I fell in love with the cover of Until That Distant Day when I worked with Anne Elisabeth Stengl to reveal it last fall. Now the story between the covers is finally available for purchase - and to celebrate, Anne Elisabeth organized a fun interview tour for Jill! Read on to see what question(s) I asked Jill, discover a special promotion price for the ebook, and enter the tour-wide giveaway...
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Amber: First, let me introduce you all to Jill via her author bio!
She blogs at Books, Cats, and Whimsy. Do stop by and follow her to keep up with all her writing and reading-related activities!
My question for Jill... In a previous blog tour you mentioned risking your life by driving with your husband on the crazy streets of modern-day Paris. :) Since I gather that you've been to Paris, what's one thing you especially enjoyed about visiting modern France? (Probably not the traffic...)
Jill: Yes, we did visit Paris in 1990—approximately two hundred years after the events of Until That Distant Day took place! My husband did all the driving, to my vast relief. The traffic circle around the Arc de Triomphe was particularly “thrilling.”
I enjoyed touring the Palace of Versailles, seeing its famous Hall of Mirrors, and walking in the gardens. We also enjoyed the Louvre museum, although I wish I had known more French history before that visit. We walked through the Place du Carrousel and the Tuileries Gardens; we crossed Pont Royal and saw many of the buildings my characters would have seen at the time of my story—but I had only the vaguest idea what had once taken place there. The Egyptian obelisk in the Place de la Concorde stands where the guillotine once stood—that was about all I knew. (I did not start writing fiction until the following summer.)
To be honest, I believe the French would like to obliterate much of that bloody history—and who can blame them?
Jill at Eiffel Tower (Champ de Mars)—July 1990
Amber: Indeed. Sounds like an intriguing trip, though! So what's one thing you wish you could experience from the Paris of your heroine's day? (Probably not the dangers of the French Revolution...) Jill: I wish I could tour the Palais des Tuileries, which no longer exists; it burned and was torn down in the 1800’s. I would also love to explore the gardens as they were then, and see the Royal Riding Academy that became the first Legislative Assembly. Napoleon Bonaparte had that building torn down to make room for the street that now runs directly north of the gardens. So much has changed, and yet so much history remains.
And you are right: I definitely would not wish to experience the dangers of revolution or the possibly even greater hazards of bad sanitation and crowded living conditions!
Thank you for the fun questions, Amber!
Amber: Thank you for answering them, Jill. :) It's a pleasure to have you here - and congratulations on your latest release!
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Read the rest of this ongoing interview with Jill at the stops listed below...
Until That Distant Day
Launch Tour Schedule
May 5
May 6
May 7
May 8
May 9
May 10
May 11
May 12
May 13 – Giveaway Winner Announced
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Here's a description of the book:
Colette and her brother Pascoe are two sides of the same coin, dependent upon one another in the tumultuous world of the new Republic. Together they labor with other leaders of the sans-culottes to ensure freedom for all the downtrodden men and women of France.
But then the popular uprisings turn bloody and the rhetoric proves false. Suddenly, Colette finds herself at odds with Pascoe and struggling to unite her fractured family against the lure of violence. Charged with protecting an innocent young woman and desperately afraid of losing one of her beloved brothers, Colette doesn’t know where to turn or whom to trust as the bloodshed creeps ever closer to home.
Until that distant day when peace returns to France, can she find the strength to defend her loved ones . . . even from one another?
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Giveaway!
8 comments:
Congratulations, Jill, on the release of your new book!! So exciting!! The cover looks beautiful and the story sounds intriguing. And -- wow -- you and your husband were very brave driving around Paris, (though it might be better than Rome . . .). We were on a tour bus through the city and I thought that was even a little scary. . .
Buckley and Bogey send their regards to Monte, Myles and Mimi!
Thank you, Cindy!
My husband the fighter pilot found driving in Paris rather exhilarating, I believe. LOL Maybe he was brave--I was just thankful to park and walk, to be honest. Even blisters were preferable . . . When we went back with our kids a few years later, we took the train like sensible tourists. :-)
Yay! Cat people, unite! Buckley and Bogey might find this blog amusing: http://minervawritesherthoughts.blogspot.com/
Although, to be honest, I don't allow our three to read Minerva's blog lest they get ideas. ;-)
Ooooooh, I have read Minerva's blog . . . It is utterly hysterical!!! Especially the one about the vet visit. Is it your blog or your daughter's? Too funny.
I thought you would enjoy it. My daughter ghost-writes for Minerva. ;-) I'm sure you could see that Anne Elisabeth does a lot of cat rescue (with her husband Rohan's help, of course). She has fostered and placed nearly twenty kittens (and one dog) over the past three years. And they have had a few "foster fails" in the mix--kitties that are now permanent residents. Minerva endures it all, though not with very good grace. Heh. That cat is quite the character!
Thank you so much for running this giveaway, Jill and Amber! (: The book cover is beautiful! The blue tones make for a wonderful combination together.
Cindy and Jill: Thanks so much for your comments!
It's a pleasure to host you here, Jill - I picked up a Kindle copy of your book last week, and as Cindy noted, it's got a beautiful cover. :) Thanks for answering my interview questions!
And Cindy, thanks so much for stopping by! I agree that Minerva Louise's blog is hysterical. ;) I've gotten a kick out of those posts!
Grace: Isn't that cover gorgeous? So pretty! I'm happy to share about the tour and giveaway - thank your for checking it out. :)
~Amber
Thank you, Grace! Yes, I love the vivid blue of my cover. And the model looks just as I imagine Colette. :-)
And Amber, thank you so much for joining my blog tour. Hoping the book lives up to its gorgeous cover! :-D
Jill,
My pleasure! I've heard great things about your book, and I'm sure it's wonderful historical fiction. :) Thanks again for being my guest!
~Amber
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