book review - Karen A. Chase

5 years. 4 Goodreads Giveaways.

February 22, 2016 By Karen A. Chase

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Bonjour 40

by Karen A. Chase

Giveaway ends March 04, 2016.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Mon dieu! How has it been 5 years since my BONJOUR 40 trip to Paris? Five years since I met Dorothée and Bandit. Sixty months since I wandered those streets delighting in the joy of getting lost… Since then, the book has reached thousands, resulting in some amazing new relationships, and some lovely comments from readers both complimentary and inspiring.

As a thanks, I’m running a Goodreads Giveaway now through March 4th. Sign up for a chance to win one of 4 copies of BONJOUR 40: A PARIS TRAVEL LOG. It’s a world-wide giveaway (so share far and wide). And to Worth, Greg, Brenda, Jackie, and all my sweet readers and supporters… You have inspired me, too. The pen is still in my hand, and travel still moves my feet. Hugs and merci to all of you have come along on this delightful journey.

“This reads with the same pleasing, conversational, witty, engaging lope of Bill Bryson and Paul Theroux.”

“I literally cried while I wandered, with you, through Shakespeare and Company and sat, just behind you at the Mad Hatter’s Party. It is without a doubt, and I’ve many years on you lass, one of the finest pieces of travel writing I’ve enjoyed.”

“For my 60th, 8 women and I rented a chateau in Provence… Met so many people who are now lifelong friends. The magic of travel is awesome. Keep writing you owe it to your soul……”

“You helped me through a very lonely Christmas Eve. I have the flu and pneuma and could not be at my family’s Christmas Eve dinner. I fixed a pot of tea and read your book Bonjour 40. I felt like I was on vacation with you. Thank you for getting me through a difficult holiday experience.”

Editor Wanted

March 28, 2014 By Karen A. Chase

Last week a freelance editor who I have been working with for over a year, delivered bad news. She could no longer work with me because of larger projects with tight deadlines from publishers. I was nearing the end of editing, expecting a review of my rewrites on the first 50-100 pages only. It felt like I was getting divorced right before retirement.

I don’t blame her–the work was better I am sure. But now the two weeks I had scheduled for her review, had become a week of interviewing new editors. Most asked to see the first 20–50 pages to provide estimates, and to gauge the quality. (They are all developmental editors looking for plot, characters development, POV, etc.). So I sent it and moped around waiting.

Then a funny thing happened.

The responses from the new editors–all of them entirely unfamiliar with my writing or story–came in. Glowing. One said she was hooked from the beginning of chapter one. Another replied, “I think your premise is ingenious, and your execution–from what I’ve seen so far–is remarkable. You are a dedicated, diligent, and detailed writer.”

I don’t say all this to brag (okay, maybe a teeny bit). I say this, because that setback proved to be one of the best things for me.

Now I understand what my characters experience. Sometimes our stories take us to unexpected places. Perhaps it is through this adventure we find out who we truly are, and where we are going. Door closed, window opened.

BONJOUR 40 Print Wins Three Book Publishing Awards

May 7, 2013 By Karen A. Chase

I am THRILLED to announce that my first print book, Bonjour 40: A Paris Travel Log, has won three (yes, three) independent book publisher awards.

Bonjour 40 won an IPPY Silver Medal for best Travel Essay in the Independent Book Publishers Award, and in the 2013 Next Generation Indie Book Awards it won a Winners Medal for Best Design Non-fiction, and a Finalist Medal for Best Travel/Travel Guide.

What does this mean? It means a trip to New York City at the end of the month to attend the awards ceremonies (both of them if I can swing it, as they are on the same night). More importantly, I think it shows me that self-publishing is changing. In just the IPPY awards, the book went up against over 5000 participants from small- to mid-sized traditional publishers and university presses. Self-published used to mean unpublishable, but that stigma is changing as we are judged and win among the professionals.

Everything about this book (writing, design, photography, editing, production) was self-published, but I didn’t do it alone. So, a great shout out for those who helped me proof the book, and thank you to Kristen Weber and April Michelle Davis who helped me professionally edit the manuscript. Stay tuned for news and pictures from the trip to New York, and if you haven’t yet read it, I hope you’ll skip on over to Amazon and say Bonjour 40!

If you would like to share, publish or read the formal MSWord Press Release about Bonjour 40 wins, please do so.

What’s on My Nightstand: Shelf Pleasure

November 26, 2012 By Karen A. Chase

Today I’m a featured author on Shelf Pleasure, sharing the books on my nightstand. Come check out the picture, the list of books, and stay to peruse their website. It’s a charming “destination spot for women who love reading.” What’s On My Nightstand…

Book Review: Book End Babes Confessions

May 7, 2012 By Karen A. Chase

I received an oh-so-lovely review of Bonjour 40 from a fun blog called Book End Babes. In “Confessions of a Closet Francophile,” Heather Dearly admits her unending desire for Paris, and chats about her armchair review of my 40th birthday adventures in the city.

Back in October, her fellow-blogger on BEB, Melena Lott, was kind enough to do a review and include an excerpt. They’ve done a new review and update because of the new eLit awards the book has captured, and well, because they love books and all things France.

So needless to say, Heather and Melena – merci beaucoup! I’m so glad you not only read Bonjour 40, but enjoyed a little stroll through the Paris streets right from your own living rooms!

First Fridays: Bonjour “Paris in Color”

May 4, 2012 By Karen A. Chase

This month’s First Friday artist sticks with the Bonjour Paris theme: Nichole Robertson is another writer, photographer and Parisian-lover. She has a delightful book out called Paris in Color. Yes, Paris is definitely photograph-able. But Nichole takes it to a lovely work of art level by gathering her images together by color.

Before she moved to Paris for a year, she began a site called Little Brown Pen. The name and the site are adorable and it links you to the book, a bit of info about Nichole and the photography collection she dubbed “The Paris Color Project.” After moving to Paris, she would head out with her camera, and when a colorful item grabbed her attention, she’d take photos of that color for the day. As she says in the book, “Nothing sharpens your senses like a new address.”

Upon returning home each night, she’d post the colorful images. Now those images can be found in her book. They can also be found in The Paris Print Shop. It’s a site Nichole and her husband set up to sell the images, postcards and more. And her work has gone on to be featured by Martha Stewart, Real Simple, and The New York Times among others.

Are you green with envy for that little Vespa you saw near the market? Now you can own a collection dedicated to the color. Are your skies gray because you miss Paris terribly. Or perhaps yellow is how you are feeling today. This yellow image is downloadable for your desktop wallpaper from her publisher’s facebook page at Chronicle Books.

Bonjour40 Awards and Anniversary

April 27, 2012 By Karen A. Chase

Ahhh Paris. Can it be? Yes. It was a year ago today that I was looking out my apartment over Paris having just arrived. A year ago, I spent a month of wandering the streets not feeling 40. I met Bandit and Dorothée. I fell in love with Ted again. And that lovely trip became my first published book, Bonjour 40: A Paris Travel Log (40 years. 40 days. 40 seconds.)

A year later, I am thrilled to announce, Bonjour 40 has won three eLit Awards. A silver medal for best travel essay non-fiction book, silver for the book trailer, and a gold medal for best author website. The eLit Awards is a global awards program, focusing on e-book submissions only, and open to all e-publishers.

To celebrate the one year mark, and the new awards, Bonjour 40 will be just 99¢ for the entire month of May on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iTunes. For those of you who haven’t read it yet, or who would like to share it with others, grab some change from between the couch cushions, and say Bonjour Paris!

Thank you to all of you who read or reviewed the book, found yourselves written into it, or supported the original Bonjour 40 blog. A special thank you to everyone who helped me get the book edited and published, programmed the website and more. These awards aren’t mine, they are ours.

Award Credits:
Book edited by Kristen Weber and April Michelle Davis
Book trailer editing by Steve Hobbs of VPS
Website programming by Niki Sebastino of DesignGeekess, with assistance from Christina Reeser of io studio.

Miniature_1 — This series of three photos captures how Paris feels to me a year later. Antiqued. Magical. Covered with a little dust. These were miniatures I found in the Musée Carvivalet about the history of Paris. Is that me heading to the wine store?

Book Review: Two new Amazon reviews

March 7, 2012 By Karen A. Chase

In the last two weeks, two new reviews have been added in Amazon.com for my book Bonjour 40: A Paris Travel Log (40 years. 40 days. 40 seconds.) As I approach the one-year anniversary of my month-long trip to Paris, it’s wonderful to know the book is still reaching, and touching others. To read the new reviews, visit the Bonjour 40 Amazon page.

Many, many thanks to Gregory, author of the blog Writing4Death, and Darlene of Peeking Between the Pages. Merci beaucoup to you both for the lovely reviews.

Malaise, Mayle and Malaysia

February 21, 2012 By Karen A. Chase

I first blogged about Peter Mayle in December. Today I received a comment from a Malaysian reader. They found my blog while searching for information on the author because the Malaysian government is considering banning his book “Where Did I Come From.”

I had to add in a mid-week blog about our human regression. In 2012 men are determining women’s reproductive rights, we’re facing legislation about “personhood,” and now Peter Mayle might be considered obscene in some countries.

It’s on the hit list (not because the title ends with a preposition, which always bothered me), but because of it’s explicit content. It’s an illustrated children’s book! Not illustrated like Playboy is illustrated. Illustrated with child-like cartoons of little round naked white people.

As Malaysian officials review the book for it’s “obscene” content, the government has declared that bookstores must pull it from the shelves. If they sell a copy, they could get up to three years in jail. This BBC article has the overview.

Perhaps if Peter Mayle created a Malaysian version, as he did the African American edition, it wouldn’t be so easily banned.

I’m glad it’s not banned here in America because I’m tempted to buy a copy and send it to a few key congressional representatives. Despite the fact some of them have nearly a dozen children, they really don’t understand Peter Mayle’s “version” about how it all happens. At least I have the freedom to read about it. For now.

MayleBook — Perhaps some could learn from the sub-title: "The facts of life without any nonsense and with illustrations."

Book Review: Blog reviews Bonjour 40

December 4, 2011 By Karen A. Chase

“Whenever I start feeling sad that I’ll never make it Paris, I’ll read this book again. It’s the next best thing to actually being there.” – Vicki, writer for I’d Rather Be at the Beach blog.

Bonjour 40 was reviewed on the blog, I’d Rather Be at the Beach. Thanks so much for such a wonderful look at my new book!