Hello all!
So, remember I mentioned in an earlier post that I was about to do a TV interview on the show BookEnds? Well, I did it, and thankfully, nothing disastrous happened-- in fact, it was pretty fun! Click here to watch it if you have a half hour to whittle away, or something to procrastinate... ;) This was my favorite interview so far, mainly because two teens from our local Interesting Readers' Society were interviewing me. It was fun to banter with them before and after the show... and of course it's always refreshing to be asked who my favorite Disney princess is during an interview!
So, what have I been doing lately? For one, listening to lots of French music as I go over copy-edits for The Ruby Notebook (set in Aix-en-Provence). Now I'm listening to Vincent DeLerm. Here's the song that's playing now, actually. Hee hee-- I just looked at the video to give you a link, and it's really silly-- made me laugh.
Going over copy-edits is rather tedious work. Still, it's exciting in that I know this is *really* it, and it will *really, truly* be a book soon-- and I know I'd better focus, because it's my next-to-last chance to make any changes.... but it's a bit boring. If my scanner weren't buried under heaps of papers, I'd scan a page for you so you could see what itty-bitty details I'm dealing with. Instead, I'll show you this (which, actually, does relate to Ruby, which has bohemian-troubadour-gypsy-ish characters)....
I've been decorating my writing studio-trailer on breaks from Ruby. I've always envisioned it ultimately looking like a gypsy caravan, but it's taking me a while to get there. I came across a book about roulottes (caravans) featured in Cote du Sur-- a French magazine I discovered in the apartment I rented in Provence while researching Ruby.
gorgeous, n'est-ce pas?!?!I fell in love with the caravans (designed by Jeanne Bayol), but didn't have enough time to visit her roulottes studio (is that what you'd call it?) in another town in Provence.
Then, when I went to order her roulotte book for myself in the U.S., I saw it cost over a hundred bucks! Gulp! I didn't order it.... but luckily, I found these pictures on flickr!
Okay, so my trailer looks nowhere near as sumptuous as the caravans in these pics... but they inspire me. I want to get my sewing machine fixed so I can do a bit of sewing and trimming before I post pics of my own trailer... but soon, SOON I'll give you a virtual tour.
Speaking of my trailer, a package just arrived for me. It contains a hand-made birdhouse-trailer, similar to this one, complete with glow-in-the-dark windows! This was one of my splurges with leftover Christmas gift money...
TIME LAPSE-- I just spent two hours on the phone with my friend Megan, who's visiting the States from her home in France. We went over all the French in The Ruby Notebook, including the pronunciation guide. Ack! The pronunciation guide! Trying to find a simple, clear way to show French vowel sounds in English (for young readers with no knowledge of French) ... it's like one of those classic impossible tasks in a fairytale-- like spinning gold from straw. Crazy-making! Megan was a trooper, though... here's a pic of us last year in Aix-en-Provence, at a fountain which is mentioned in Ruby.
Back to work!
Gros bisous (big, fat kisses),
Laura