Sunday, August 11, 2013

Prepartions in August are HOT for our September vacation.

Vonnie Davis
One month from today we will be temporary residents in our Parisian apartment, enjoying all the sights, sounds and smells of the Left Bank. Our little rental is just a few blocks from where Hemingway lived post WWI as part of The Lost Generation. I cannot wait. This will be my second journey to the City of Light, while for Calvin it'll be like going home. Calvin will quickly tell you he was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, but his soul came to life in Paris. He lived there for a year, writing at sidewalk cafés.

Our keys for the three-room flat on the second European floor (third floor by American standards) arrived last week. Our passports are in order. Airplane tickets purchased for our overnight flight to Paris and then, two-weeks later, our flight to Berlin to see Calvin's son for a week. Our euros are on order. Calvin's French is refreshed after two months of daily lessons on Pimsluer CD's. We're getting more anxious by the day.

I have two story ideas I want to research while in Paris. One is a contemporary; the other is an historical set during The Lost Generation. Both, of course, will be romances. I'll be snapping pictures of the area like mad so I can study them for details when I'm working on the novels.

Setting stories in Paris is not new to me. Both Mona Lisa's Room and Rain is a Love Song are set mainly in Paris. Both involve a terrorist group known as the Red Hand. The heroes are agents in the French Counterterrorism Unit. My heroines are strong, plucky, opinionated sisters from North Carolina.

Mona Lisa's Room won the HOLT Medallion Award of Merit in two categories: Best Romantic Suspense and Best Book by a Virginia author.

I allowed more of my demented humor to show in Rain is a Love Song, which may or may not be a good thing. Calvin just shook his head when I showed him a few scenes.

What stories will my second trip to Paris spawn? I can hardly wait to find out. They might just be as "hawt" as our hot August nights.

BUY LINKS:
Mona Lisa's Room -- http://www.amazon.com/Mona-Lisas-Room-ebook/dp/B00A553HLY/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1376278251&sr=8-1

Rain is a Love Song -- http://www.amazon.com/Rain-Love-Song-Conspiracy-ebook/dp/B00BK9QV3K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376278355&sr=8-1&keywords=rain+is+a+love+song

10 comments:

Leah St. James said...

How awful would it be for me to confess how terribly JEALOUS I am, Vonnie? :-) Have fun. Send reports back! I'll need to live vicariously through you! LOL

Jannine Gallant said...

I'm sure your vacation will spawn simply awesome stories. Right the whole thing off as a business research trip!

Margo Hoornstra said...

Love it, Vonnie! Simply love it! Have a great time!

Barbara Edwards said...

Have a wonderful time, Vonnie. It sounds like the best vacation ever.

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Leah, I promise to send reports back. Our apartment is also a few blocks away from rue Moufftard, a narrow street once filled with chariots,now used as an open-air food market. I'll be pretending I'm French as I carry my little net bag to shop for fresh produce.

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

I hope I get lots of story ideas, too, Jannine. Both in Paris and Berlin. I love the energy in both cities as so many people hurry along the sidewalks or hop on public transportation.

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Thanks, Margo. The long flight will be the worst. And resisting all the French pastries.

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

We've been looking forward to it for a long time, Barb.

Alicia Dean said...

I am so looking forward to the ideas you come up with in that fertile imagination of yours. :-) SO happy for you and Calvin. You are both very deserving of the best trip ever. Take lots of pics!

Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Author said...

Thanks, Alicia. We will take lots of pics as we walk the streets and ride the boat on the Seine.