life that I haven’t wanted to let her leave home to enter the big, bad world. I figure since I’m querying now, I may as well unlock the door and let her find her way into the capable hands of an agent and publisher.

I know this is cliché, but the idea came from a dream I had. Yet, it goes back farther than that. In July 2009, I treated myself to a trip to Europe as a graduation present to myself. The first stop was Paris, France. I’ve been smitten with that city ever since.

After coming back, I found myself there in my dreams all the time. Talk about a huge let down after waking up. Pft! But one of my Parisian dreams enthralled me; I thought about it for weeks. I told some family members its details with wishy-washy plans to write a story based around it. One sleepless night, I came up with the beginning and the end.

I started tapping away at the computer until I had a very rough draft finished. After many edits and revisions, I now have a complete manuscript. I’m where I’ve wanted to be for over a year. 

Query-dome! Woot Woot!

So without further explanation, I introduce you to my book’s title!

Félicité Found

My little secret is officially out of the bag. Félicité Found says to you:

BONJOUR! ENCHANTÉ! SALUT!

I hope you like the title, but WHEN it’s published you’ll enjoy its story even more.

To give you a little sneak peek into my book, I share the following pictures. 

They play special roles in my book. Enjoy! 

Pont Neuf Bridge

 Jardin des Tuileries and La Grande Roue (Ferris Wheel)

And of course the Eiffel Tower! Oui Oui!

I hope I've peeked your interest so one day you'll read my book!

Parisian Perfection

While chit-chatting with my new coworker, we found out traveling is a common love of ours. After discussing our love of Paris, I mentioned I’m writing a novel set in Paris. I answered the normal questions about my book like: What kind of book is it? What’s it about? After some further discussion about my novel, he brought up this cool site to visit there. It's called Sainte-Chapelle. The structure boasts colorful stained-glass windows—the eye catching marvel of the Gothic structure. Sainte-Chapelle is near Notre Dame and Pont Neuf. I hope to venture back to Paris, so I can visit Sainte-Chapelle and other attractions I didn’t grace with my presence during my first trip to the city of lights and love. Check out the following links to learn about Sainte-Chapelle and see more photos. I’m sure you’ll fall in love.

http://sainte-chapelle.monuments-nationaux.fr/en/
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/france/paris-sainte-chapelle

Interesting Little Tidbit about Paris

A little background to today's post... The past two days, I went hiking in Southern Utah with some friends. I realized with the time driving there and spent enjoying nature that I really think about my book a lot. I ponder how I can make it better and, of course, how I can promote it. Any who, with that said, during the hiking adventure, me and a friend talked about Paris. The setting of "Felicite Comes" (my novel). Hehe! Recently, she spent some time in the "City of Love" or you could say the "City of Lights". Emphasis added. She expressed how much she enjoyed going to the catacombs. I did not know that Paris had catacombs. I went there last year and was completely ignorant of the elaborate system of catacombs that lay beneath my feet. I should probably say far beneath my feet. It intrigued me enough that when I arrived home, I decided to do some Internet research about the said catacombs. Of course, I got cleaned up and took notice to the sunburn that accompanied me home and sighed because the sun always gets the better of me. Enough with the tangents, Julia! Hmm, where was I? Oh, yes, it is simply amazing that underneath that city, millions of bones are deposited and, most excitingly, they are on display.

It takes me back to my trip to Rome, Italy last year. I went on a tour of some of the catacombs there. With the tour, they said that most if not all of the bones or remains have been relocated or else many hundreds of years ago were unfortunately robbed. With the catacombs in Paris, the bones are still there. They are even used for elaborate designs on the walls. I am going to post some links for you to feast your eyes on. That sounds sort of gross, doesn't it? Well, at any rate, on my trip that I am planning to take next year to Paris for research, I am most certainly going to take an afternoon off to enjoy the underground world of Paris, the catacombs.

http://www.catacombes-de-paris.fr/english.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catacombs_of_Paris

Some photos from my trip to Paris, France last year. Paris, the catalyst of inspiration for "Felicite Comes". I plan to go back soon to do some research.

Top: Me at Musee du Louvre

2 &3: Self explanatory

Bottom: Me taking a photo of a bust of a man (can't remember who). If you look carefully, you can see my image in the mirror. I did that on purpose.

My Novel

For those that do not know, I am in the process of writing a novel. I sort of wish that I had been blogging about it during the process of writing but just thought that I would start one now.

Here's how it began, I had a dream in December (yes, really I had a dream that inspired me). The dream just kept on bitting at me all day long while I was at work. For those that know me really well, I have dramatic, vivid and sometimes crazy, terrifying dreams. This one was not necessarily in that catagory but close enough. Over the period of a couple weeks, the dream still was just as vivid in my mind as it was the night I had it.

I decided that it was time to develop it into a plot line. I had tried to write before but to no avail however one very sleepless night I formed the beginning stages of the book in my head. I began to write in early January 2010.

Now, four months later, I am at 198 pages and some wrists that get very sore after writing for a while.

All I can tell you about the book, is it is set in Paris. My trip to Paris last summer paid off even more than just being able to see Lance Armstrong riding in Le Tour de France. I look forward to finishing the rough draft by the end of May 2010 and progressing forward through the editing process. That is the part that scares me but I will be fine.

I am completely dedicated to making this work a published piece of literary genius. Well, it sure won't be Tokien but close. :)

Check back for more information about the book and book signings to come. I will be doing that though. I am positive.