Walking down its streets, you can easily imagine what life was like hundreds of years ago. Lucy Checks In takes place mostly in Rennes, because it is such a beautiful city. My daughter, still living in Rennes, had just gotten married to a French musician, so we saw life through the eyes of a native, not a tourist, and what a difference! Then I went home to write my newest book, Lucy Checks In. When I went back two years later - another research trip - I took notes. Everything I had found so interesting about France went into Maggie Finds Her Muse and helped bring the story and country to life. Martin’s Press and came out in 2021 and readers loved the descriptions of the city, the people, and the food. And why not? After all, I’d been inspired. So, I wrote Maggie Finds Her Muse, about a romance writer who’s on deadline, is totally blocked, and goes to Paris for inspiration. In a casual conversation with my accountant – probably over wine (yes, she’s a friend) – she told me that if I wrote a book that took place in Paris, I could deduct the cost of the whole trip as research.
People in cafes talk to each other, not their phones. When you enter a shop, you’re expected to say hello. You bag your own groceries, for example, in your own bags. Timber framed houses lean and no one thinks to tear them down.Īre there cultural differences? You bet. Cobblestone streets remain smooth and well-used. Tommy Hilfiger shops are in 16th century storefronts. Those buildings are not torn down and replaced with something new. But it’s not just the age of the buildings. Yes, I know that we’re a younger country, and we don’t have buildings dating back to the 1300’s. For one thing, everything there is so old.
I was fascinated with the country and its people. I returned to New Jersey desperate to write about what I had seen, heard, ate and drank. I thought that maybe France could be my place too. We had an amazing time playing tourists we stayed in fabulous apartments through VRBO, ate incredible food and saw all the sights. After all, she needed somebody to claim that extra suitcase of belongings, right? And help her move into her new place? And to see Paris? She wanted to study at the University there and decided, on a previous visit, that Rennes was ‘her place.’ She worked, sold everything she owned, got the money she needed and, with literally all her possessions in a backpack and two suitcases, flew to Paris, then took a train to Rennes to start her new life.Īs her mother, of course I had to go with her. How I went to France and wrote my heart outįive years ago, my oldest daughter decided to move to France.
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