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Friday, July 22, 2016

Paris RunAway by Paulita Kincer (Spotlight, Interview and Giveaway!)


Today I'm featuring the latest release by Paulita Kincer. I love reading books set in Europe, especially Italy and France. I have yet to read Kincer's books which are all set in France. I have had the pleasure, however, of interviewing Paulita about her book and her love of France. Read on and make sure to enter the giveaway to win a copy of her book!


Book Details:


Paris RunAway by Paulita Kincer
ISBN: 978-1-365-18923-4 (women’s fiction)
Release date: June 30, 2016, 220 pages
Lulu.com  / Author’s page  /  Goodreads  

Book Description:

When divorced mom Sadie Ford realizes her 17-year-old daughter Scarlett has run away to Paris all she can imagine are terrorist bombings and sex slaves. After learning her daughter chased a French exchange student home, Sadie hops on the next plane in pursuit. She joins forces with the boy’s father, Auguste, and the two attempt to find the missing teens before they can stumble into more trouble. The chase takes Sadie and Auguste to the seedier side of Marseille, where their own connection is ignited. Since the divorce, Sadie has devoted herself to raising kids and putting her dreams on hold, but when her daughter needs her most, Sadie finds that concrete barrier to life beginning to crack. In her journey, she learns the difference between watching the hours pass and living.

Buy the book: Amazon

Interview with Paulita Kincer:

LCR: Hi Paulita, thanks you for stopping by Library of Clean Reads. We love books set in Europe and wish you much success with the release of your latest novel Paris RunAway. Can you describe it to us in 20 words or less?

PK: Following runaway teen to France, steeped in danger, Sadie learns to celebrate life – falling for a man and a country.

LCR: What was the most challenging aspect of writing this novel?

PK: Even though I write fiction, accuracy is always important. I can make up characters and their words, but I want to make sure the setting is correct. I took the opportunity to travel to France, visiting both Paris and Marseille to include details in my novel. You can imagine what a sacrifice that was! Since my character, Sadie, has never traveled to France before, I needed to explore it all for the first time, making sure that my previous knowledge didn’t seep through Sadie’s experience. Some readers have told me that they loved discovering France with Sadie, so I guess it worked.

LCR: What do you love the most about the French culture?

PK: The French priorities impress me. Family, education, culture and food are all so important. The first time I stayed for an extended visit in France, I came home and registered for grad school. I realized that continuing education enriched my life. And meal times in France are all about family, culture and food. I love that we are expected to sit and eat and share experiences for several hours in the evening. It’s not something I do at home in the U.S., but I have no problem transitioning to French traditions with a meal that begins at 9 p.m. and stretches past midnight, usually followed by some classical music.

LCR: When was your first trip to France and what did you love the most about it? Did you dislike anything about that trip?

My first visit to France was a whirlwind, one of those 14-countries in 21 days. I traveled with my college boyfriend who had just graduated and all the countries and cities ran together, so I might never have fallen for France if not for another boyfriend, whose sister had married a Frenchman. She had a health crisis, so I traveled to France with her two little girls, ages 3 and 4.

We spent the summer with their grandparents on the beaches of Corsica, in a manor house in the countryside of France, and in an apartment just outside of Paris. Oh, the adventures I had. One day, I traveled with the girls’ uncle (a single doctor) in a sailboat across part of the Mediterranean to a secluded beach, which he didn’t tell me was a nude beach. But when we got there, he dropped trou. It just served to feed my major crush on him.

LCR: I've read that one of your favorite books is The Girl You Left Behind by JoJo Moyes. I loved that novel too! What have you read lately that you've loved? 

PK: I recently read Paris is Always a Good Idea by Nicolas Barreau, and I finished it in a day. It also led me to go in search of his previous novels. It’s a sweet novel set in Paris with a little bit of magical realism.

LCR: One of my favorite feel-good movies is French Kiss with Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline. Do you have any favorite movies set in France?

PK: It might be cliché, but I love Midnight in Paris. All of the beautiful scenes of Paris, and that je ne sais quoi feeling that Gil has – an inkling that writing in France would make him a success. I have that same longing – if only. And, of course, I love that being in Paris gave Gil the clarity to break up with his awful fiancée. I broke up with my boyfriend after my long trip to France, too.

LCR: I loves Midnight in Paris too! What is the most courageous thing you've ever done?

PK: I have a courageous plan that will hopefully take place next year. My husband and I plan to move to France, and I think leaving my family behind to pursue my dream will be the most courageous thing I’ll ever do. My children will technically be adults, ages 25, 23 and 21 next year, but they frequently still need the reassurance that their parents are there if they should fall. I know that my husband and I could wait, but what if one of them gets married or starts having babies? Will we ever leave? So next year, we plan to sell our house and buy a house in the South of France. Just imagine the stories I’ll be able to write then.

LCR: What is the scariest thing that's ever happened to you?

One of the scariest things that ever happened to me was losing my two-year-old son. One evening, I drove my 4-year-old son to an event, leaving my husband with the other two children. My husband tried to calm a temper tantrum by my daughter, and he left Tucker downstairs. We didn’t think Tucker could get out the back door by himself, but he did. When my husband realized that Tucker wasn’t in the house, he rushed out the back door looking for him. He didn’t find him in the backyard so hurried around to the front. 

Halfway down the street, he caught a glimpse of our Red Flyer wagon – abandoned. When he reached the wagon, he saw Tucker’s clothes inside. Panicked now, he began to run down the street calling Tucker’s name. A cross street lay at the bottom of the hill, then a very busy street and a cemetery. As my husband neared the corner, an old woman came around the corner, holding Tucker’s hand. She spoke calmly to the naked boy as she walked him back toward home. That story could have ended much differently, so I’m thankful that it didn’t.

LCR: The strangest? 

PK: My husband has grown-up nieces, and in the past few years, as they’ve had children, I’ve spent some time babysitting. Caroline was not quite two one day staying at our house when she pointed at a picture on our wall. “That’s Grandpa,” she said.

She was right. A picture hung on the wall of my husband’s father wearing his World War II uniform. He had died 16 years before. I figured her own grandmother might have shown her pictures.

Then she said, “He can talk to me, but he can’t pick me up.”

I definitely got chills.

A few years later, I pointed to the picture and asked her if she knew who it was. She didn’t remember.

LCR: What is the best thing about being a writer? The hardest?

PK: I like creating characters and letting them do things I could never do. Sometimes, that’s just falling in love again or having first kisses. I’ve been married to my husband for 26 years now. I love when I think of a good description or simile. Here’s one from Paris Runaway that I liked: “Chose him for what?” I asked. Each word sounded like the chiming of a clock, as if midnight had arrived, and I was only delaying the inevitable – that Cinderella moment when everything changed.

Sometimes the hardest thing about being a writer is just sitting down and writing. With publishing, a thousand other jobs appear – blog interviews, tweets, Facebook. They all take time that could be spent writing. But what’s the point of writing if no one reads it? So I have to publicize my books too.

LCR: If you could travel back in time, where would you go?

PK: When I was a kid, I always wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder. I’d write adventures about starting across the United States in a covered wagon. As an adult, that seems much less tempting. I’m too practical thinking about bathrooms and penicillin. But at the same time that our country had people bumping across the Plains states to the West, in France, Claude Monet created beautiful impressionist paintings. Maybe I could go back to the same time, but rather than ending up in a covered wagon, I could wander the colorful gardens of Claude Monet, the place where he created his gorgeous water lily paintings, and I could sit amidst his large family and hear the laughter in that bright yellow dining room filled with Japanese art. We’ve visited Monet’s Gardens in Giverny twice. He lived there from 1883-1926. The house and gardens are entrancing now, as I’m sure they were then.

LCR: What do you want your readers to remember the most about you? 

PK: I try to make sure that my novels are relatable. The characters are people with regular problems and suddenly they have a chance to escape their everyday lives. Sometimes that makes the problems disappear, but sometimes it makes the problems worse. I hope the adventure that my characters set out on make my novels fun and believable, while giving readers a chance to escape.

Thanks so much for the interview questions, which really stretched my brain. I’m honored to be included on your blog.

LCR: Thank you, Paulita! It's been a pleasure chatting with you.

About the Author:




Paulita Kincer has an M.A. in journalism from American University. She has traveled to France 11 times, and still finds more to lure her back. She currently teaches college English and lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her three children, two cats and one husband. Visit her website www.paulitakincer.com and her blog at http://www.paulita-ponderings.blogspot.com or follow her on Twitter @paulitakincer Like her Facebook page at Paulita Kincer Writer. Email paulita@paulitakincer.com

Enter the Giveaway!



Visit each blogger on the tour: tweeting about the giveaway everyday of the Tour will give you 5 extra entries each time! [just follow the directions on the entry-form] Global giveaway: 2 winners, choice of print or digital copy of this book.

CLICK ON THE BANNER TO READ REVIEWS, INTERVIEW, AND EXCERPTS

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6 comments :

  1. wow, thanks for this fabulous interview! Good luck to Paulita for her move, I can't wait the books that will come out of this experience! For the meals described here, really it's not an everyday reality in France, maybe on weekends, on vacation, or for special family meetings. As a French myself, I Had a few of these in Summer when I was living in a rural area, but rarely when my family lived in the city, and certainly not in the city, and like twice a year. Maybe it depends on the social level, I was not among the rich, to say the least

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    1. Paulita was so gracious! It's a pleasure to host her on my blog.

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  2. I meant: and certainly not on a regular basis, just like twice a year

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  3. For the beauty the history &of course the food,

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  4. Thanks so much for inviting me to answer questions on your blog. The questions were challenging and I hope I didn't share too much.
    My view of French food may be skewed since when we visit France our friends make sure every meal is fabulous. But even when I stayed three months, each meal was an orchestra!
    Thanks again for your fun blog and interview.

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    1. Your answers were great! Thanks for taking the time to do this interview with me. I've had the same experience with food when I visit my family in Italy. Even the simple meals were delicious and we would spent time talking at the dinner table. I try to do this with my own family because that is how I was raised. Eating our dinner together is very important for us and the kids know that family dinner is traditional and not to be missed.

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Thank you for commenting! I appreciate your feedback.

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