Where has she been? Why hasn't she posted a blog in months?
I have a truly stellar excuse.
On March 22nd I received a life-saving liver transplant at the U of A hospital in Edmonton thanks to my badass friend and hero Nyssa Temmel. She donated the entire right lobe of her liver to me (and oui, she is still alive and in fact back to normal life and healthy as a horse).
My transplant surgery lasted twelve hours. In the end I received Nyssa's right lobe, a deceased donor's vessels to reconnect it to me, and several pints of donated blood.
I knew a transplant was coming down the pipeline for me for the past five years since I was diagnosed with PSC - it is what motivated me to get serious about writing and publishing, but that's another blog post!
I am grateful beyond words and preparing to head back home to Victoria from Edmonton and hopefully back to Burgundy soon.
In the meantime, bienvenue to my many new subscribers and welcome back to my loyal ones. I have a few pieces of exciting news to share.
My Grape Paris
I got back to my writing one month to the day of my transplant. The surgery delayed the publication of My Grape Paris (the fifth book in the GRAPE series) slightly but I am determined to have it out by early September.
Win a Free Week in Burgundy, France
Our next draw for a week at any one of our four vacation rentals in Burgundy will be on July 5th. This is the same day as Franck's and my 20th Wedding Anniversary. What better way to celebrate than share our love of Burgundy with others? You can view all of our properties here and make your selection. Also, my subscribers exclusively (this means you if you received this in your in-box) can get bonus entries to the draw by writing reviews for any of my published books. 1 review = 1 draw entry. Simply write the review, email me to let me know, and voilà! My email is plastered all over my website.
Free Playlists
People have been asking for two things from me for a long time (besides more books, of course) - playlists to accompany my memoirs and a cookbook. Still working on the latter but my first playlist has just gone live on Spotify. It is for my first book in my four book (soon five!) GRAPE series - My Grape Year. It was incredibly nostalgic to put together - lots of laughs and a few tears as well. I will have several more playlists coming out in the nest few weeks. French ambiance guaranteed!
