So with all the books out there on Paris, which new one stumbled into my Kindle last week?
Sleeping with Paris, by Juliette Sobanet.
Unlike Bonjour 40, Sleeping with Paris is a fictional work. The main character, Charlotte, finds herself in Paris alone after the fiancé who was supposed to join her is found also seeing a busty babe named Brooke. But does Charlotte take it like Charlotte in Sex in the City? No! She decides instead, maybe in Paris, she could suddenly be Samantha, and she’ll keep a blog of her dating wows and woes to prove it. But is a commitment-free life all that easy? Sleeping with Paris won first place in the Women’s Fiction category of the 2010 Washington Romance Writers Marlene Awards and was a finalist in the 2010 Valley Forge Romance Writers Sheila Contest.
I recently asked Juliette a bit more about her writing, and so today my 250-word guest post is provided by Juliette. I hope you’ll take a read, curl up with her book, and find yourself sleeping with Paris and Charlotte (and, it turns out, a bit of Juliette).
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Q: Every author writes characters that contain a little of themselves. What attributes of Charlotte’s are most like yours?
Charlotte Summers is a sassy, determined, adventurous young French teacher. At times she can be impulsive in her decisions, going to any length to protect herself from heart-break, but no matter how tough of a shell she may present to the world, underneath she is really a romantic at heart. I’d say I have a little bit of all of those qualities in me, although I definitely exaggerated them when I wrote Charlotte’s character. Like all of us, I’ve had my heart broken a time or two (…or ten:) and like Charlotte, I have been at points in my life where I was ready to swear off relationships for good. But then, of course, I met my husband, and luckily I did not make the same mistakes as Charlotte once I met the right man for me!
Beyond the personality traits I share with Charlotte, we also share a common passion: our absolute love for (ie: obsession with) France! Like Charlotte, I spent a semester in college studying abroad in Lyon and one year in Paris completing my Master’s degree. During my time abroad, I totally fell in love with the gorgeous scenery, the delicious food, the leisurely lifestyle, and just about everything else France has to offer. I’ve never felt so alive or so excited about life as when I lived in France, and I tried to pass that same joie de vivre onto Charlotte’s character as she navigates her way through the enchanting City of Love.
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Sleeping with Paris by Juliette Sobanet is available on Amazon, B&N and iBooks.
Her blog, Chocolate for Writers, is wonderful for those of us in love with chocolate, France and writing, too.
Thanks for chatting with us on Compositions, Juliette. Keep writing. Keep reading. Keep helping us return to Paris.
5 Comments on Sleeping with Paris
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Great post!
In anything I write, I always put myself in. Whether there’s a character who could be my twin or a character who simply wears the same shoes I do, I’m in my manuscripts, short stories, and poetry. Maybe some people will disagree with me, but I think it’s really hard to be subjective and leave yourself OUT when you love the piece you’re working on so much.
The question I’d ask is how much of YOU is in your MALE primary characters?
When I’m writing romantic comedy or romantic suspense, I’ve found that I project some of my likes and dislikes into my FEMALE leads. But I don’t think very much more than that. But in my Male leads, I think I project the kind of ‘hero’ that I wish I could be.
I find bits of myself in my characters. I think we want authenticity and to dig deep into those characters, and when it suits the character and the story, what better way than those experiences we’ve had ourselves.
I very much appreciate everyone’s comments on Juliette’s guest blog. As writers, we can not help but write a bit of ourselves in, simply because regardless of how we are as observers of human behavior, it is (as Anita mentioned) our experiences that give us our primary perspective. I’m currently writing a book with a male lead from the 1700s in it. But a little bit of Karen from the 21st century will be in it for certain.
Thanks to Karen for hosting me on her beautiful blog and to everyone who commented! Jeff, you’re completely right – I have to work really hard not to make my male characters too much like me! My critique partners are always helping me cut the male dialogue in half because in general, men aren’t nearly as chatty as I’d like to make them:)