Hello my Lovelies (Storyteller update)

Hello my Lovelies,

Brrrrr! It's SO cold in my little slice of the world. In the last 3 weeks, we've been snowed in twice and I've just received word that there's another snowstorm on the way. Sigh. It's like the world is standing still - frozen - and everyone in it is just trying to keep warm and wait out the cold while we dream of, and long for, Spring and sun and warmth. Unfortunately the cold and snow have severely curtailed my wandering but the cold and snow can't stop this wandering woman. In the aftermath of the first snowstorm, I grabbed my camera and explored the fields behind my home. It was a beautiful powdery Winter Wonderland...

"I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields,

that it kisses them so gently."- Lewis Carroll

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865)

"First, find out what your hero wants then just follow him!"

- Ray Bradbury

I've also been writing constantly. I've given myself the self-imposed deadline of 14 February to turn in the completed draft to my oh so very patient editor - yeah, I'm going to send her flowers too ;-} I'm writing to the exclusion of everything else in my life (except for Mr. Gorgeous and our children, bien sur). I've written and turned in two Postcards to my Paris-editor - so I'm covered to my deadline. But since I can see the finish line in sight, I'm temporarily suspending new Pour l'Amour posts until Valentine's Day. I honestly don't think that I can stay away from Pour l'Amour for nearly an entire month! So I reserve the right to break my fast ;-} Happy New Year and keep it sparkling my lovelies!

Etreintes,

Temple

READ! for the love of books...

"Students are eager to break through barriers to knowing…

We can teach in ways that transform consciousness, 

creating a climate of free expression that is 

the essence of a truly liberatory liberal arts education." 

bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress (1994). 

A professor-peer tagged me in a 'Facebook list':

Rules: In your status line, list 10 books that have stayed with you in some way. Don't take more than a few minutes and don't think too hard - they don't have to be the "right" or "great" works, just the ones that have touched you. Tag 10 friends, inc me so I can see the list.

I invite you to do the same in my comments section (you know I'll share). I'm always looking for a good read ;-}

Here are mine (in no particular order):
Arn't I A Woman? - Deborah Grey White
Guilty Pleasures (Bk 1, Anita Blake series) - Laurell K. Hamilton
The Ark - Isobel Bernet
Iggie's House - Judy Blume
Twilight - Dean Koontz
Teaching to Transgress - bell hooks
The Honor of the Queen (Bk 2, Honor Harrington series) - David Webber
The Valley of the Horses (Bk 2, Earth's Children series) - Jean Auel
Shanna - Kathleen Woodiwiss
The Color Purple - Alice Walker

Vivre! Rire! Aimer!

Temple

Storyteller update

My writer's treehouse

For those of you who receive my blogposts via @mail please note that I've made several minor edits and added a post script to my Storyteller post. In my feeble defense, I'm thick into Chapters 10, 11 and 12. The end is so close I can almost taste it! Okay, back to work.

Etreinte,

Temple 

Storyteller

Photo: CoteWrites.com

"After nourishment, shelter and companionship,

stories are the thing we need most in the world."

- Philip Pullman

Please forgive me for my spotty blogging. Between working on my next Postcard and my 2nd book (first novel), there is little time left for Pour l'Amour. These last few months my writing has thoroughly taken over my life - and I'm really loving it ;-}

iPad, I do!

Read!

"People laughed at us for using the word magical.

But you know what? It turned out to be magical."

- Steve Jobs

Read! The Wicked Series

"The world was on fire and no one could save me but you.

It's strange what desire will make foolish people do...

What a wicked game...

- Chris Isaak

I recently stumbled upon the delightfully naughty writing(s) of Avril Ashton - just in time for summer. Hey, a girl can't read academic and intellectual tombs all of the time right? I have all 11 of her books and am eagerly awaiting her next. Fair warning: Avril's stuff is hott! I mean ashpalt buckling erotic hott!! Okay, now that we've got the fair warning over, let's get to the good ;-}

If I had my way: the ideal bookstore...

"A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking." - Jerry Seinfeld

Don't get me wrong. I love where I live (and am blessed to do so). But oh how I wish that there was a mom-&-pop bookstore nearby. One I didn't have to drive 10 miles or get on a plane to get to! Sadly, in the United States at least, mom-&-pop bookstores have largely become a relic of the most positive aspects of the past.

Read! - Etagere Gardien

"He looked back at the mystery girl,

but she was nearly out of sight. Shit."

- The Missing

And Ode for Easter

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (1937-1949):

Volume 1: The Fellowship of the Ring

Volume 2: The Two Towers

Volume 3: The Return of the King

"It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn't want tot know the end. Because how could the end be happy?...But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer.

Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. Because they were holding on to something...There's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it's worth fighting for."

- Samwise "The Brave" Gamgee,

Lord of the Rings, Two Towers

Vivre! Rire! Aimer!

The International Herald Tribune

"The people must know before they can act,

and there is no educator to compare with the press."

- Ida B. Wells, 19th century journalist, newspaper editor

One of the great appeals of travel is the opportunity to completely get away from your everyday life, your everyday world - I suspect that's where the travel term 'getaway' comes from.

Read!

Bundle of books for the Francophile ($20)

Tipple & Snack

"To read is to fly: it is to soar to a point of vantage which gives a view over wide terrains of history, human variety, ideas, shared experience and the fruits of many inquiries."- A.C. Grayling

I love to read, more than I love to travel (yeah, you know that I really LOVE to read ;-) And I read everything I can get my hot little hands on - always have, always will. As I was brainstorming and researching a topic for my latest post, it occured to me that there is not a Book section at Pour l'Amour. So, I'm proud to introduce and welcome - Read! - into the fold.

In Read! I'm not going to review books in the traditional sense: not all of them will be current or even particularly popular; the books I blog about will cover every genre (children's, young adult, Sci-Fi, Academic, Erotic, Romance, Travel, etc. - whatever strikes my fancy). I'll also blog about newspaper, journal and magazine articles; publishing houses, and interviews with authors (of every stripe). - all from a Sistah's spicy point of view of course ;-) Happy reading!

Vivre! Rire! Aimer!

Temple

Show & Tell Friday: Shanna

Shanna (1977) by Kathleen Woodiwiss, my edition

"This book will change the way you feel about love...always."

- "Izzy" Isabella Duncun, book review (Providence, RI, 2005)

I suspect that every avid reader has a shelf (or three) devoted to their all time favorite novels. Novels that span girlhood to womanhood. Novels that intimately and indelibly informed a part of their being. A precious collection to revisit time and time again - I sure do ;-) Well, although Chicago weather is unseasonably cold, it's that time of year when I compile my summer reading list. Of course the novels I choose are primarily books I have not yet read (but am eager to), but I always add a few from my 'all time favorites' list - a tangible way to reconnect with my past lives and hang out with 'old friends.'  For this Show & Tell Friday, I offer up one of my all time favorite novels: Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss (1977).

Parisian Chic: A Style Guide

Parisian Chic: A Style Guide by Ines de la Fressange (2011)

"There are no [age] barriers to beauty." - Ines de la Fressange

Mature women are gorgeous! We come in all sizes, shapes and shades. Mature women have this mysterious confidence - very sexy. Mature gorgeosity is a 'something' that shines from within and works it from without. While gorgeous mature women know no national boundary, Parisian mature sisters have looking and being fabulous down to an art.

Affordable, reasonably priced Paris - a new trend?

View of the Eiffel Tower from the Pont Alexander III Bridge

I'm in the thick of planning our upcoming trip to Paris. And as I've been doing my research, I've noticed something quite wonderful: Paris is showing an 'affordable' or at least much more reasonable trend - il est merveilleux!

The Adventures of Temple and Tintin

"Billions of bilious blue blistering barnacles 

in a thundery typhoon!"- Captain Haddock

The voracious reader-traveller always runs out of books, no matter how well prepared. On our first trip to Paris (1983) my family and I found ourselves in that situation - no books and another 2 weeks abroad EEK! What to do? That's when we discovered Galignani's. During my first trip to the marvelous Galignani's I had my first adventure with Tintin...

How to Work it like a French Girl

"French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating for Pleasure"

- Mireille Guilianao (2005)

See my **Update** at the bottom of this post ;-)

I need to lose 5lbs and I REFUSE to diet. As Alice Walker says: "life is too short to wear tight shoes." But the belly has got to go, I had to figure out...something. So, I did what I do best - research. Little did I know at the outset, that what I was looking for was already on my bookshelf. 

Galignani ~ My personal slice of Paris

Me & Dorothy at Book Lover's Nirvana!

For as long as I can remember, my parents loved to travel. And the fact that they had two young daughters did not deter them in the least. They wanted my sister and I to accompany them as they discovered and experienced as much of the world as possible. We did so, as a family. Their gift of a love of travel was a priceless gift. Literally and figuratively, a gift that keeps on giving.

We always performed one family ritual wherever we went - we went to a bookstore that sold English language books. In 1984, during my first trip to Paris, we discovered our favorite bookstore of them all - the Galignani Bookstore.

A Year of Style: Frederic Fekkai

A Year of Style - Frederic Fekkai (2000)

I know, life is a seemingly never-ending hustle bustle. It's all you can do to stop and catch your breath. But you do it and you do it one better - you carve out some of your precious time to take care of yourself. Yes, you don't do it as often as you'd like - as you should - that darned hustle bustle thing. So, I thought I'd periodically write a post dedicated to offering a simple way for you to keep that 'Paris feeling' in your everyday life. My first offering is a book: "A Year of Style" by Frederic Fekkai (2000).